The Master discusses with his disciples and unveil his preoccupations with society. Tr. Legge (en), Lau (en) and Couvreur (fr).
The scarcity of men of talent, and praise of the house of Châu.
1. Shun had five ministers, and the empire was well governed.
2. King Wû said, "I have ten able ministers."
3. Confucius said, "Is not the saying that talents are difficult to find, true? Only when the dynasties of T'ang and Yü met, were they more abundant than in this of Châu, yet there was a woman among them. The able ministers were no more than nine men.
4. "King Wan possessed two of the three parts of the empire, and with those he served the dynasty of Yin. The virtue of the house of Châu may be said to have reached the highest point indeed."
Legge VIII.20.
Shun had five officials and the Empire was well governed. King Wu said, 'I have ten capable officials.'
Confucius commented, 'How true it is that talent is difficult to find! The period of T'ang and Yu was rich in talent. With a woman amongst them, there were, in fact, only nine. The Chou continued to serve the Yin when it was in possession of tw0-thirds of the Empire. Its virtue can be said to have been the highest.'
Lau [8:20]
Chouenn n'avait que cinq ministres d'État, et l'empire était bien gouverné. Le roi Ou1 disait : « Je n'ai que dix ministres2. »
Confucius ajoute : « Les hommes de talent sont rares, n'est-il pas vrai ? L'époque de Iao et de Chouenn a été plus florissante que la nôtre3. Cependant elle ne paraît pas l'emporter par le nombre des hommes de talent [car Chouenn n'a trouvé que cinq ministres capables] ; le roi Ou n'a trouvé que neuf hommes, puisque l'un des dix était une femme. Posséder les deux tiers de l'empire, et employer sa puissance au service de la dynastie des [Chang-]In, ce fut la Vertu [suprême] des Tcheou ; ce mérite a été très grand. »
Couvreur VIII.20.
The Analects of Confucius – Lun Yu VIII. 20. (208) – Chinese off/on – Français/English
Alias the Lunyu, the Lun Yü, the Analects, les Entretiens du maître avec ses disciples.
The Book of Odes, The Analects, Great Learning, Doctrine of the Mean, Three-characters book, The Book of Changes, The Way and its Power, 300 Tang Poems, The Art of War, Thirty-Six Strategies
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