Original text

Confucius said: "Those who are virtuous must have words, and those who have words do not need to be virtuous. Those who are benevolent must be brave, and those who are brave do not need to be benevolent."

"The Analects of Confucius·Xianwen Chapter"

Translation

Confucius said: "A virtuous person must have good words, but a person with good words does not necessarily have virtue. A person with kindness A brave person must be brave, but a brave person does not necessarily have benevolence."

Interpretation

This chapter talks about the relationship between "virtue" and "words", "benevolence" and "brave". .

In Confucian culture, "virtue" and "benevolence" are usually synonymous, and "governing with virtue" means "governing with benevolence". Virtue is also often called "benevolence". "Speech" and "wisdom" are connected. A wise man talks a lot, and he who speaks must be wise. A wise man must have words. A wise man never loses his words. Once a word is spoken, you will know whether it is wisdom. Confucius said: "A wise man will not lose his words and will not lose his words." " ("Wei Ling Gong Pian") "A gentleman thinks he knows when he speaks, but he doesn't know when he speaks." (Zi Zhang Pian) "Wisdom" and "words" are connected. In fact, what this chapter talks about is the relationship between "benevolence", "wisdom" and "brave". "The Doctrine of the Mean" says: "Knowledge, benevolence, and courage are the three virtues in the world." Benevolence, courage, wisdom, "benevolence" is the name of "complete virtue". "Benevolence" includes courage and wisdom. Benevolence is higher than wisdom, and wisdom is higher than courage. In other words, courage is inferior to wisdom, and wisdom is inferior to kindness. The benevolent man is one level higher than the brave man. There is a dialogue in "Shu Er" that shows Confucius's different attitudes towards Yan Yuan and Zi Lu. It can be seen that Confucius has different evaluations of the realms of benevolent and brave men: "Zi said to Yan Yuan: 'Use it and you will do it; discard it and you will hide it. I am the only one who can do this with you!" Zi Lu said: "When Zi marches to the Three Armies, who will fight with him?" Zi Lu said: "Those who fight fiercely against the river and die without regrets are bound to be afraid of things and are good at planning. '" Here, Confucius praised Yan Yuan's kindness as a gentleman and laughed at Zi Lu's courage. Therefore, Confucius said: "Those who are virtuous must have words, those who have words do not have to be virtuous, those who are benevolent must be courageous, and those who are brave do not need to be benevolent." Regarding the relationship between "speech", "virtue", "benevolence" and "courage". "Analects of Confucius" quoted Li Chong as saying: "Those who speak sweetly and sharply, but seem to be right and wrong, are also sycophants and clever words. Those who present success or failure, those who connect vertically and horizontally, are the words of a lobbyist. Those who are arrogant and exaggerated, those who argue from many sides, are discriminators. The words of virtue are high and sound, and the sound is heard all over the world. Therefore, if you are virtuous, you must have words. If you have words, you do not need to be virtuous. , The courage of a hunter is also the courage of a fisherman who does not avoid being bitten by a dragon. The courage of a martyr is the courage of a martyr who sees death as life. Those who resist are those who are benevolent. Therefore, those who are benevolent must be brave, and those who are brave need not be unkind.

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