Analects 2.21: 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 2.21
或謂孔子曰、子奚不為政。子曰、書云孝乎、惟孝友于兄弟、施於有政、是亦為政、奚其為為政。
Someone said to Confucius, “Why do you not take part in government?” The Master said, “The Documents say, ‘Filial devotion! Be devoted to parents and friendly toward brothers; this carries over into government.’ That too is governing. Why must holding office be what counts as governing?”
Commentary
politics What counts as governing? An unnamed questioner treats Confucius as someone outside government. The reply locates political action in devotion to parents and friendship toward brothers, extending those relations into public life. Repeating 為政, “governing,” lets the answer challenge the questioner’s narrower use of the word.
Basis: textual-inference
Confidence: high
translation How far the quotation runs 書 names the Documents. This English includes the exclamation “Filial devotion!” (孝乎) within the quotation. Legge treats it as the Master’s own question about what the Documents say, and starts quoting at 惟孝. His quotation describes filial conduct; this English voices it as an instruction. Both end the quotation at 施於有政, which could instead be the Master’s application of the cited duties. “Holding office” makes explicit the narrower sense of governing challenged at the end.
Basis: translation-comparison
Confidence: medium