Grains - Confucian Pages

Analects 18.7

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Original Text:

子路从而后遇丈人以杖荷蓧子路问曰子见夫子乎丈人曰四体不勤五谷不分孰为夫子植其杖而芸子路拱而立止子路宿杀鸡为黍而食之见其二子焉明日子路行以告子曰隐者也使子路反见之至则行矣子路曰不仕无义长幼之节不可废也君臣之义如之何其废之欲洁其身而乱大伦君子之仕也行其义也道之不行已知之矣

Translation:

Other Translations:

Zilu was traveling with Confucius, but had fallen behind. He encountered an old man carrying a wicker basket suspended from his staff. Zilu asked, “Have you seen my Master?”
The old man answered,
“ ‘Won’t soil his dainty hands
Can’t tell millet from corn.’
Who, then, might your master be?”
He then planted his staff in the ground and began weeding.
[Not knowing how to reply], Zilu simply remained standing with his hands clasped as a sign of respect.
The old man subsequently invited Zilu back to his house to stay the night. After killing a chicken and preparing some millet for Zilu to eat, he presented his two sons to him. The next day, Zilu caught up to Confucius and told him what had happened.
“He must be a scholar recluse,” the Master said. He sent Zilu back to the old farmer’s house to meet with him again, but by the time Zilu got there the man had already disappeared. Zilu then remarked, “To avoid public service is to be without a sense of what is right. Proper relations between elders and juniors cannot be discarded—how, then, can one discard the rightness that obtains between ruler and minister? To do so is to wish to keep one’s hands from getting dirty at the expense of throwing the great social order into chaos. The gentleman takes office in order to do what is right, even though he already knows that the Way will not be realized.”
Confucius, & Slingerland, E. (2003). Analects: With selections from traditional commentaries. Hackett Publishing.

Zilu was accompanying the Master but had fallen behind when he came upon an old man carrying a pole with a basket dangling from it. Zilu said, Have you seen my Master?
The old man said, Don’t know how to move your four limbs, can’t tell the five grains apart?—who is your “Master”? Then he stuck the pole in the ground and went to weeding. Zilu folded his hands in a gesture of respect and stood waiting.
The old man put Zilu up for the night, killed a chicken and cooked millet for a meal, and introduced him to his two sons.
The following day, Zilu caught up with Confucius and reported what had happened. The Master said, He’s a recluse! and sent Zilu to look for the man again, but when he got to the place, the man was gone.
Zilu said, If you fail to serve the ruler, you lack rightness. You understand that the etiquette between elder and younger cannot be set aside. How, then, can the right relations between ruler and subject be set aside? You want to keep yourselves unsullied, but you bring confusion to a much greater relationship. The gentleman, in serving the ruler, is carrying out his rightful duty. That the Way does not prevail today—we know that already!
Confucius, & Watson, B. (2007). The Analects of Confucius. Columbia University Press.

Analects 13.4

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Original Text:

樊迟请学稼子曰吾不如老农请学为圃曰吾不如老圃樊迟出子曰小人哉樊须也上好礼则民莫敢不敬上好义则民莫敢不服上好信则民莫敢不用情夫如是则四方之民襁负其子而至矣焉用稼

Translation:

Other Translations:

Fan Chi asked to learn about plowing and growing grain [from Confucius].
The Master said, “When it comes to that, any old farmer would be a better teacher than I.”
He asked to learn about growing fruits and vegetables.
The Master said, “When it comes to that, any old gardener would be a better teacher than I.”
Fan Chi then left. The Master remarked, “What a common fellow that Fan Chi is! When a ruler loves ritual propriety, then none among his people will dare to be disrespectful. When a ruler loves rightness, then none among his people will dare not to obey. When a ruler loves trustworthiness, then none of his people will dare to not be honest. The mere existence of such a ruler would cause the common people throughout the world to bundle their children on their backs and seek him out. Of what use, then, is the study of agriculture?”
Confucius, & Slingerland, E. (2003). Analects: With selections from traditional commentaries. Hackett Publishing.

Fan Chi wanted to study how to grow grain. The Master said, In that line, I’d be less use to you than an old farmer. Fan Chi then wanted to study how to grow vegetables. The Master said, In that line, I’d be less use to you than an old vegetable grower.
After Fan Chi had left, the Master said, What a petty man, Fan Xu (Fan Chi)! If those in higher positions love ritual, then none of the common people will venture to be disrespectful. If those in higher positions love rightness, then none of the common people will venture to be disobedient. If those in higher positions love trustworthiness, then none of the common people will venture to act insincerely. And if such a condition prevails, then the people from the four lands adjacent, bearing their little children strapped to their backs, will gather around. What need to study grain growing?
Confucius, & Watson, B. (2007). The Analects of Confucius. Columbia University Press.

Analects 10.11

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Original Text:

虽疏食菜羹瓜祭必齐如也

Translation:

Other Translations:

Even though a meal was only of coarse grain or vegetable broth, he invariably gave some as a sacrificial offering, and would do so in a grave and respectful manner.
Confucius, & Slingerland, E. (2003). Analects: With selections from traditional commentaries. Hackett Publishing.

Although it was no more than coarse grain, a soup of greens or melon, before eating he always set aside a portion as an offering and did so with a reverential air.
Confucius, & Watson, B. (2007). The Analects of Confucius. Columbia University Press.

Analects 10.8

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Original Text:

食不厌精脍不厌细食饐而餲鱼馁而肉败不食色恶不食臭恶不食失饪不食不时不食割不正不食不得其酱不食肉虽多不使胜食气唯酒无量不及乱沽酒市脯不食不撤姜食不多食

Translation:

Other Translations:

He would not eat in excess, even when presented with refined grain or finely minced meat.
He would not eat grain that was damp or musty, fish that had gone bad, or meat that had spoiled. He would eat nothing that was discolored or foul smelling, nor anything that was improperly cooked or gathered out of season. He would not eat any meat that had been improperly butchered or anything that had not been properly seasoned.
Even when meat was plentiful, he would not eat so much that it would overpower the grain. He would only enjoy wine without limit, though never to the point of disorderliness.
He would not drink wine bought from a shop or dried meat purchased from the market.
Although he would not remove the ginger dish from the table, he would not consume it in excess.
Confucius, & Slingerland, E. (2003). Analects: With selections from traditional commentaries. Hackett Publishing.

He had no objection to polished rice or meat or fish finely cut up. But if the rice was moldy or rancid, the fish putrid or the meat spoiled, he would not eat it. If food had a bad color, he would not eat it; if it smelled bad, he would not eat it; if it was improperly cooked, he would not eat it; if it was out of season, he would not eat it; if it was not properly sliced, he would not eat it; if it did not have the proper sauce, he would not eat it.
Although he might eat a large helping of meat, he did not allow it to overwhelm the vital nourishment of the rice. Only in the case of wine did he have no fixed limit, but he never drank to the point of confusion.
He would not drink wine or eat foods bought from the market. He did not refuse ginger, but did not eat much of it.
Confucius, & Watson, B. (2007). The Analects of Confucius. Columbia University Press.

Analects 6.5

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Original Text:

原思为之宰与之粟九百辞子曰毋以与尔邻里乡党乎

Translation:

Other Translations:

When Yuan Si was serving as steward, he was offered a salary of nine hundred measures of millet,4 but he declined it.
The Master said, “Do not decline it! [If you do not need it yourself], could you not use it to aid the households in your neighborhood?”
Confucius, & Slingerland, E. (2003). Analects: With selections from traditional commentaries. Hackett Publishing.

When Yuan Si was given the post of steward, he was offered an allotment of nine hundred measures of grain, but he declined it.
The Master said, Oh, no! You could have shared it with your neighboring communities, couldn’t you?
Confucius, & Watson, B. (2007). The Analects of Confucius. Columbia University Press.