The ancient sages did not limit themselves to particular teachers. Confucius had learned from people like Tanzi2, Changhong3, Shixiang4, and Laodan5, who were not as virtuous and talented as Confucius.

Confucius said "If three men are walking together, one of them is bound to be good enough to be my teacher."A student is not necessarily inferior to his teacher, nor does a teacher necessarily be more virtuous and talented than his student. The real fact is that one might have learned the doctrine earlier than the other, or might be a master in his own special field.

Pan, the son of Li"s family, who is only seventeen years old, loves to study Chinese classics of the Qin and Han dynasties, and masters the six jing6 and their annotations. He does not follow conventions and is willing to learn from me. I appreciate his ability to act in accordance with the old tradition of learning. Therefore I dedicate this piece to him.