Analects 14.34: 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 14.34
微生畝謂孔子曰、丘何為是栖栖者與、無乃為佞乎。孔子曰、非敢為佞也、疾固也。
Weisheng Mu said to Confucius, “Qiu, why are you always bustling about like this? Are you trying to win people with clever talk?” Confucius said, “I would not dare try to win people with clever talk. I cannot bear obstinacy.”
Commentary
philology Restless effort and obstinacy Weisheng Mu directly addresses Confucius as Qiu, written 丘 here; Ran Qiu in 14.13 is 求. 栖栖 conveys unsettled, busy movement, while 佞 gives the accusation a verbal edge: winning others through clever talk. Confucius turns the accusation toward 固, obstinacy or a refusal to move. The answer keeps his activity purposeful without specifying whose obstinacy he means.
Basis: textual-inference
Confidence: medium