Analects 9.3: 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 9.3
子曰、麻冕、禮也、今也純、儉、吾從眾。拜下、禮也。今拜乎上、泰也、雖遠眾、吾從下。
The Master said, “A hemp cap is prescribed by ritual. Now people use silk: it is less costly, so I follow the majority. Bowing below the hall is prescribed by ritual. Now people bow up in the hall: that is arrogant. Though I stand apart from the majority, I bow below.”
Commentary
ritual When to follow the majority The two decisions use different measures. The change of cap saves expense, while the change in bowing expresses arrogance. The Master accepts the first and resists the second. 遠, literally distance or separation, gives “stand apart” its force: shared practice matters, but it does not decide the question on its own.
Basis: textual-inference
Confidence: medium