Analects 5.7: 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 5.7
孟武伯問子路仁乎。子曰、不知也。又問。子曰、由也、千乘之國、可使治其賦也、不知其仁也。求也何如。子曰、求也、千室之邑、百乘之家、可使為之宰也、不知其仁也。赤也何如。子曰、赤也、束帶立於朝、可使與賓客言也、不知其仁也。
Meng Wubo asked whether Zilu was humane. The Master said, “I do not know.” When he asked again, the Master said, “As for You, he could be put in charge of the military levies of a state of a thousand chariots. I do not know whether he is humane.” “What would you say of Qiu?” The Master said, “Qiu could be made steward of a town of a thousand households or a great household of a hundred chariots. I do not know whether he is humane.” “What would you say of Chi?” The Master said, “Chi, with his sash fastened and standing at court, could be employed to speak with visiting guests. I do not know whether he is humane.”
Commentary
ethics Ability is not the whole judgment Meng Wubo asks about humaneness and receives three precise accounts of what different men can do. You, the Zilu named in the question, can manage levies; Qiu can administer a settlement or household; Chi can speak at court. Each description ends with the same reservation. Competence earns recognition without settling the judgment about humaneness.
Basis: textual-inference
Confidence: high
politics Different scales of responsibility The thousand chariots belong to a state; the thousand households to a town; the hundred chariots to a great household. These measures distinguish the proposed responsibilities. Legge takes 賦 as military levies, the reading used here; the court sash and reception of guests mark Chi’s different kind of public competence.
Basis: translation-comparison
Confidence: medium