Analects 2.5: 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 2.5
孟懿子問孝、子曰、無違。樊遲御、子告之曰、孟孫問孝於我、我對曰、無違。樊遲曰、何謂也、子曰、生事之以禮、死葬之以禮、祭之以禮。
Meng Yizi asked about filial devotion. The Master said, “Do not disobey.” As Fan Chi drove him, the Master told him, “Mengsun asked me about filial devotion, and I answered, ‘Do not disobey.’” Fan Chi asked, “What does that mean?” The Master said, “While your parents live, serve them according to ritual. When they die, bury them according to ritual, and sacrifice to them according to ritual.”
Commentary
ritual What must not be disobeyed Filial devotion means devotion to parents. The first answer gives no object for “disobey”; Fan Chi’s question draws out ritual as the governing measure. The repeated “according to ritual” carries the obligation through service during life, burial at death, and subsequent sacrifice.
Basis: textual-inference
Confidence: high
philology Two listeners, one answer Meng Yizi asks the initial question. In reporting that exchange to Fan Chi, who is driving him, the Master calls the same questioner Mengsun. Fan Chi asks for the meaning of the short reply, giving the Master occasion to unfold it.
Basis: textual-inference
Confidence: high