10. Xiang Dang | Village and Court

Translation: In his home district, Confucius was gentle and deferential, as though he were not skilled at speaking. In the ancestral temple and at court, he spoke clearly and fluently, though always with care.

Reading note: The contrast concerns conduct suited to context. “Gentle and deferential” describes modesty among his neighbors, while fluent speech at formal institutions shows competence without contentious display.

Translation: At court, when speaking with junior officers, he was composed and forthright; when speaking with senior officers, he was cordial yet upright. In the ruler’s presence, he was reverently cautious, yet poised.

Reading note: Each expression marks a different ceremonial relationship. Rank changes the manner of address, but dignity and ease remain present throughout.

Translation: When the ruler summoned him to receive a guest, his expression at once became solemn and his steps quickened. He bowed to the colleagues standing with him, turning his hands to the left or the right; as he did so, the front and back of his robe moved in orderly folds. He advanced at a quick pace, his bearing like wings held open. After the guest had withdrawn, he always reported, “The guest has gone and no longer looks back.”

Reading note: The “receiver” was an officer who guided and addressed visiting envoys. The sequence—from accepting the charge through the final report—emphasizes disciplined attention and completion of ceremonial duty.

Translation: On entering the ruler’s gate, he bent forward respectfully, as though there were not room enough for him. He did not stand in the middle of the gateway or step on the threshold. When passing the ruler’s place, his expression grew solemn, his steps quickened, and his voice seemed faint. Gathering up the hem of his robe, he ascended the hall, bent forward, and held his breath as though he were not breathing. On coming out and descending one step, he relaxed his expression and looked at ease. Once past the last step, he moved quickly, with a bearing like wings held open. On returning to his place, he was again reverently cautious.

Reading note: The chapter traces each stage of entering, approaching, and withdrawing. Avoiding the center of the gate and the threshold were concrete rules of ceremony; his changing expression reflects his position at each stage.

Translation: Holding the jade tablet, he bent forward as though unable to bear its weight. He raised it as if bowing and lowered it as if presenting a gift. His face was tense as though trembling, and he took short, careful steps as if following a marked course. During the formal presentation, his expression was suitably composed; at the private audience, he was cheerful and relaxed.

Reading note: The jade tablet was a credential used in diplomatic ceremony. The differing manner of holding it, presenting gifts, and meeting privately shows that bearing should accord with both role and stage of the rite.

Translation: A gentleman did not use dark blue tinged with red or black tinged with red for borders and trim, nor did he make informal clothing in red or purple. In hot weather, he wore a single-layer garment of fine or coarse hemp, but always put it over an undergarment before going out. A black robe went with black lambskin, a white robe with fawnskin, and a yellow robe with fox fur. An informal fur robe was made long, though its right sleeve was shortened. He always had a sleeping robe, one and a half times his body length. He used thick fox or raccoon-dog fur for sitting at home. Once mourning was over, there was no customary pendant he would not wear. Unless a lower garment was the full ceremonial curtain-like skirt, its breadth was tapered. He did not wear black lambskin with a black ceremonial cap when offering condolences. On the first day of the month, he always attended court in court dress.

Reading note: These rules distinguish colors, furs, sleepwear, ornaments, mourning dress, and court dress. Their shared purpose is to make clothing fit auspicious or mournful occasions, private or public settings, and ceremonial rank.

Translation: During purification, he always had a clean bathing robe made of cloth. He changed his usual food and moved away from his customary sitting place.

Reading note: The passage concerns ritual purification before sacrifice. Clean clothing, altered food, and a changed place made ordinary routines visibly distinct and supported an attentive, reverent state.

Translation: He did not object to grain being finely prepared or sliced meat and fish being cut fine. He would not eat food that had spoiled or soured, fish that was stale, or meat that had gone bad. He would not eat anything with a poor color or smell, anything improperly cooked or out of season, anything incorrectly cut, or anything lacking its proper sauce. However much meat there was, he did not let it exceed the staple food. Only with wine did he set no fixed measure, but he never drank to the point of disorder. He did not consume wine bought from a shop or dried meat bought from the market. Ginger was not removed from the meal, though he did not eat much of it. Meat received at the ruler’s sacrifice was not kept overnight; other sacrificial meat was not kept beyond three days, and after three days he would not eat it. He did not converse while eating or speak after retiring to bed. Even with coarse grain and vegetable broth, he first offered a small portion in sacrifice and did so reverently.

Reading note: The chapter joins food safety and culinary propriety to restraint and sacrificial observance. “Not objecting” to refinement does not demand excess; the governing ideas are fitness, cleanliness, and self-command, made explicit by never drinking into disorder.

Translation: If the mat was not laid straight, Confucius would not sit on it.

Reading note: Even the placement of a mat had to be proper, showing how ritual discipline extended into everyday life.

Translation: At a village drinking gathering, Confucius left only after the elders with staffs had gone out. When the villagers performed the nuo rite to drive away pestilence, he stood in court dress on the eastern steps.

Reading note: The first scene shows respect for elders; the second shows a solemn response to a communal rite. The eastern steps were the steps on the east side of the hall.

Translation: When sending inquiries to someone in another state, Confucius bowed twice as he dispatched the messenger. When Ji Kangzi presented him with medicine, he bowed and accepted it, saying, “I, Qiu, do not know this medicine well enough and dare not take it.”

Reading note: The two bows conveyed solemn respect across a distance. Accepting the gift courteously while declining to take an unfamiliar drug also shows prudence.

Translation: The stable burned down. On returning from court, Confucius asked, “Was anyone hurt?” He did not ask about the horses.

Reading note: The spare contrast places human safety before property. It need not imply indifference to the horses, but emphasizes his first concern in an emergency.

Translation: When the ruler bestowed prepared food, Confucius always straightened his mat and tasted it first. When the ruler bestowed raw meat, he always cooked it and presented some to the ancestors. When the ruler bestowed a live animal, he always kept and tended it. While attending the ruler at a meal, after the ruler made the food offering, Confucius tasted the rice first. When he was ill and the ruler came to see him, he lay with his head toward the east, placed his court robe over himself, and draped his sash across it. When summoned by the ruler, he set out on foot without waiting for his carriage to be harnessed.

Reading note: The linked scenes concern gifts, dining attendance, a sickbed visit, and a summons. Throughout, Confucius responds to the ruler with prompt respect and preserves ritual propriety even when illness prevents formal dress.

Translation: On entering the Grand Ancestral Temple, Confucius asked about every matter.

Reading note: Temple rites were solemn and complex. Asking at each step reflects care in practice, not mere ignorance: familiarity was no reason to omit proper confirmation.

Translation: When a friend died with no one to whom he could turn, Confucius said, “I will arrange for his encoffinment at my home.” When a friend sent him a gift, even a carriage or horses, he did not bow in acknowledgment unless the gift was sacrificial meat.

Reading note: He assumed responsibility for a friend who had no family support. Among ordinary gifts, material value did not create hierarchy; sacrificial meat alone called for a bow because it carried the reverence of the rite.

Translation: In sleep, Confucius did not lie rigidly like a corpse; at home, he did not maintain a formal bearing. On seeing someone in mourning, even an intimate acquaintance, he always changed his expression. On seeing a person in ceremonial cap or a blind person, even someone familiar, he always treated them with respectful bearing. When riding past a mourner, he leaned forward over the carriage rail in respect; he did the same for someone carrying the state maps and registers. At a richly laden feast, he always grew solemn and rose. At a sudden thunderclap or a violent wind, his expression also changed.

Reading note: The passage distinguishes ease in private life from gravity when circumstances call for it. To lean over the carriage rail was a formal gesture of respect; throughout, reverence responds naturally to people, occasions, and powerful signs in nature.

Translation: When boarding a carriage, Confucius always stood upright and held the hand strap. Once inside, he did not turn to look back, speak hurriedly or loudly, or point things out with his own hand.

Reading note: The passage records proper carriage etiquette. The strap aided boarding, while the three prohibitions present composure and restraint as visible expressions of ritual respect.

Translation: At the first sign of a changed expression, it took wing; only after circling did it settle. Confucius said, ‘The hen pheasant on the mountain ridge—how well she knows the right moment! How well she knows the right moment!’ Zilu saluted it with folded hands; after sniffing several times, it rose and flew away.

Reading note: Confucius admires the pheasant for knowing when to advance and withdraw. The closing words have long admitted different readings; this version cautiously takes Zilu’s gesture as a salute and the bird’s rising as its departure.