Analects 19.5: 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 19.5
子夏曰、日知其所亡、月無忘其所能、可謂好學也已矣。
Zixia said, “Learn each day what you did not know, and do not forget from month to month what you can already do. Then you can be said to love learning.”
Commentary
ethics Acquiring and retaining The two clauses join daily gain with continued retention. 知 concerns knowing, while 能 names what one can do; the saying gives learning both an expanding reach and a durable capacity. 亡 here marks what is lacking, contrasted with 忘, forgetting.
Basis: textual-inference
Confidence: high