Death - Confucian Pages

Analects 14.5

Leave a Comment / Analects, Analects - Book Fourteen

Original Text:

南宫适问于孔子曰羿善射奡荡舟俱不得其死然禹稷躬稼而有天下夫子不答南宫适出子曰君子哉若人尚德哉若人

Translation:

Other Translations:

Nangong Kuo said to Confucius, “Yi was a skillful archer, and Ao was a powerful naval commander, and yet neither of them met a natural death. Yu and Hou Ji, on the other hand, did nothing but personally tend to the land, and yet they both ended up with possession of the world.”
The Master did not answer.
After Nangong Kuo left, the Master sighed, “What a gentlemanly person that man is! How he reveres Virtue!”
Confucius, & Slingerland, E. (2003). Analects: With selections from traditional commentaries. Hackett Publishing.

Nangong Kuo questioned Confucius, saying, Yi was a skilled archer and Ao could push a boat over dry land, but neither was able to die a natural death. Yu and Ji, however, though they worked the fields in person, gained possession of the empire. The Master made no reply.
After Nangong Kuo had left, the Master said, A gentleman should be like this! An upholder of virtue should be like this!
Confucius, & Watson, B. (2007). The Analects of Confucius. Columbia University Press.

Analects 12.10

Leave a Comment / Analects, Analects - Book Twelve

Original Text:

子张问崇德辨惑子曰主忠信徙义崇德也爱之欲其生恶之欲其死既欲其生又欲其死是惑也诚不以富亦只以异

Translation:

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Zizhang asked about accumulating Virtue and resolving confusion.
The Master said, “Make it your guiding principle to be dutiful and trustworthy, and always move in the direction of what is right. This is what it means to accumulate Virtue. If you love someone, you desire that they live; if you hate them, you desire that they perish. Now, having already desired that someone live, and then to desire that they perish—this is confusion.
‘Not for the sake of wealth,
But simply for the sake of variety.’ ”
Confucius, & Slingerland, E. (2003). Analects: With selections from traditional commentaries. Hackett Publishing.

Zizhang asked how to uphold virtue and detect faulty thinking.
The Master said, Concentrate on loyalty and trustworthiness and follow what is right—that’s the way to uphold virtue. When you love someone, you hope that the person will live, but if you hate him, you wish that he were dead. Having wished for life, you turn around and wish for death—this is faulty thinking.
Confucius, & Watson, B. (2007). The Analects of Confucius. Columbia University Press.

Analects 12.7

Leave a Comment / Analects, Analects - Book Twelve

Original Text:

子贡问政子曰足食足兵民信之矣子贡曰必不得已而去于斯三者何先曰去兵子贡曰必不得已而去于斯二者何先曰去食自古皆有死民无信不立

Translation:

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Zigong asked about governing.
The Master said, “Simply make sure there is sufficient food, sufficient armaments, and that you have the confidence of the common people.”
Zigong said, “If sacrificing one of these three things became unavoidable, which would you sacrifice first?”
The Master replied, “I would sacrifice the armaments.”
Zigong said, “If sacrificing one of the two remaining things became unavoidable, which would you sacrifice next?”
The Master replied, “I would sacrifice the food. Death has always been with us, but a state cannot stand once it has lost the confidence of the people.”
Confucius, & Slingerland, E. (2003). Analects: With selections from traditional commentaries. Hackett Publishing.

Zigong asked about government. The Master said, You need enough food, enough weaponry, and the trust of the common people.
Zigong said, If you had to do without one of these, which of the three would you do without first?
Do without weapons.
And if you had to do without one of the other two, which would it be?
The Master said, Do without food. From times past, everyone has to die. But without the trust of the common people, you get nowhere.
Confucius, & Watson, B. (2007). The Analects of Confucius. Columbia University Press.

Analects 12.5

Leave a Comment / Analects, Analects - Book Twelve

Original Text:

司马牛忧曰人皆有兄弟我独亡子夏曰商闻之矣死生有命富贵在天君子敬而无失与人恭而有礼四海之内皆兄弟也君子何患乎无兄弟也

Translation:

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Anxiously, Sima Niu remarked, “Everyone has brothers, I alone have none.”
Zixia replied, “I have heard it said, ‘Life and death are governed by fate, wealth and honor are determined by Heaven.’ A gentleman is respectful and free of errors. He is reverent and ritually proper in his dealings with others. In this way, everyone within the Four Seas is his brother. How could a gentleman be concerned about not having brothers?”
Confucius, & Slingerland, E. (2003). Analects: With selections from traditional commentaries. Hackett Publishing.

Sima Niu, troubled, said, All men have elder and younger brothers, but I alone have none.
Zixia said, The way I’ve heard it, life and death are a matter of fate; wealth and eminence rest with Heaven. If a gentleman is respectful and free of error, if he is considerate of others and treats them according to ritual, then all within the four seas are his elder and younger brothers. Why should a gentleman be troubled that he has no elder or younger brothers?
Confucius, & Watson, B. (2007). The Analects of Confucius. Columbia University Press.

Analects 11.23

Leave a Comment / Analects, Analects - Book Eleven

Original Text:

子畏于匡颜渊后子曰吾以女为死矣曰子在回何敢死

Translation:

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The Master was surrounded in Kuang. Yan Hui had fallen behind, [and when he finally caught up], the Master said, “I thought that you were dead.”
Yan Hui replied, “As long as you are still here, Master, how could I dare to allow myself to die?”
Confucius, & Slingerland, E. (2003). Analects: With selections from traditional commentaries. Hackett Publishing.

When the Master faced danger in Kuang, Yan Yuan was some distance behind. The Master said, I thought you had died!
Yan Yuan said, While the Master is alive, how would I dare to die?
Confucius, & Watson, B. (2007). The Analects of Confucius. Columbia University Press.

Analects 11.12

Leave a Comment / Analects, Analects - Book Eleven

Original Text:

季路问事鬼神子曰未能事人焉能事鬼曰敢问死曰未知生焉知死

Translation:

Other Translations:

Zilu asked about serving ghosts and spirits. The Master said, “You are not yet able to serve people—how could you be able to serve ghosts and spirits?”
“May I inquire about death?”
“You do not yet understand life—how could you possibly understand death?”
Confucius, & Slingerland, E. (2003). Analects: With selections from traditional commentaries. Hackett Publishing.

Jilu asked how one should serve the gods and spirits. The Master said, When you don’t yet know how to serve human beings, how can you serve the spirits?
Jilu said, May I venture to ask about death? The Master said, When you don’t yet understand life, how can you understand death?
Confucius, & Watson, B. (2007). The Analects of Confucius. Columbia University Press.

Analects 11.10

Leave a Comment / Analects, Analects - Book Eleven

Original Text:

颜渊死子哭之恸从者曰子恸矣曰有恸乎非夫人之为恸而谁为

Translation:

Other Translations:

When Yan Hui passed away, the Master cried for him excessively. The disciples reproved him, saying, “Master, surely you are showing excessive grief!”
The Master replied, “Am I showing excessive grief? Well, for whom would I show excessive grief, if not for this man?”
Confucius, & Slingerland, E. (2003). Analects: With selections from traditional commentaries. Hackett Publishing.

When Yan Yuan died, the Master mourned for him in a highly emotional manner. His followers said, Master, you are being too emotional.
The Master said, Am I too emotional? If I am not to be emotional for this man, who should I be emotional for?
Confucius, & Watson, B. (2007). The Analects of Confucius. Columbia University Press.

Analects 9.12

Leave a Comment / Analects, Analects - Book Nine

Original Text:

子疾病子路使门人为臣病间曰久矣哉由之行诈也无臣而为有臣吾谁欺欺天乎且予与其死于臣之手也无宁死于二三子之手乎且予纵不得大葬予死于道路乎

Translation:

Other Translations:

The Master was gravely ill, and Zilu instructed his fellow disciples to attend Confucius as if the disciples were his ministers.
During a remission in his illness, the Master [became aware of what was happening and] rebuked Zilu, saying, “It has been quite some time now, has it not, that you have been carrying out this charade! If I have no ministers and yet you act as if I have, who do you think I am going to fool? Am I going to fool Heaven? Moreover, would I not rather die in the arms of a few of my disciples than in the arms of ministers? Even if I do not merit a grand funeral, it is not as if I would be left to die by the side of the road!”
Confucius, & Slingerland, E. (2003). Analects: With selections from traditional commentaries. Hackett Publishing.

The Master was gravely ill. Zilu directed the disciples to attend him in the manner of retainers.
When the Master had recovered somewhat, he said, How long you go on, You, practicing these deceptions! To pretend that I have retainers when I have no retainers—who would I be deceiving? Would I be deceiving Heaven? Moreover, rather than dying in the hands of retainers, isn’t it better that I die in the hands of you, my disciples? And although I may not be entitled to a grand funeral, it’s not as though I were dying by the roadside, is it?
Confucius, & Watson, B. (2007). The Analects of Confucius. Columbia University Press.

Analects 9.5

Leave a Comment / Analects, Analects - Book Nine

Original Text:

子畏于匡曰文王既没文不在兹乎天之将丧斯文也后死者不得与于斯文也天之未丧斯文也匡人其如予何

Translation:

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The Master was surrounded in Kuang. He said, “Now that King Wen is gone, is not culture now invested here in me? If Heaven intended this culture to perish, it would not have given it to those of us who live after King Wen’s death. Since Heaven did not intend that this culture should perish, what can the people of Kuang do to me?”
Confucius, & Slingerland, E. (2003). Analects: With selections from traditional commentaries. Hackett Publishing.

The Master’s life was endangered in Kuang. He said, King Wen is deceased, but his culture (wen) remains here with me. If Heaven had intended to destroy that culture, then those who come after him could not have inherited that culture. But if Heaven is not ready to destroy that culture, what can the people of Kuang do to me?
Confucius, & Watson, B. (2007). The Analects of Confucius. Columbia University Press.

Analects 8.13

Leave a Comment / Analects, Analects - Book Eight

Original Text:

子曰笃信好学守死善道危邦不入乱邦不居天下有道则见无道则隐邦有道贫且贱焉耻也邦无道富且贵焉耻也

Translation:

Other Translations:

The Master said, “Be sincerely trustworthy and love learning, and hold fast to the good Way until death. Do not enter a state that is endangered, and do not reside in a state that is disordered. If the Way is being realized in the world then show yourself; if it is not, then go into reclusion. In a state that has the Way, to be poor and of low status is a cause for shame; in a state that is without the Way, to be wealthy and honored is equally a cause for shame.”
Confucius, & Slingerland, E. (2003). Analects: With selections from traditional commentaries. Hackett Publishing.

The Master said, Entirely trustworthy, a lover of learning, faithful until death, exemplar of the Way, he never enters a state where there is peril, never remains in a state where there is disorder. When the Way prevails in the world, he appears; when the Way is lacking, he retires. When the state follows the Way, being poor and lowly is a cause for shame. When the state is without the Way, being rich and eminent is a cause for shame.
Confucius, & Watson, B. (2007). The Analects of Confucius. Columbia University Press.