CHAPTER 7

The chief of the Ke family sent to ask Min Tszek'een to be governor of Pe. Min Tsze- k'een said, "Decline the offer for me politely. If anyone come again to me with a second invitation, I shall be obliged to go and live on the banks of the Wăn."

6. THE QUALITIES OF TSZE-LOO, TSZE-KUNG, AND TSZE-YEW, AND THEIR COMPETENCY TO ASSIST IN GOVERNMENT. The prince is called 为政者, 'the doer of government'; his ministers and officers are styled 从政者, 'the followers of government'. 也与 and 何有 are set, the one expression against the other, the former indicating a doubt of the competency of the disciples, the latter affirming their more than competency.

7. MIN TSZE-K'REN REFUSES TO SERVE THE KE FAMILY. The tablet of Tsze-k'een (his name was 损) is now the first on the east among 'the wise ones' of the temple. He was among the foremost of the disciples. Conf. praises his filial piety, and we see here, how he could stand firm in hi virtue, and refuse the proffers of powerful but unprincipled families of his time. 使=使人来召, in the transl., and in 复 (fow, low.3d tone)我者, we must similarly understand, 复来召我者. 费, read Pe, was a place belonging to the Ke family. Its name is still preserved in 费县 in the depart. of 沂州, in Shan-tung. The Wăn stream divided Ts'e and Loo. Tsze-k'een threatens, if he should be troubled again to retreat to Ts'e, where the Ke family could not reach him.