| Asking About Shen: |
Someone asked about the difficult and easy aspects of the Classics.
Yangzi said: Survival and loss.
The other did not understand.
Yangzi said: If the text completely survives, then it is easy. If parts of it are lost, then it is difficult. Was Ji Zha of Yanling's knowledge of music not almost perfect? But if music had been abandoned, even Zha could not have attained such an understanding of it. If it is like the ritual and music of the Zhou, for which almost everything is preserved, then everything can be performed without difficulty. If it is like the ritual and music of the Qin, for which almost nothing is preserved, then everything can only be performed with difficulty. |
