Zilu asked, “When I hear a truth, should I act on it immediately?” The Master replied, “You still have your father and elder brothers alive – how can you act on it as soon as you hear it?”
Ran You asked the same question: “When I hear a truth, should I act on it immediately?” The Master said, “Yes – act on it as soon as you hear it.”
Gongxi Hua was puzzled and asked, “When You (Zilu) asked whether one should act immediately upon hearing something, you answered, ‘You have father and elder brothers.’ But when Qiu (Ran You) asked the same question, you said, ‘Act on it immediately.’ I am confused – may I ask why?”
The Master explained, “Qiu tends to hold back, so I urge him forward; You is overly bold – so I hold him back.”
Note
This passage is a classic illustration of Confucius’s pedagogical principle of “teaching students according to their individual aptitudes”. Rather than offering a one-size-fits-all moral rule, Confucius tailors his guidance to each disciple’s temperament and tendencies. For Zilu – impulsive, courageous, and prone to rash action – the priority is restraint and respect for familial hierarchy (hence the reminder of “father and elder brothers”). For Ran You – who is cautious, hesitant, and inclined to inaction – the need is encouragement toward decisive moral practice.
Confucius’s seemingly contradictory answers are, in fact, ethically consistent: both aim to guide each student toward the balanced mean (zhong yong). This episode reveals that Confucian ethics is not rigid legalism but contextual wisdom – it values not blind obedience to rules, but the cultivation of discernment that adjusts action to character and circumstance. True virtue lies not in uniform behavior, but in each person overcoming their specific imbalances to achieve moral harmony.
Further Reading
The Master said, “Zi Zhang goes too far; Zi Xia falls short.” “To go too far is no better than falling short.” Analects 11.16 (Xian Jin)
Both emphasize that moral excellence requires balance – Confucius corrects excess in one student and deficiency in another to steer both toward the Mean (moderation, zhong yong or the Gold Mean).
The Master said, “The virtue of the Mean is the highest! For a long time, the people have lacked it.” Analects 6.29 (Yong Ye)
Provides the ethical ideal that underlies Confucius’s differentiated responses – both “holding back” and “pushing forward” serve the goal of achieving balanced conduct.
子路問：「聞斯行諸？」子曰：「有父兄在，如之何其聞斯行之？」冉有問：「聞斯行諸？」子曰：「聞斯行之。」公西華曰：「由也問聞斯行諸，子曰『有父兄在』；求也問聞斯行諸，子曰『聞斯行之』。赤也惑，敢問。」子曰：「求也退，故進之；由也兼人，故退之。」
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