加密数字货币交易所-《论语》详解：给所有曲解孔子的人-子曰：我非生而知之者，好古，敏以求之者也。

Confucius said: “I am not someone born with knowledge, but someone who loves antiquity and diligently seeks it.”

Yang Bojun: Confucius said: “I am not someone who was born with knowledge, but someone who loves ancient culture and works hard and quickly to acquire it.”

Qian Mu: The teacher said: “I was not born knowing everything! I love the ancient and seek it diligently!”

Li Zehou: Confucius said: “I was not born with knowledge, but I love the ancient and strive to seek it.”

Detailed Explanation:

This chapter directly follows the previous one. The previous chapter discusses wisdom and practice from a general human perspective, while this chapter uses Confucus as an example to illustrate how an individual acquires wisdom. “Born” refers to innate, a priori; “之” refers to “born,” and “知之” means to attain wisdom through it, relying on being born and a priori to have wisdom. The so-called “love antiquity” means loving the teachings of the sages and ancient codes. “敏” is borrowed from “thumb,” the big thumb, and extended to mean “verification.” Loving antiquity cannot be just from books to books; it must be verified through practical experience. “Seek” means to choose; “敏以求” means to verify and select.

For thousands of years, Confucius’s image has been intentionally or unintentionally distorted by countless conservative scholars and anti-Confucianists; for centuries, lies about Confucius clinging to antiquity and returning to old ways have become “truths” in the mouths of these critics. However, in the Analects, Confucius clearly states his view of “antiquity” by using himself as an example: to “be敏以求之” (“be diligent in seeking it”), where “之” refers to “antiquity,” emphasizing verification and selection of “antiquity.” This is Confucius’s true attitude toward “antiquity.” In the previous chapter, Confucius already explicitly stated that wisdom comes from practice. In this chapter, he further clarifies that one must verify and select the teachings of the ancient sages and ancient codes, and both verification and selection depend on current practice. Only in this way can it be considered true “love of antiquity.”

In this chapter, Confucius proposes three steps to learn from the knowledge and wisdom of predecessors: love, diligence, and seek. First, respect, treat well, and then learn and research the teachings, codes, and relics of the predecessors—only then can it be called “love.” Respect and proper treatment, followed by learning and research, require further verification through practice. This is “diligence.” “Diligence” has two meanings: First, the knowledge and wisdom of predecessors come from their current practice, but as times and conditions change, their application may become invalid or need adjustment. This can only be verified and discovered through practice. Second, understanding the knowledge and wisdom of predecessors, especially those that transcend time, must be gradually experienced and explored through practice to uncover their true meaning. One must not treat Confucius or Marx as mere symbols without understanding, as some do; that is not “love,” nor “diligence.” With verification, there is a basis for choice. Choice is not mechanical or based on simple standards like right or wrong, but organically developed and extended according to current practice. Only then can one honor the ancients and oneself. This is what truly constitutes “seeking.”

Plain translation of Chan Zhong’s Zen talk