1 Ana. XIX. xxiii.
2 Ana. XIX. xxiv.
3 Ana. XIX. xxv.


opinion by the concurring testimony of Tsai Wo, Tsze-kung, and Yu
Zo, who all had wisdom, he thought, sufficient to know their
master. Tsai Wo's opinion was, 'According to my view of our
master, he is far superior to Yao and Shun.' Tsze-kung said, 'By
viewing the ceremonial ordinances of a prince, we know the
character of his government. By hearing his music, we know the
character of his virtue. From the distance of a hundred ages after,
I can arrange, according to their merits, the kings of those
hundred ages;-- not one of them can escape me. From the birth of
mankind till now, there has never been another like our master.'
Yu Zo said, 'Is it only among men that it is so? There is the ch'i-
lin among quadrupeds; the fung-hwang among birds; the T'ai
mountain among mounds and ant-hills; and rivers and seas among
rainpools. Though different in degree, they are the same in kind.
So the sages among mankind are also the same in kind. But they
stand out from their fellows, and rise above the level; and from
the birth of mankind till now, there never has been one so
complete as Confucius [1].' I will not indulge in farther
illustration. The judgment of the sage's disciples, of Tsze-sze,
and of Mencius, has been unchallenged by the mass of the scholars
of China. Doubtless it pleases them to bow down at the shrine of
the Sage, for their profession of literature is thereby glorified. A
reflection of the honour done to him falls upon themselves. And
the powers that be, and the multitudes of the people, fall in with
the judgment. Confucius is thus, in the empire of China, the one