Analects 6.7: 雍也 (Yong Ye)
Confucius and his disciples · Classical Chinese original · new English translation and commentary by Text Atlas
Overview
Book 6 asks how character becomes visible in governing, learning, giving, and answering other people. Judgments of practical ability sit beside a refusal of office. Yan Hui’s love of learning, steadiness in humaneness, and joy under hardship are framed by grief at his early death. The short sayings test relations between substance and refinement, knowledge and delight, reverence and distance. The closing exchange moves from the achievement of helping the people on a vast scale to a nearby method of humaneness: using one’s own desire for a firm footing and progress to help others find theirs.
Analects 6.7
季氏使閔子騫為費宰、閔子騫曰、善為我辭焉、如有復我者、則吾必在汶上矣。
The Ji family sent for Min Ziqian to make him administrator of Bi. Min Ziqian said, “Please decline politely for me. If anyone comes for me again, I will certainly be on the banks of the Wen.”
Commentary
politics A refusal that grows firmer Min Ziqian’s reply moves from a polite refusal to an announced absence if the invitation is repeated. The Ji family’s wish to appoint him does not settle whether he will serve. The banks of the Wen give his refusal a concrete destination, but the passage leaves his reason for refusing unstated.
Basis: textual-inference
Confidence: high