Analects 14.9: 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 14.9
子曰、為命、裨諶草創之、世叔討論之、行人子羽修飾之、東里子產潤色之。
The Master said, “When a state document was prepared, Pi Chen drafted it, Shi Shu examined and discussed it, the envoy Ziyu revised it, and Zichan of Dongli gave it its final polish.”
Commentary
politics A document passes through four hands The saying distributes preparation among four named people: drafting, examination and discussion, revision, and final polish. Ziyu is identified by the diplomatic role 行人, envoy; Dongli distinguishes the last contributor, Zichan. The sequence makes public language the product of shared judgment as well as verbal finish.
Basis: textual-inference
Confidence: high