Chen Chengzi (also known as Chen Heng) assassinated Duke Jian of Qi. Upon hearing this, Confucius bathed, dressed in formal court attire, and went to court to report to Duke Ai of Lu: “Chen Heng has murdered his ruler. I request that you launch a punitive expedition against him.”
Duke Ai replied, “Report this to those three ministers!”
Confucius withdrew and said, “Because I once held a position among the high ministers, I dare not fail to report such a matter. Yet our ruler says, ‘Report it to those three ministers.’”
He then went to inform the three ministers, but they refused to act. Confucius remarked again, “Because I once held a position among the high ministers, I dare not fail to report it.”
Note
This passage from the Analects of Confucius illustrates his unwavering commitment to ritual propriety, righteousness, and the ethical duties of a minister – even in a time of moral collapse.
Chen Heng’s regicide was a grave violation of the hierarchical order between ruler and minister, a cornerstone of Confucian ethics. To Confucius, this was not merely an internal affair of Qi, but a threat to the entire moral fabric of the world, requiring collective condemnation by feudal lords to “rectify names”.
Although Confucius was retired (“having once followed among the high ministers“), he still felt bound by the responsibility of a scholar-official. His ritual purification (bathing) and formal dress underscored the solemnity with which he treated this call for justice – a symbolic defense of cosmic and social order.
Duke Ai, deferring to the Three Huan families (Jisun, Mengsun, Shusun) – who themselves held power illegitimately – had no intention of acting. Confucius knew his appeal would be futile, yet he persisted because he believed: moral duty is not contingent on success; the noble person fulfills righteousness regardless of outcome.
This episode embodies the Confucian principle: “Serve your ruler according to the Way; if you cannot, withdraw” (Analects 11.24). Even when change is impossible, one must uphold principle through action. Confucius’s gesture was not political maneuvering, but a ritualized affirmation of civilization’s moral bottomline.
This chapter exemplifies both Confucius’s doctrine of “rectifying names” and the Confucian ideal of the scholar who “holds fast to the Way even unto death.”
Further Reading
The Master said, “If names are not correct, speech will not be in accord with truth; if speech is not in accord with truth, affairs will not succeed…” Analects 13.3 (Zi Lu)
Both stress the importance of “rectifying names” – Chen Heng’s act destroys the proper name of “minister,” demanding correction to restore order.
The Master said, “A true minister serves his ruler according to the Way; if he cannot, he stops.” Analects 11.24 (Xian Jin)
Clarifies Confucius’s stance – he reports out of duty, but does not force compliance; his role is to uphold the Way, not to seize power.
陳成子弒簡公。孔子沐浴而朝，告於哀公曰：「陳恆弒其君，請討之。」公曰：「告夫三子！」孔子曰：「以吾從大夫之後，不敢不告也。君曰『告夫三子』者。」之三子告，不可。孔子曰：「以吾從大夫之後，不敢不告也。」
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