Sima Xinyu
Zi Zhang asked about politics, and the Master said, "Teacher! Did I tell you before? A gentleman is clear about rites and music, and he only needs to raise and arrange them." Zi Zhang asked again. The Master said, "Teacher, do you think it is necessary to spread the table and the banquet, rise and fall, and offer wine and toast, and then it can be called rites? Do you think it is necessary to carry out the oracle, play the feather flute, and make the bells and drums, and then it can be called music? Speaking and practicing is rite. Acting and enjoying it is music. A gentleman strives for these two things and stands facing south, and this is how the world is peaceful. When the princes came to court, all things were in obedience, and all officials dared not to serve. Where ritual flourishes, the people are governed; where ritual is abolished, the people are in chaos. In a room with a clever eye, there is an outer corner, a seat has upper and lower parts, a car has left and right parts, a person who walks has a following, and a person who stands has an order. This is the ancient meaning. If there is no outer corner in a room, it will be in chaos. If there is no upper and lower part in a seat, it will be in chaos on the seat. If there is no left and right part in a car, it will be in chaos on the car. If there is no following person who walks, it will be in chaos on the road. If there is no order in standing, it will be in chaos in the position. In the past, the sage emperors and wise princes distinguished between the noble and the humble, the old and the young, the near and far, the male and the female, the outside and the inside, and no one dared to cross the road. They all came out from this road. "The three sons, after hearing this from the Master, were as clear as if they had just opened their eyes.
