Analects 5.14: 公冶長 (Gongye Chang)
Confucius and his disciples · Classical Chinese original · new English translation and commentary by Text Atlas
Overview
Book 5 tests judgments of people against their conduct. The Master praises particular abilities and virtues while repeatedly withholding the larger judgment of humaneness. Marriage choices, public service, friendship, speech, and learning supply different kinds of evidence. Several exchanges expose a distance between what someone says or wants and what they can do; Zai Yu’s conduct even changes the Master’s way of judging. Near the end, the teacher and his companions state their own aspirations. The closing sayings turn assessment inward, toward recognizing faults and continuing to love learning.
Analects 5.14
子貢問曰、孔文子、何以謂之文也。子曰、敏而好學、不恥下問、是以謂之文也。
Zigong asked, “Why was Kong Wenzi called Wen, ‘cultured’?” The Master said, “He was diligent and loved learning, and felt no shame in asking those below him. That is why he was called Wen.”
Commentary
philology Why call someone cultured? Wen, 文, is the element of Kong Wenzi’s name that Zigong asks the Master to explain. The answer ties the title “cultured” to how he learns: with diligence, love of learning, and no shame in questioning those below him.
Basis: textual-inference
Confidence: high