Analects Fifty Notes

Author: Wang Qian / Country: Mainland China
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-06-01
Features: The Master said, "To transmit without creating, to trust and love the ancient, I compare myself to Lao Peng." (The Seventh Chapter of The Analects). Confucius said, "To transmit the old without creating the new, to trust and love the ancient rites and ceremonies, I compare myself to Lao Peng." "To transmit without creating, to trust and love the ancient" is an important principle in Confucian thought and scholarship, consistent with his advocacy of "self-restraint and the restoration of rites." Transmit () refers to transmitting or elaborating on the legacy of the past; create () refers to reforming the existing and establishing new doctrines.
Though this is the case, in the actual process of transmitting, due to differences in individual temperament and habits, since the literature and rites of the past have passed through this person's hands, it is inevitable that there will be additions, subtractions, or even revisions. For example, the famous calligrapher Wang Xizhi's Preface to the Orchid Pavilion in the copies after the Tang Dynasty were transcribed by those who naturally adhered to a completely consistent and unyielding attitude, stroke by stroke, in their "transmission." Yet, by randomly selecting two copies, one can immediately see their differences.
This applies to calligraphic copying—so what happens when ancient scholarship is studied, understood, and then re-expressed through one's own words and brush? Mr. Feng Youlan, for instance, believed that Confucius "actually regarded transmitting as creating."
When Confucius said, "To transmit without creating, to trust and love the ancient," from another perspective, it also expresses his confidence: the legacy of the past that I transmit is the crystallization of my faithfulness to history and careful verification—it is at least the pure essence. Some argue that this is one of the greatest flaws in Confucian thought: if one emphasizes obedience to the old rules and dares not make appropriate adjustments based on changing circumstances, it will only become increasingly rigid, outdated, and eventually.
In reality, if one looks at the original intent of Confucius's words, this is precisely a major tradition of Chinese culture for thousands of years. It is precisely because of this that China has preserved the world's most extensive collection of ancient classics. There is no need to "divide into two" when it comes to the good things passed down by the ancients. In Confucius's "transmission," it has already undergone filtering and refinement. The sayings in the text, such as "The Master does not speak of marvels, violence, chaos, or spirits" and "The Master rarely speaks of profit, but of fate and benevolence," are proof of this.
Such efforts to transmit the past have accumulated over generations, naturally being dominated by the essence of humanity—no need for doubt.
"To compare myself to Lao Peng" means that my degree of faithfulness to and love for the ancient is no different from that of Lao Peng. Lao Peng was likely a highly revered figure for his adherence to tradition, generally identified as a virtuous minister of the Shang Dynasty in later annotations, as recorded in the Great. Others insist that Lao Peng is the same as Pengzu mentioned in the Zhuangzi.
Regarding the interpretation of "Lao Peng," Mr. Nan Huaijin has spoken more extensively on the subject, which is recorded here for reference: "Lao Peng refers to two people. Lao refers to Laozi; Peng refers to Pengzu, whose name was Peng Bo. In ancient records, people said he lived for eight hundred years, whether this person existed or not is debatable. However, in traditional Chinese culture, there is a long-lived figure named Peng Bo. The meaning of the sentence below is that I am nothing special—I just want to emulate Laozi and Peng Bo. These two figures both spoke of traditional culture and held the attitude of 'transmitting without creating, trusting and loving the ancient.' In short, he is essentially making a self-deprecating joke: 'I am nothing special—I am just an old relic.'"
[Further Reading] The Master said, "There are those who create without knowing, but I am not like that. To hear much, choose the good and follow it; to see much, recognize it; this is the second best way of knowing." (The Analects, Chapter 7) The Master said, "Perhaps there are those who invent without knowing, but I am not like that. To hear much, choose the good and follow it; to see much, recognize it; compared to the wise, this is only the second best way of knowing."
Commentary: The "second best" () in "" can be interpreted as order or as second-rate. The meaning of Confucius here is likely that those who "create without knowing" regard themselves as wise people who are born knowing, while ordinary people, through the method of "hearing much, choosing the good and following it; seeing much, recognizing it," obtain knowledge that, even compared to true wise people, is only one level below.
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