[10] The answer of course is--No; outward acts do not constitute filial piety, unless prompted by a genuine duteous feeling in the heart. [11] A notable utterance, which may be commended to those who have been taught to regard Confucius as a man of ceremonies and outward show. [12] In order that the parents may know where their son is. [13] Of the Ch‘u State. [14] The root idea of this word _chung_ is loyalty to _oneself_, devotion to principle, or, as Mr. Ku Hung-ming well translates it, conscientiousness. Loyalty or fidelity to the sovereign is only an extended sense. Here the two ideas appear to be blended, but in a famous passage to be noted further on (p. 118) much trouble has resulted from ignoring the first and fundamental meaning. [15] A high officer in Ch‘i, the state adjoining Lu. [16] The fact that Ch‘ên Wên Tzŭ could not reconcile it with his conscience to settle in any of the states which he visited throws a lurid light on the disorder prevailing in the Empire at this period (547 B.C.). Murder and usurpation were evidently the rule rather than the exception. [17] That is to say, the virtuous act, which he will perform for its own sake, regardless of consequences. [18] Each finds pleasure in that part of Nature which resembles himself. [19] As may be inferred from its composition, the character _li_ originally had sole reference to religious rites, whence however it came to be applied to every sort of ceremonial, including the ordinary rules of politeness, the etiquette of society, the conduct befitting all stations of life, and moreover to the state of mind of which such conduct is the outcome. This state of mind is one of equably adjusted harmony and self-restraint, and it is in this sense of an inward principle of proportion and self-control that the word is frequently used in the Analects. Why such a vile phrase as "the rules of propriety" was ever coined to express this subtle conception, and retained in every context, however inappropriate, must remain an insoluble mystery. Is it surprising that one of the greatest of world-teachers should still be waiting to come into his full heritage, when his sayings are made to suggest nothing so much as the headmistress of a young ladies' seminary? [20] It is interesting to observe that Confucius allows a grade of heroic and almost divine virtue even above that which constitutes complete goodness for all practical purposes, just as Aristotle places his θεῖός τις ἀνήρ above the σώφρων. [21] It is only fair to mention that the above is not an exact translation of the words in the Chinese text, though I believe their import to be what I have set down. The point is too technical and abstruse to be discussed here. [22] See note on p. 60. This is the solemn nonsense dished up by Legge: "Look not at what is contrary to propriety; listen not to what is contrary to propriety; speak not what is contrary to propriety; make no movement which is contrary to propriety."