Analects 9.14: 子罕 (Zi Han)
Confucius and his disciples · Classical Chinese original · new English translation and commentary by Text Atlas
Overview
Book 9 presents the Master through questions about his learning, skills, character, and place in the cultural tradition. His own accounts of ordinary work and unfinished attainment stand beside his students’ admiration. Ritual decisions distinguish useful change from arrogant display, while the jade exchange joins willingness to serve with waiting for someone who recognizes worth. Images of flowing water, earthworks, growing plants, and winter trees give passing time, effort, and tested character concrete form. Praise of learners sits beside regret and warnings about unfinished growth. The later sayings ask for correction, resolve, and the ability to weigh circumstances after learning to stand firm.
Analects 9.14
子曰、吾自衛反魯、然後樂正、雅頌各得其所。
The Master said, “After I returned from Wei to Lu, music was put in order, and the Odes and the Hymns each found their proper place.”
Commentary
translation Songs in their proper place 雅 and 頌 name the bodies of song rendered “Odes” and “Hymns.” Legge calls them Royal songs and Praise songs. The phrase 各得其所 concerns each finding its proper place after music is put in order. The sentence links this change to the Master’s return but leaves the detailed arrangement and the people who carried it out unstated.
Basis: translation-comparison
Confidence: medium