Tsze-hsîâ asked, saying, “What is the meaning of the passage—‘The pretty dimples of her artful smile! The well-defined black and white of her eye! The plain ground for the colours?’ ”
The Master said, “The business of laying on the colours follows (the preparation of) the plain ground.”
“Ceremonies then are a subsequent thing?”
The Master said, “It is Shang who can bring out my meaning. Now I can begin to talk about the odes with him.”