Analects 6.15 · Yong Ye
“Meng Zhifan did not boast. When the army fled he covered the rear, and as they were about to enter the gate he whipped his horse and said, ‘It was not that I dared to stay behind; my horse would not go forward.’”
Meaning, context, and how to apply it today
孟之反不伐 奔而殿 將入門 策其馬曰 非敢後也 馬不進也 (mèng zhī fǎn bù fá, bēn ér diàn, jiāng rù mén, cè qí mǎ yuē, fēi gǎn hòu yě, mǎ bù jìn yě) means “Meng Zhifan did not boast. When the army fled he covered the rear, and as they were about to enter the gate he whipped his horse and said, ‘It was not that I dared to stay behind; my horse would not go forward.’” It is a passage from the Analects of Confucius, Book 6 (Yong Ye), Chapter 15.
孟之反不伐 奔而殿 將入門 策其馬曰 非敢後也 馬不進也
- Pinyin
- mèng zhī fǎn bù fá, bēn ér diàn, jiāng rù mén, cè qí mǎ yuē, fēi gǎn hòu yě, mǎ bù jìn yě
- Translation
- Meng Zhifan did not boast. When the army fled he covered the rear, and as they were about to enter the gate he whipped his horse and said, ‘It was not that I dared to stay behind; my horse would not go forward.’
- Source
- Analects, Book 6 (Yong Ye), Chapter 15
What does this passage mean?
The fifteenth chapter of Yong Ye tells the story of Meng Zhifan, a grandee of Lu. When the army of Lu was defeated by Qi and fled, Meng Zhifan took the most dangerous position at the rear and protected the troops. As they neared the city gate, he whipped his horse and said that he had not dared to stay behind; his horse simply would not go forward. He hid the merit of having risked his life for the whole army behind a joke about a slow horse. Confucius held him up as a model of not boasting. In the person whose words grow fewer as their merit grows greater, who can laugh off their own achievement, Confucius saw true virtue.
How can we apply it today?
In our time, publicizing one’s achievements passes for ability. Small contributions are packaged large, team results are claimed as one’s own, and accomplishments are displayed on social media. Meng Zhifan shows the opposite path: taking on the hardest task and speaking of it as nothing. Such a person seems to lose out in the short run, but those around them know exactly what happened. People gather around those who hide their merit and drift away from those who inflate it. Real merit is remembered long without being announced. Before it is a virtue, humility is a strategy for a reputation that lasts.
Questions to reflect on
- ·Have you ever described your own work as larger than it was?
- ·Have you known someone who took on hard work and passed it off lightly?
- ·Are you one who displays merit or one who conceals it?
Character-by-character breakdown
| Character | Pinyin | Meaning | Strokes | Radical |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 孟 | mèng | eldest | 8 | 子 (child) |
| 之 | zhī | go; possessive particle | 4 | 丿 (slash) |
| 反 | fǎn | return; oppose | 4 | 又 (again) |
| 不 | bù | not | 4 | 一 (one) |
| 伐 | fá | boast | 6 | 人 (person) |
| 奔 | bēn | flee | 8 | 大 (big) |
| 而 | ér | and; but | 6 | 而 (and) |
| 殿 | diàn | rear guard | 13 | 殳 (weapon) |
| 將 | jiāng | about to | 11 | 寸 (inch) |
| 入 | rù | enter | 2 | 入 (enter) |
| 門 | mén | gate | 8 | 門 (gate) |
| 策 | cè | whip | 12 | 竹 (bamboo) |
| 其 | qí | that; he | 8 | 八 (eight) |
| 馬 | mǎ | horse | 10 | 馬 (horse) |
| 曰 | yuē | speak | 4 | 曰 (say) |
| 非 | fēi | not | 8 | 非 (wrong) |
| 敢 | gǎn | dare | 12 | 攴 (tap) |
| 後 | hòu | after | 9 | 彳 (step) |
| 也 | yě | grammatical particle | 3 | 乙 (second) |
| 馬 | mǎ | horse | 10 | 馬 (horse) |
| 不 | bù | not | 4 | 一 (one) |
| 進 | jìn | advance | 12 | 辵 (walk) |
| 也 | yě | grammatical particle | 3 | 乙 (second) |
Frequently asked questions
Q. What does “Meng Zhifan did not boast. When the army…” mean?
孟之反不伐 奔而殿 將入門 策其馬曰 非敢後也 馬不進也 (mèng zhī fǎn bù fá, bēn ér diàn, jiāng rù mén, cè qí mǎ yuē, fēi gǎn hòu yě, mǎ bù jìn yě) means “Meng Zhifan did not boast. When the army fled he covered the rear, and as they were about to enter the gate he whipped his horse and said, ‘It was not that I dared to stay behind; my horse would not go forward.’” It comes from the Analects, Book 6 (Yong Ye), Chapter 15.
Q. Where does this passage appear in the Analects?
It is Analects 6.15: Book 6 (Yong Ye), Chapter 15.
Q. How can this teaching be applied today?
In our time, publicizing one’s achievements passes for ability.Small contributions are packaged large, team results are claimed as one’s own, and accomplishments are displayed on social media.