Midterm Paper

Having now read substantial sections from the Confucian Analects and Aristotle?s

Nicomachean Ethics, your task for this paper is thus. You should put forth a definition of

?Virtue?, in doing so you will provide some evidence. In choosing how you provide this

evidence one must be aware of the differences between Aristotle and Confucius; do they have the

same definition of virtue? After putting forth your own definition, with supporting evidence from

one or both of our major texts, pick one or two virtues from Aristotle and Confucius and, explain,

(i) what they are, (ii) if they are the same, similar, or different, and (iii) why the conclusion in (ii)

is important. Please see above for the re- write policy. If you want to use an outside source, you

must approve it with me before hand. If you do use an outside source without prior permission,

you will lose a letter grade on this paper. 1000 words (approximately 4 pages).

Warning: Use Times New Roman, or Cambria. Double space. 12 point font size. 1 inch margins

(make sure to double check, people often mess this one up). Page numbers. Failure to do so is a

letter grade off your paper. This is (i) a college course, and (ii) this is not a writing skills class.

These are very basic writing skills. Points lost in this manner cannot be earned back via rewrite.

The Analects of Confucius 18

Book V

5.1 The Master characterized Gongye Chang:
?He is marriageable. Though he was in shack-
les, it was through no crime of his own.? And
he wed his daughter to him.

5.2 The Master characterized Nan Rong: ?If
the dao prevailed in the state, he would not be
discarded; if the dao did not prevail in the
state, he would evade corporal punishment.?
And he wed his elder brother?s daughter to
him.

5.3 The Master characterized Zijian thus: ?He
is a junzi! If Lu truly lacks any junzis, where
has he come from??

5.4 Zigong said, ?What am I like?? The Mas-
ter said, ?You are a vessel.?
?What vessel??
?A vessel of ancestral sacrifice.?

5.5 Someone said, ?Yong is ren but he has no
craft in speech.?
The Master said, ?Of what use is craft in
speech? Those who parry others with glib
tongues are frequent objects of detestation. I
don?t know whether Yong is ren, but of what
use is craft in speech??

5.6 The Master gave Qidiao Kai leave to take
up a position. He replied, ?I?m not yet pre-
pared to fulfill this faithfully.? The Master was
pleased.

5.7 The Master said, ?The dao does not pre-
vail! I shall set out over the sea on a raft. I ex-
pect that Y?u will be willing to accompany

Notes

5.1 Many passages in Book V
comment on contemporary and
historical figures. In many cases,
we know little or nothing about
them. Gongye Chang ??? is
elsewhere said to have been a dis-
ciple. It is unknown why he was
imprisoned.

5.2 Nan Rong ?? is also said to
have been a disciple (see 14.5)
Other sources tell us Con-
fucius?s father had another, elder
son, born of a woman other than
Confucius?s mother.
The basic rule that Nan
Rong here follows is known as
?timeliness? (sh? ?); it is a key
Confucian concept, which grows
in scope from the simple idea ar-
ticulated here, to a broad vision of
the dynamic application of ethical
authority in ever-changing con-
texts (see the Glossary).

5.3 Zijian ?? was a disciple.

5.4 This passage is often thought
to resonate with 2.12: ?The junzi is
not a vessel.? This idea is in ten-
sion with the sacred character of
the sacrificial vessel.

5.5 Yong ? is the disciple Zhong-
gong ?? (see 6.1). Compare 1.3,
4.22, and 4.24 with the message of
this passage. The term for ?craft in
speech? (or glibness), ning ?, is a
phonetic and graphic cognate for
ren ?. Ren sometimes carries the
sense of ?manliness? (and, as an
ethical term, may build on the con-
cept of being a ?real man?), while
the character for ning adds the fe-
male signifier and may reflect a
pejorative view of pleasing speech

The Analects of Confucius 19

me.?
Zilu heard of this and was pleased.
The Master said, ?Y?u?s love of valor
exceeds mine; there is nowhere to get the
lumber.?

5.8 Meng Wubo asked, ?Is Zilu ren?? The
Master said, ?I don?t know.?
When asked again, the Master said,
?Y?u may be placed in charge of managing
the military exactions for a state of a thou-
sand war chariots. I don?t know whether he
is ren.?
?What about Qiu??
The Master said, ?Qiu may be made
steward of a city of a thousand households or
a feudal estate of a hundred war chariots. I
don?t know whether he is ren.?
?What about Chi??
The Master said, ?Girt with a sash and
standing in court, Chi may be entrusted with
the role of greeting visitors. I don?t know
whether he is ren.?

5.9 The Master addressed Zigong, saying,
?Who is superior, you or Hui??
?How could I dare even to gaze up at
Hui? When Hui hears one part, he under-
stands all ten; I hear one and understand
two.?
The Master said, ?Yes, you do not
come up to him. Neither you nor I come up
to him.?

5.10 Zai Yu napped in his chamber during
the day. The Master said, ?Rotten wood can-
not be carved; a wall of dung cannot be
whitewashed. What point is there in blaming
Yu??

as ?womanly?.

5.6 Qidiao Kai ??? is a dis-
ciple referred to only in this one
Analects passage, but there is
evidence his later influence was
substantial (see Appendix 1).

5.7 The disciple Zilu (Zhong
Y?u ? personal name: Y?u) is
portrayed as martial and impetu-
ous throughout the Analects (see
the next passage). Here, Confu-
cius teases him. ?Lumber? (cai
?) is a pun on the word ?talent?
(cai ?), a harsh comment on
Zilu?s limited abilities. (Humor
in the Analects can bite.)

5.8 Meng Wubo was a grandee
in the state of Lu (see 2.5-6).
Here, we are probably to assume
he is seeking job references.

Qiu is the senior disciple
Ran Qiu. Both he and Zilu
served for a time as officers at
the warlord Ji family court.
Chi is the disciple
Gongxi Hua ???, from a pa-
trician Lu family.
All these disciples did
achieve some political stature in
Lu.
5.8 should be read as the
basis of the most elaborate pas-
sage in the Analects: 11.26.

5.9 ?Hui? refers to the disciple
Yan Hui.

5.10 The only disciple in the An-
alects towards whom no type of
approval or affection is shown is
the senior disciple Zai Yu ??
(also known as Zai Wo ?; see
3.21). (It is possible that there is
an error in the text here and that

The Analects of Confucius 20

The Master said, ?It used to be that
with people, when I heard what they said I
trusted their conduct would match. Now I
listen to what they say and observe their
conduct. It is because of Yu that I have
changed.?

5.11 The Master said, ?I have never seen an-
yone who was incorruptible.? Someone re-
plied by mentioning Shen Cheng. The Mas-
ter said, ?Cheng is full of desires. How could
he be called incorruptible??

5.12 Zigong said, ?What I do not wish others
to do to me, I do not wish to do to others.?
The Master said, ?Si, this is a level
you have not yet reached.?

5.13 Zigong said, The Master?s emblem of
patterns is something we may learn of. The
Master?s statements concerning our nature
and the dao of Tian are things we may not
learn of.

5.14 When Zilu heard something new and
had not yet learned to practice it, his only
fear was that he would hear something else
new.

5.15 Zigong asked, ?Why is Kong Wenzi re-
ferred to by the posthumous title of Wen??
The Master said, ?He was bright and
loved learning, and unashamed to ask ques-
tions of those below him. That is why he is
referred to as Wen.?

5.16 The Master characterized Zichan thus:
?There were in him four aspects of the dao
of the junzi. He was reverent in his com-

what Zai Yu is accused of is actu-
ally decorating the walls of his
chamber [hua qin ??] rather
than sleeping in the day [zhou qin
??].)

5.11 Nothing is known of Shen
Cheng; some sources list him as a
disciple.

5.12 Si was Zigong?s personal
name.
This formula, a version of
the Golden Rule, is important to
the Analects, and is sometimes
referred to as ?reciprocity? (see
15.24).

5.13 ?Emblem of patterns? (wen-
zhang ??) is a phrase that occurs
again in 8.19 (see also 5.22). It
likely refers to the practical style
of conduct that was central to the
Confucian ritualist school.

5.15 Kong Wenzi was a grandee in
the state of Wei. After a senior
patrician?s death, it was common
to select an honorific name to use
posthumously as a sign of respect.
The name was intended to capture
some aspect of character. In this
case, the issue is most importantly
a gloss on the meaning of the key
term wen (patterned; see the Glos-
sary).

The Analects of Confucius 21

portment, he was respectfully attentive in
service to his superiors, he was generous in
nurturing the people, he was righteous in di-
recting the people.?

5.17 The Master said, Yan Pingzhong was
good at interacting with people. Even after
long acquaintance, he remained respectfully
attentive.

5.18 The Master said, When Zang Wen-
zhong created a chamber for his great turtle,
he had the beams painted with mountains,
and the supporting posts with water plants.
What wisdom he had!

5.19 Zizhang asked, ?Chief minister Ziwen
when thrice appointed chief minister showed
no sign of pleasure; when thrice dismissed,
he showed no sign of displeasure and duly
reported to the new chief minister the affairs
of the old. What would you say of him??
The Master said, ?He was loyal.?
?Was he ren??
?I don?t know. Wherein would he be
ren??
?When Cuizi assassinated the ruler of
Qi, Chen Wenzi possessed ten teams of
horses, but he cast all that away and took his
leave. Arriving at another state, he said,
?These men are like our grandee Cuizi,? and
took his leave. Arriving at yet another state,
he said, ?These men are like our grandee
Cuizi,? and took his leave. What would you
say of him??
The Master said, ?He was pure.?
?Was he ren??
?I don?t know. Wherein would he be
ren??

5.16 Zichan was an exemplary
prime minister in the small state of
Zheng, who died in 522 BCE,
when Confucius was still young.

?Directing the people? re-
fers to calling on corv?e manpower
obligations for war or labor pro-
jects.

5.17 Yan Pingzhong was a famous
prime minister in the state of Qi.
He lived well into Confucius?s
lifetime, dying c. 506 BCE.

5.18 Zang Wenzhong was a fa-
mous prime minister in Lu three
generations senior to Confucius.
He procured for his clan a great
turtle, of some sacred significance.
The decor described here is said to
have been the prerogative of the
Zhou king, hence Confucius?s final
sarcastic remark.

5.19 Another illustration of how
difficult it is to earn the Master?s
praise as ren.
Ziwen was chief minister
in the state of Chu several genera-
tions before Confucius.
The assassination of Duke
Zhuang of Qi took place about the
time of Confucius?s birth. ?Ten
teams of horses? clearly means
only that Chen Wenzi abandoned a
lavish household to avoid associa-
tion with Cuizi.

The Analects of Confucius 22

5.20 Ji Wenzi always pondered thrice before
acting. The Master heard of this and said,
?Twice is enough.?

5.21 The Master said, As for Ning Wuzi,
when the dao prevailed in his state, he was
wise; when the dao did not prevail, he was
stupid. His wisdom may be matched; his stu-
pidity is unmatchable.?

5.22 The Master was in Chen. He said, ?Let
us return! Let us return! The young men of
our group are bold but simple. They weave
an emblem but do not know how to trim it.?

5.23 The Master said, Bo Yi and Shu Qi did
not recite old wrongs. For this reason, their
complaints were rare.

5.24 The Master said, Who says Weisheng
Gao is straightforward. If someone asked
him for vinegar, he would borrow it from a
neighbor and give it.

5.25 The Master said, Crafty words, an in-
gratiating expression, obsequious conduct ?
Zuo Qiuming would be ashamed of such be-
havior, and I would be ashamed of it as well.
To hide one?s resentment and befriend an-
other ? Zuo Qiuming would be ashamed of
such behavior, and I would be ashamed of it
as well.

5.26 Yan Yuan and Ji Lu were sitting in at-
tendance. The Master said, ?Why not each of
us speak his heart?s desire??
Zilu said, ?Let me drive a team of
horses and be dressed in a light fur jacket

5.20 Ji Wenzi was head of the
powerful Ji warlord clan in Lu
several generations before Confu-
cius.

5.21 Ning Wuzi was a grandee in
the state of Wei. Compare with
5.2. This is an example of the dry
humor the Analects often imparts
to its portrait of Confucius.

5.22 Chen was one of the states
Confucius visited during his long
exile from Lu. Here he imagines
the activity of the disciples left
behind using the metaphor of the
cloth emblem of patterns (see
5.13).

5.23 Bo Yi and Shu Qi were two
legendary brothers who retreated
to the wilderness to escape the evil
of the last Shang ruler. They re-
turned upon hearing of the virtues
of King Wen of the Zhou, but ar-
rived as his son, King Wu, con-
quered the Shang. Seeing his war-
making as no improvement, they
retreated again, to die of hunger in
the mountains.
The last phrase may be
read to mean few complained
against them.

5.24 Nothing is known of
Weisheng Gao, or why Confucius
devises this colorful characteriza-
tion.

5.25 Zuo Qiuming is the name of
the putative author of the Zuo-
chuan (Zuo?s Commentary on the
Spring and Autumn Annals), the

The Analects of Confucius 23

side by side with friends; even were we all in
tatters, we would be free of resentment.?
Yan Yuan said, ?I would wish not to
boast of my virtues nor cause others labor.?
Zilu said, ?We would like to hear the
Master?s wish.?
The Master said, ?That the old are
content with me, my friends trust me, and the
young cherish me.?

5.27 The Master said, Enough! I have yet to
see anyone who can recognize his own errors
and bring changes against himself within.

5.28 The Master said, In a town of ten
households, there will surely be one who is
as loyal and trustworthy as I. But there will
be none who loves learning as much!

great history of the early Classical
period. Why Confucius character-
izes him as he does here is not
known.

5.26 Yan Yuan is the disciple Yen
Hui. Ji Lu ?? is the disciple
Zilu. Like 5.8, this passage is like-
ly an inspiration for 11.26.

The Analects of Confucius 24

Book VI

6.1 The Master said, Yong may be permitted
to sit facing south.

6.2 Zhonggong asked about Zisang Bozi.
The Master said, ?He was satisfactory; his
style was simple.?
Zhonggong said, ?To be attentively
respectful when interacting at home but sim-
ple in conduct when approaching one?s peo-
ple is indeed satisfactory. But is not being
simple both at home and in conduct abroad
to be too simple??
The Master said, ?Yong?s words are
correct.?

6.3 Duke Ai asked which of the disciples
loved learning. The Master said, ?There was
Yan Hui who loved learning. He never shift-
ed his anger, never repeated his errors. Un-
fortunately, his life was short and he died.
Now there is none. I have not heard of an-
other who loves learning.?

6.4 Zihua was dispatched on a mission to Qi.
Ranzi asked for an allotment of grain to pro-
vide his mother. The Master said, ?Give her
six measures.?

Ranzi asked for more.
?Give her nine measures.?
Ranzi gave her twenty-five measures.
The Master said, ?When Chi traveled

to Qi, he rode a sleek horse and wore a fine
fur jacket. I have heard it said, ?The junzi at-
tends to the needy; he does not enrich the
wealthy.??

Notes

6.1 Yong (Ran Yong) is the disci-
ple Zhonggong.
The ruler?s throne faces
south. This is extraordinary praise.
No extensive lore praising Zhong-
gong exists, but in the Xunzi, the
third great early Confucian text
(third century BCE), Zhonggong is
noted as a founder of a branch of
the Confucian school.

6.2 Nothing certain is known of
Zisang Bozi.

6.3 Essentially duplicated at 11.7,
with Ji Kangzi as the interlocutor.

6.4 Zihua is the disciple Gongxi
Hua (see 5.8). Ranzi is Ran Qiu.

6.5 Yuan Si was a disciple; he is

The Analects of Confucius 25

6.5 Yuan Si acted as steward of the Master?s
household. The Master set his salary at nine
hundred measures. Yuan Si declined. The
Master said, ?No, you can give it to your
neighbors and townsmen.?

6.6 The Master characterized Zhonggong
thus: If the calf of a plough ox has a sorrel
coat and fine horns, though one wished not
to sacrifice it, would the spirits of the moun-
tains and rivers forego it?

6.7 The Master said, Hui would go three
months without his heart ever departing from
ren. As for the others, their hearts merely
come upon ren from time to time.

6.8 Ji Kangzi asked, ?Cannot Zhong Y?u be
appointed to government position??

The Master said, ?Y?u is resolute.
What difficulty would he have in govern-
ance??
?Cannot Si be appointed to govern-
ment position??
The Master said, ?Si has understand-
ing. What difficulty would he have in gov-
ernance??
?Cannot Qiu be appointed to govern-
ment position??
The Master said, ?Qiu is accomplished
in arts. What difficulty would he have in
governance??

6.9 The Ji family sent word appointing Min
Ziqian as the steward of Bi. Min Ziqian said,
?Make a good excuse for me. If they send for
me again, I will surely be found north of the
River Wen.?

more usually referred to by his
personal name, Xian (see 14.1).

The lesson of this passage
is clearly meant to be coupled with
the last.

6.6 From this, we can infer that
Zhonggong, who is so highly
praised in Book VI, was of humble
birth. (See 6.10.)

6.8 Ji Kangzi was head of the war-
lord Ji clan in Lu. Zhong Y?u is
the disciple Zilu; Si is the disciple
Zigong; Qiu is the disciple Ran
Qiu.
This passage seems in-
tended to identify key traits valua-
ble in public roles. ?Resolute? car-
ries a sense of following through in
action; ?understanding? may also
mean able to express ideas clearly.

6.9 Min Ziqian was a disciple. Bi
was the walled city at the center of
the of the Ji family domain.

?North of the River Wen?
suggests an intent to flee beyond
the borders of Lu.

6.10 Boniu (Ran Boniu) is the fa-

The Analects of Confucius 26

6.10 Boniu fell ill. The Master called upon
him, grasping Boniu?s hand through the win-
dow. He said, ?There is nothing for it! It is
fated. Yet for such a man to have such an ill-
ness! For such a man to have such an ill-
ness!?

6.11 The Master said, How worthy is Hui! A
simple bowl of food and a dipperful of drink,
living on a shabby lane ? others could not
bear the cares, yet Hui is unchanging in his
joy. How worthy is Hui!

6.12 Ran Qiu said, ?It is not that I do not de-
light in your dao, Master ? my strength is in-
sufficient.?
The Master said, ?Those with insuffi-
cient strength fall by the path midway. You
are simply drawing a line.?

6.13 The Master addressed Zixia, saying,
?Be a junzi Ru; don?t be a small man Ru.?

6.14 Ziyou became the steward of Wucheng.
The Master said, ?Do you find good men
there??
?There is one called Tantai Mieming.
He never takes shortcuts in his conduct, and
if it is not upon official business, he never
comes to see me in my chamber.?

6.15 The Master said, Meng Zhifan was not
boastful. When the army retreated, he held
the rear, but as they approached the city gate
he whipped his horse ahead, saying, ?It?s not
that I dared to stay behind ? my horse simply
wouldn?t go!?

ther of Zhonggong (Ran Yong).
His polite name means ?elder ox,?
which may explain the metaphor
used in 6.6.
What Boniu?s illness may
have been is a matter of specula-
tion. The word ?fated? (ming ?)
also carried the sense of ?lifespan?,
and it was commonly believed that
a limit of years was determined for
each person by destiny.

6.12 ?The path? simply translates
dao in its original sense, in order to
clarify the metaphor governing
Confucius?s reply.

6.13 ?Ru? ? is the name by which
the Confucian school was known
(Confucianism is sometimes called
Ruism in English). Its original
meaning is disputed. This passage
(the only one in the Analects to
employ the term) suggests a split
already existing in the school at the
time the Analects was compiled.
Clearly, the followers of Zixia be-
lieved their master was on the junzi
side of the equation.

6.14 The final statement means he
never seeks contact for private rea-
sons.

6.15 Meng Zhifan was a contem-
porary grandee of Lu.

6.16 Confucius refers to the super-

The Analects of Confucius 27

6.16 The Master said, Without the glibness
of Zhu Tuo or the handsomeness of Song
Zhao, it is hard to escape in times like these.

6.17 The Master said, Who can go out except
through the door? Why, then, does no one
follow this dao?

6.18 When plain substance prevails over pat-
terned refinement, you have a bumpkin.
When patterned refinement prevails over
substance, you have a clerk. When substance
and pattern are in balance, only then do you
have a junzi.

6.19 Men stay alive through straightforward
conduct. When the crooked stay alive it is
simply a matter of escaping through luck.

6.20 The Master said, Knowing it is not so
good as loving it; loving it is not so good as
taking joy in it.

6.21 The Master said, With men of middle
level or higher, one may discuss the highest;
with men below the middle rank, one may
not discuss the highest.

6.22 Fan Chi asked about knowledge. The
Master said, ?To concentrate on what is right
for the people; to be attentively respectful
towards ghosts and spirits but keep them at a
distance ? this may be called knowledge.?
He asked about ren. ?People who are
ren are first to shoulder difficulties and last
to reap rewards. This may be called ren.?

6.23 The Master said, The wise delight in
water; the ren delight in mountains. The wise

ficial advantages of two minor fig-
ures from history to suggest the
values of a debased age.

6.20 This may refer to any activity,
but ?it? is probably best understood
as the dao.

6.22 This and the following pas-
sage pair ren and knowledge (or
wisdom) in the manner of 4.2.

The Analects of Confucius 28

are in motion; the ren are at rest. The wise
are joyful; the ren are long lived.

6.24 The Master said, The state of Qi with
one transformation could become the state of
Lu, and the state of Lu with one transfor-
mation could reach the dao.

6.25 The Master said, A gourd that is not a
gourd ? is it a gourd? Is it a gourd?

6.26 Zai Wo asked, ?If you were to say to a
ren person that there was someone fallen
down into a well, would he leap in to save
him??
The Master said, ?What do you mean
by this? A junzi may be urged, but he cannot
be snared; he may be deceived, but he may
not be made a fool of.?

6.27 The Master said, Once a junzi has stud-
ied broadly in patterns and constrained them
with li, indeed he will never turn his back on
them.

6.28 The Master had an audience with Nanzi.
Zilu was displeased. The Master swore an
oath: ?That which I deny, may Tian detest it!
May Tian detest it!?

6.29 The Master said, The Central Mean in
conduct is where virtue reaches its pinnacle.
Few are those who can sustain it for long.

6.30 Zigong said, ?If one were to bring broad
benefits to the people and be able to aid the
multitudes, what would you say about him?
Could you call him ren??
The Master said, ?Why would you call

6.24 Confucius privileges his
home state of Lu here, but his op-
timistic view extends it its neigh-
bor state Qi. The Analects main-
tains a balance between deploring
how far the present time have fall-
en from the era of the sages, and
envisioning the potential for rapd
transformation, if only the political
will is present.

6.25 Gourds were used as a certain
type of wine vessel, called, there-
fore, ?gourds?. This passage must
refer to some irregularity of vessel
usage, and, in doing so, raise the
issue of the distortion of language
to cover up unorthodox conduct.
An implied meaning might be that
a ?ruler? who does not properly
?rule? should not be called a ?ruler?
? an idea that has come to be
known as part of a doctrine called
?the rectification of names?. (See
also 17.11.)

6.26 This is one of many instances
of tension between Zai Wo and
Confucius (see 3.21, 5.10, 17.21).

6.27 Duplicated at 12.15 and in
part at 9.11. ?Patterns? (wen) are
usually pictured as forms of cul-
tural refinement basic to the ritual-
ized conduct of li. Here, the two
are in tension, indicating that li
denotes only those features of cul-
ture that sages have designed to
promote perfect social communi-
cation and order.

6.28 Nanzi was the unsavory fe-
male consort of the Marquis of
Wei. Confucius here denies Zilu?s
suspicion that he was planning to
conspire with Wei?s unethical

The Analects of Confucius 29

this a matter of ren? Surely, this would be a
sage! Yao and Shun themselves would fall
short of this.
?The ren person is one who, wishing
himself to be settled in position, sets up oth-
ers; wishing himself to have access to the
powerful, achieves access for others. To be
able to proceed by analogy from what lies
nearest by, that may be termed the formula
for ren.?

power brokers in order to gain a
court position. (See 3.13.)

6.29 ?Central Mean? is capitalized
here because the concept serves as
the title of one of a famous early
Confucian work, usually known as
the Doctrine of the Mean. That text
probably reached its present form
no earlier than the late third centu-
ry BCE, and it is possible that 6.29
was incorporated into the Analects
only as the Doctrine of the Mean
came together. Since the Doctrine
includes a passage almost identical
to 6.29, it is difficult to know
which text may be quoting the oth-
er; both could also derive from a
common source.

6.30 ?Sage? (sheng ?) is a term
generally reserved for great figures
of legendary accomplishment. One
may read this passage as saying
either that sagehood is a type of
?super-ren? ? ren with political
achievements added on ? or that
these are two different types of
issues, one having to do with pow-
er opportunities turned to ad-
vantage, and the other having to do
with a habitual linkage of self and
other ? not unrelated matters, but
still distinct.
The final sentence, which
seems to describe a rule of thumb
for the ordinary person striving to
become ren, provides a clue to
what, in practice, the ambiguous
term may have meant to early Con-
fucians. It stands in contrast to the
almost unattainable goal expressed
in 4.5.

The Analects of Confucius 30

Book VII

7.1 The Master said, To transmit but not cre-
ate, to be faithful in loving the old ? in this I
dare compare myself to Old Peng.

7.2 The Master said, To stay silent and mark
something in the mind, to study without tir-
ing, to instruct others without fatigue ? what
difficulty are these things to me?

7.3 The Master said, That I have not culti-
vated virtue, that I have learned but not ex-
plained, that I have heard what is right but
failed to align with it, that what is not good
in me I have been unable to change ? these
are my worries.

7.4 When the Master was at leisure, his
manner was relaxed and easy.

7.5 The Master said, How far I have de-
clined! Long has it been since I have again
dreamed of the Duke of Zhou.

7.6 The Master said, Set your heart on the
dao, base yourself in virtue, rely on ren,
journey in the arts.

7.7 The Master said, From those who offer
only a bundle of dried sausages on up, I have
never refused to teach.

7.8 The Master said, Where there is no agi-
tated attempt at thinking, I do not provide a
clue; where there is no stammered attempt at
expression, I do provide a prompt. If I raise
one corner and do not receive the other three
in response, I teach no further.

Notes

7.1 There is no consensus about
who Old Peng may have been.
Some suggest this refers to Peng-
zu, a legendary figure comparable
to Methuselah, but other than the
descriptor ?old? nothing in this
passage points to features in com-
mon with the legend.
Book VII is, by and large,
a portrait of Confucius, in his own
words or in the words of the Ana-
lects compilers.

7.5 The Duke of Zhou was a dy-
nastic founder, younger brother of
King Wu, famous for saving the
newly established dynastic house
through his wise regency after
King Wu?s early death. He was
also said to have devised the rituals
of the Zhou government.

The passage may mean
that Confucius has long given up
hope of seeing a new sage arise.

7.6 ?The arts? refers to the gentle-
manly arts of archery, charioteer-
ing, and writing, and the Confu-
cian ritual arts of li and music.

7.7 The openness of Confucius?s
?school? to men of all classes is
reflected here. Note ?on up?: Con-
fucius was a professional private
teacher (often said to be the first),
who seems to have lived largely
off the largess of his wealthier pu-
pils.

The Analects of Confucius 31

7.9 When the Master dined by the side of
one who was in mourning, he never ate his
fill.

7.10 If on a certain day the Master cried, he
did not on that day sing.

7.11 The Master said of Yan Yuan, When
put to use, act; when discarded, hide ? only
you and I are thus.

Zilu said, ?Master, if you were put in
charge of the three army divisions, then
whom would you wish to have with you??
The Master said, ?Those who fight ti-
gers with their bare hands, wade across riv-
ers, and are willing to die without regret ? I
would not want their company. I would cer-
tainly want those who approach affairs with
fearful caution and who like to lay careful
plans for success.?

7.12 The Master said, If wealth may be well
sought, though it be as lowly bearer of the
whip I too would pursue it. If it cannot be
well sought, I will follow what I love.

7.13 Things the Master was vigilant about:
fasting, war, illness.

7.14 When the Master was in the state of Qi,
he heard the Shao Music. For three months
he did not know the taste of meat. He said, ?I
never imagined that the making of music
could reach this level.?

7.???5DQ?<?X?VDLG???:LOO?WKH?0DVWHU?Eecome
a partisan on behalf of the ruler of Wei??
Zigong said, ?Right ? I?ll ask him.?

7.11 What is ?put to use? or ?dis-
carded? may refer to rulers? treat-
ment of Confucius and Yan Yuan,
or, more likely, to the dao. The
initial passage here restates the
doctrine of timeliness.

Classical era armies were
typically divided into left, right,
and central divisions.
Zilu?s eager valor is once
again quashe