What sort of vision of the good life does Confucius recommend? In this episode, we explore one of the most intriguing passages in the Analects (11.26), where Confucius asks four disciples about their deepest aspirations. Three students offer increasingly modest political goals—from Zilu’s grand vision of governing a besieged state to Zihua’s humble wish to serve as a minor functionary in ritual ceremonies. But a fourth student, the musical Zengxi, describes something completely different: a spring day spent with friends and younger students, bathing in the Yi River, enjoying the breeze at the Rain Dance Altar, and returning home singing.

Confucius’s response—a deep sigh and “I am with Zengxi!”—reveals surprising insights about Confucian approaches to happiness and human flourishing. We examine why the Master favors this vision of ritual performed naturally and relationships lived wholeheartedly over more conventional paths to recognition and success. Does this passage suggest that political work misses the point entirely? Or does Zengxi’s answer represent a different kind of political vision—one focused on community, joy in ritual, and human relationships as the foundation of social order and good governance?

Drawing on historical commentary from the Confucian tradition and contemporary scholarship, we unpack why this passage has captivated readers for centuries and what it reveals about the relationship between personal fulfillment and social harmony.

Key passage: Analects 11.26

Section 1: political glory (Zilu’s ambition)

子路、曾皙、冉有、公西華侍坐。子曰：「以吾一日長乎爾，毋吾以也。居則曰：「不吾知也！』如或知爾，則何以哉？」子路率爾而對曰：「千乘之國，攝乎大國之間，加之以師旅，因之以饑饉；由也為之，比及三年，可使有勇，且知方也。」夫子哂之。

Zilu, Zengxi, Ran Qiu,and Zihua were seated in attendance. The Master said to them, “Because I am older than any of you, no one is willing to employ me. Yet you, too, often complain, ‘No one appreciates me.’ Well, if someone were to appreciate you, what would you do?”

Zilu spoke up immediately. “If I were given charge of a state of a thousand chariots—even one hemmed in between powerful states, suffering from armed invasions and afflicted by famine—before three years were up I could infuse its people with courage and a sense of what is right.”

The Master smiled at him.

Section 2: more modest political ambitions (Ran Qiu’s and Zihua’s answers)

「求！爾何如？」對曰：「方六七十，如五六十，求也為之，比及三年，可使足民。如其禮樂，以俟君子。」「赤！爾何如？」對曰：「非曰能之，願學焉。宗廟之事，如會同，端章甫，願為小相焉。」

He then turned to Ran Qiu. “You, Ran Qiu!” he said, “What would you do?” Ran Qiu answered, “If I were given charge of a state sixty or seventy—or even fifty or sixty—square li in area, before three years were up, I could see that the people would have all that they needed. As for instructing its people in ritual practice and music, this is a task that would have to await the arrival of a gentleman.”

The Master then turned to Zihua. “You, Zihua! What would you do?” Zihua answered, “I am not saying that I would actually be able to do it, but my wish, at least, would be to learn it. I would like to serve as a minor functionary—properly clad in ceremonial cap and gown—in ceremonies at the ancestral temple, or at diplomatic gatherings.”

Section 3: a “non-political” aspiration (Zeng Xi’s vision)

「點！爾何如？」鼓瑟希，鏗爾，舍瑟而作。對曰：「異乎三子者之撰。」子曰：「何傷乎？亦各言其志也。」曰：「莫春者，春服既成。冠者五六人，童子六七人，浴乎沂，風乎舞雩，詠而歸。」夫子喟然歎曰：「吾與點也！」

[The Master then turned to Zengxi.] “You, Zengxi! What would you do?”

Zengxi stopped strumming his zither, and as the last notes faded away he set the instrument aside and rose to his feet. “I would choose to do something quite different from any of the other three.”

“What harm is there in that?” the Master said. “We are all just talking about our aspirations.”

Zengxi then said, “In the third month of Spring, once the Spring garments have been completed, I should like to assemble a company of five or six young men and six or seven boys to go bathe in the Yi River and enjoy the breeze upon the Rain Dance Altar, and then return singing to the Master’s house.”

The Master sighed deeply, saying, “I am with Zengxi!”

Section 4: the “debriefing”

三子者出，曾皙後。曾皙曰：「夫三子者之言何如？」子曰：「亦各言其志也已矣。」曰：「夫子何哂由也？」曰：「為國以禮，其言不讓，是故哂之。」「唯求則非邦也與？」「安見方六七十如五六十而非邦也者？」「唯赤則非邦也與？」「宗廟會同，非諸侯而何？赤也為之小，孰能為之大？」

The other three disciples left, but Master Zeng stayed behind. He asked,

“What did you think of what the other disciples said?”
“Each of them was simply talking about their aspirations.”
“Then why, Master, did you smile at Zilu?”
“One governs a state by means of ritual. His words failed to express the proper

sense of deference, and that is why I smiled at him.” “Was Ran Qiu, then, not concerned with statecraft?”

“Since when did something sixty or seventy—even fifty or sixty—square li in area not constitute a state?”

“Was Zihua, then, not concerned with statecraft?”

“If ancestral temples and diplomatic gatherings are not the business of the feudal lords, what then are they? If Zihua’s aspiration is a minor one, then what would be considered a major one?”

(Analects 11.26, slightly modified from Edward Slingerland’s translation)

Sources and phrases mentioned

• Dao ke dao 道可道 (“The way that can be spoken of,” the Chinese name of our podcast)
• eudaimonia (the Greek term for “happiness” or “flourishing”)
• The short introduction to our series in Mandarin Chinese (mentioned at the beginning of Part I in today’s episode)
• The Truman Show (the movie that Justin struggled to remember)
• Bryan W. Van Norden, Virtue Ethics and Consequentialism in Early Chinese Philosophy (book concludes with a discussion of Analects 11.26)
• Philip J. Ivanhoe, Confucian Reflections (book also concludes with a discussion of Analects 11.26)
• Zilu 子路 (the ambitious and perhaps over-confident disciple of Confucius, who is the first to speak up)
• shen 哂 (smile, smirk, laugh)
• Ran Qiu 冉求 (disciple of Confucius)
• Zihua 子華 (disciple of Confucius)
• Zeng Xi 曾皙 (the musically-inclined disciple of Confucius, who seems to give the best answer)
• The ancient se 瑟 (“zither” that Zengxi was playing)
• Josef Pieper, Leisure: The Basis of Culture
• Analects 2.21 (where Confucius explains that he contributes to politics and government by adopting virtuous attitudes and behaviors toward his family)
• Gavin Lawrence, scholar of Aristotle and Richard’s former teacher
• Bryan W. Van Norden, Introduction to Classical Chinese Philosophy (characterizes the Confucian ideal in terms of “happiness in the everyday world”—a “this-worldly” conception of the good life)
• Zhu Xi 朱熹 (1130-1200), Zhuzi yulei 朱子語類 (The Classified Sayings of Master Zhu)
• The Cheng Brothers 二程 (Cheng Hao 程顥 [1032–1085] and Cheng Yi 程頤 [1033-1107], the two philosophers that laid the groundwork of Zhu Xi’s analysis)
• Zhang Fei 張飛 (d. 221 CE, the general depicted as very rash but also very sincere in The Three Kingdoms)
• Sonny Corleone (eldest brother of the powerful Corleone family in The Godfather)
• Analects 2.4 (describes Confucius as supremely sincere and wholehearted by the time he turns 70 years old)
• Further reading on later Confucian views about Zeng Xi:
  • Sophia Katz, “Tradition of Ruist Unrestrainedness: Zeng Dian, Shao Yong, and Chen Xianzhang…” (in this volume)