Quiz created: 140830

The Analects (Normal Quiz 2)

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1. Confucius, in an often quoted line included in this reading, says that, you should
never forget the sacrifices made in the state of Jǔ 
always have a professional matchmaker arrange the marriage of your children 
not do to others what you would not wish done to yourself 
use bronze vessels in sacrificing to gods, but ceramic ones when sacrificing to ancestors 
use ceramic vessels in sacrificing to gods, but bronze ones when sacrificing to ancestors 
consider the worship of “Heaven on High” to be the responsibility of local gods 
No Answer
2. Confucius argues (or more exactly states) that the “superior man” necessarily lacks
anxiety and fear 
drinking buddies 
wealth 
influence 
mortality 
true sincerity 
gullibility 
No Answer
3. In an amusing passage, Confucius seeks to avoid contact with a certain Tiger Yáng, a member of a powerful family in Lǔ, who apparently wants to be seen in his company. In order to force Confucius to visit him, Tiger Yáng cleverly waits until Confucius is away from home and then
leaves a visiting card inviting him to a wedding 
stations a young boy on his doorstep instructed to tell Confucius that he is urgently needed by a dying relative 
sets fire to the building so he can offer Confucius shelter during the rebuilding 
sends a pig as a gift, which will require Confucius to visit him and offer thanks 
sends three “irresistibly beautiful maidens” to seduce him on his return and persuade him to visit Tiger Yáng’s house to meet their sisters 
sits on a bench in front of Confucius’ door so that the sage cannot get into the house without speaking to him 
No Answer
4. Confucius cites a proverb: “Why use an ox knife to kill a fowl?” He means by this that one should not waste fine things on people who cannot appreciate them. Does this mean he intended his teaching to be limited to select people?
Yes. It was not easy to be accepted as one of Confucius’ disciples, all of whom were very well educated. 
Yes. People who lacked an “original nature” of benevolence and sincerity could not expect to understand what he was talking about. 
No. When he cites the proverb, he is immediately reminded by a disciple that he has always argued that all people can benefit by his instruction, at which point Confucius says he was only joking by citing the proverb. 
Yes and no. Confucius was eager to teach his views to anyone from Lǔ willing to listen to him, but never to people from outside the state of Lǔ, whom he saw as potential enemies. 
No Answer
5. In this reading we see Confucius trying to decide whether or not to visit the rebel Bì Xī, who seems likely to succeed in his rebellion. One of his disciples is shocked that he would even contemplate communing with a rebel, but Confucius argues that
if Bì Xī takes over, this could be Confucius’ big chance 
rebels, when not killing people, can actually be very nice people 
he has no intention of making such a visit, but is merely interested in reasoning out the moral basis for a decision one way or the other 
he was making a joke about a bitter gourd, which the rather dense disciple has (characteristically) misunderstood 
No Answer
6. In an important discussion included in this reading, Confucius acknowledges that a virtue, pursued mindlessly, easily becomes a vice, and he gives a number of examples of virtues gone wrong in the “six becloudings”: Benevolence can degenerate into foolish simplicity; knowing can degenerate into lack of principle; sincerity can degenerate into injurious disregard of consequences; straightforwardness can degenerate into rudeness; boldness can degenerate into insubordination, and firmness can become mere recklessness. There is one and only one character trait that, following Confucius himself (of course), we can and must cultivate to prevent these distortions from occurring in ourselves, namely:
critical thinking 
automatic and loving obedience to our parents 
seeking and following good teachers 
lifelong love of learning 
pausing every day to appreciate natural beauty 
respect for ancient wisdom 
love of music 
avoiding the company of women and servants 
self-doubt 
No Answer
7. Closely similar to the “six becloudings” are a number of legitimate “hatreds” that are part of Confucius’ notion of the “superior man” in this reading. His student Duānmù Cì adds to the list, apparently with Confucius’ approval. Which of the following is NOT a legitimate object of a superior person’s contempt, in their opinion?
to make secret things public, imagining that this is straightforwardness 
to slander one’s superiors 
to imagine that courage justifies ignoring propriety 
to imagine that what one knows is a product of one’s innate wisdom rather than of diligent study 
to imagine that those who suffer have brought their misery upon themselves, if not in this life, then in a previous one 
No Answer
8. In a controversial passage, a petty official named Rú Bēi (possibly a former disciple) seeks to pay a visit to Confucius, who claims to be unable to receive him due to illness. As Rú Bēi (or his messenger) departs, Confucius strums his lute and loudly sings, apparently (according to the procursus)
in order to avoid making Rú anxious about his health 
in order to convince making Rú that he has gone mad 
in order to show Rú that he was lying to avoid contact with Rú, of whom he disapproved 
to remind everyone that it is okay to lie to avoid obnoxious and manipulative people 
because he was filled with joy at avoiding the interview 
No Answer
9. In an important and often quoted exchange, the disciple Zài Yǔ argues that elaborate mourning for three years for a parent, when one must abandon many daily activities as well as public office, is counterproductive, since it has serious economic consequences. Confucius answers that
even as parents care for an infant for three years before it can function on its own, so a child should mourn for a parent for the traditional three years 
if one does not follow tradition in family mourning, then all of one’s servants and other “little people” will think they can do as they please and society will be chaotic 
no truly superior person could make such an argument, and Zài Yǔ should be ashamed of himself 
every year he becomes more convinced of the truth of the ancient proverb that “Youth today are no damned good!” 
three years of mourning make sense only for aristocrats; ordinary people should limit their mourning to shorter periods to avoid harming the welfare of their families 
No Answer

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This consummately cool, pedagogically compelling, self-correcting,
multiple-choice quiz was produced automatically from
a simple text file of questions using D.K. Jordan's
dubiously original, but publicly accessible
Think Again Quiz Maker
of August 28, 2014.