Analects 14.4: 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 14.4
子曰、邦有道、危言危行、邦無道、危行言孫。
The Master said, “When the state has the Way, be upright in speech and action. When it lacks the Way, be upright in action and restrained in speech.”
Commentary
politics Conduct stays upright The change in political circumstances changes speech, while action remains 危 in both cases. Here the word is read as upright or uncompromising, with 孫 giving speech a yielding, restrained character. This is a distinction between what one does and how one speaks under bad rule; it leaves the demand on conduct intact.
Basis: textual-inference
Confidence: medium