Analects 5.3: 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 5.3
子貢問曰、賜也何如。子曰、女器也。曰、何器也。曰、瑚璉也。
Zigong asked, “What would you say of me?” The Master said, “You are a vessel.” “What kind of vessel?” “A jeweled vessel for sacrifice.”
Commentary
ritual A valuable vessel Zigong calls himself Ci while asking for an assessment. 瑚璉 names the kind of vessel; Legge identifies it as a gem-adorned sacrificial vessel. Earlier, the Master says an exemplary person is not a vessel. Calling Zigong a precious sacrificial one gives him high praise within that limit.
Basis: translation-comparison
Confidence: medium