Analects 1.13: 學而 (Xue Er)
Confucius and his disciples · Classical Chinese original · new English translation and commentary by Text Atlas
Overview
Book 1 presents learning as a way of acting with others: practicing what one learns, serving parents, keeping faith with friends, governing with care, and accepting correction. Its voices return to the relation between inward character and outward conduct. Devotion to parents and respect for elder brothers are called the root of practicing humaneness; ritual gives harmony its measure. The dialogue about poverty, wealth, and poetry shows a learner carrying a lesson further. The book begins with bearing a lack of recognition and ends by asking whether we know other people.
Analects 1.13
有子曰、信近於義、言可復也、恭近於禮、遠恥辱也、因不失其親、亦可宗也。
Master You said, “When a pledge is close to what is right, you can make good on your words. When deference is close to ritual, you keep shame and disgrace at a distance. When those you rely on are people worth holding dear, you can also look up to them.”
Commentary
ethics Reliability is answerable to rightness 信 is rendered as a pledge because the next clause concerns making good on words. Its proximity to 義, what is right, matters: keeping a promise is not presented as an isolated good, regardless of its content. The parallel clause places deference in relation to ritual. 近, “close,” is retained rather than turning either relation into an identity.
Basis: textual-inference
Confidence: high
translation Choosing whom to rely on The final clause leaves several relationships implicit. Legge understands it as relying on people who deserve intimacy and can serve as guides. This translation also takes 因 as reliance, 親 as intimacy, and 宗 as looking up to someone. The personal bond in 親, rendered “holding dear,” differs from the proximity expressed by 近 in the first two clauses. A different construction could emphasize not neglecting one’s kin; the sentence does not settle that choice explicitly.
Basis: translation-comparison
Confidence: medium