Commentaries on “未足与议也” in The Analects of Confucius
2015, 32(6):
73-82.
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： The last part of the sentence “士志于道，而耻恶衣恶食者，未足与议也” from the Chapter LiRen in The Analects of Confucius has been probably misinterpreted as “not sufficient to discuss (the Way) with him” for almost 1,600 years since Huang Kan’s On the Analects of Confucius. Through an analysis of the PreQin Dynasty data, we find that “议” means “言得其宜”, which, as a noun, refers to the speeches and arguments judging right or wrong, gains or losses, and as a verb, refers to making such judgments and delivering one’s opinions, or in a nutshell, commenting, appreciating and criticizing. But the later generations have used it simply as “negotiate” and “confer”, losing its previous usages. What’s more, judging from the real context of The Analects of Confucius, the attitude Confucius held toward his disciples and the younger generation is that of instruction and guidance, instead of conferring. In view of this, the last part can be interpreted in the following two ways: not sufficient to discuss with him how to behave appropriately or such a person is not sufficient to gain commentaries, i.e., not noteworthy. In the second interpretation, “与” is used as a verb with falling tone and means “gain”, the usage of which was prevalent before the Qin Dynasty. Thus, no matter grammatically or contextually, the second interpretation is more convincing.
