Confucius said, "If the Tao fails, you can float on the sea by fork. What is the reason from me? " Zilu heard the joy. Confucius said, "You Hao is braver than me and has nothing to draw from." -The Analects of Confucius Gongye Chang

This chapter, rich in information, vivid in characters and interesting in language, is rare in the whole Analects.

the information first. The main information is as follows: Confucius has the feeling that he has no talent (Tao), and there is a place worthy of emigration at sea. Confucius thinks Zilu has a loyal and brave character, and Zilu is happy to hear the praise of Teacher Kong. Confucius deliberately hit him to prevent Zilu from being proud. These messages are connected in series, which is very dramatic.

let's talk about people. There are not many people, just Confucius and Zilu. However, these two people, a praise, a suppression, a joy, a disappointment (not written, but understandable), are mutually causal and ups and downs; Interactive tacit understanding, Zhuang harmony becomes fun; See temperament, lifelike. Confucius' narrowness and frankness make people feel very real and cordial.

speak the language last. It begins with big scenes, great feelings and great sadness, first turns to the description of character relations, then turns to the description of character emotions, and finally comes down to the jokes of the characters. Between sentences, there is great tension, words are used accurately and vividly. Mr. Qian Mu called it "funny and tactful, extremely interesting in the article", and what he said was right.

There are several textual problems in this chapter, which need to be discussed briefly.

one is the word bi. Ma Rong said, "Weaving bamboo and wood, the big one is called a raft, and the small one is called a fork". It can be seen that the fork is a small bamboo raft or a small wooden raft.

one is the word "Hai". Of course, the original meaning of the sea is the sea. According to the geographical location of Lu, where Confucius lived, the sea that he is most likely to float is the Yellow Sea in the east. The Bohai Sea in the north needs to pass through Qi. The East China Sea in the south is separated by the State of Wu.

Confucius went out to sea on a small wooden raft or bamboo raft. Where did he want to go? There are roughly three kinds of statements.

first, the Korean peninsula today. "Shuo Wen" quoted Confucius as saying: "If the Tao is not good, you will want to be a foreigner and float on the sea by fork." It is possible that the ancient version of The Analects of Confucius has a sentence "I want to be nine foreigners", which was later lost in the process of copying. So, what kind of place is Jiuyi? Where is it? Shuowen holds that Jiuyi has a "country where gentlemen never die". According to the Records of Geography of Hanshu, Jiuyi refers to today's Korean Peninsula. At the end of Shang Dynasty, in order to avoid chaos, ji zi fled to North Korea, spreading the culture and technology of monarch and people's etiquette, field cultivation, sericulture and weaving, which made a good order and customs established there. "The people will never steal from each other, and there will be no doors closed, and women will never commit adultery." In the ancient literature such as Shan Hai Jing, the Korean Peninsula is called "the country of oriental gentlemen" (the novel Jing Hua Yuan in the Qing Dynasty also regards Korea as the prototype of the scholar country). Yan Shigu noted: "If you want to take a raft and adapt to Dongyi, you can walk on the street with the benevolence of your country."

the second statement is wuyue at that time. There are two main arguments: one is that Ya can't really sail on the sea of Wang Yang; the other is that wuyue is very close to Lu, and it takes sunshine to the south and passes through Anton and Ganyu.

the third statement refers to the four seas. In today's words, it is seclusion and wandering in the rivers and lakes.

which statement is more reasonable? I think the first and third combination is more reasonable. Geographically speaking, Confucius should have said that he crossed the Yellow Sea and arrived in ji zi-educated Korean Peninsula. However, from the point of view of Confucius' mood and emotion at that time, it actually refers to the four seas and wandering the rivers and lakes. Confucius said this about after returning to Lu after traveling around the world. According to Cheng Yi and Zhu Xi, Confucius is "hurting the world's no virtuous monarch", which shows that he has despaired of politics. Confucius knew that it was impossible to float in the sea, but he insisted on saying so, which was obviously to express his feelings and vent his emotions, not to express his life plan in his later years.

Qian Mu said that this chapter "readers should think of it as a prose poem". My feeling is different from Mr. Qian's. I think it should be read as a cross talk work. Confucius is a joke, Zilu is a joke, and Confucius often hangs Zilu. Although Zilu was brave and impulsive, Confucius often criticized him for it. However, Zilu is one of Confucius' most capable disciples after all, and Confucius still relies heavily on and appreciates Zilu. According to the Biography of Zhong Ni's Disciples in Historical Records, Confucius once said with emotion: "Those who are dressed in robes and foxes are not ashamed, and their reasons are also!" Ji Kangzi asked, "Is Zhong Youren?" Confucius replied: "A country of thousands of times can rule its fu, but it doesn't know its benevolence." Zilu was killed in the civil strife in Weiguo. When the news came, Confucius said, "I have my own reasons, but I don't hear bad words." It can be seen that "no material" is just a joke, which is Confucius' hanging on the road. "Mencius Gongsun Ugly": "Zi Lu, if people tell them that they have had it, they will be happy." I am glad that I can smell it, and I have a strong ability to fight. At the same time, I dare to directly criticize and contradict Mr. Kong. Zilu is an excellent performer. In The Analects of Confucius, there are many jokes like cross talk between two people. Outside this chapter, the paragraph "Seeing Nanzi" is also a famous paragraph. Confucius and Zilu are the golden partners of cross talk.