Analects 15.18 · Wei Ling Gong
“The exemplary person makes rightness the substance, carries it out with ritual propriety, expresses it with humility, and completes it with trustworthiness.”
Meaning, context, and how to apply it today
君子義以爲質 禮以行之 孫以出之 信以成之 (jūn zǐ yì yǐ wéi zhì, lǐ yǐ xíng zhī, xùn yǐ chū zhī, xìn yǐ chéng zhī) means “The exemplary person makes rightness the substance, carries it out with ritual propriety, expresses it with humility, and completes it with trustworthiness.” It is a passage from the Analects of Confucius, Book 15 (Wei Ling Gong), Chapter 18.
君子義以爲質 禮以行之 孫以出之 信以成之
- Pinyin
- jūn zǐ yì yǐ wéi zhì, lǐ yǐ xíng zhī, xùn yǐ chū zhī, xìn yǐ chéng zhī
- Translation
- The exemplary person makes rightness the substance, carries it out with ritual propriety, expresses it with humility, and completes it with trustworthiness.
- Source
- Analects, Book 15 (Wei Ling Gong), Chapter 18
What does this passage mean?
In the eighteenth chapter of Wei Ling Gong, Confucius sums up the exemplary person in four terms: making rightness the substance, carrying it out with ritual propriety, expressing it with humility, and completing it with trustworthiness. The character for humility here is a variant of the word for modesty. The four have an order. Rightness is the essence that comes first; it is carried out in accordance with propriety; in the process one keeps oneself low; and one finishes by keeping faith to the end. Confucius closes with the exclamation ‘truly exemplary.’ The passage divides the whole process by which a person accomplishes something into four phases, substance, execution, bearing, and completion, and is at once a diagram of character and a diagram of work.
How can we apply it today?
These four are also a method for doing good work. There must be a right purpose; it must be carried out with respect for procedure and for others; one must not push oneself forward in the process; and one must keep one’s word to the end. A right purpose pursued roughly loses people; good methods that showcase oneself provoke resentment; and a job done well until a final betrayal of trust brings everything down. Check a single project or relationship against these four stages and you will see where you most often fail. The exemplary person is not one who has all four but one who checks the order every time.
Questions to reflect on
- ·Is there rightness at the base of what you do?
- ·Are you doing the right thing in the right way?
- ·Which of the four stages do you most often miss?
Character-by-character breakdown
| Character | Pinyin | Meaning | Strokes | Radical |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 君 | jūn | ruler | 7 | 口 (mouth) |
| 子 | zǐ | son | 3 | 子 (child) |
| 義 | yì | right | 13 | 羊 (sheep) |
| 以 | yǐ | by means of | 5 | 人 (person) |
| 爲 | wéi | take as | 12 | 爪 (claw) |
| 質 | zhì | substance | 15 | 貝 (shell) |
| 禮 | lǐ | ritual propriety | 18 | 示 (spirit) |
| 以 | yǐ | by means of | 5 | 人 (person) |
| 行 | xíng | practice | 6 | 行 (walk) |
| 之 | zhī | go; possessive particle | 4 | 丿 (slash) |
| 孫 | xùn | humble | 10 | 子 (child) |
| 以 | yǐ | by means of | 5 | 人 (person) |
| 出 | chū | emerge | 5 | 凵 (open box) |
| 之 | zhī | go; possessive particle | 4 | 丿 (slash) |
| 信 | xìn | trust | 9 | 人 (person) |
| 以 | yǐ | by means of | 5 | 人 (person) |
| 成 | chéng | accomplish | 7 | 戈 (halberd) |
| 之 | zhī | go; possessive particle | 4 | 丿 (slash) |
Frequently asked questions
Q. What does “The exemplary person makes rightness the…” mean?
君子義以爲質 禮以行之 孫以出之 信以成之 (jūn zǐ yì yǐ wéi zhì, lǐ yǐ xíng zhī, xùn yǐ chū zhī, xìn yǐ chéng zhī) means “The exemplary person makes rightness the substance, carries it out with ritual propriety, expresses it with humility, and completes it with trustworthiness.” It comes from the Analects, Book 15 (Wei Ling Gong), Chapter 18.
Q. Where does this passage appear in the Analects?
It is Analects 15.18: Book 15 (Wei Ling Gong), Chapter 18.
Q. How can this teaching be applied today?
These four are also a method for doing good work.