Analects 12.22: 顏淵 (Yan Yuan)
Confucius and his disciples · Classical Chinese original · new English translation and commentary by Text Atlas
Overview
Book 12 asks how humaneness takes shape in conduct: self-mastery and ritual, care toward others, and words answerable to action. Its political exchanges test government through trust, the people’s livelihood, and the example of those who lead. Questions about clear sight and genuine accomplishment make understanding people more demanding than knowing their reputation. The account of promoting the upright brings that judgment into public service, while Zixia’s examples place the distancing of the inhumane beside the claim of reform. The closing sayings return to friendship as a practice of advice, restraint, learning, and support for humaneness.
Analects 12.22
樊遲問仁。子曰、愛人。問知。子曰、知人。樊遲未達。子曰、舉直錯諸枉、能使枉者直。樊遲退、見子夏曰、鄉也、吾見於夫子而問知。子曰、舉直錯諸枉、能使枉者直、何謂也。子夏曰、富哉言乎。舜有天下、選於眾、舉皋陶、不仁者遠矣、湯有天下、選於眾、舉伊尹、不仁者遠矣。
Fan Chi asked about humaneness. The Master said, “Love others.” Fan Chi then asked about wisdom. The Master said, “Understand others.” Fan Chi did not understand. The Master said, “Promote the upright and place them above the crooked; this can make the crooked upright.” Fan Chi withdrew and saw Zixia. Fan Chi said, “Earlier I went to the Master and asked about wisdom. He said, ‘Promote the upright and place them above the crooked; this can make the crooked upright.’ What did he mean?” Zixia said, “How rich those words are! When Shun ruled all under Heaven, he chose from the multitude and promoted Gao Yao, and the inhumane were far away. When Tang ruled all under Heaven, he chose from the multitude and promoted Yi Yin, and the inhumane were far away.”
Commentary
ethics Love and understanding The two short answers direct both humaneness and wisdom toward other people. “Understand others” keeps the wording of the closing saying of Book 1. Fan Chi’s difficulty leads to a concrete case: understanding people matters when deciding whom to promote. He then carries the question to Zixia, so the section shows interpretation continuing through another conversation.
Basis: textual-inference
Confidence: high
translation Placing the upright and changing the crooked 舉直錯諸枉 repeats the words used in 2.19. The English keeps “Promote the upright and place them above the crooked.” Legge instead takes the second step as setting the crooked aside. Here 能使枉者直 expressly adds that the crooked can be made upright, giving the appointment a reforming effect. That supports the chosen reading without making it the only possible construction.
Basis: translation-comparison
Confidence: medium
politics What Zixia’s examples show Zixia pairs Shun’s promotion of Gao Yao with Tang’s promotion of Yi Yin. Each ruler selects from the multitude; each appointment is followed by 不仁者遠矣, the inhumane being far away. 遠 leaves open whether they withdraw, are excluded, or become distant in some other sense. These examples therefore qualify the picture of reform: the passage does not require every crooked person to remain in place and be converted.
Basis: textual-inference
Confidence: medium