The Analects – Chapter 196 (8.10). Roots of social disorder: Poverty and moral extremism

8.10
The Master said, “One who is by nature daring and is suffering from poverty will not long be law-abiding. Indeed, any men, save those that are truly Good, if their sufferings are very great, will be likely to rebel.”

子曰：「好勇疾貧，亂也。人而不仁，疾之已甚，亂也。」

Notes

Confucius said:

“Those who value valor and detest poverty will create disorder. When dealing with the unvirtuous, excessive hatred will also lead to disorder.”

These two statements from the Analects reveal the roots of two common social disorders. When reckless individuals are tempted by wealth—desperately seeking to escape poverty—they may resort to shortcuts, illegitimate means, or extreme methods to seize material gains.

Regarding moral criticism: when some people impose excessively high standards on others (e.g., showing extreme hatred toward the “unvirtuous”—such as the selfish or immoral), they may lose rationality and tend to punish others through “extreme measures.” This “fighting evil with evil” approach violates principles of justice, ultimately leading to strained social relations, escalated conflicts, and even social upheaval.

Mitigating Poverty Resentment:

• Enrich the people: Improve social security and provide employment opportunities to reduce “poverty anxiety.”
• Educate the people: Promote moral and legal education to guide “legitimate profit-seeking,” ensuring people need not rely on “unrighteous valor” due to impatience with poverty.

Guiding Rational Criticism:

Through media and education, advocate for inclusive and prudent values (e.g., guiding others toward goodness, avoiding labeling, understanding others’ circumstances) to prevent “trial by public opinion” and “extreme polarization,” ensuring social criticism occurs within a rational and orderly framework.

“Courage without ritual propriety leads to insubordination; straightforwardness without ritual propriety leads to harshness.”(Analects 8.2)

Confucius said: “Courage unregulated by ritual propriety will breed disorder; straightforwardness unregulated by ritual propriety will turn into hurtful sharpness.” It directly points out that “courage without ritual propriety” is the root cause of “disorder”, echoing the idea of “being fond of courage yet resenting poverty breeds disorder”. It emphasizes that courage must be restrained by ritual propriety; otherwise, it tends to transgress the boundaries of social order.

“Being fond of courage but disliking learning, its flaw is to breed disorder.”(Analects 17.8)

It attributes “disorder” to the lack of morality and ritual propriety caused by “disliking learning”. Consistent with the logic of “being fond of courage yet resenting poverty breeds disorder”, it holds that courage, if divorced from moral education, is bound to become a source of chaos.

“A gentleman regards righteousness as the highest principle. A gentleman with courage but without righteousness will stir up disorder; a petty man with courage but without righteousness will turn to theft.”(Analects 17.23)

It takes “righteousness” as the core criterion for courage, and further elaborates on the cause of disorder in “being fond of courage yet resenting poverty” – courage without righteousness, whether in a gentleman or a petty man, will undermine social order.