Analects 8.13: 泰伯 (Tai Bo)
Confucius and his disciples · Classical Chinese original · new English translation and commentary by Text Atlas
Overview
Book 8 places personal conduct beside the use and relinquishment of power. Taibo’s yielding opens the book; praise of Shun, Yu, Yao, and Zhou closes it. Between these stands a sequence in Master Zeng’s voice, beginning in illness and extending to the lifelong burden of humaneness. Ritual gives qualities their measure, while poetry and music form a person’s response. Learning is tested against talent, salary, public service, and withdrawal. The book ends with Yu’s choices: little for personal comfort, full care for ritual and waterworks.
Analects 8.13
子曰、篤信好學、守死善道。危邦不入、亂邦不居、天下有道則見、無道則隱。邦有道、貧且賤焉、恥也、邦無道、富且貴焉、恥也。
The Master said, “Be steadfast in good faith and love learning; hold to the good Way until death. Do not enter a state in danger or remain in one in disorder. When all under Heaven has the Way, come forward; when it lacks the Way, stay hidden. When a state has the Way, it is shameful to be poor and of low rank there. When a state lacks the Way, it is shameful to be rich and honored there.”
Commentary
translation Holding fast and making good “Hold to the good Way until death” reads 善道 as the good Way and takes it as the object of the commitment in 守死. Legge instead makes 善 active: holding firm while perfecting one’s course. The Chinese compression permits a question about how these actions join. In either reading, faithfulness and love of learning stand together at the opening.
Basis: translation-comparison
Confidence: medium
politics Coming forward and staying hidden Having or lacking the Way describes the ethical condition of public rule. 見 means appearing or becoming visible, and the surrounding states, wealth, and rank give “come forward” a public force. The closing judgments reverse with the political setting. Poverty and low rank are shameful where the Way prevails; wealth and honor are shameful where it does not. Withdrawal and service are therefore measured against the same commitment.
Basis: textual-inference
Confidence: medium