Selected quad for the lemma: duty_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
duty_n	husband_n	perform_v	wife_n	3,838	5	7.4579	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A34265	The morals of Confucius, a Chinese philosopher who flourished above five hundred years before the coming of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ : being one of the most choicest pieces of learning remaining of that nation.; Confucius Sinarum philosophus. English. Selections	Confucius.; Intorcetta, Prospero, 1626-1696.; Confucius. Lun yu. English. Selections. 1691.	1691 (1691)	Wing C5806; ESTC R23060	48,874	160

being impossible to be repair'd any other way than by consulting the most Aged Persons that might have preserv'd any Idea's thereof it is not to be question'd that the Work is at present exceedingly defective even as the Interpr●ters themselves acknowledge There are indeed several things herein wanting and a great many others added which never were in Confucius's Copies However in this whole Volume such as it now is he Treats of the Rites as well Sacred as Prophane of all sorts of Duties such as were practis'd in the time of the three Families of the Princes Hia Xa● and Che● but especially of that which Reign'd in Confucius's time These Duties are those of Parents to their Children those of Children to their Parents the Duties of Husband and Wife those of Friends those which respect Hospitality and those which are necessary to be perform'd at home or abroad or at Feasts He there discourses likewise of the Vessels of the Sacrifices of the Victims that were to be offer'd up unto Heaven o● the Temples to be chosen for that end of the respect we ought to have for the Dead and of their Obsequies or Funeral Rites In a word he therein Treats of the Liberal Arts especially of Musick of the Military Art of the way of lancing a Javelin and guiding a Chariot Behold in brief what the five Volumes contain The four Books the three first o● which are Confucius's Books whereof we design to speak do comprehend the whole Philosophy of the Chineses at least whatever this Philosophy has most curious and considerable They explain and more clearly illustrate what is writ in the five Volumes and although the Authority of the five Volumes be infinitely greater by reason of their Antiquity than that of the ●our Volumes yet the four Volumes exceed it for the Advantage that may be receiv'd therefrom Indeed besides that the Chineses do thence derive their Principal Oracles and what they believe to be eternal Verities The L●terati which are Philosophers that follow Confucius's Doctrine and which have in their own hands all the Employments of the Nation cannot arrive at the degree of a Philosopher and consequently to be Mandorims or Magistrates without a great Knowledge of these four Books They are in truth under an Obligation to know one of the five Volumes which they please to choose according to their Fancy and Inclination But as for the ●our Books they are indispensably oblig'd to know them all four by heart and throughly to understand them The principal Reasons of which are as follow The first is That Confucius and Memcius who writ the fourth Book have Collected what is best and most exquisite in the Works of the Ancients The second is That they have added several good things to the Discoveries and Thoughts of their Ancestors The third That Confucius and Memcius propose their Doctrine after a clearer and politer Method than was formerly done In fine 't is because that Confucius and Memcius have in the four Books avoided the dull and harsh style of the Ancients and that by a smooth style although without Pride and Arrogancy they have added Ornaments to the naked Simplicity of the Golden Age. We have nothing to say concerning the Fourth Book because that this Work of Memcius has not as yet appear'd in Europe but before we proceed to speak of Confucius it is necessary to publish the Merit of this Philosopher together with the most remarkable Passages of his Life Confucius was Born 551 Years before the coming of Jesus Christ. He was of a most Noble Extraction for not to mention his Mother who was of an Illustrious Birth his Father who had been advanc'd to the first and chiefest Offices of the Empire was descended from the last Emperor of the second Family Dispositions to Virtue appearing sometimes in the tenderest Years Confucius at six Years old discovered nothing of a Child All his ways were Manly At the Age of Fifteen Years he apply'd himself to the Reading of the Ancients and having selected those which were most esteemed and which himself judg'd the best he thence extracted the most excellent Instructions with a design first to profit himself thereby to make them the Rules of his own Conduct and afterwards to propose them to others At Twenty Years old he Married and had a Son named Peyu who died at Fifty He was the only Child he had but his Race extinguish'd not he had a Grandson called Cusu that was an Honour to his Ancestors Cusu apply'd himself to Philosophy he made Commentaries on his Grandfather's Books was advanc'd to the highest Dignities and his House is so well supported and his Posterity have always been so considerable both for their Promotions and Opulency that this Family is at present one of the most Illustrious in China Confucius exercis'd the Magistracy at divers places with very good Success and with a great Reputation His greatest Aim being the Publick Good and the Propagation of his Doctrine he ambiciously sought not after Vain-glory in these sorts of Employs Insomuch that when he accomplish'd not his end when he saw himself frustrated in the hopes he had of being enabled more easily to diffuse his Lights from an high Place he descended and renounc'd the Office of a Magistrate This Philosopher had Three thousand Disciples among which there were Five hundred that manag'd the most Eminent Charges in several Kingdoms and Seventy two whose Virtue a●d Knowledge was so extraordinary that the Annals have preserv'd their Names Sirnames and the Names of their Country to Posterity He divided his Doctrine into four Parts so that Confucius's School was compos'd of four Orders of Disciples Those of the first Order applied themselves to cultivate Virtue and thereby to impress strong Dispositions in their Heart and Mind Those of the second Order addicted themselves to the Art of Ratiocination and Rhetorick The third studied Politicks And the Business and Employment of the fourth Order was to write in a smooth and neat style what concern'd Morality Amongst these Seventy two Disciples there were Ten that signalized themselves and whose Names and Wri●ings are in great Veneration Confucius throughout his Doctrine had no other intent than to dissipate the Mists of the Mind to extirpate Vice and re-establish that Integrity which he affirm'd to have been a Present from Heaven And the more easily to attain this end he exhorted all those that heard his Instructions to obey Heaven to fear and serve it to love his Neighbour as himself to conquer and submit his Passions unto Reason to do nothing say nothing nor think nothing contrary to it And what was more remarkable he recommended nothing to others either in Writing or by word of Mouth which he did not first practise himself His Disciples also had for him a Veneration so extraordinary that they sometimes made no scruple to pay him those Honors which were us'd to be render'd to those only that sat upon the Throne An Example of which