Chinese Æsop:

In Ch’i were two retired gentlemen, Master Tung-kuo and Master Liang Shih. At the time when Minister of State Ts’ao was minister of Ch’i, a retainer said to Master K’uei, "Master Tung-kuo and Master Liang Shih are the worthy men of the times. They have secreted themselves in the depths of the mountains and will not bend their bodies or degrade their wills to seek office. I hear that you have access to Minister of State Ts’ao. I wish you might recommend them. Now in my village the matrons are on good terms with one another. A girl was suspected of stealing meat, and her mother-in-law drove her out. Indignant, the girl told a village matron, who said, ‘Go slowly, and presently I will have your mother-in-law call you back,' and tying up a bunch of grass, she went to ask for a light from the family that had driven the girl out. She said, ‘My dogs were fighting over a piece of meat and killed each other. May I have a light so that I can cook them?' Whereupon the mother-in-law i...

King Hsüan of Ch’i said to T’ien Kuo, "I have heard that Confucians mourn three years for their parents, and three years for a ruler. Now which is the more important, a father or a ruler?" Kuo replied: “A ruler is almost not as important as one’s father.” King Hsüan became very angry, “Then why do you literati leave your parents to serve a ruler?” T’ien Kuo replied, "Without a ruler's lands there is no place to settle one's parents; without a ruler's pay there is no means of supporting one's parents; without rank conferred by a ruler there is no way of making one's parents respected and illustrious. What is received from the ruler is passed on to the parents. So serving a ruler is also something always done on behalf of one's parents." King Hsüan was taken aback and had nothing to answer him. The Ode says, The king's business is not to be slackly performed, And I have no leisure to nourish my father. 齐宣王谓田过曰：“吾闻：儒者亲丧三年。君与父孰重？”过对曰...

The King of Chao was on the point of sending an envoy to Ch’u. He played for a while on the cither, and then dispatched him saying, "Be careful not to forget the words of my message." The envoy received the order kneeling and said without rising, "Never have I heard Your Majesty play such moving music on the cither as today." The king said, "It is true. The cither is certainly well tuned." The envoy said, "Since it is in tune, it would be a good thing to make a note of the position of the bridge." The king said, "It will not do. As the weather is dry or wet, so the strings are loose or tight. The bridge must be adjustable, and cannot be marked for a given position." The envoy said, "May I borrow a metaphor from this? Ch’u is more than a thousand li distant from Chao. Furthermore fortune is variable. Bad luck calls for condolences, and good luck for congratulation. It is like the bridge of a cither which must be adjustable and ...

Duke P’ing of Chin was happily drifting along the River and said, "Where am I to get worthy gentlemen to enjoy this with me?" His boatman Ho Hsü knelt and replied, "It is simply because Your Highness does not care for worthy gentlemen that he has none. Now pearls from river and ocean, and jade from the K’un mountains, come to you without having feet, because of Your Highness' liking for them. If worthy gentlemen, possessed of feet, do not come, it means nothing else than that Your Highness does not care for gentlemen. Do not worry about there being no gentlemen." Duke P’ing said, "As for the guests I support, to the left of the gate there are a thousand men, and to the right of the gate another thousand. If in the morning there is not enough for their support, in the evening I give them the market revenues; if in the evening there is not enough for their support, in the morning I give them the market revenues. Can it be said of me that I do not care for...

With one shout the brave officer puts to flight all the three armies: it is because of his sincerity. Of old Hsiung Ch’ü-tzŭ of Ch’u was traveling at night. He saw a stone lying in his path which he took to be a reclining tiger. Bending his bow, he shot it, so that the head of the arrow was buried up to the feathers. When he looked down and realized it was a stone, he then again shot it, but the arrow bounced off without leaving a mark. When Hsiung Ch’ü-tzŭ showed a sincere mind, metal and stone opened up for him; how much the more will men! Now if a person initiates a thing and others do not join in with him, or if when he acts others do not agree, it is certainly because he is not complete within. The man who rules the empire without descending from his mat has sought in himself for sincerity. Confucius said, "When a prince's personal conduct is correct, his government is effective without the issuing of orders. If his personal conduct is not correct, he may issue orders...

Of old Chao Chien-tzŭ had died and before he was buried the district of Chung-mou revolted. When he had been buried five days, Hsiang-tzŭ raised troops and attacked Chung-mou. Before he had finished surrounding the city, ten ch’ang of its walls fell down of their own accord. Hsiang-tzŭ beat the signal for retreat, and his forces withdrew. An officer objected, "When Your Highness is punishing the crime of Chung-mou and their walls break down of themselves, it is Heaven aiding you. Why have you withdrawn your forces?" Hsiang-tzŭ said, "I have heard Shu-hsiang say that the superior man does not take advantage of another in distress, nor does he make trouble for a man who is in straits. Have them repair their walls; after that we will launch an attack." When the people of Chung-mou heard how just (i) he had been, they asked to surrender. The superior man would say, "Good. Hsiang-tzŭ is meant by this." The Ode says, The king's plans were true and s...

Confucius had gone on a journey when Chien-tzŭ was about to kill Yang Hu. Confucius resembled the latter, and Chien-tzŭ surrounded Confucius' dwelling with troops. Tzŭ-lu was angry, and, brandishing a lance, was about to strike when Confucius stopped him, saying, "Yu, how is it you are so lacking in an abundance of jên and i? If the Shih and the Shu are not studied, if rites (li) and music are not explained, that is my fault. If when I am not Yang Hu, they take me for Yang Hu, that is not my fault; it is fate. You sing and I will accompany you." Tzŭ-lu sang and Confucius accompanied him. When they had finished three strophes, the soldiers had left off surrounding them. The Ode says, Rambling and singing. This is how through a display of the harmony of flourishing virtue non-interference is practiced. 孔子行，简子将杀阳虎，孔子似之，带甲以围孔子舍，子路愠怒，奋戟将下，孔子止之，曰：“由。何仁义之寡裕也！夫诗书之不习，礼乐之不讲，是丘之罪也。若吾非阳虎，而以我为阳虎，则非丘之罪也，命也！我歌，子和若。”子路歌，孔子和之，三终而围罢。《诗》曰：“来游来歌。”以陈盛德之和而无为也。