Analects 13.19: 子路 (Zi Lu)
Confucius and his disciples · Classical Chinese original · new English translation and commentary by Text Atlas
Overview
Book 13 asks what makes government effective and what qualifies someone to serve. Leading by example, appointing capable people, setting names right, creating prosperity, and teaching all place demands on the ruler. Short claims about conduct stand beside long exchanges about speech, judgment, and the time needed for change. The book also tests uprightness, reputation, reliability, and harmony through particular relationships, sometimes leaving a difficult tension visible, as when family concealment is praised. Its closing sayings make preparation for war a responsibility toward the people who must fight.
Analects 13.19
樊遲問仁。子曰、居處恭、執事敬、與人忠、雖之夷狄、不可棄也。
Fan Chi asked about humaneness. The Master said, “Be respectful in daily life, reverent in carrying out your duties, and wholehearted in dealing with others. Even if you go among the Yi and Di peoples, you must not abandon these qualities.”
Commentary
ethics Three settings for humaneness Fan Chi asks directly about humaneness. The answer distributes it across daily bearing, the handling of duties, and dealings with other people. 恭, 敬, and 忠 remain distinct as respectful conduct, reverence, and wholeheartedness. Loyalty to a particular ruler would be too narrow for the third relation here.
Basis: textual-inference
Confidence: high
philology Conduct carried beyond home 夷狄 names the Yi and Di peoples as the destination imagined by the saying. Whatever difference the speaker assumes between settings, the instruction is to carry these same qualities there. The requirement remains binding when one travels beyond familiar surroundings.
Basis: textual-inference
Confidence: medium