Analects 19.1: 子張 (Zi Zhang)
Confucius and his disciples · Classical Chinese original · new English translation and commentary by Text Atlas
Overview
Zizhang, Zixia, Ziyou, Master Zeng, and Zigong speak about learning, friendship, mourning, and public responsibility. Their judgments sometimes conflict: who should be welcomed as a friend, how teaching reaches the root, and whether impressive achievement amounts to humaneness. The final sayings turn to reputation and the limits of judging another person. Zigong defends the Master through images of hidden interiors, the sun and moon, and rule that would draw a response from the people.
Analects 19.1
子張曰、士、見危致命、見得思義、祭思敬、喪思哀、其可已矣。
Zizhang said, “A scholar who is ready to give their life when faced with danger, thinks of what is right when faced with gain, thinks of reverence at sacrifices, and of grief in mourning—that will do.”
Commentary
ethics Four occasions for judgment Zizhang tests the scholar, 士, in danger, gain, sacrifice, and mourning. Each occasion calls for a different response: readiness to give one’s life, attention to rightness, reverence, and grief. The restrained closing judgment, “that will do,” makes these demanding responses a measure of adequacy.
Basis: textual-inference
Confidence: high