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Confucianism -> Liji -> Pin Yi -> 12

子貢孔子:「君子Zi-gong asked Confucius, saying, 'Allow me to ask the reason why the superior man sets a high value on jade, and but little on soapstone?
Is it because jade is rare, and the soapstone plentiful?
孔子:「Confucius replied, 'It is not because the soapstone is plentiful that he thinks but little of it, and because jade is rare that he sets a high value on it.
君子天下 Anciently superior men found the likeness of all excellent qualities in jade. Soft, smooth, and glossy, it appeared to them like benevolence; fine, compact, and strong - like intelligence; angular, but not sharp and cutting - like righteousness; hanging down (in beads) as if it would fall to the ground - like (the humility of) propriety; when struck, yielding a note, clear and prolonged, yet terminating abruptly - like music; its flaws not concealing its beauty, nor its beauty concealing its flaws - like loyalty; with an internal radiance issuing from it on every side - like good faith; bright as a brilliant rainbow - like heaven; exquisite and mysterious, appearing in the hills and streams - like the earth; standing out conspicuous in the symbols of rank - like virtue; esteemed by all under the sky, - like the path of truth and duty. As is said in the ode (I, xi, ode 3, 1), "Such my lord's car.
:『君子。』He rises in my mind, Lovely and bland, like jade of richest kind.
君子。」"


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