CHAPTER I.
1. Yen Yuan asked about perfect virtue. The
Master said, 'To subdue one's self and return to propriety, is perfect virtue.
If a man can for one day subdue himself and return to propriety, all under
heaven will ascribe perfect virtue to him. Is the practice of perfect virtue
from a man himself, or is it from others?'
2. Yen Yuan said, 'I beg to ask the steps of
that process.' The Master replied, '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.' Yen Yuan then
said, 'Though I am deficient in intelligence and vigour, I will make it my
business to practise this lesson.'
Published
by The Institute for Advanced Technology in the Humanities, © Copyright 2003
by Anne Kinney and the University of Virginia