Analects 14.44: 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 14.44
子曰、上好禮、則民易使也。
The Master said, “When those above love ritual, the people are easy to call on for service.”
Commentary
politics Those above and those called to serve The saying links the rulers’ love of ritual to the people’s readiness for service. 上 identifies those above by their position; 使 preserves the exercise of authority over others. The claim belongs beside the care and timing required when calling on people in 1.5, without importing those qualifications into this shorter saying.
Basis: textual-inference
Confidence: high