Analects 18.4: 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 18.4
齊人歸女樂。李桓子受之、三日不朝、孔子行。
The people of Qi sent female musicians as a gift. Ji Huanzi accepted them and stayed away from court for three days. Confucius left.
Commentary
politics The neglected court The gift is followed by three days away from court and Confucius’s departure. The English keeps Ji Huanzi as the subject of 不朝, whereas Legge says that no court was held. The compressed Chinese permits the latter account of the result, but explicitly names only the man who accepted the gift.
Basis: translation-comparison
Confidence: medium
source variant The name Ji Huanzi The displayed 李桓子 corresponds to 季桓子 in the Chinese comparison text. “Ji Huanzi” follows that reading, also reflected by Legge. This is the same 李/季 distinction that appears in the preceding section.
Basis: translation-comparison
Confidence: high