Confucius Each day I examine myself in three ways

『1-4』曾子曰：「吾日三省吾身、爲人謀而不忠乎。與朋友交而不信乎。傳不習乎。 」

　　[1:4] Tseng Tzu said: "Each day I examine myself in three ways: in doing things for others, have I been disloyal? In my interactions with friends, have I been untrustworthy? Have not practiced what I have preached?"

The Analects of Confucius Someone who is a clever speaker

『1-3』子曰：「巧言令色, 鮮矣仁」

　　[1:3] Confucius said: "Someone who is a clever speaker and maintains a 'too-smiley' face is seldom considered a humane person."

The Analects of Confucius There are few who have developed themselves filially

『1-2』有子曰：「其爲人也孝弟, 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, 其爲仁之本與 」

　　[1:2] Yu Tzu said: "There are few who have developed themselves filially and fraternally who enjoy offending their superiors. Those who do not enjoy offending superiors are never troublemakers. The Superior Man concerns himself with the fundamentals. Once the fundamentals are established, the proper way (tao) appears. Are not filial piety and obedience to elders fundamental to the enactment of humaneness?"

　　[Comment] The word "humanity" in the above line is a translation of the Chinese term jen (仁), which has also been translated into English as "benevolence," "goodness," "humaneness," etc. It is a difficult concept to translate because it doesn't really refer to any specific type of virtue or positive endowment, but refers to an inner capacity possessed by all human beings to do good, as human beings should. It is what makes humans human, and not animals.

　　In the Chinese "essence-function" perception, humaneness can be understood as the innate, unmanifest source of all kinds of manifestations of virtuosity: wisdom, filial piety, reverence, courtesy, love, sincerity, etc., all of which are aspects, or functions of humaneness. Through one's efforts at practicing at the function of humaneness, one may enhance and develop one's humaneness, until one may be called a Superior Man, or even better, a "humane person." In the Analects, to be called a "humane person" by the Master is an extremely high evaluation, rarely acknowledged of any human being.

The Analects of Confucius

Confucius

1. 學而

『1-1』子曰：「學而時習之, 不亦説乎。 有朋自遠方來, 不亦樂乎。人不知而不慍, 不亦君子乎 」

[1:1] Confucius said: "Isn't it a pleasure to study and practice what you have learned? Isn't it also great when friends visit from distant places? If people do not recognize me and it doesn't bother me, am I not a Superior Man?"

[Comment] Superior Man is a common English translation for the Chinese term chün-tzu which originally means "Son of a Prince" —thus, someone from the nobility. In the Analects, Confucius imbues the term with a special meaning. Though sometimes used strictly in its original sense, it also refers to a person who has made significant progress in the Way (Tao) of self-cultivation, by practicing Rightness (or Justice), by loving treatment of parents, respect for elders, honesty with friends, etc. Though the chün-tzu is clearly a highly advanced human being, he is still distinguished from the category of sage (sheng-jen), who is, in the Analects more of a "divine being," usually a model from great antiquity.

The character of the Superior Man, in contrast to the sage, is being taught as a tangible model for all in the here and now. And although many descriptions of the requirements for chün-tzu status seem quite out of our reach, there are many passages where Confucius labels a contemporary, or one of his disciples a "Superior Man," intending a complement. Thus, the categorization is not so rigid. One might want to compare the term "Superior Man" to the Buddhist bodhisattva, in that both are the models for the tradition, both indicate a very high stage of human development as technical terms, yet both may be used colloquially to refer to a "really good person."

The Analects of Confucius

1.  學而 
2.  爲政
3.  八佾
4.  里仁
5.  公冶長
6.  雍也
7.  述而
8.  泰伯
9.  子罕
10.  郷黨
11.  先進
12.  顏淵
13.  子路
14.  憲問
15.  衛靈
16.  李氏
17.  陽貨
18.  衛子
19.  子張 

Confucius