Analects 19.13: 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 19.13
子夏曰、仕而優則學、學而優則仕。
Zixia said, “Serve in office and, when you have capacity to spare, learn. Learn and, when you have capacity to spare, serve in office.”
Commentary
translation Capacity left for another task 優 occurs in both halves of the saying. Legge gives the official leisure after completing duties but the learner completion of learning. Repeating “capacity to spare” preserves the Chinese symmetry: either activity can provide a starting point for the other. The word also allows an emphasis on proficiency; the saying does not supply a fixed moment at which learning is finished.
Basis: translation-comparison
Confidence: medium