Ji Zicheng said, “A noble person needs only inner substance—why bother with outward refinement?”
Zigong replied, “What a pity, sir, that you speak this way of the noble person! Once words are spoken, even a team of four horses cannot overtake them. Refinement is as essential as substance, and substance is as essential as refinement. Without their fur, the hides of tigers and leopards are no different from those of dogs and sheep.”
Note
This passage from the Analects of Confucius defends the Confucian ideal of balanced self-cultivation, rejecting the false dichotomy between inner virtue (“substance”) and outward expression (“refinement”—including ritual, speech, decorum, and cultural forms). Ji Zicheng represents a purist view: true goodness needs no adornment. But Zigong argues that without wen, moral character becomes indistinguishable and ineffective in society. The vivid metaphor—stripped hides of noble beasts vs. common animals—shows that wen gives form, dignity, and recognizability to inner worth. In Confucian thought, ethics is inherently relational: virtue must be communicated and embodied through culturally meaningful practices. Ritual, music, proper speech, and etiquette are not superficial; they shape character, convey respect, and sustain social harmony. Thus, substance without refinement is inert; refinement without substance is hollow. True junzi (noble personhood) requires their unity—a harmony later summarized in Analects 6.18: “When natural simplicity dominates over refinement, the result is rusticity; when refinement dominates over simplicity, the result is pedantry. It is only when refinement and simplicity are well blended that we have the noble person.”
Further Reading
The Master said, “When substance exceeds refinement, one is rustic; when refinement exceeds substance, one is bookish. Only when refinement and substance are harmoniously blended can one be called a noble person.” Analects 6.18 (Yong Ye)
Directly complements Chapter 12.8—both insist on the inseparability and balance of inner virtue and outer expression.
棘子成曰：「君子質而已矣，何以文為？」子貢曰：「惜乎！夫子之說，君子也。駟不及舌。文猶質也，質猶文也。虎豹之鞟，猶犬羊之鞟。」
Leave a Reply