Analect One - Natural flow of conduct

[ChiDragon]

Classic Text:

子曰：「學而時習之，不亦說乎？有朋自遠

方來，不亦樂乎？人不知而不慍，不亦君子

乎？」

Modern native translation:

孔子說：“學習知識并按一定的時間去溫習它，不也是很高興的嗎？有同學從遠方來，不也是很快樂的嗎？不被別人了解而不抱怨，不也是很有君子風度的嗎？”

 

English translation:

Confucius said: "To obtain new knowledge by following a regular schedule, isn't it very happy...??? There were school mates visited from long distance, isn't it very pleasant....??? Others do not understand me and I wasn't muttered, isn't it an elegance of a gentleman.

Edited November 12, 2012 by ChiDragon

[Turner]

I really like this opening verse of the Analects. A couple thoughts/questions:

 

Would it be forcing something onto the text to look for a classification of virtues in these three (seemingly rhetorical) questions? I'm seeing something like this:

1. "To obtain new knowledge...": Knowledge or wisdom
2. "There were school mates...": Care for others or hospitality (or maybe just friendship?)
3. "Others do not understand me...": Humility or self-reliance/self-determination

I'm wondering if these could be grouped according to intellect, emotion, will (mind, heart, gut)... but this might be a huge stretch and also might overlook some ideas about the unity of heart and mind in xin.

 

My other thought was about trying to find a "Confucian" wu wei in this passage (the first question about knowledge coming through a regular schedule). It seems like there is something in that about ritual (or at least a habitual or ritualistic approach to life) and possibly about something I've heard called a "carving and polishing" approach to non-action from Edward Slingerland. It's a behaviorist-sounding approach to ingraining proper action into oneself until it becomes effortless, if I understand it correctly. Maybe this is one way of approaching knowledge? Anyways, I want to give that some more thought before saying any more... it feels all over the place.

Edited October 3, 2014 by Turner

[Turner]

Here is a video that explains the "carving and polishing" idea of wu wei I referenced above:

.

 

Maybe there's something about that in this verse, maybe not. I think it also came to mind when I recently posted Analect Ten, which talks about Confucius obtaining information without even trying to get it; his character simply led others to share it. Seemed very wu wei, although in a way that involved a lot of prior effort (self-cultivation).