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Analect Ten

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[1-10] 子禽問於子貢曰。夫子至於是邦也、必聞其政、求之與 抑與之與 。子貢曰。夫子溫、良、恭、儉、讓以得之。夫子之求之也、其諸異乎人之求之與

 

[1:10] Zi Qin asked Zi Gong: “When our teacher (Confucius) arrives in any country, he invariably finds out everything about its government. Does he seek this information? Or is it given to him?”

 

Zi Gong said, “Our teacher gets it by being cordial, upright, courteous, frugal, and humble. His way of getting information is quite different from that of other men.”

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Indeed it is. Some of these courtly contexts are more than just a bit removed from anything I've ever experienced.

 

That being said, this is the thread in which I should have posted the wu wei video I posted in another. It fits here so perfectly: he's in a place where he knows no one, lives a simple and respectable life among them, and is inevitably granted very intimate details about the inner workings of their government. I'm wondering if there could be an allegorical reading to this?

 

Since I'm not too concerned about government, I'd substitute something else. But I really like his approach. And I agree, it works with anything.

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