加密数字货币交易所-《论语》详解：给所有曲解孔子的人-子曰：君子喻於义，小人喻於利

Confucius said: The gentleman understands righteousness, while the petty person understands profit.

Yang Bojun: Confucius said, “The gentleman understands what is righteous, while the petty person understands what is profit.”

Qian Mu: The teacher said, “The gentleman’s understanding lies in righteousness, while the petty person’s understanding lies in profit.”

Li Zehou: Confucius said, “The gentleman understands rites and etiquette, while the petty person understands gains and losses.”

Detailed explanation:

Although this sentence is simple, translations throughout the ages have had many issues. According to the interpretations of the three scholars above, a gentleman who does not understand or grasp even interests and gains is merely a bookworm. For the ruling class that uses the distorted “Analects” to enslave the people, such a so-called gentleman who does not understand gains and losses is, of course, the best kind of servant. Countless servants have become so over China’s two thousand years.

And what about petty persons? Have they ever truly understood gains and losses? Gains and losses must be thoroughly examined and traced to their sources, requiring a deep understanding of the entire society and the operation of various systems. Only then can one have a slight understanding of gains and losses. Otherwise, they are merely a group manipulated on an interest machine, cannon fodder in the war of interests.

What is a petty person? First of all, a person is just a confined space, from a young age. The so-called ordinary person, in a social structure manipulated by social machinery, all knowledge and concepts are merely assembled from so-called common sense and what is considered the natural order. Here, it can be said without hesitation that in Confucius’s eyes, the so-called ordinary person is not even a petty person, but a fake person, a puppet.

“於” means “being” or “being influenced by,” and the “righteousness” and “interest” that follow are the active subjects of “metaphor” or “analogy.” Whether “gentleman” or “petty person,” their “metaphor” is not without source; it is driven by the forces of “righteousness” and “interest.” Without “righteousness” and “interest,” and without the social structure itself, the so-called “metaphor” of “gentleman” and “petty person” is just nonsense. What does “metaphor” mean? It means enlightenment.

The meaning of this chapter is that “the gentleman is enlightened by righteousness, the petty person is enlightened by interest.” So, what are “righteousness” and “interest”? “Interest” refers to the benefits and stakes formed by the social structure and its corresponding operational mechanisms; “righteousness” refers to the moral, legal, and normative standards corresponding to various social structures.

In the operation of the interest network, the petty person is guided by the latent power of the interest network, understanding its mechanisms and structure, thus navigating it with ease, gaining benefits—so-called stealing wealth without leaving traces of theft, stealing fame to be remembered forever, stealing a country to become a sage of the nation. This is what qualifies as being a petty person.

The gentleman must first become a petty person. A gentleman who does not first become a petty person is just a fool. Being muddled about “interest” makes it impossible to become a petty person, let alone a gentleman. A “gentleman” can navigate the interest network skillfully, being guided by the moral and legal norms corresponding to various social structures, understanding the times, acting in accordance with the times, and transforming the times—unaware of others’ perceptions, turning poison into nectar, the earth into gold, “people do not know,” yet “people do not resent.” This is the true conduct of a gentleman.

Although the petty person is adept at navigating the interest network, because they confine themselves within boundaries, diminish themselves, and are controlled by their ego, they ultimately remain mere mechanical puppets. In the end, they are misled by a little cleverness—a game and a dream. The gentleman, knowing everything the petty person knows, acts without being bound by ego, not wasting a single law but following thousands of laws, acting according to countless laws without establishing any law, and being free in what they know and do.

Chánzhōng’s plain translation of Zen talk.