Analects 14.15: 憲問 (Xian Wen)
Confucius and his disciples · Classical Chinese original · new English translation and commentary by Text Atlas
Overview
Book 14 tests ethical judgment in public life. Salary, courage, accomplished speech, and a reputation for virtue each prove incomplete measures of a person. The arguments about Guan Zhong ask how benefits to many people should weigh against a demand for personal fidelity. Accounts of officeholders, messengers, and failed appeals make responsibility concrete: competent service can sustain a flawed ruler, and a duty to speak can survive refusal. Short sayings turn from judging others toward learning, ability, and the relation between words and deeds. The later encounters press the choice between persistence and withdrawal when others offer no recognition. The dialogue with Zilu gives self-cultivation an expanding aim, ending in peace for all the people; the closing scenes test conduct through bodily bearing and the desire to seem grown before the work is done.
Analects 14.15
子曰、臧武仲、以防求為後於魯、雖曰不要君、吾不信也。
The Master said, “Zang Wuzhong used his hold on Fang to seek a successor in Lu. Even if someone says he was not putting pressure on his ruler, I do not believe it.”
Commentary
politics A request backed by possession 以防 makes Fang the means used to obtain a successor in Lu. Confucius treats that leverage as pressure on the ruler, regardless of how the request is described. The same Zang Wuzhong was praised for wisdom in 14.13: a particular ability does not settle the judgment of every action.
Basis: textual-inference
Confidence: medium