Friday, November 8, 2019

Translation - Analects of Confucius 2.3 Those who are filial and fraternal.

2.3: 子曰:「其為人也孝弟,而好犯上者,鮮矣;不好犯上,而好作亂者,未之有也。君子務本,本立而道生。孝弟也者,其為仁之本與!」

2.3: Zǐ yuē: 'Qí wéi rén yě xiàodì, ér hǎo fànshàng zhě, xiān yǐ; bù hǎo fànshàng, ér hǎo zuòluàn zhě, wèi zhī yǒu yě. Jūnzǐ wù běn, běnlì ér dàoshēng. Xiàodì yě zhě, qí wèi rénzhī běn yǔ!'

2.3: The Master says: Those who are filial and fraternal to others but who relish crime, they are few; Those who abhor crime but who enjoy chaos/rebellion, [they] have yet to appear. The sage seeks the root, establishing the root the way is born. Those who are filial and fraternal, these (for the sake of) benevolence are the root!

本立而道生 I think this is pretty clearly "establishing the root (and then) the way is born." From a an English language/analytic point of view there appears to be a potential abiguity or contradiction: is 道 the great Way or simply one Way among many? This ambiguity focuses on the potentially different meanings of 道 and uses them to drive a wedge between possible translations.

However, from a more Confucian point of view, the point is not whether or not 道 means the Way or many individual ways. The point is that in establishing the root of something (and that root being filiality and fraternality), this gives rise to benevolent behavior. The method of achieving harmony is the same whether or not the way is conceived of as being a collection of natural processes or individual development. Individual development mirrors or reflects the greater natural process. Both require that events in their delicate primacy receive care, this care results in emotional relationships (filiality and fraternality), and these emotional relationships are then responsible for extending benevolent behavior to others.

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