Analects 7.20: 述而 (Shu Er)
Confucius and his disciples · Classical Chinese original · new English translation and commentary by Text Atlas
Overview
Book 7 builds a portrait of the Master through self-descriptions, conversations, and observations of his conduct. He loves the ancient tradition, learns through sustained attention, and teaches by asking learners to carry an indication further. Music, mourning, plain food, and illness show how these commitments enter daily life. Political judgment calls for knowing when to act or withdraw and for accepting criticism. Repeated disclaimers about his own attainment sit beside confidence in Heaven and the nearness of humaneness. The closing portrait holds warmth, firmness, respect, and ease together.
Analects 7.20
子不語、怪、力、亂、神。
The Master did not speak of strange events, feats of strength, disorder, or spirits.
Commentary
philology The subjects left out of his speech The four objects of 語 range from the strange and forceful to disorder and spirits. The sentence describes the Master’s choice of subjects. It does not say that spirits do not exist: the later exchange over prayer speaks of spirits above and below.
Basis: textual-inference
Confidence: medium