Zigong (子貢)
A follower of Confucius, personal name Ci (賜), who often questions the Master in the Analects.
Sayings on learning, friends and family
Confucius and his followers, Analects (Lunyu), in the Chinese text of James Legge, The Chinese Classics, vol. 1 (Oxford, 1893) · about 400 BCE (sayings of Confucius, who died in 479 BCE, collected after his death)
子貢問君子、子曰、先行其言、而後從之。
Zigong asked about the gentleman. The Master said: He first carries out what he says, and only then speaks in line with it.
子貢曰、我不欲人之加諸我也、吾亦欲無加諸人。子曰、賜也、非爾所及也。
Zigong said: What I do not want others to do to me, I likewise want to avoid doing to them. The Master said: Ci, that is beyond your reach.
子貢曰、夫子之文章、可得而聞也、夫子之言性與天道、不可得而聞也。
Zigong said: What the Master shows of his learning and manners we are able to hear; but what he says about human nature and the course of Heaven we are not able to hear.
子貢問為仁。子曰、工欲善其事、必先利其器、居是邦也、事其大夫之賢者、友其士之仁者。
Zigong asked how to practice goodness. The Master said: A craftsman who wants his work to go well must first sharpen his tools. When you live in a state, serve the worthiest of its high officials and befriend the good among its scholars.
子貢問曰、有一言、而可以終身行之者乎。子曰、其恕乎、己所不欲、勿施於人。
Zigong asked, Is there one word a person can follow all his life? The Master said: Perhaps it is consideration for others: what you yourself do not want, do not do to others.
子曰、予欲無言。子貢曰、子如不言、則小子何述焉。子曰、天何言哉、四時行焉、百物生焉、天何言哉。
The Master said: I wish to say nothing. Zigong said: If you do not speak, Master, what will we, your pupils, have to pass on? The Master said: Does Heaven speak? The four seasons run their course; all creatures grow. Does Heaven speak?