[currently under review]

Ordinary people are immersed in poverty and wealth and do not know how to guard themselves, so they must have the diseases of these two. Without flattery and without arrogance, they know how to guard themselves, but they have not yet transcended poverty and wealth.

Happiness allows one's heart to be broad and forget one's poverty, while being fond of propriety leads to ease, goodness, and following nature’s principles, not even realizing one's wealth.

Zigong engaged in wealth accumulation, was poor at first and then became rich, and he made an effort to guard himself, so he asked this question. The teacher's reply like this was to acknowledge his current abilities and to encourage him to strive for what he had not yet achieved.

Zigong said, "The Book of Odes states, 'As if cut, as if filed; as if carved, as if polished.' Is this what they mean?" The Odes, in the poem “Qí Ào,” speak of the craftsmen who work on bones and horns, who cut them and then file them; and those who work on jade and stones, who carve them and then polish them. They perfect their work and still seek further refinement.

Zigong thought that being without flattery and arrogance was the ultimate goal. Hearing the teacher's words, he realized the endlessness of the principles of moral rightness. Although he had gained something, he knew he could not be complacent, so he cited this poem for clarification.

The teacher said, "With Cì, one may participate in speaking of the Odes now! Informed of all the past, and so knows things to come." The past refers to what has been said, and that which is to come refers to what has not been said.

In my humble opinion, the depth and shallowness, the high and low of this dialogue are clear without further explanation. However, without cutting, there is no place for filing, and without carving, there is no place for polishing. Therefore, although a learner should not be content with small achievements, they should also not seek to create the ultimate Way. They also should not indulge in abstract remoteness and neglect to examine their own actual flaws. [AI summary]

– Zhu Xi 朱熹

Notes on Terms

諂 (“flattery”), is to be servile and submissive. 驕 (“arrogance”), is to be prideful and unrestrained. Whenever we say 可 (“may”), it means barely acceptable and there is still something left to be fulfilled.

– Zhu Xi 朱熹

Regarding li 禮, we just use “propriety” as a placeholder. Zhu Xi described it as “following nature’s principles” (xunli 循理) here, and perhaps we could also say not fighting the “pattern or order of human relations,” which “leads to ease.”