Analects 11.13: 先進 (Xian Jin)
Confucius and his disciples · Classical Chinese original · new English translation and commentary by Text Atlas
Overview
Book 11 studies the people around the Master through remembered companionship, distinct abilities, rebukes, and grief. The death of Yan Yuan brings intense mourning beside disputes over what a fitting burial requires. Other exchanges test how to judge character, when to act, and what limits service to a ruler must keep. The same advice cannot serve every temperament: one student needs encouragement, another restraint. In the long final conversation, four wishes reveal different ways of imagining a life. The Master’s approval of Dian’s spring outing remains beside his judgment that governing requires ritual and a willingness to yield.
Analects 11.13
魯人為長府。閔子騫曰、仍舊貫、如之何、何必改作。子曰、夫人不言、言必有中。
The people of Lu were working on the Long Treasury. Min Ziqian said, “What about keeping its old form? Why must it be rebuilt?” The Master said, “This man seldom speaks, but when he does, he hits the mark.”
Commentary
politics Keeping the old form Min Ziqian asks whether the existing arrangement can be kept before assuming a new structure is needed. 仍舊貫 gives continuity its force, and 何必 challenges the necessity of rebuilding. The Master praises the remark for hitting its target, linking useful speech with restraint in speaking.
Basis: textual-inference
Confidence: high