Analects 18.11: 微子 (Wei Zi)
Confucius and his disciples · Classical Chinese original · new English translation and commentary by Text Atlas
Overview
Book 18 places different responses to failed public life beside one another. Withdrawal, continued service, and fatal protest can all receive praise, while Confucius himself leaves when employment fails or court duties are neglected. The long encounters with a singer, two plowmen, and an old farmer turn departure into an argument: can personal integrity be preserved by leaving the human world behind? Confucius insists on human company, and Zilu defends duty even without the prospect of success. The later judgments distinguish kinds of withdrawal; a dispersal of musicians and advice about employing people return the question to the relationships that sustain public life.
Analects 18.11
周有八士、伯達、伯适、仲突、仲忽、叔夜、叔夏、李隨、李騧。
Zhou had eight men of standing: Boda, Bokuo, Zhongtu, Zhonghu, Shuye, Shuxia, Jisui, and Jigua.
Commentary
philology Eight names as a closing list 士 marks these eight as men of standing. The names fall into pairs beginning 伯, 仲, 叔, and 李 in the displayed text, with the last pair read as 季. The pattern suggests an order among the names, but the sentence supplies no account of their kinship or achievements. Bokuo retains the name-reading reflected in Legge’s romanization.
Basis: translation-comparison
Confidence: medium
source variant The final pair The displayed names 李隨 and 李騧 correspond to 季隨 and 季騧 in the Chinese comparison text. The English therefore gives Jisui and Jigua, following the 季 reading also reflected in Legge. Both instances of 李 remain in the aligned Chinese.
Basis: translation-comparison
Confidence: high