Analects 6.27 · Yong Ye
“The exemplary person who studies broadly in culture and holds it together with ritual propriety will not stray from the Way.”
Meaning, context, and how to apply it today
君子博學於文 約之以禮 亦可以弗畔矣夫 (jūn zǐ bó xué yú wén, yuē zhī yǐ lǐ, yì kě yǐ fú pàn yǐ fú) means “The exemplary person who studies broadly in culture and holds it together with ritual propriety will not stray from the Way.” It is a passage from the Analects of Confucius, Book 6 (Yong Ye), Chapter 27.
君子博學於文 約之以禮 亦可以弗畔矣夫
- Pinyin
- jūn zǐ bó xué yú wén, yuē zhī yǐ lǐ, yì kě yǐ fú pàn yǐ fú
- Translation
- The exemplary person who studies broadly in culture and holds it together with ritual propriety will not stray from the Way.
- Source
- Analects, Book 6 (Yong Ye), Chapter 27
What does this passage mean?
This passage from the twenty-seventh chapter of Yong Ye appears almost verbatim again in Yan Yuan. It joins broad learning in culture with disciplining oneself by ritual propriety and is the source of the idiom ‘broaden with culture, restrain with ritual.’ The character translated as ‘stray’ is a variant of the word for rebellion and means departing from the Way. Widening one’s knowledge and restraining one’s conduct complement each other: learning alone scatters, restraint alone narrows. Yan Hui recalled that his teacher had broadened him with culture and restrained him with ritual, and these were the two pillars of Confucius’s teaching.
How can we apply it today?
We are practiced at learning widely but careless about the standard that binds it together. We absorb every kind of information and knowledge, but without a principle for how to live, that knowledge remains scattered fragments. The ritual propriety Confucius describes is, in today’s terms, one’s own code of conduct, the lines one will not cross. Those who bind what they know into principles and act on them stand firmer than those who merely know a great deal. For every hour spent reading and studying, time is also needed to sort out by what standard the learning will be practiced. When broadening and binding go together, learning becomes life.
Questions to reflect on
- ·Do you have a principle that binds together what you have learned?
- ·Has your knowledge grown while your life has become more scattered?
- ·What is the standard by which you discipline yourself?
Character-by-character breakdown
| Character | Pinyin | Meaning | Strokes | Radical |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 君 | jūn | ruler | 7 | 口 (mouth) |
| 子 | zǐ | son | 3 | 子 (child) |
| 博 | bó | broad | 12 | 十 (ten) |
| 學 | xué | learn | 16 | 子 (child) |
| 於 | yú | at; in | 8 | 方 (square) |
| 文 | wén | writing | 4 | 文 (script) |
| 約 | yuē | restrain; bind | 9 | 糸 (silk) |
| 之 | zhī | go; possessive particle | 4 | 丿 (slash) |
| 以 | yǐ | by means of | 5 | 人 (person) |
| 禮 | lǐ | ritual propriety | 18 | 示 (spirit) |
| 亦 | yì | also | 6 | 亠 (lid) |
| 可 | kě | right | 5 | 口 (mouth) |
| 以 | yǐ | by means of | 5 | 人 (person) |
| 弗 | fú | not | 5 | 弓 (bow) |
| 畔 | pàn | stray; rebel | 10 | 田 (field) |
| 矣 | yǐ | grammatical particle | 7 | 矢 (arrow) |
| 夫 | fú | grammatical particle | 4 | 大 (big) |
Frequently asked questions
Q. What does “The exemplary person who studies broadly in…” mean?
君子博學於文 約之以禮 亦可以弗畔矣夫 (jūn zǐ bó xué yú wén, yuē zhī yǐ lǐ, yì kě yǐ fú pàn yǐ fú) means “The exemplary person who studies broadly in culture and holds it together with ritual propriety will not stray from the Way.” It comes from the Analects, Book 6 (Yong Ye), Chapter 27.
Q. Where does this passage appear in the Analects?
It is Analects 6.27: Book 6 (Yong Ye), Chapter 27.
Q. How can this teaching be applied today?
We are practiced at learning widely but careless about the standard that binds it together.