Meaning: It is the most difficult to get along with those people who are cunning, despicable and shameless at heart. When getting close to them, they do not know how to be humble and courteous to others. When others alienate themselves, they become resentful.

From "The Analects of Confucius·Chapter 17·Yang Huo Chapter" "Only women and villains are difficult to raise. If you are close, you will not be inferior, and if you are far, you will be resentful."

Translation Analysis

"Only women and villains are difficult to raise" is regarded as a classic saying of Confucius who does not respect women. There are also people who defend this sentence; they use the word "female" in this sentence. It is said that it means "you" in another word, and Xiaoren said it means "child", but the actual translation overlaps, and it becomes Confucius's repeated words, and it also seems to be a curse. It is impossible for Confucius, a literati, not to speak directly. It's impossible to curse people in a vulgar way, that doesn't make sense. But Confucius had a headache in dealing with the relationship between husband and wife and the relationship between superiors and subordinates. He himself also immediately gave a solution, which is the next sentence: "Those who are close will be resented, and those who are far will be resented." This can be used in the processing of both relationships at the same time. So you can’t use this sentence too out of context.

Extended information

"Only women and villains are difficult to raise" In fact, this sentence is not discriminatory against women. To understand this sentence, you must first understand the concept of "villain", "The Analects of Confucius" "There are twenty-four "villains" in Chapter 1***23. In fact, most of these "villains" can be understood as ordinary people or common people, which is another class compared to the adults and scholars. The word "raise" here refers to getting along with each other.

So, the full text "Only women and villains are difficult to maintain. If you are close, you will not have grandchildren, if you are far, you will resent" is about the way to get along. The general meaning is: from a male perspective , it is difficult to handle the relationship well with women; from the perspective of officials, it is difficult to handle the relationship well with ordinary people. Because if you are too close to them, they will not know humility, and if you are too far away, they will be resentful.

Many people interpret ancient texts according to their modern literal meanings, or take them out of context in order to demonstrate their own points of view, for example: If a person does not serve himself, heaven and earth will destroy him (from "Mencius: End of the Heart"), among which There are two pronunciations of the word "Wei", but the correct pronunciation is the second tone. "Wei" here is a verb, and the meaning of the sentence is that if people do not cultivate their own virtues, then the laws of nature will not be tolerated, and rotten wood cannot be carved. It’s not a crusade against human profit-seeking.