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THE BURIAL OF CONFUCIUS

A certain man travelled from afar to witness the funeral obsequies of Confucius. He stayed at the house of Tzu-hsia, who observed, " A sage conducting a funeral is one thing : a sage's funeral is another thing. What did you expect to see? Do you not remember that our Master once said, ' Some persons pile up earth into square, others into long-shaped tumuli. Some build spacious mausolea, others content themselves with small axe-shaped heaps. I prefer the heaps.' He meant what we call horse-neck heaps. So we have given him only a few handfuls of earth, and he is buried. Is not this as he would have wished it himself? "
The Teachings of Confucius - Special Edition

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