Analects 11.2: 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 11.2
子曰、從我於陳蔡者、皆不及門也。德行、顏淵、閔子騫、冉伯牛、仲弓。言語、宰我、子貢。政事、冉有、李路。文學、子游、子夏。
The Master said, “None of those who followed me in Chen and Cai comes to my door now.” Moral conduct: Yan Yuan, Min Ziqian, Ran Boniu, Zhonggong. Speech: Zai Wo, Zigong. Government: Ran You, Jilu. Study of the cultural tradition: Ziyou, Zixia.
Commentary
philology An absence and four kinds of ability The saying about companions in Chen and Cai is followed by a roster under four headings. The English treats the unmarked transition as a move from quotation to a narrator’s list; the Chinese does not explicitly identify the list’s speaker. The Master records the companions’ absence from his door without explaining every absence. The list distinguishes moral conduct, speech, government, and study of the cultural tradition.
Basis: textual-inference
Confidence: medium
source variant The name Jilu The printed Chinese has 李路. The Chinese comparison witness has 季路, and Legge renders the name Chi Lu. “Jilu” follows that supported reading; the displayed 李 is retained. The roster places this person alongside Ran You under government. Jilu is also called Zilu: the earlier conversation about aspirations names him 季路 at its opening and 子路 when he speaks.
Basis: sourced
Confidence: high