12. Yan Yuan

Translation: Yan Yuan asked about humaneness. Confucius said, “To master yourself and return to the rites is humaneness. If for a single day you truly master yourself and return to the rites, all under Heaven will acknowledge the humaneness in you. The practice of humaneness depends on oneself—could it depend on others?” Yan Yuan said, “May I ask for its specific points?” Confucius said, “Do not look at what is contrary to the rites; do not listen to what is contrary to the rites; do not say what is contrary to the rites; do not do what is contrary to the rites.” Yan Yuan said, “Though I am not quick-witted, I ask to put these words into practice.”

Reading note: “Mastering oneself and returning to the rites” makes humaneness a discipline of deliberate conduct. The four injunctions place moral cultivation in the ordinary acts of seeing, hearing, speaking, and doing.

Translation: Zhonggong asked about humaneness. Confucius said, “When you go out, treat people as though receiving an honored guest. When directing the people, act as though assisting at a great sacrifice. Do not impose on others what you yourself do not desire. Whether serving in a state or in a great officer’s household, give no cause for resentment.” Zhonggong said, “Though I am not quick-witted, I ask to put these words into practice.”

Reading note: The honored guest and great sacrifice evoke seriousness and care, while the central maxim calls for judging one’s treatment of others by one’s own aversions. “State” and “household” indicate the two principal settings of public service.

Translation: Sima Niu asked about humaneness. Confucius said, “A humane person is cautious and slow in speech.” Sima Niu said, “Is being cautious and slow in speech enough to be called humane?” Confucius said, “When putting words into action is difficult, can one help being cautious in speaking?”

Reading note: The key term suggests guarded, deliberate speech rather than mere silence. Confucius measures words against the difficulty of carrying them out and warns against easy promises or claims that outrun conduct.

Translation: Sima Niu asked about the noble person. Confucius said, “The noble person is free from anxiety and fear.” Sima Niu said, “Is being free from anxiety and fear enough to be called noble?” Confucius said, “On looking within, if one finds no cause for guilt, what is there to be anxious or afraid about?”

Reading note: Freedom from fear here is not heedless boldness. It rests on self-examination and on having no conduct for which one must reproach oneself.

Translation: Sima Niu said sorrowfully, “Everyone else has brothers; I alone have none.” Zixia said, “I have heard this: life and death are allotted; wealth and rank rest with Heaven. If a noble person remains respectful and makes no serious misstep, and treats others courteously and according to the rites, then within the Four Seas all may be as brothers. Why should a noble person worry about having no brothers?”

Reading note: “All within the Four Seas are brothers” does not erase family relationships. It consoles Sima Niu by pointing to the bonds one can form through careful conduct, courtesy, and ritual propriety.

Translation: Zizhang asked about discernment. Confucius said, “If gradually insinuated slander and accusations that press sharply upon you do not prevail, you may be called discerning. If gradually insinuated slander and sharply pressing accusations do not prevail, you may also be called farsighted.”

Reading note: One danger works by slow repetition; the other gains force from immediacy and personal pressure. Resisting both requires clear judgment and a perspective that reaches beyond the emotion of the moment.

Translation: Zigong asked about government. Confucius said, “Ensure sufficient food, sufficient defense, and the trust of the people.” Zigong said, “If one had no choice but to give up one of the three, which should go first?” Confucius said, “Give up defense.” Zigong said, “If one again had no choice but to give up one of the remaining two, which should go first?” Confucius said, “Give up food. From ancient times everyone has had to die, but without the people’s trust, a government cannot stand.”

Reading note: The successive choices establish an order among the foundations of rule: defense yields to subsistence, yet even subsistence cannot sustain a political community whose people no longer trust it.

Translation: Ji Zicheng said, “For a noble person, substance is enough. What need is there for refinement?” Zigong said, “What a pity! Sir, once you have spoken about the noble person in this way, even a team of four horses cannot overtake your words. Refinement is as vital as substance, and substance as refinement. Once their patterned hair is removed, the hides of tigers and leopards are no different from those of dogs and sheep.”

Reading note: “Substance” is inner worth, while “refinement” is its cultivated expression through ritual and form. Zigong argues that each needs the other; the image of stripped hides shows what is lost when outward pattern is dismissed altogether.

Translation: Duke Ai asked You Ruo, ‘The harvest is poor and the state’s resources are insufficient. What should I do?’ You Ruo replied, ‘Why not adopt the tithe?’ The duke said, ‘Even when I levy two-tenths, I still do not have enough. How could I adopt the tithe?’ You Ruo answered, ‘If the people have enough, with whom could their ruler be in want? If the people do not have enough, with whom could their ruler enjoy plenty?’

Reading note: The tithe here refers to the lighter che tax system. You Ruo treats the people’s livelihood as the basis of public finance: burdening them further cannot bring lasting sufficiency to the ruler.

Translation: Zizhang asked how to elevate virtue and discern confusion. Confucius said, ‘Make loyalty and trustworthiness your foundation, and move toward what is right: this is to elevate virtue. When you love someone, you wish that person to live; when you hate someone, you wish that person to die. To wish first for life and then for death is confusion. As the verse says, “It was truly not because of wealth, but only because of a change of heart.”’

Reading note: Loyalty and trustworthiness provide a steady moral basis, while moving toward rightness turns it into practice. Unchecked swings between love and hatred cloud judgment; the quoted verse underscores such instability of heart.

Translation: Duke Jing of Qi asked Confucius about government. Confucius replied, ‘Let the ruler act as a ruler, the minister as a minister, the father as a father, and the son as a son.’ The duke said, ‘Excellent! Indeed, if the ruler does not act as a ruler, the minister as a minister, the father as a father, and the son as a son, then even if grain is available, could I be sure of getting to eat it?’

Reading note: Each role carries duties, so the statement is not merely a demand for obedience from below. Public and family order depend on everyone fulfilling the responsibilities proper to their position.

Translation: Confucius said, ‘The one who could decide a legal case from a few words—would that not be You?’ Zilu never let a promise remain overnight.

Reading note: To “decide a case” is to determine the rights and wrongs in a dispute. Zilu’s prompt fulfillment of promises reveals the decisiveness and reliability behind Confucius’s praise.

Translation: Confucius said, ‘In hearing lawsuits, I am much like anyone else. What is truly needed is to bring it about that there are no lawsuits at all.’

Reading note: Confucius does not claim special skill in judging cases. He places greater weight on moral formation and just government that prevent disputes at their source; “no lawsuits” means fewer causes for litigation, not the silencing of grievances.

Translation: Zizhang asked about government. Confucius said, ‘Hold your office without weariness, and carry out its work with wholehearted devotion.’

Reading note: The first phrase concerns constancy while occupying a post; the second concerns faithful execution. Good government rests on sustained diligence and full commitment to one’s responsibilities.

Translation: Confucius said, ‘A cultivated person studies broadly in the cultural tradition and restrains himself through ritual propriety; then he may avoid departing from the proper way.’

Reading note: Broad learning enlarges understanding, while ritual propriety gives conduct measure and discipline. Together they keep learning from becoming either narrow or ungoverned.

Translation: Confucius said, ‘A cultivated person helps others bring their good qualities and good undertakings to completion, but does not help them complete what is bad. A petty person does the opposite.’

Reading note: Helping another’s good includes practical support for what is right, not mere approval. The contrast turns everyday influence over others into a test of moral responsibility.

Translation: Ji Kangzi asked Confucius about government. Confucius replied, “To govern is to set things right. If you lead by being upright, who will dare remain crooked?”

Reading note: The answer links governing with uprightness and makes the ruler’s example, rather than commands or punishments alone, the basis of order.

Translation: Ji Kangzi was troubled by theft and asked Confucius about it. Confucius replied, “If you yourself were free of greed, people would not steal even if they were rewarded for doing so.”

Reading note: Confucius traces theft to the desires and example of those in power. The deliberately extreme wording stresses how strongly an unselfish ruler can shape public conduct.

Translation: Ji Kangzi asked Confucius about government: “What if I kill those who lack the Way in order to bring those who possess it to fulfillment?” Confucius replied, “In governing, what need have you of killing? If you desire goodness, the people will become good. The virtue of a noble person is like the wind, and that of ordinary people like grass; when the wind passes over the grass, it is sure to bend.”

Reading note: The passage rejects killing as the starting point of moral reform. The wind-and-grass image presents the conduct of those above as a powerful force shaping those below.

Translation: Zizhang asked, “What must a scholar be like to be called accomplished?” Confucius said, “What do you mean by ‘accomplished’?” Zizhang replied, “He is sure to be renowned when serving in a state and sure to be renowned when serving in a great officer’s household.” Confucius said, “That is renown, not accomplishment. One who is accomplished is genuine and upright, loves what is right, observes words and watches expressions, and is mindful of placing himself below others. Such a person is sure to succeed in a state and in a great officer’s household. One who merely gains renown assumes the appearance of benevolence while acting against it, and remains in that pose without self-doubt. Such a person may be renowned in a state and in a great officer’s household.”

Reading note: The exchange distinguishes real moral competence from reputation. Accomplishment rests on integrity, justice, attentiveness, and humility; fame can be manufactured by appearances.

Translation: Fan Chi was strolling with Confucius below the Rain-Altar and said, “May I ask how to exalt virtue, correct hidden wrongdoing, and discern delusion?” Confucius said, “An excellent question! Attend first to the work and put the gain afterward—is that not exalting virtue? Attack your own faults, not the faults of others—is that not correcting hidden wrongdoing? In a burst of anger, to forget yourself and even bring harm upon your family—is that not delusion?”

Reading note: The three questions receive practical answers: put duty before reward, direct criticism toward oneself, and do not let a moment’s anger endanger oneself or one’s family.

Translation: Fan Chi asked about benevolence. Confucius said, “Love others.” He asked about wisdom. Confucius said, “Know others.” Fan Chi did not understand. Confucius said, “Raise the upright and place them over the crooked, and you can make the crooked upright.” After withdrawing, Fan Chi met Zixia and said, “A moment ago I saw the Master and asked about wisdom. He said, ‘Raise the upright and place them over the crooked, and you can make the crooked upright.’ What did he mean?” Zixia said, “How rich those words are! When Shun possessed the realm, he chose from among the multitude and elevated Gao Yao; those without benevolence withdrew. When Tang possessed the realm, he chose from among the multitude and elevated Yi Yin; those without benevolence withdrew.”

Reading note: In government, knowing people means recognizing and appointing the upright. The examples of Gao Yao and Yi Yin show that sound appointments establish a moral standard and cause the unprincipled to fall away.

Translation: Zigong asked about friendship. Confucius said, “Offer loyal advice and guide your friend tactfully. If that proves impossible, stop; do not bring humiliation upon yourself.”

Reading note: Friendship calls for candid care, but also for limits. Once sincere counsel is refused, continued pressure helps neither moral improvement nor the relationship.

Translation: Master Zeng said, “A noble person gathers friends through learning and culture, and with those friends supports the cultivation of benevolence.”

Reading note: “Learning and culture” broadly includes the shared forms of education and civilized practice. Friendship is valued as a setting for mutual study and moral growth.