| Tan Gong I: |
When Zi-shang's mother died, and he did not perform any mourning rites for her, the disciples of (his father) Zi-si asked him, saying, 'Did your predecessor, the superior man, observe mourning for his divorced mother?' 'Yes,' was the reply. (And the disciples went on), 'Why do you not make Bai also observe the mourning rites (for his mother)?' Zi-si said, 'My progenitor, a superior man, never failed in pursuing the right path. When a generous course was possible, he took it and behaved generously; and when it was proper to restrain his generosity, he restrained it. But how can I attain to that? While she was my wife, she was Bai's mother; but when she ceased to be my wife, she was no longer his mother.' It was in this way that the Kong family came not to observe mourning for a divorced mother; the practice began from Zi-si. |
