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CHAPTER XIII. AMPLIFICATION OF 'THE PERFECT VIRTUE' IN CHAPTER I.

The Master said, 'The teaching of filial piety by the superior man 2 does not require that he should go to, family after family, and daily see the members of each. His teaching of filial piety is a tribute of reverence to all the fathers under heaven; his teaching of fraternal submission is a tribute of reverence to all the elder brothers under heaven; his teaching of the duty of a subject is a tribute of reverence to all the rulers under heaven.

p. 483

'It is said in the Book of Poetry 1,

"The happy and courteous sovereign
Is the parent of the people."

'If it were not a perfect virtue, how could it be recognised as in accordance with their nature by the people so extensively as this?'


Footnotes

482:2 The Kün-ȝze, or 'superior man,' here must be taken of the sovereign. P. Cibot translates it by 'un prince.'

483:1 See the Shih, III, ii, ode 7, stanza x. The two lines of the Shih here are, possibly, not an interpolation.


Next: Chapter XIV. Amplification of 'Making Our Name Famous'