Analect 19.11 transgessions of minor virtues is okay? (ES)

        The entirety of book 19 are not sayings said by Confucius but rather by his disciples and several 

disciples at that. Analect 19.11 puzzled me and I found it a bit difficult to accept the view point that 

Confucius's disciple Zixia was saying. Zixia says, " As long as one does not transgress the bounds

 when it comes to important Virtues, it is permissible to cross the line here and there when it comes

 to minor Virtues". This is difficult for me to parse out for a couple of reasons. First off what 

exactly constitutes as important or minor Virtues? I can only guess that virtues such as Ren or lover

 of learning and such would be considered important Virtues, however I am not sure what counts as 

a minor virtue. This is especially difficult as Confucius has never directly called out and listed what 

his considers are important and minor Virtues. The second reason I am having problems parsing and understanding this analect is due to the 

allowance of transgression at all. I question if whether the virtues or reason be important or minor if it 

is really okay to cross the so called line? Or is what is being said is that no matter what the minor Virtue

 may be it is impossible for it to affect in any grand way the larger picture? If that is not the case they 

once again why in any circumstance would Confucius or is disciples tell us its okay to transgress and 

cross this very delicate line? I think of the previous analect 19.10 where Zixia the same disciple 

speaking in 19.11 tells us that, "The gentleman imposes labors upon his people only after earning 

their trust. If he does so before having earned their trust, they will think him cruel. The gentleman 

remonstrates with [his ruler] only after earning his trust. If he does so before having earned his trust, 

his ruler will think him insolent". It seems the key element here for the gentleman is trust and it is not 

that far fetched to imagine even something minor as affecting and breaking said trust, thus once again 

I must ask why then it is acceptable to cross the line when is comes to minor Virtues?

     

Comments

  1. Krishnan VenkateshApril 5, 2022 at 10:42 AM

    I think the George Eliot quotation I gave in your last post gives the key. Fellow-feeling is the principle that governs the rules. That whole book can be read as a commentary on Confucius.

    ReplyDelete

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