"The Analects" Detailed Explanation: For All Those Who Misinterpret Confucius (70)
2007/9/19 21:22:55
A supplementary note to this afternoon's analysis: today the daily K-line top fractal has been established, so the question going forward is whether this top fractal will extend into a "stroke." Regarding this question, with the experience from the weekly K-line top fractals of the past two weeks, how to handle both scenarios should not be difficult.
子曰：君子成，人之美；不成，人之恶。小人反是。
Yang Bojun: Confucius said: "The gentleman helps others accomplish good things and does not promote others' bad deeds. The petty man is the opposite."
Qian Mu: The Master said: "The gentleman helps bring about the fine qualities in others, and does not help bring about the evil in others. The petty man does the exact opposite."
Li Zehou: Confucius said: "The gentleman helps others accomplish good things and does not help others do bad things. The petty man is the opposite."
Detailed Explanation: The first and third interpretations above, placing the explanation on "good deeds and bad deeds," are complete nonsense, because they have absolutely no idea that in The Analects, when "美" (beauty/virtue) and "恶" (ugliness/vice) are paired together, they carry a specific meaning. As for whether Qian knew this — since his interpretation doesn't explicitly indicate it — we won't investigate further. However, the conventional punctuation is wrong. The correct punctuation is: "君子成，人之美；不成，人之恶。小人反是。"
Later in The Analects, there is this passage: Zizhang asked Confucius: "What must one do to be able to engage in governance?" Confucius said: "Revere the five virtues, banish the four vices, and then one can engage in governance." That is to say, "美" (virtue) and "恶" (vice) relate to a person's conduct and character — in modern terms, roughly equivalent to "virtues" and "vices." In Confucius's eyes, virtue and conduct are one and the same: to speak of virtue is to speak of conduct, and to speak of conduct is to speak of virtue. What is virtue (德)? It is "attainment" (得). Confucius insisted that "action must bear fruit" — there must be attainment. And this "attainment" is not in terms of personal interest, but rather "attainment" in one's conduct and character. Note that this conduct and character, by extension, can pertain to family, nation, and all under heaven. An individual has their virtue and conduct; all under heaven likewise has its virtue and conduct. This virtue and conduct, in Confucius's eyes, is not without distinction between "virtue and vice" — rather, the distinction between "virtue and vice" is crystal clear.
"之" here is not a structural particle but carries its original meaning — it is a verb. In ancient script, it is a pictographic character symbolizing the branches and stems of trees continuously growing, extended to mean "to produce, to grow."
The conventional erroneous punctuation — "君子成人之美，不成人之恶。小人反是" — treats "人" here as "other people," splitting the gentleman and others into two separate entities, as if the gentleman possesses some special magical power to bring about others' "virtues" and "vices"; the same logic is then applied to the petty man. In reality, this chapter explores the question of how one becomes a gentleman or a petty man — the "人" here is used in the general sense.
Both "gentleman" and "petty man" are forms of "virtue and conduct" — they are dynamic, not static. They are not something like a diploma. The original sentence is inverted; the corresponding sentences are equivalent to: "People who continuously grow in virtue — the gentleman is thus achieved; people who continuously grow in vice — the gentleman is not achieved. The petty man is the opposite."
People are not inherently gentlemen or petty men — this is not innate but acquired through "seeing, hearing, learning, and acting." When a person continuously nurtures virtues and eliminates vices, that person can become a gentleman; the reverse produces a petty man. This is consistent with Confucius's idea that everyone can become a Yao or Shun — all people are equal, and what you ultimately become depends on whether you yourself "grow virtue" or "grow vice."
Precisely because of this, there is a necessity for self-cultivation, and everything is self-sufficient — there is no need to seek any external divine power. Because no external force can substitute for your own "growing"; your growth can only be your own growth, your virtue and conduct can only be your own virtue and conduct — no God can substitute for you. Confucius would never believe the tedious lies about being saved by some so-called God and thereby gaining eternal life. Confucius believed only in one's own strength — everything springs from each person's own power. This is also the logic behind the ancient Chinese tradition of "ceaseless self-strengthening."
Chán Zhōng Shuō Chán's Vernacular Translation
子曰：君子成，人之美；不成，人之恶。小人反是。
Confucius said: When people continuously grow in virtue, the gentleman is achieved; when people continuously grow in vice, the gentleman is not achieved. The petty man's achievement is the opposite of this.
Replies
缠中说禅 2007/9/20 14:00:40
I'm an impersonator.
缠中说禅 2007/9/20 14:01:39
Being able to impersonate shows that Sina isn't secure enough.
缠中说禅 2007/9/20 14:04:42
残竹拂月 Delete all comments by this person
2007-09-20 14:01:18
I despise you!!!
————
Come up with a way to prevent others from impersonating, and then you'll be qualified to despise me.
If you can't figure it out, go bang your head against a block of tofu.
缠中说禅 2007/9/20 14:18:30
›_‹!!
缠中说禅 2007/9/20 14:30:15
Hello everyone.
缠中说禅 2007/9/24 1:25:35
A couple of words.
缠中说禅 2007/9/20 13:52:07
Sina Blog has a big problem — have you all noticed?