| Tan Gong I: |
Bo-gao died in Wei, and news of the event was sent to Confucius. He said, 'Where shall I wail for him? For brethren, I wail in the ancestral temple; for a friend of my father, outside the gate of the temple; for a teacher, in my chamber; for a friend, outside the door of the chamber; for an acquaintance, in the open country, (some distance off). (To wail) in the open country would in this case be too slight (an expression of grief), and to do so in the bed-chamber would be too great a one. But it was by Ci that he was introduced to me. I will wail for him in Ci's.' Accordingly he ordered Zi-gong to act as presiding mourner on the occasion, saying to him, 'Bow to those who come because you have a wailing in your house, but do not bow to those who come (simply) because they knew Bo-gao.' |
