Again he said, "Faults in a superior man are like eclipses of the sun or
moon: when he is guilty of a trespass men all see it; and when he is
himself again, all look up to him."

Kung-sun Ch'an of Wei inquired of Tsz-kung how Confucius acquired his
learning.

Tsz-kung replied, "The teachings of Wan and Wu have not yet fallen to
the ground. They exist in men. Worthy and wise men have the more
important of these stored up in their minds; and others, who are not
such, store up the less important of them; and as no one is thus without
the teachings of Wan and Wu, how should our Master not have learned? And
moreover what permanent preceptor could he have?"

Shuh-sun Wu-shuh, addressing the high officials at the Court, remarked
that Tsz-kung was a greater worthy than Confucius.

Tsz-fuh King-pih went and informed Tsz-kung of this remark.

Tsz-kung said, "Take by way of comparison the walls outside our houses.
My wall is shoulder-high, and you may look over it and see what the
house and its contents are worth. My Master's wall is tens of feet high,
and unless you should effect an entrance by the door, you would fail to
behold the beauty of the ancestral hall and the rich array of all its
officers. And they who effect an entrance by the door, methinks, are
few! Was it not, however, just like him--that remark of the Chief?"

Shuh-sun Wu-shuh had been casting a slur on the character of Confucius.