Skillful words, pleasing appearance—little humanity!¹

When one makes their words satisfying and their appearance advantageous, adorning themself on the outside and striving to please people, human desires become unrestrained and the virtue of the original heart is lost.

The words of the Sage do not mean to diminish the essential, for once shrunken down to “little,” soon absolutely nothing can be recognized of one’s humanity. This is what learners ought to deeply guard against.²

– Zhu Xi 朱熹

好其言，善其色，致飾於外，務以悅人，則人欲肆而本心之德亡矣。聖人辭不迫切，專言鮮，則絕無可知，學者所當深戒也。

° ° °

If one recognizes the absence of humanity in clever talk and pleasing appearances, then one knows humanity.

– Cheng Yi 程颐

知巧言令色之非仁，則知仁矣。

Definitions from Zhu Xi

Qiao 巧 is satisfying. Ling 令 is advantageous. Xian 鮮 is few or little.

Footnotes

¹ The ancient Zhou Dynasty verses are written in a terse, broken-feeling form of Classical Chinese (guwen 古文), which at times is something akin to poetry. The commentary is written in elegant Song Dynasty prose, inspired by the famous essayist Han Yu and the “classical prose movement” (guwen yundong 古文運動), which sought to revive the direct and substantial style of the ancients, yet also marked a progression. The translation seeks to preserve these two distinct styles.

² Literally Zhu says “absolutely none” (絕無) here, following Chengzi’s comment calling it “the absence of humanity” (非仁). However, in his lectures it becomes clear that this refers to the insignificance of humanity present, for even if there is a little bit of humanity, it “becomes very tiny” (成甚麼) until it cannot be “recognized” (知). As he says in his lectures, this is a slippery slope that is hard to break away from. This is what he cautions learners against. After all, when one’s heart and mind are located on the outside, what remains on the inside?

Comment: Note the unconventional use of the exclamatory character yi 矣 mid-sentence, which emphasizes a specific word: “little! humanity.” This gives the reading a visceral, koan-like feel, and underscores the smallness of it.

The first verse of the Discourses writes on timely practice, and then is immediately followed by two verses on one’s humanity. Its meaning is profound indeed! – Zhu Xi 朱熹  [Yulei 20: Lunyu 1.3: 10]