加密数字货币交易所-《论语》详解：给所有曲解孔子的人-子曰：君子周而不比，小人比而不周

Confucius said: The gentleman is comprehensive but not cliquish; the petty person is cliquish but not comprehensive.

Yang Bojun: Confucius said: “The gentleman is united, not colluding; the petty person is colluding, not united.”

Qian Mu: The master said: “The gentleman treats others with loyalty and trust, but does not flatter private interests. The petty person flatters private interests and forms cliques, but is not loyal and trustworthy.”

Li Zehou: Confucius said: “The gentleman generally treats people with kindness, without favoritism or private interests; the petty person favors private interests and forms cliques, but does not treat others with kindness.”

Detailed explanation:

These three interpretations are all typical misinterpretations, fundamentally starting from the original meanings of “周” and “比.” The greatest taboo for later generations when interpreting earlier texts is to attach meanings to words that did not exist at the time. The meaning of a sentence can be extended, but the literal meaning of the characters must not be arbitrarily changed—that is the most basic requirement.

The core of this chapter is two characters: “周” and “比.” What does “比” mean? In oracle bone script, “比” depicts two people walking in step, shoulder to shoulder—a typical pictogram; “周” in oracle bone script shows “田” (field) with four dots inside, indicating that the fields are fully cultivated, thus conveying the meaning of being thorough and without omissions.

So, what does “The gentleman is comprehensive but not cliquish, the petty person is cliquish but not comprehensive” mean? The literal meaning is that the gentleman’s sight, hearing, knowledge, and actions are all thorough and without omissions, but he does not let others walk in step with him or shoulder to shoulder; whereas the petty person always hopes others walk in step with him or shoulder to shoulder, but his sight, hearing, knowledge, and actions are not thorough and complete.

It is clear here that Confucius believed that a major common trait of all petty persons is their desire for others to walk in step with them. Why? Because the petty person is controlled by a “self”—his actions and insights are merely the product of that “self,” always in harmony and shoulder to shoulder with that “self.” Therefore, this internal trait naturally extends outward, hoping that everyone shares the same interests as “me,” and so on.

Any knowledge, religion, or theory that seeks to align with oneself or be in harmony with oneself is the learning of a petty person. For example, so-called Christianity, Taoism, and similar doctrines, establish a god or the Tao, then ask people to walk in step and shoulder to shoulder—that is a typical petty person’s doctrine.

The learning of the gentleman is different yet united; it does not require walking in step or shoulder to shoulder. There are countless flowers in this world—how could every flower walk in step and shoulder to shoulder? Just look at Marx’s “Critique of the Prussian Inspection of Books and Newspapers,” and you will see the resonance of thought between Eastern and Western gentlemen.

A gentleman’s sight, hearing, knowledge, and actions are all thorough and without omissions. A gentleman does not pre-set a framework, wear tinted glasses, or shackles to know and act; he only starts from the current reality, comprehensively gathers all materials, and treats all materials as “not related.” These materials include all aspects of society, from economic base to superstructure, from elites to officials, from birth, old age, sickness, and death to adultery and violence—ignorance of any matter is shameful for a Confucian.

Only with “comprehensiveness” can one possibly be “not cliquish.” The world of officials only has officials and those being officials; the petty person’s world only has petty persons. The gentleman’s world not only contains gentlemen but also officials and petty persons. The gentleman has no separate world; the gentleman’s world is simply the world itself. When the world “does not know,” the gentleman “comprehends” this “not knowing” and “does not relate,” transforming the “world of not knowing” into a “world of non-resentment,” but the gentleman is inherently unable to turn what is to be turned. Just like sunlight shining everywhere, it does not aim to illuminate objects; objects shine because they receive the sunlight. Sunlight itself has no ability to illuminate what it shines on.

Chán Zhong’s plain translation of Zen sayings