加密数字货币交易所-《论语》详解：给所有曲解孔子的人-子曰：君子和而不同；小人同而不和

Confucius said: The gentleman is harmonious but not uniform; the petty person is uniform but not harmonious.

Yang Bojun: Confucius said: “The gentleman uses his correct opinions to correct others’ incorrect opinions, achieving everything to perfection, yet he does not blindly follow or conform. The petty person only blindly follows and conforms, but does not express his own differing opinions.”

Qian Mu: The master said: “The gentleman can harmonize but not be identical. The petty person is identical but not harmonious.”

Li Zehou: Confucius said: “The gentleman is harmonious but not identical; the petty person is identical but not harmonious.”

Detailed explanation:

The main focus of this chapter is on “same” and “harmony.” “Same” is a compound ideogram, composed of “冃” + “口”. “冃” repeats, so what does “same” mean? It refers to achieving gathering through continuous repetition in speech. Of course, this reflects the characteristics of Confucius’s era. In reality, this oral restriction is not necessary. For example, culture is a kind of “sameness.” Culture, from its initial oral dissemination to now online transmission, essentially has not changed the effect of “continuous repetition to achieve gathering”; “religion” is even more a kind of “sameness.” The so-called doctrines, religious leaders, etc., are all about “continuous repetition to achieve gathering”; “science” is the same. “Science” fundamentally is a collection of culture and religion. Science believes that “repeated experiments” achieve “sameness,” which is the foundation of its establishment and the basis for scientific gathering.

In summary, culture, science, religion, and everything in social structures are essentially “sameness,” all about “continuous repetition to achieve gathering.” Philosophical ideas, whether idealist, materialist, monist, pluralist, dialectical, or sophistic, are all like this. All these, in essence, are the learning of petty persons. In a world where “people do not understand,” their learning can only be the learning of petty persons.

Gathering, in essence, is nothing more than for personal gain. In countries and eras dominated by capital, capital’s greatest “sameness” is reflected in all social phenomena and speech, which are all about “continuous repetition” to gather under the banner of capital’s “sameness.” People in a capital society are fundamentally just “copies” of “capital,” mere zombies drained by “capital.” All culture, in essence, is just “capital’s call for spring.”

“Harmony,” without the tone, means “correspondence.” “Heaven and man correspond,” “heart and hand correspond,” “drums and gongs respond,” and so on—all express “harmony” and “correspondence.” In Confucius’s view, among the gentleman, only “heaven and man correspond,” and there is no petty talk of “heaven and man as one.” Note that this “correspondence” surpasses Heidegger’s concept of “appropriation,” which still exists within the realm of collective karma. The common understanding, even Heidegger’s “appropriation,” does not reach this level.

Human society, a form of “earth,” is formed solely through “heaven and man correspond,” with no separate “heaven” or “man.” “Heaven and earth, and man” are mutually responsive; “man” is formed by “heaven and earth”; “earth” is formed by “heaven and man.” Nothing is truly formed; it is just continuous interweaving and mutual response.

In this chapter, Confucius reveals one of the most important relationships in the “heaven-earth-human” structure: “correspondence,” which is “harmony.” Like improvisation in music, this universe exists in this continuous interweaving of “harmony” and “correspondence.” There is no need for “continuous repetition” to achieve gathering here. Any attempt to gather or grasp something through “continuous repetition” is merely the petty person’s selfish delusion of “correspondence.”

Among gentlemen, there is only “correspondence”; in the context of the era and society they are in, they only respond within the “heaven-earth-human” structure. Like the dialogue between empty valleys, which can be thunderous or gentle streams, capable of transforming into all the wonders and scenery of heaven and earth, but still just a dialogue between empty valleys—this is all about “correspondence” between empty valleys, nothing more.

Zhang Zhong’s plain translation of Zen talk