Analects 11.15: 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 11.15
子貢問師與商也孰賢。子曰、師也過、商也不及。曰、然則師愈與。子曰、過猶不及。
Zigong asked, “Who is worthier, Shi or Shang?” The Master said, “Shi goes too far; Shang does not go far enough.” “Then Shi is better?” The Master said, “Going too far is no better than falling short.”
Commentary
ethics More is not automatically better Zigong treats exceeding the measure as a possible advantage over falling short. The answer rejects that ranking. 過 and 不及 name opposite failures to meet what is called for.
Basis: textual-inference
Confidence: high