Detailed Analysis of "The Analects": For All Who Have Misinterpreted Confucius (5)
2006/10/16 12:05:01
Spreading "the Way of the sage" across the six directions and broadcasting it to the eight quarters, establishing laws and standards, educating and transforming—the primary and constant challenge one inevitably faces is the problem of "people not knowing." If "everyone already knew," there would be no need for "establishing laws and standards, educating and transforming." Practicing "the Way of the sage" is a difficult practice indeed. As the saying goes, knowing is easy but doing is hard—and knowing itself is far from easy, making doing all the harder.
"Others do not know and yet one is not perturbed"—nearly all interpretations have treated "know" (zhī 知) here as "know about," "understand," and similar notions. "Others do not know and yet one is not perturbed" has almost become the counterpart of today's saccharine "Long live understanding!" But the "know" here is not used in its primary meaning; rather, it is the ancient form of "wisdom" (zhì 智). "People do not know" does not mean "people do not know about it," but "people lack wisdom."
"People" (rén 人) generally refers to others, but here "others" specifically refers to those who cannot "hear, see, study, and practice" "the Way of the sage"—that is, the people who, in the course of practicing "the Way of the sage," need to be "given laws and standards, educated and transformed." "People do not know"—these people lack wisdom. What kind of wisdom do they lack? The wisdom to "hear, see, study, and practice" "the Way of the sage."
Compared to the misinterpretation of "know" in "others do not know and yet one is not perturbed," the above is a minor matter. As for "perturbed" (yùn 愠), after The Analects was compiled, every single interpretation has rendered it as "angry," "resentful," or similar. In fact, 愠 is pronounced yùn and has two tonal variants. The first is the falling tone—the one commonly interpreted as "angry" or "resentful"—but this is completely wrong here. Here, the tone should be the rising tone, and the meaning is "stagnation" or "pent-up." In The Confucius Family Sayings, there is "The warm southern breeze can relieve the yùn of my people," where 愠 takes the rising tone and means "stagnation" or "pent-up blockage." And the "not perturbed" (bù yùn) here is rooted in "The warm southern breeze can relieve the yùn of my people."
"Not perturbed" (bù yùn) means "to cause them to not be perturbed"—"them" refers to the people in "people do not know." Who causes them to not be perturbed? Those who practice "the Way of the sage." The root cause of "yùn" lies in "not knowing." When a person "does not know," all manner of unwholesome emotions become "pent up" within them, and they become ill. From the perspective of Chinese medicine, all illness ultimately comes down to 愠—to "pent-up stagnation." A family, a group, a nation, a world—if composed of people who "do not know," then it likewise becomes 愠, likewise develops "stagnation." So-called popular resentment boiling over, marital discord, cold wars and hot wars—all are the results of "not knowing" leading to 愠.
A harmonious world, a world of great unity, a world where governance is smooth and people are at peace—such a world is necessarily one that is "not perturbed." Those who practice "the Way of the sage" must make the "unknowing people" become "not perturbed," must make the "unknowing world" become "not perturbed." "To learn and at due times practice," "to have friends come from distant quarters"—practicing "the Way of the sage" like "the warm southern breeze"—the most important criterion for evaluating results is "not perturbed": harmony, great unity, smooth governance and peaceful people. It is about transforming the world of "people who do not know" into a world of "people who are not perturbed."
"Others do not know and yet one is not perturbed"—the world has not yet achieved the manifestation of "the Way of the sage"; virtually everyone in the world is unable to "hear, see, study, and practice" "the Way of the sage." They lack the wisdom to "hear, see, study, and practice" "the Way of the sage." And those who practice "the Way of the sage" must, like "the warm southern breeze," permeate and transform them—transforming "people without wisdom" into "people without stagnation," transforming a "world without wisdom" into a "world without stagnation." Only thus can it be "is that not the mark of a gentleman?"—only thus does one qualify as someone who truly practices "the Way of the sage."
(To be continued)
Strict prohibition against plagiarism—violators will be prosecuted
Replies
缠中说禅 2006/10/16 12:18:30
The Analects isn't long, but converting it to garbage vernacular Chinese makes it very long—I estimate it will take a year and a half to write. I'll try to maintain one post per day going forward; weekends are for rest. Other articles also need to be written, so the volume is considerable—I'll try my best to keep it up.
缠中说禅 2006/10/16 12:20:37
我爱拉芳
2006-10-16 12:17:16
Everyone has their own Confucius in their eyes
What makes you so sure yours isn't a misinterpretation?
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Scholarship has its standards. Whether this ID's analysis is sound can be debated academically. Using "everyone has their own Confucius" as a dodge won't work.
缠中说禅 2006/10/16 15:30:30
[Anonymous] 6747k
2006-10-16 13:23:58
All the phrases have been passed down incorrectly through the ages? Everyone has been misunderstanding The Analects? What loan characters, what ancient-modern character variants—is The Analects just a little girl anyone can dress up however they please?
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You're right—if someone could have properly interpreted The Analects, this ID would have no need to write. As for the fact that you lack even the most basic knowledge of traditional Chinese studies—things like loan characters and ancient-modern character variants—all the more reason you should study well!
缠中说禅 2006/10/16 15:39:06
[Anonymous] 小迷糊
2006-10-16 15:32:29
I believe some wise man once said, "Life's troubles begin with literacy." Without wisdom, how can there be 愠 (stagnation)? Please explain this point, blogger.
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Su Shi was a confused muddle himself—what weight do his words carry? It is precisely because of lacking wisdom that there is suffering, and when suffering accumulates and becomes pent-up—that is 愠. What's there to question? Also, 愠 is not equivalent to suffering. 愠 is "stagnation"; suffering is something with a much broader scope.
缠中说禅 2006/10/17 12:21:24
[Anonymous] kinli99
2006-10-17 11:52:01
The First Emperor of Qin, Emperor Wu of Han—their achievements are unparalleled through the ages
Yet they could not resolve life and death
The followers of Buddhism and Daoism—emptiness of nature encompasses all existence
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An ignorant little brat who worships one and enslaves the other—you dare talk about Buddhism and Daoism?
缠中说禅 2006/10/17 13:47:39
[Anonymous] kinli99
2006-10-17 13:27:47
Can the Buddha be spoken of? Please, blogger, speak it forth.
If you cannot, you are merely a slave to Buddhism.
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The Buddha? You dog-slave—go feed the dogs!
缠中说禅 2006/10/17 13:49:13
[Anonymous] 漠漠
2006-10-17 13:39:30
Damn—calling everyone "little brats" left and right, how old are you actually?
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Age is not the issue. A person without insight, even if they lived as long as Peng Zu, would still be nothing but a little brat!
缠中说禅 2006/10/19 15:50:39
Announcement Everything this ID writes in "Detailed Analysis of The Analects — For All Who Have Misinterpreted Confucius" breaks new ground no one has covered before. Arrangements have been made for publication after the series is complete, so the serialization will only appear on this ID's blog. Please refrain from reposting if possible; if you must repost, be sure to credit the source, lest we have to file copyright lawsuits later.
Strict prohibition against plagiarism—violators will be prosecuted
缠中说禅 2006/10/16 12:13:49
Plagiarism and intellectual theft are rampant these days. Everything this ID writes breaks new ground no one has covered before. If anyone plagiarizes or steals in the future, please help collect evidence. On this matter, there must be absolutely no mealy-mouthed compromising.