Keeping the positive

[benlehman]

Instead of some angry ranting, a quote:

"To learn and at due times to repeat what one has learnt, is that not a pleasure? That friends should come from afar, is this not delightful? To remain unsoured even though one's merits are unrecognized by others, is that not after all what is expected of an upright man?"

--Confucious, trans. Arthur Waley

(Waley's translation is so very very stilted, but you work with what you have.)

Comments

[yeloson.livejournal.com]

You know, I rarely read Confucious. There's parts that are pure gold, and then there's parts that... ahh, irritate me to no end.

[benlehman.livejournal.com]

It's important to remember that he saw himself largely as a keeper of the traditional Zhou culture.

We have *no fucking clue* what traditional Zhou culture was like.

[yeloson.livejournal.com]

Well, I'm also aware of the fact that text tends to get diluted over time with additions and deletions depending on who's in charge at the moment. It's hard to tell whether the irritating stuff was original or added.

[benlehman.livejournal.com]

Almost certainly both.

It's hard to even imagine that a petty Chinese noble from 2700 years ago would %100 share a value set with a modern Chinese-American.

It's kind of amazing how much of it is still relevant at all.

[yeloson.livejournal.com]

Oh, for sure. Though I think human nature hasn't drastically changed over the last few thousand years, so it being relevant isn't surprising to me.

[summercomfort]

But it is! Crazy. Reading Confucius helped me understand my parents. Even though they grew up in a generation that didn't read Confucius.