Skip to main content

"The Analects" Detailed Explanation: For All Those Who Misinterpret Confucius (69)

2007/9/9 18:34:12

Making an exception to say a few words about stocks, because Friday was too rushed due to some matters, and there may be some misunderstandings.

  1. The current situation, which I've said N times, is the continuation phase of a bubble. Everything this ID has been doing serves one single purpose: to make the bubble last longer. Anything that hinders this purpose, this ID will do everything in its power to eliminate.

  2. Proactive adjustment will not burst the bubble — it is actually the best remedy to make the bubble last longer and even effectively reduce its size. The twin engines sustaining the bubble are the "China-prefix" stocks and secondary/tertiary theme stocks — this was repeatedly stated at 3,600 points. Note that "China-prefix" is just a general term for large state-owned enterprises, though most of them do carry the character "China" in their names.

  3. Given the current environment, for those without sufficient skill or technique, this ID warned long ago to reduce positions first and wait until market risk decreases before continuing the game according to one's own conditions. Those who stay must "be prepared to bear the consequences" and make full use of hub oscillations at various levels to earn profits.

  4. For short-term technique, whether the effective breakdown below the 5-day moving average is confirmed, and the support of the 5-week moving average, are the most critical factors. Even from a pure fractal perspective, on the weekly K-line chart, there is a very high probability next week of forming the first top fractal structure since 3,600 points. Once this structure forms, before it is effectively destroyed, the trend can at most only proceed within hub oscillations of larger levels.

As for stocks like 600375, this ID doesn't have much confidence in the company at present, but that doesn't mean this ID will completely abandon it. What this ID said was merely stating the real situation of that stock once — everyone should operate according to their own actual circumstances. No advice is suitable for everyone. For this ID, fundamentals can be created — of course, only when necessary. For these individual stocks and all currently held individual stocks, this ID's approach is: first, no further buying; second, use larger-level oscillations to reduce costs and increase zero-cost holdings. This policy has never changed.

Enough said — everyone, let's start consuming Master Kong the Second.


子曰：君子和而不同；小人同而不和。

Yang Bojun: Confucius said: "The gentleman uses his own correct opinions to correct others' wrong opinions, making everything just right, yet refuses to blindly conform and agree. The petty man only blindly conforms and agrees, yet refuses to express his own differing opinions."

Qian Mu: The Master said: "The gentleman can be harmonious but not identical. The petty man can only be identical but not harmonious."

Li Zehou: Confucius said: "The gentleman is harmonious yet not uniform; the petty man is uniform yet not harmonious."

Detailed Explanation: The key to this chapter lies in "同" (tóng, sameness/conformity) and "和" (hé, harmony/resonance). "同" is an ideographic character: "冃 + 口." "冃" means repetition. What is "同"? It is achieving aggregation through constant oral repetition. Of course, this reflects the characteristics of Confucius's era — in reality, the oral limitation is not necessary. For example, culture is a form of "同": culture, from its initial oral transmission to today's internet transmission, has not fundamentally changed the effect of "constant repetition to achieve aggregation." "Religion" is even more a form of "同": so-called doctrines, papal authority, and the like are all devices of "constant repetition to achieve aggregation." "Science" is likewise "同": science is fundamentally a grand convergence of culture and religion. Science's belief that "constantly repeated experiments" achieve the effect of "uniformity" is the foundation upon which it is established, the basis upon which science aggregates.

In short, culture, science, religion, and all things within all social structures are essentially "同" — all are devices of "constant repetition to achieve aggregation." "Philosophy" and its variations — whether idealism, materialism, monism, pluralism, dialectics, or sophistry — are exactly the same. All of this is essentially the learning of petty men. In the world of "people not knowing," learning can only be the learning of petty men.

Aggregation is essentially always for one's own selfish interest. In nations and eras where capital runs rampant, capital is the greatest "同." Every phenomenon and every statement in society "constantly repeats" to aggregate under the great banner of capital's "同." People in capitalist society are essentially nothing but copies of "capital," all mere walking corpses drained dry by "capital," and all culture is essentially nothing but "capital's" mating call.

"和" (hé), in the departing tone, means "mutual resonance" — "resonance between heaven and humanity," "resonance between mind and hand," "resonance between drumstick and drum" — all such expressions convey "和" and "resonance." For Confucius, in the eyes of the gentleman, there is only "resonance between heaven and humanity," never the petty-man notion of "unity of heaven and humanity." Note that the resonance here transcends what Heidegger called "readiness-to-hand" (Zuhandenheit), which still remains within the realm of collective karma. Ordinary people's understanding doesn't even reach the level of Heidegger's "readiness-to-hand."

Human society, a form of "earth," is nothing but the result of "resonance between heaven and humanity." There is no such thing as "heaven" per se, no such thing as "humanity" per se — "heaven and humanity resonate" to form this particular form of "earth" that is human society. Heaven is formed through "earth and humanity resonating"; humanity is formed through "heaven and earth resonating"; earth is formed through "heaven and humanity resonating." Formation without actual formation — it is nothing but mutual continuation, mutual entanglement, mutual resonance.

In this chapter, Confucius reveals one of the most important relationships in the "heaven-earth-humanity" structure: it is "resonance," it is "和." Like improvisation in music, this universe simply "resonates" within this mutual continuation and entanglement. There is no need whatsoever for "constant repetition" to aggregate anything. Attempting to aggregate something or grasp something through "constant repetition" is nothing but the delusional fantasy arising from the petty man's selfish "self" resonating with its own desires.

Among gentlemen, there is only resonance. Between the gentleman and the era and society he inhabits, within the corresponding "heaven-earth-humanity" structure, there is only resonance. Like a conversation between empty valleys — it can produce thunderous storms or murmuring streams, conjuring all the wonders and landscapes between heaven and earth, yet it remains nothing more than a conversation between empty valleys, the resonance of empty valleys with empty valleys, and that is all.

Chán Zhōng Shuō Chán's Vernacular Translation

子曰：君子和而不同；小人同而不和。

Confucius said: The gentleman resonates without aggregating; the petty man aggregates without resonating.