Analects 2.14: 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 2.14
子曰、君子周而不比、小人比而不周。
The Master said, “An exemplary person is inclusive, not partisan; a petty person is partisan, not inclusive.”
Commentary
philology Breadth and faction 周 suggests breadth or comprehensiveness; 比 here suggests attaching oneself to a narrow group. “Inclusive” and “partisan” express that contrast. The petty person lets a group attachment set the limits of concern; the exemplary person’s relations have a wider reach. The balanced reversal keeps the same terms on both sides.
Basis: textual-inference
Confidence: medium