University of Virginia Library

Annotations to Canon VI:—

Duke Wên of Chin attacked Yüan. As he packed ten days'
food supplies, he set the time limit at ten days to his High
Officers. When ten days had elapsed, he arrived at Yüan,
but in ten days Yüan did not fall. Therefore, he ordered
them to cease hostilities and leave for home. Meanwhile, some
men coming out from the Yüan capital said: "In three more
days Yüan will fall." All the ministers and attendants also
remonstrated with him, saying: "The food of Yüan is
running low and her strength is exhausted. May Your Highness
wait longer!" In response the Duke said: "I set the
time limit to my men at ten days for the expedition. If I do
not leave, I will violate faith with my men. Taking Yüan
and thereby breaking faith, I can not bear." So saying, he
stopped the campaign and left. Hearing about this, the Yüans
said: "Such a faithful ruler they have! How can we refuse
to turn to him?" So saying, they surrendered themselves
to the Duke. The Weis, hearing about the same, said:
"Such a faithful ruler they have! How can we refuse to obey
him?" So saying, they surrendered, too. Confucius heard
about this and recorded: "That Duke Wên attacked Yüan
at the beginning but even won the submission of Wei in
the end, was because of his faithfulness."

Duke Wên asked Chi Chêng how to rescue the starvelings?
"By keeping faith," was the reply. "What shall
I keep of faith?" asked the Duke. "Keep titles of faith,
keep affairs of faith, and keep righteousness of faith![101] If
you keep titles of faith, all officials will attend to their respective
duties; the good and the bad will not override each
other; and every kind of work will not be neglected.

If you keep affairs of faith, you will not miss the times of
heaven and the hundred surnames will not make mistakes
in farming. If you keep righteousness of faith, the near
and dear will be encouraged thereby and become diligent
while the distant will turn to you for government."

Once Wu Ch`i went out, met an old friend, and invited
him to dinner. "All right. When I come back, I shall dine
with you," said the old friend. "I shall wait for you to come,"
said Wu Tzŭ, and "and then eat". The old friend did not
come when evening arrived. Wu Ch`i did not eat all evening
and waited. Next day he sent men out to invite his friend.
When the friend came, he then dined with him.

Marquis Wên of Wey once made an appointment with the
Yüs to go hunting. On the following day the weather
happened to be very windy. The attendants stopped Marquis
Wên, but he would not listen. "Nobody should break
faith," said the Marquis, "because it is very windy. I will
not break faith!" Finally he drove the carriage himself,
went to the hunting ground against the winds, and told the
Yüs to stop the hunting.

One day the wife of Tsêng Tzŭ went to the market. His
son went along with her and kept crying. "You go home,"
said the mother, "and when Mother comes home from
shopping, Mother will kill a pig for you." When she came
home from the market, Tsêng Tzŭ wanted to catch a pig and
kill it. His wife stopped him and said, "That was just a joke
with the child." "Be sure," said Tsêng Tzŭ, "children are
not supposed to be joked with. They do not possess any
inborn ideas. They depend upon their parents for learning,
and listen to their parents' teachings. Now, if you deceive
him, it means you teach him the way of deception. If the

mother deceives her son, the son will have no faith in his
mother. This is not the way to give teaching to children."
At last they killed a pig and cooked the pork for their son.

King Li of Ch`u had an alarm drum. By beating the drum
he gave the hundred surnames warnings. One day he took
wine and was very drunk and beat the drum. The people
were frightened very much. Thereupon the King sent men
to stop their fright and said to them, "I was then drunk and
playing with the attendants when I struck the drum." The
people all gave up the fright. In the course of several months,
there was a real alarm. The drum was beaten but the people
made no move. Therefore, the King changed his orders and
made the signal clear and of faith, so that the people began to
have faith in him.

Li K`uei warned the guards of the right and left gates of
the camp and said: "Be prudent and alert! The enemies
might come at dawn or at dusk to attack you." He repeated
the same over and over again. Yet the enemies never
came. Both groups of guards became tired and neglected
their duties and had no faith in Li K`uei. In the course of
several months the Ch`ins came to raid them and almost put
the whole army to rout. This is the calamity of being
faithless.

According to a different source: Li K`uei fought with the
Ch`ins and said to the guards of the left gates, "Scale the
walls quickly! The guards of the right gate have already
gone up." Then he drove to the other flank and said to the
guards of the right gate, "The left have already gone up."
The left and right guards,[102] accordingly, struggled with each
other to scale the walls. In the following year, when they

fought with the Ch`ins, the Ch`ins raided them and almost
routed the whole army. This was a calamity of being
faithless.

Once there were litigants. Tzŭ-ch`an separated them and
never allowed them to speak to each other. Then he inverted[103]
their words and told each other's argument and thereby
found the vital facts involved in the case.

Duke Ssŭ of Wei[104] once sent men out to go[105] through the
pass. There the officers made them serious troubles, wherefore
they bribed the officers with gold. The officers, accordingly,
released them. Later, Duke Ssŭ said to the officers:
"At a certain time there came certain travellers to go through
the pass. Since they gave you gold, you sent them away."
Thereby the officers were frightened very much and thought
Duke Ssŭ was clear-minded.[106]