Analects 2.4: 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 2.4
子曰、吾十有五而志于學。三十而立。四十而不惑。五十而知天命。六十而耳順。七十而從心所欲、不踰矩。
The Master said, “At fifteen I set my heart on learning. At thirty I took my stand. At forty I was no longer confused. At fifty I understood Heaven’s command. At sixty my ear was attuned. At seventy I followed what my heart desired without stepping beyond the bounds.”
Commentary
ethics Learning across a lifetime The six ages measure changes in the speaker: commitment, a standing of his own, freedom from confusion, understanding, receptive hearing, and desire that stays within bounds. The final 矩 is a measuring square, an image of a standard. Desire now moves within the measure.
Basis: textual-inference
Confidence: high
philology Heaven’s command 天命 joins Heaven to a command or charge. The phrase gives the life being described a measure beyond the speaker’s own wishes, while leaving the content of that charge unstated.
Basis: textual-inference
Confidence: medium
translation An attuned ear 耳順 pairs the ear with being in accord. Legge supplies receptivity to truth as its object. “My ear was attuned” leaves the object unstated: the change concerns how the speaker receives what he hears.
Basis: translation-comparison
Confidence: medium