7. Shu Er | Transmission

Translation: Confucius said, “I transmit rather than invent; I trust in and cherish the ways of antiquity. I privately compare myself to Old Peng.”

Reading note: “Transmit” means preserving and explaining an inherited tradition, while “invent” means establishing something new. The comparison with Old Peng underscores Confucius’s respect for antiquity.

Translation: Confucius said, “To retain knowledge quietly, to learn without ever feeling satisfied, and to teach others without growing weary—which of these can I claim to possess?”

Reading note: Here “retain” means keeping what one learns firmly in mind. The self-question is modest, while presenting attentive learning and patient teaching as lifelong disciplines.

Translation: Confucius said, “That virtue goes uncultivated, that learning goes undiscussed, that I hear what is right yet cannot move toward it, and that I cannot correct what is wrong in myself—these are my worries.”

Reading note: “Move toward it” means turning oneself toward what is right and acting accordingly. The concern is the failure to turn understanding into moral growth and self-correction.

Translation: When Confucius was at leisure, his bearing was relaxed and composed, and his expression was cheerful and natural.

Reading note: The paired descriptions convey ease of body and warmth of manner. The passage portrays an unforced serenity in Confucius’s private life.

Translation: Confucius said, “How greatly I have declined! It has been so long since I last dreamed of the Duke of Zhou.”

Reading note: The Duke of Zhou embodied for Confucius the sages and ritual order of early Zhou. No longer dreaming of him expresses both advancing age and sorrow that Confucius’s ideals remained unrealized.

Translation: Confucius said, “Set your purpose on the Way, take virtue as your foundation, rely on humaneness, and range freely through the arts.”

Reading note: The sequence moves from aspiration to moral grounding and humane conduct. “The arts” conventionally refers to the six cultivated disciplines, and “range freely” suggests practiced ease rather than narrow utility.

Translation: Confucius said, “From anyone who came on his own with so much as a bundle of dried meat, I never withheld instruction.”

Reading note: A bundle of dried meat is commonly understood as a modest gift offered on becoming a pupil. The point is that sincere willingness to learn, not wealth, opened the way to instruction.

Translation: Confucius said, “I do not enlighten someone until he has struggled to understand; I do not prompt him until he is eager to speak but cannot find the words. If I show him one corner and he cannot infer the other three, I do not repeat the lesson.”

Reading note: Teaching begins when the learner’s own effort has reached a genuine impasse. The learner must then respond actively and extend one example to related cases.

Translation: When the Master ate beside someone in mourning, he never ate his fill.

Reading note: In the presence of a bereaved person, Confucius restrained his appetite out of sympathy and respect for grief.

Translation: On any day when the Master had wept, he did not sing.

Reading note: Mourning was not to be casually mixed with merriment. The saying shows both emotional sincerity and ritual restraint.

Translation: The Master said to Yan Yuan, “When employed, to put the Way into practice; when set aside, to keep it in reserve—perhaps only you and I can do this.” Zilu asked, “If you were to command the three armies, whom would you take with you?” The Master replied, “I would not take someone who fights a tiger barehanded, crosses a river on foot, and dies without regret. I would take someone who approaches a task with caution, plans well, and brings it to completion.”

Reading note: Acting or withdrawing must both accord with principle. Confucius rejects reckless courage in military affairs and values caution, judgment, and effective planning.

Translation: The Master said, “If wealth could be rightly pursued, I would do even the lowly work of an attendant holding a whip. If it cannot be pursued that way, I will follow what I love.”

Reading note: Confucius does not reject wealth outright; the issue is whether it can be gained justly. When wealth conflicts with principle, he chooses his commitment to the Way.

Translation: The matters the Master treated with special care were ritual fasting, war, and illness.

Reading note: “Ritual fasting” means the purification observed before sacrifice. These three matters concern reverence, the lives of many, and human vulnerability, so none permits carelessness.

Translation: While in Qi, the Master heard the Shao music and for three months did not notice the taste of meat. He said, “I never imagined that music could reach such perfection!”

Reading note: Shao was traditionally associated with the sage-ruler Shun. The loss of interest in flavor conveys how completely Confucius was absorbed in the music’s beauty.

Translation: Ran You asked, “Will the Master support the ruler of Wei?” Zigong said, “Very well; I shall ask him.” He went in and asked, “What kind of men were Boyi and Shuqi?” The Master replied, “Worthy men of antiquity.” “Did they harbor resentment?” “They sought benevolence and attained benevolence—what cause had they for resentment?” Zigong came out and said, “The Master will not support him.”

Reading note: Rather than ask directly about current politics, Zigong tests Confucius’s position through Boyi and Shuqi, remembered for yielding power to preserve principle. From the answer, he infers that Confucius will not endorse the ruler of Wei.

Translation: The Master said, “Eating coarse food, drinking water, and resting my head on a bent arm—joy can still be found in these. Wealth and rank gained through injustice are to me like drifting clouds.”

Reading note: A simple life does not prevent inward joy. The image of drifting clouds makes unjust wealth and status seem insubstantial and unworthy of any sacrifice of principle.

Translation: Confucius said, “If I were granted several more years, so that at fifty I could devote myself to studying the Changes, I might then avoid serious errors.”

Reading note: Confucius links freedom from major mistakes to sustained study rather than inborn knowledge; the Changes stands here as a classic demanding deep reflection.

Translation: On the occasions when Confucius used the standard speech—reciting the Songs, discussing the Documents, and conducting rites—he always spoke in that standard form.

Reading note: “Standard speech” refers to a recognized formal language or pronunciation of the time. Shared usage mattered in transmitting the classics and carrying out ritual.

Translation: The Lord of Ye asked Zilu what Confucius was like, but Zilu gave no answer. Confucius said, “Why did you not say: He is the sort of man who, when intent on a task, forgets to eat; who in his joy forgets his worries; and who does not notice that old age is approaching—that is all.”

Reading note: Confucius defines himself not by rank or reputation but by lifelong dedication, the joy found in learning, and an absorption so complete that age recedes from mind.

Translation: Confucius said, “I am not one who possessed knowledge from birth. I cherish what has come down from antiquity and diligently seek to understand it.”

Reading note: Valuing antiquity does not mean uncritical imitation. The emphasis falls on active, earnest inquiry as the source of knowledge.

Translation: Confucius did not speak of strange phenomena, feats of force, disorder, or spirits.

Reading note: The four subjects mark what Confucius generally kept outside his teaching, whose center was human conduct, ethical judgment, and matters open to practice.

Translation: Confucius said, “When several people walk together, there is surely someone among them from whom I can learn. I choose what is good in them and follow it; when I see what is not good, I correct it in myself.”

Reading note: Every companion can become a source of learning: good conduct offers a model, while bad conduct prompts self-examination.

Translation: Confucius said, “Heaven has endowed me with this moral calling; what can Huan Tui do to me?”

Reading note: Faced with Huan Tui’s threat, Confucius steadies himself through confidence in his virtue and mission. The words express courage under danger, not ignorance of it.

Translation: Confucius said, “My friends, do you think I conceal something from you? I conceal nothing from you. There is nothing I do without sharing it with you, my friends. That is the kind of man I, Qiu, am.”

Reading note: Confucius teaches through everyday conduct as well as words. His claim to conceal nothing presents a candid teacher whose whole practice is open to his students.

Translation: The Master taught in four areas: cultural learning, conduct, conscientious devotion, and trustworthiness.

Reading note: “Cultural learning” points chiefly to texts and inherited knowledge, while conduct, devotion, and trustworthiness concern character in practice. The saying presents learning and moral formation as inseparable.

Translation: Confucius said, “I have no hope of meeting a sage; if I can meet a true gentleman, that will suffice.” He also said, “I have no hope of meeting a truly good person; if I can meet someone of constancy, that will suffice. To have nothing yet pretend to possess, to be empty yet pretend to be full, and to be in straitened circumstances yet pretend to live at ease—it is hard for such a person to remain constant.”

Reading note: The movement from sagehood and perfect goodness to the gentleman and the constant person stresses attainable, durable character. The three forms of pretense show how self-deception undermines moral steadiness.

Translation: When Confucius fished, he did not use a large net to sweep up a whole school; when he hunted birds with a corded arrow, he did not shoot at birds settled for the night.

Reading note: The point is restraint in taking life and resources: he neither sought an indiscriminate catch nor took advantage of creatures at rest.

Translation: Confucius said, “There may be people who create claims without knowing the facts, but I do not do that. Hear much, choose what is good in it, and follow it; observe much and retain it in memory—this is the next-best way of attaining knowledge.”

Reading note: “Create” here suggests putting forward something without adequate grounds, while “retain” means committing observations to memory. Confucius commends careful selection and accumulation over unsupported invention.

Translation: The people of Huxiang were difficult to speak with. When a boy from there was admitted to see Confucius, the disciples were perplexed. Confucius said, “I accept his coming forward; I do not endorse his falling back. Why be so severe? When someone cleanses himself and comes forward, I accept him for being clean now; I do not make myself responsible for his past.”

Reading note: Huxiang had a reputation for being unreceptive, though the exact circumstances are uncertain. Confucius judges the visitor’s present effort to improve rather than closing the way forward because of origin or past conduct.

Translation: Confucius said, “Is humaneness really far away? If I truly desire humaneness, humaneness is here.”

Reading note: The saying locates the beginning of humane conduct in one’s present resolve and action. Humaneness is not a remote external prize, though genuinely desiring it implies sustained moral effort.

Translation: The Minister of Justice of Chen asked, “Did Duke Zhao understand ritual propriety?” Confucius replied, “He did.” After Confucius withdrew, the minister bowed to Wuma Qi and invited him forward. He said, “I have heard that a gentleman is not partisan. Is a gentleman partisan after all? The ruler took a wife from Wu, whose ruling house bore the same clan name as his own, and called her Wu Mengzi. If this ruler understood ritual propriety, who does not?” Wuma Qi reported this to Confucius. Confucius said, “How fortunate I, Qiu, am: whenever I make a mistake, others are sure to recognize it.”

Reading note: Marriage between people of the same clan name violated the ritual norms of the time, and the altered title obscured that fact. Confucius does not defend himself; he treats criticism as a chance for correction. The text does not state why he first answered that the duke knew ritual.

Translation: When Confucius sang with others and heard someone sing well, he always asked the person to repeat the song; only then did he join in harmony.

Reading note: The brief scene shows attentive appreciation before participation. It also reflects Confucius’s readiness to learn from another person’s accomplishment.

Translation: Confucius said, “In knowledge of the cultural tradition, I am perhaps much like others. But as for personally living the way of a gentleman, I have yet to attain it.”

Reading note: “Cultural tradition” refers broadly to learning embodied in texts, rites, and music, while “personally living” stresses practice. Confucius modestly distinguishes knowing the Way from embodying it.

Translation: Confucius said, “As for being a sage or humane, how would I dare claim that? I can only say that I pursue these without weariness and teach others without fatigue—that is all.” Gongxi Hua said, “Yet this is precisely what we disciples are unable to learn.”

Reading note: Confucius declines the titles of sagehood and humaneness, claiming only perseverance in cultivation and teaching. Gongxi Hua observes that this very constancy is the hardest part to emulate.

Translation: Confucius became gravely ill, and Zilu asked to offer prayers for him. Confucius said, “Is there such a practice?” Zilu replied, “There is. A prayer text says, ‘We pray for you to the spirits above and below.’” Confucius said, “I, Qiu, have been praying for a long time.”

Reading note: His final remark suggests that a life consistently aligned with the Way is itself a continuing prayer, not something begun only in illness. The point is constancy of conduct, rather than a simple rejection of ritual prayer.

Translation: Confucius said, “Extravagance leads to arrogance; frugality can lead to plainness. Rather than be arrogant, it is better to be plain.”

Reading note: The contrast is between two possible excesses: display that violates modesty and thrift that may seem unsophisticated. Confucius regards the latter as the less damaging departure from proper conduct.

Translation: Confucius said, “The gentleman is open and at ease; the petty person is continually troubled and anxious.”

Reading note: The paired phrases contrast spacious composure with persistent distress. The gentleman finds steadiness in what is right, whereas the petty person remains constrained by calculation and worry.

Translation: Confucius was gentle yet firm, dignified without being fierce, and respectful yet at ease.

Reading note: Three balanced qualities portray his cultivated bearing: warmth joined with principle, authority without intimidation, and reverence without stiffness.