Analects 17.9 · Yang Huo
“The Songs can stir the spirit, sharpen observation, bring people together, and give voice to grievance.”
Meaning, context, and how to apply it today
詩可以興 可以觀 可以群 可以怨 (shī kě yǐ xīng, kě yǐ guān, kě yǐ qún, kě yǐ yuàn) means “The Songs can stir the spirit, sharpen observation, bring people together, and give voice to grievance.” It is a passage from the Analects of Confucius, Book 17 (Yang Huo), Chapter 9.
詩可以興 可以觀 可以群 可以怨
- Pinyin
- shī kě yǐ xīng, kě yǐ guān, kě yǐ qún, kě yǐ yuàn
- Translation
- The Songs can stir the spirit, sharpen observation, bring people together, and give voice to grievance.
- Source
- Analects, Book 17 (Yang Huo), Chapter 9
What does this passage mean?
In the ninth chapter of Yang Huo, Confucius asks his disciples why they do not study the Songs and names four things the Songs can do. They can stir the feelings and move the heart, they allow one to observe the customs of the world and the rights and wrongs of government, they bring people together in fellowship, and they give voice to grievance and sorrow. He adds that through the Songs one serves one’s parents near at hand and one’s ruler further off, and learns the names of many birds, beasts, plants, and trees. For Confucius, who compiled the 305 poems of the Book of Songs, poetry was, before it was literature, a textbook of feeling, society, and relationships. These four functions became the basic framework of East Asian literary theory.
How can we apply it today?
To the question of what use literature is, Confucius gave his answer 2,500 years ago: it moves the heart, helps us read the world, connects people, and releases wounds. A novel lets us understand another person’s situation, a poem speaks a sorrow we could not put into words, and people who have read the same book quickly grow close. In an age that prizes efficiency and practicality, literature looks inefficient, but the ability to handle feeling and understand people outlasts any technical skill. A person with no outlet for grievance eventually explodes. Reading poetry is not a luxury but the building of a drain for the heart.
Questions to reflect on
- ·Has a poem or novel moved you recently?
- ·Where do you hold the grievance or sorrow you have not been able to release?
- ·Has literature ever connected you with another person?
Character-by-character breakdown
| Character | Pinyin | Meaning | Strokes | Radical |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 詩 | shī | poem | 13 | 言 (speech) |
| 可 | kě | right | 5 | 口 (mouth) |
| 以 | yǐ | by means of | 5 | 人 (person) |
| 興 | xīng | rise | 16 | 臼 (mortar) |
| 可 | kě | right | 5 | 口 (mouth) |
| 以 | yǐ | by means of | 5 | 人 (person) |
| 觀 | guān | see | 25 | 見 (see) |
| 可 | kě | right | 5 | 口 (mouth) |
| 以 | yǐ | by means of | 5 | 人 (person) |
| 群 | qún | bring together | 13 | 羊 (sheep) |
| 可 | kě | right | 5 | 口 (mouth) |
| 以 | yǐ | by means of | 5 | 人 (person) |
| 怨 | yuàn | resent | 9 | 心 (heart) |
Frequently asked questions
Q. What does “The Songs can stir the spirit, sharpen…” mean?
詩可以興 可以觀 可以群 可以怨 (shī kě yǐ xīng, kě yǐ guān, kě yǐ qún, kě yǐ yuàn) means “The Songs can stir the spirit, sharpen observation, bring people together, and give voice to grievance.” It comes from the Analects, Book 17 (Yang Huo), Chapter 9.
Q. Where does this passage appear in the Analects?
It is Analects 17.9: Book 17 (Yang Huo), Chapter 9.
Q. How can this teaching be applied today?
To the question of what use literature is, Confucius gave his answer 2,500 years ago: it moves the heart, helps us read the world, connects people, and releases wounds.