Analects / Book 13.3, Zi Lu

Analects Passage on Rectifying Names: Text, Translation, and Commentary

Analects Passage on Rectifying Names: Text, Translation, and Commentary with original text, pinyin, a literal rendering, a readable translation, source location, key terms, and a careful modern reading.

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Analects rectifying names original Chinese pinyin translation meaning

Analects, Book 13.3, Zi Lu: read "子路曰：衛君待子而為政，子將奚先？子曰：必也正名乎！子路曰：有是哉，..." before the English explanation.

Original text

子路曰：衛君待子而為政，子將奚先？子曰：必也正名乎！子路曰：有是哉，子之迂也！奚其正？子曰：野哉，由也！君子於其所不知，蓋闕如也。名不正，則言不順；言不順，則事不成；事不成，則禮樂不興；禮樂不興，則刑罰不中；刑罰不中，則民無所措手足。故君子名之必可言也，言之必可行也。君子於其言，無所苟而已矣。

Zilu yue, Wei jun dai zi er wei zheng, zi jiang xi xian. Zi yue, bi ye zheng ming hu. Zilu yue, you shi zai, zi zhi yu ye, xi qi zheng. Zi yue, ye zai, You ye. Jun zi yu qi suo bu zhi, gai que ru ye. Ming bu zheng, ze yan bu shun. Yan bu shun, ze shi bu cheng. Shi bu cheng, ze li yue bu xing. Li yue bu xing, ze xing fa bu zhong. Xing fa bu zhong, ze min wu suo cuo shou zu. Gu jun zi ming zhi bi ke yan ye, yan zhi bi ke xing ye. Jun zi yu qi yan, wu suo gou er yi yi.

Literal layer

Zilu said: If the ruler of Wei were waiting for you to govern, what would you put first? The Master said: It would surely be rectifying names. Zilu said: Is there such a thing? You are being roundabout. Why rectify them? The Master said: How rough you are, You. With regard to what he does not know, the gentleman leaves it open. If names are not correct, speech does not accord; if speech does not accord, affairs do not succeed; if affairs do not succeed, rites and music do not flourish; if rites and music do not flourish, punishments do not hit the mark; if punishments do not hit the mark, the people have nowhere to place hand or foot. Therefore when the gentleman names something it must be speakable, and what he says must be practicable. In his speech, the gentleman is not careless.

Readable layer

Analects 13.3 presents rectifying names as the first task of government because confused names disorder speech, action, ritual, punishment, and the people's ability to act.

Three Poems from the Collection of Poems Ancient and Modern from The Metropolitan Museum of Art open-access collection — **Three Poems from the Collection of Poems Ancient and Modern; Fujiwara no Yukinari; Mary Griggs Burke Collection, 2015; The Metropolitan Museum of Art.**Three Poems from the Collection of Poems Ancient and Modern is used as a public-domain manuscript-style object for dialogue and passage comparison on Analects Rectifying Names. The fit is semantic: the page asks readers to inspect Book 13.3, Zi Lu and the term Zilu, while the image remains illustrative rather than proof of the exact manuscript, author portrait, or historical scene.

Reader focus

What this page helps you decide

Analects 13.3 explains rectifying names through a political conversation with Zilu. When asked what he would put first in governing Wei, Confucius says he would rectify names. The passage then gives a chain: wrong names disorder speech, disordered speech prevents affairs from succeeding, failed affairs weaken rites and music, then punishments miss the mark, and the people do not know where to place hand or foot. The line is about public language becoming actionable.

Watch Zilu, zheng ming, yan; these terms decide where the literal layer and the readable layer separate.
Compare this page with names-and-social-roles and public-service pages before using rectifying names as a political concept.

The Teaching Scene

This block uses Analects, Book 13.3, Zi Lu as the anchor, with "子路曰：衛君待子而為政，子將奚先？子曰：必也正名乎！子路曰：..." kept in front of the explanation.

Why The Long Passage Matters: Rectifying names is often quoted as a short doctrine, but Analects 13.3 is a dialogue. Zilu asks what Confucius would do first in government, objects that the answer seems roundabout, and receives a long explanation. The page uses the longer passage because the doctrine becomes clearer when the objection and sequence remain visible.

Zilu's Practical Objection: Zilu thinks rectifying names sounds indirect. His objection is useful because many modern readers feel the same way. Why start with names when there are urgent political tasks? Confucius answers that language is not cosmetic. If public names and roles are wrong, speech and action lose their footing.

Names And Speech: Ming bu zheng, ze yan bu shun says that when names are not correct, speech does not accord. Names here are not mere labels. They concern roles, offices, relationships, and what can rightly be said about them. If those terms are confused, speech cannot guide action reliably.

Speech And Affairs: Yan bu shun, ze shi bu cheng continues the chain: if speech does not accord, affairs do not succeed. The passage is practical. Confucius is not doing wordplay. He is saying that public action depends on language that can be spoken, understood, and carried out without hidden contradiction.

The Word That Changes The Passage

Rites, Music, And Punishment: When affairs fail, rites and music do not flourish; when rites and music do not flourish, punishments do not hit the mark. This chain shows a whole social order. Ritual, cultural practice, and legal consequence are connected. Bad naming eventually reaches the level of public penalty and ordinary people's lives.

The People Lose Footing: Min wu suo cuo shou zu says the people have nowhere to place hand or foot. This is a vivid image of social confusion. The people cannot act confidently because the public order no longer gives stable directions. The page keeps this image visible because it prevents rectifying names from sounding like abstract semantics.

Speakable And Practicable: The closing rule says that what the gentleman names must be speakable, and what he says must be practicable. This is the positive side of rectification. Names should support responsible speech, and speech should support action. The final warning is that the gentleman is not careless with words.

Analects Rectifying Names Reading Payoff: This page differs from names-and-social-roles pages because it follows the full chain in Analects 13.3, from naming to speech, affairs, rites, music, punishment, and the people's footing. It differs from harmony passages because its concern is not relation among differences but public language that can guide action. The article gives readers a source-safe way to cite rectifying names without shrinking it to a slogan.

Keep the term set visible here: Zilu, zheng ming, yan. The reading changes if one of these terms is translated too smoothly.

The reading should end in one practical move: Compare this page with names-and-social-roles and public-service pages before using rectifying names as a political concept.

Next reading

Links chosen for reading movement

Confucius Quotes About Names and Social Roles: Analects Source and MeaningFrom Analects Rectifying Names, open Confucius Quotes About Names and Social Roles to compare Zilu with a second checked passage; the path starts from Book 13.3, Zi Lu, so the link has a specific reading job rather than a generic recommendation.Confucius Quotes About Public Service: Analects Source and MeaningFrom Analects Rectifying Names, open Confucius Quotes About Public Service to test the translation boundary against a neighboring source; the path starts from Book 13.3, Zi Lu, so the link has a specific reading job rather than a generic recommendation.Analects Passage on Lead With VirtueFrom Analects Rectifying Names, open Analects Passage on Lead With Virtue to move from this wording to a concrete reader workflow; the path starts from Book 13.3, Zi Lu, so the link has a specific reading job rather than a generic recommendation.Confucius Quotes About Ritual as Practice: Analects Source and MeaningFrom Analects Rectifying Names, open Confucius Quotes About Ritual as Practice to keep the next step tied to source evidence instead of a loose related list; the path starts from Book 13.3, Zi Lu, so the link has a specific reading job rather than a generic recommendation.