O Little Ones!

Book fifteen tells a lot of separate stories with separate meanings, it is the only way to look at it that makes sense. Most of these stories ii liked very much, they are very true and can totally be adapted for life. For example, Confucius explains that even gentlemen have problems, but they don't let their problems overwhelm them. This inspires me to be a gentlemen, to at least pick up that habit of controlling my own life and not letting exterior things control me. It also says something about judging a person based on what you, not others, think- regardless if it is good or bad. I think this distinction is very important to make, because we hear everywhere the 'don't judge a book by its cover'. We always assume that we are judging it based on wrongness, but no one ever points out that it's exactly the same with judging it as good from the outside. It doesn't work.

In Book seventeen we hear more still about the Odes. We have no idea what they are yet they keep coming up again and again the text, like here where The Master asks, 'Little Ones, why do none of you learn the Odes?' (17:9) (I thoroughly enjoy the use of 'Little Ones') He talks about how The Odes are great because they teach you how to act correctly and they educate you about the trees and birds- here we go again with the culture. This man has got a fascination! - But aren't told what the Odes are.

In another part he complains about having to speak so much, after all, all he ever does is talk, and when asked how he could direct his 'Little Ones' without speaking he answers: 'What does Heaven ever say? Yet the four seasons are put in motion by it and the myriad creatures receive their life from it. What does Heaven ever say?' I say that this is a great comeback. It makes me think about how this all really works: everything works perfectly in sync yet there is nothing guiding it. Earth truly is a miracle. Plus, that was a big burn to the person who asked, Burn!

In Book eighteen Confucius confronts himself with a question: Why does he spend his time teaching all of this to the bad men of today? And he says, 'If the Way were realized in the world, then I would not need to change anything.' (18:6) this makes me kind of depressed because it means that we are so bad that we need to be saved, but hundreds of years later we are even worse than we were before.