Wu-chung, keeping possession of Fang, asked of the duke of Lu to appoint a successor to him in his family. Although it may be said that he was not using force with his sovereign, I believe he was."
The Master said, "The duke Wan of Tsin was crafty and not upright. The duke Hwan of Ch’i was upright and not crafty."Tsze-lu said, "The Duke Hwan caused his brother Chiu to be killed, when Shao Hu died, with his master, but Kwan Chung did not die. May not I say that he was wanting in virtue?"The Master said, "The Duke Hwan assembled all the princes together, and that not with weapons of war and chariots:-it was all through the influence of Kwan Chung. Whose beneficence was like his? Whose beneficence was like his?"
Tsze-kung said, "Kwan Chung, I apprehend was wanting in virtue. When the Duke Hwan caused his brother Chiu to be killed, Kwan Chung was not able to die with him. Moreover, he became prime minister to Hwan."
The Master said, "Kwan Chung acted as prime minister to the Duke Hwan made him leader of all the princes, and united and rectified the whole kingdom. Down to the present day, the people enjoy the gifts which he conferred. But for Kwan Chung, we should now be wearing our hair unbound, and the lappets of our coats buttoning on the left side.
"Will you require from him the small fidelity of common men and common women, who would commit suicide in a stream or ditch, no one knowing anything about them?"
The great officer, Hsien, who had been family minister to Kung-shu Wan, ascended to the prince’s court in company with Wan.The Master, having heard of it, said, "He deserved to be considered WAN (the accomplished)."
The Master was speaking about the unprincipled course of the duke Ling of Weil when Ch’i K’ang said, "Since he is of such a character, how is it he does not lose his state?"
Confucius said, "The Chung-shu Yu has the superintendence of his guests and of strangers; the litanist, T’o, has the management of his ancestral temple; and Wang-sun Chia
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