"The Analects" Detailed Explanation: For All Those Who Misinterpret Confucius (68)
2007/8/28 21:57:19
68
The Master said: The gentleman is comprehensive but does not march in lockstep; the petty man marches in lockstep but is not comprehensive.
Yang Bojun: Confucius said: "The gentleman unites but does not collude; the petty man colludes but does not unite."
Qian Mu: The Master said: "The gentleman treats others with loyalty and faithfulness, but does not show private favoritism. The petty man forms cliques through private favoritism, but lacks loyalty and faithfulness."
Li Zehou: Confucius said: "The gentleman treats people generously and impartially, without favoritism or bias; the petty man shows favoritism and bias, without treating people generously and impartially."
Detailed Explanation: All three interpretations are typical nonsensical readings — none of them starts from the original meanings of "周" (zhōu) and "比" (bǐ). When later generations interpret the texts of their predecessors, the greatest taboo is attaching meanings that simply did not exist at the time. The meaning of a sentence can be extended, but the meaning of individual characters absolutely cannot be fabricated — this is the most basic requirement.
The crux of this chapter lies in just two characters: "周" and "比." What is "比"? In oracle bone script, "比" depicts two people walking in lockstep, marching shoulder to shoulder — a quintessential pictographic character. "周" in oracle bone script shows "田" (field) with four dots inside, representing a field planted to fullness, and thus carries the meaning of being comprehensive and thorough with no omissions.
Then what does "The gentleman is comprehensive but does not march in lockstep; the petty man marches in lockstep but is not comprehensive" mean? The literal meaning is: the gentleman's seeing, hearing, knowing, and acting are comprehensive and thorough with no omissions, but he will not make others march in lockstep and walk shoulder to shoulder with himself; whereas the petty man always hopes others will march in lockstep and walk shoulder to shoulder with himself, but his seeing, hearing, knowing, and acting cannot be comprehensive and thorough without omissions.
Here it is very clear: Confucius believed that all petty men share one great common trait — they all hope others will march in lockstep and walk shoulder to shoulder with themselves. Why? The petty man is controlled by a "self." His own behavior and views are nothing but the fabrications of that "self," always marching in lockstep and walking shoulder to shoulder with that "self." Therefore, this inner disposition naturally extends outward — he wishes everyone to be like "me," that all others' interests should serve "me," and so forth.
Any learning, religion, or theory that demands others march in lockstep and walk shoulder to shoulder is the learning of petty men. For example, things like so-called Christianity, Taoism, and the like — they set up a God or a Dao, then make people march in lockstep and walk shoulder to shoulder with it. This is quintessential petty-man learning.
The learning of the gentleman is: different yet achieving great unity, without needing anyone to march in lockstep or walk shoulder to shoulder. There are countless species of flowers in this world — how could you make every species march in lockstep and walk shoulder to shoulder? Read Marx's "Comments on the Latest Prussian Censorship Instruction," and you'll see the intellectual resonance between gentlemen of East and West.
The gentleman's seeing, hearing, knowing, and acting are comprehensive and thorough with no omissions. The gentleman does not preset a framework, wearing tinted glasses or even shackles to know and act. He only proceeds from the present reality, comprehensively gathering all materials and viewing all materials without fixating on appearances. These materials encompass all aspects of society — from the economic base to the superstructure, from elites to their kept companions and from kept companions to elites, from birth, aging, sickness, and death to rape, plunder, and abuse. "Not knowing a single matter is a Confucian scholar's shame."
Only with "comprehensiveness" is "not marching in lockstep" possible. The world of the kept companion contains only those who come to be kept and those who are being kept. The petty man's world contains only petty men. The gentleman's world contains not only gentlemen — it also has kept companions and petty men. The gentleman has no world of his own; the gentleman's world is simply the world itself. The world "does not know," the gentleman is "comprehensive" about its "not knowing" and views it without fixating on appearances, transforming the world of "not knowing" into a world of "not being resentful," while the gentleman himself fundamentally has neither the capacity to transform nor that which is transformed. Just as sunlight shines everywhere without any intention of illuminating objects, yet objects bathed in sunlight naturally become visible — sunlight itself fundamentally has neither the capacity to reveal nor that which is revealed.
Chán Zhōng Shuō Chán's Vernacular Translation
子曰：君子周而不比，小人比而不周。
Confucius said: The gentleman's seeing, hearing, learning, and acting are comprehensive and thorough with no omissions, yet he will not make others march in lockstep and walk shoulder to shoulder with himself; the petty man makes others march in lockstep and walk shoulder to shoulder with himself, yet his seeing, hearing, learning, and acting cannot be comprehensive and thorough without omissions.
缠中说禅 2007/8/28 22:04:54
Sorry, Sina had some issues and the article didn't post smoothly. The duplicates have been deleted.
Signing off now, goodbye.