Analects 2.12: 為政 (Wei Zheng)
Confucius and his disciples · Classical Chinese original · new English translation and commentary by Text Atlas
Overview
Book 2 connects government with the character and practices of those who govern. The pole-star image and the contrast between punishment and ritual give two ways of thinking about how people respond to authority. Four answers about filial devotion move through ritual, parental concern, reverence, and demeanor. Sayings on learning then test how knowledge appears in thought, conduct, and honest acknowledgment of limits. The closing exchanges return to public authority, trustworthiness, inherited ritual, and the courage to act on what is right. The collection repeatedly asks what gives outward action its substance.
Analects 2.12
子曰、君子不器。
The Master said, “An exemplary person is not a vessel.”
Commentary
ethics A vessel’s single use 器 is a vessel or implement, something shaped for a particular use. The short saying resists confining an exemplary person to such a function. The image asks for judgment that can reach beyond one assigned use or specialized skill.
Basis: textual-inference
Confidence: medium