saying, "Heaven knows me."
During a serious illness a disciple inquired if he should pray for
him, meaning the making of offerings at some temple. Confucius
answered, "I have long prayed," or "I have long been in the habit
of praying."

In letters he described himself as an "editor, not an author,"
meaning that he had revised the works of the ancients, but had
published nothing of his own. Out of their poetry he culled three
hundred odes and declared that "purity of thought" might be stamped on
the whole collection. Into a confused mass of traditional ceremonies
be brought something like order, making the Chinese (if a trifle too
ceremonious) the politest people on earth. Out of their myths and
chronicles he extracted a trustworthy history, and by his treatment
of vice he made princes tremble, lest their heads should be exposed
on the gibbet of history. He gave much time to editing the music
of the ancients, but his work in that line has perished. This,
however, cannot be regarded as a very great loss, in view of the rude
condition in which Chinese music is still found. However deficient
his knowledge of the art, his passion for music was extraordinary.
After hearing a fine performance "he was unable for
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three months to enjoy his food." A fifth task was the editing of
the _Yih-King_,[*] the book of divination compiled by Wen-wang.
How thoroughly he believed in it is apparent from his saying, "Should
it please Heaven to grant me five or ten years to study this book,
I would not be in danger of falling into great errors." He meant
that he would then be able to shape his conduct by the calculation
of chances.

[Footnote *: This and the preceding are the Five Classics, which,
like the five books of Moses, lie at the root of a nation's religion
and learning.]

Great as were his labours in laying the foundation of literary
culture, the impression made by his personal intercourse and by
his collected sayings has been ten-fold more influential. They form
the substance of the Four Books which, from a similar numerical
coincidence, the Chinese are fond of comparing with our Four Gospels.
Confucius certainly gives the Golden Rule as the essence of his
teaching. True, he puts it in a negative form, "Do not unto others
what you would not have them do to you"; but he also says, "My
doctrine is comprehended in two words, _chung_ and _shu_."
The former denotes fidelity; the latter signifies putting oneself
in the plac