Source: History of the Analects of Confucius
Selected passages:
If so, Xiu De is far away, and it is safe to come. Today is a matter of asking for help. People from afar can't come because they don't accept it. The country is falling apart and can't keep it, so they fight at home. I'm afraid the internal distress is not in Zhuan Xu, but in Xiao Qiang.
Translation:
If people from far away don't submit in this way, we should implement the politics of benevolence, righteousness, propriety and music to attract them. Let them live in peace when they come to surrender. Now, Zhong You and Ran ask for help, but people who come from afar will not surrender but cannot attract them; The country is falling apart, but it cannot be preserved; Instead, it plans to use force at home. I'm afraid Ji Sun's worry is not in the shackles, but in his own palace wall.
Text interpretation
This passage reflects Confucius' political view of benevolent governance, teaching and educating people by condemning Ji's attack on small countries and criticizing and educating students.
There are three paragraphs in all. First of all, Confucius accused his student Ran Qiu, the interior minister of Ji's family, of not dissuading him, and put forward positive arguments. Refute his shirking responsibility, explain his way of being a minister, and prove his words wrong with clever metaphors; Then take advantage of the situation to investigate and deal with its excessive behavior, harsh words, sharp edges and sharp edges. At the end of the article, the analysis is detailed, convincing and amiable. This article is one of the few in The Analects. Irregular sentence patterns and good use of metaphors make people think.