[23] Confucius here, as in general, suits his reply to the questioner. In answering Yen Yüan, the model disciple, he had gone to the very root of the matter, making it clear that the essence of true goodness has little or nothing to do with externals. To Chung Kung, who was less advanced and doubtless somewhat lacking in grace or dignity of demeanour, he gives more superficial advice, but winds up by enunciating the Golden Rule, which is the best practical manner of manifesting inward goodness of heart. [24] There seems to be a play on this word which cannot be brought out in translation. [25] This probably means that he will not rely on words alone in judging of character. [26] Being too purely negative. [27] It is almost impossible, here and in other passages, to make any real distinction of meaning between _te_, the manifestation of eternal principles in the soul of man, and _jên_, natural goodness of heart, though the former, being more universal and abstract, may be said to include the latter, which generally implies a certain relation to one's fellow-men. [28] The principle of returning good for evil, which is here apparently represented as a well-known ethical doctrine, was first enunciated, so far as we know, by Lao Tzŭ. Confucius rejects this vain idealism, and advocates the much sounder and more practical basis for society given in the text. [29] Here chün tzŭ seems almost to denote an actual prince, not merely a man with princely qualities. [30] Legge translates _shu_ "reciprocity," apparently for no other reason than to explain the maxim that follows. But it really stands for something higher than the strictly utilitarian principle of _do ut des_. Both here and in another famous passage (see p. 118) it is almost equivalent to _jên_, goodness of heart, only with the idea of altruism more explicitly brought out. It connotes sympathetic consideration for others, and hence the best rendering would seem to be "loving-kindness" or "charity." The concluding maxim is really nothing more nor less than the Golden Rule of Christ, though less familiar to us in its negative form. [32] The Chinese have a proverb: "A man must insult himself before others will." [33] A good example of the fluctuating content of the term _chün tzŭ_, which in the disciple's question implies morality without reference to rank, and in the Master's reply rank and authority without definite moral qualities. CONFUCIUS' ESTIMATE OF OTHERS The Master said: I may talk all day to Hui without his putting in a word of criticism or dissent--just as though he were deficient in understanding. But after he has left me, I find, on examining his private conduct, that he knows for all that how to exemplify my teaching. No! Hui is not deficient in understanding.