The Analects – Chapter 58 (3.18). Ritual or flattery?

3.18

The Master said, “Were anyone today to serve his prince according to the full prescriptions of ritual, he would be thought a sycophant.”

子曰：「事君盡禮，人以為諂也。」

Notes

This lament from the Analects reflects Confucius’ anguish amid the collapse of ritual order in the Spring and Autumn period. His words expose both societal value confusion and his solitary commitment to ritual’s true essence — contrasting authentic propriety with worldly distortion.

“I was simply trying to observe proper ritual conduct. Yet Zi Ao takes this as a personal slight – how strange is that!” (Mencius 8.27)

Today, this wisdom cautions us:

• Beware conflating respect with sycophancy or principles with shackles;
• In social interactions, uphold integrity while discerning between ethical adherence and self-serving manipulation.