Leadership Lessons from Confucius: shining pearls of wisdom

Confucius said: “Little ones, why don’t you study the Book of Songs? The Book of Songs can inspire your imagination, provide a vehicle for contemplation, help you to interact with others, and voice a complaint more effectively. At home it teaches you how to serve your father; further afield it teaches you how to serve your lord. You can also learn the names of many birds, animals, plants, and trees from it.”
子曰：「小子！何莫學夫詩？詩，可以興，可以觀，可以群，可以怨。邇之事父，遠之事君，多識於鳥獸草木之名。」

Amid the tidal wave of content that floods your brain every day, how much of it sticks in your mind? How much of it is designed to stimulate creativity and contemplation? And how much of it is designed to pound the last few grains of original thought out of you like angry waves crashing against the shore?

As more and more content is produced, the more discerning you need to be about what you consume. Instead of outsourcing the task to an agenda-driven algorithm, you need to actively engage in the search. It may take more time and effort to begin with, but it will not be long before you start to unearth shining pearls of wisdom buried in the sands.

Notes

This article features a translation of Chapter 9 of Book 17 of the Analects of Confucius. You can read my full translation of Book 17 here.

(1) Confucius considered the Book of Songs as essential reading for an aspiring scholar-official, not least because it formed the basis of the formal language used in court and diplomatic language. This is what he is referring to when he tells his son Boyu in 16.13: ‘If you do not study the Book of Songs, you won’t be able to speak.’

(2) In 8.8 recommends the Book of Songs as a source of inspiration. In 13.5 he goes on to warn against the danger of just learning the text by rote: “Imagine someone who can recite the three hundred poems of the Book of Songs by heart but is unable to carry out their job when given an official post or proves to be incapable of responding on their own initiative when sent on a mission to another state. No matter how many poems they may have memorized, what use would they be?”

I took this image in the Four Beasts Scenic Area in Taipei.