Analects Book 17: Confucius crosses the line of ritual propriety

For all his criticisms of his contemporaries for their violations of ritual propriety, there are a few occasions in the Analects when Confucius came very close to stepping over the line himself — and perhaps even crossed it.

The rudeness of Confucius’s behavior towards Yang Huo and Ru Bei in Analects Book 17 is a case in point. Although it is understandable that he had no desire to meet the thuggish Yang Huo in 17.1, Confucius’s attempt to avoid his ritual obligation to thank Yang for a gift by visiting him when he thought he would be out comes off as rude and too clever by half.

Confucius should not have been surprised that the streetwise Yang Huo somehow managed to bump into him when he was on his way to Yang’s house. Given how eager Yang was to meet Confucius, he had probably put spies in place to track all his movements. So much for the great sage’s cunning plan to avoid him!

Confucius’s conduct towards Ru Bei in 17.20 is even more boorish. Although the little white lie he gives to Ru’s messenger about being too sick to meet him may have been preferable to a blunt rejection of the request, loudly playing his zither within earshot of the departing man was totally uncalled for. While some commentators have applauded Confucius for supposedly teaching Ru Bei a lesson (ironically about some obscure point of ritual propriety) with this calculated insult, it is hard not to conclude that the sage allowed personal animosity to trump common courtesy in the incident.

Although the violations committed by Confucius appear minor compared to those of more egregious offender like the Ji family, as the self-appointed guardian of ritual purity it was his responsibility to set the right example of others to follow. If he did not adhere to the highest ritual standards, what right did have to expect others to?