《论语·雍也》古今误读章句辨正

Corrections for the Misreading of “The Analects of Confucius—Yongye”

《论语·雍也》篇:宰我问曰:"仁者,虽告之曰:‘井有仁焉’,其从之也?"子曰:"何为其然也?君子可逝也,不可陷也。可欺也,不可罔也。"此章在古今解读中认为"井有仁焉"是"井里掉下一个仁人",因此,诸家都围绕仁人是否"随之于井而救之"展开解读。显然,无论是否"仁人",见死不救都与儒家思想不符,从而产生思想上的矛盾。其实,"井"应为他国,"井有仁焉"是"某国有仁德",如此解读,文意、理义都通。《雍也》篇还有其他误读章,有必要辨正。

＂Zai asked me：＇A moral person,if you tell him ＂there is someone in the well＂,will go to save the drowned,won＇t he？＇ The Confucian said：＇why has it to be that？ A noble man could die but not be trapped,could be blinded but not be deceived＇ ＂（The Analects of Confucius—Yongye）In literature,the interpretation of that sentence has been preferred as ＂there is a noble man in the well＂ considering the question of if a moral man will save the drowned,the assumption based on the former condition.However,no matter whether it is a moral man or not,any conduct of not saving the drowned is against the Confucian value.It is argued in this paper that ＂jing＂ here means ＂a foreign country＂ so it means some foreign country is noble.This understanding makes the context in and out text logical.There are also other misreading required corrections.