Book of Changes / Kun hexagram, Wenyan commentary

Jing Yi Zhi Yong: Classical Chinese Sentence Analysis

Jing Yi Zhi Yong: Classical Chinese Sentence Analysis with original text, pinyin, a literal rendering, a readable translation, source location, key terms, and a careful modern reading.

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jing yi zhi yong jing yi zhi nei meaning pinyin translation Book of Changes

Book of Changes, Kun hexagram, Wenyan commentary: read "君子敬以直內，義以方外，敬義立而德不孤。" before the English explanation.

Original text

君子敬以直內，義以方外，敬義立而德不孤。

Jun zi jing yi zhi nei, yi yi fang wai, jing yi li er de bu gu.

Literal layer

The gentleman uses reverent seriousness to make the inner straight, and rightness to square the outer; when reverent seriousness and rightness stand, virtue is not solitary.

Readable layer

The received line is jing yi zhi nei, not jing yi zhi yong: inner straightness comes through jing, outer squared conduct through yi, and established jing and yi make virtue non-isolated.

Snowscape, from Album for Zhou Lianggong from The Metropolitan Museum of Art open-access collection — **Snowscape, from Album for Zhou Lianggong; Yun Xiang; Gift of Julia and John Curtis, 2015; The Metropolitan Museum of Art.**Snowscape, from Album for Zhou Lianggong is used as a public-domain inscribed-text object for close sentence analysis on Jing Yi Zhi Yong. The fit is semantic: the page asks readers to inspect Kun hexagram, Wenyan commentary and the term jing, 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

The source phrase behind jing yi zhi yong is most plausibly jing yi zhi nei, from the Book of Changes Kun commentary: the gentleman uses jing to make the inner straight and yi to square the outer. The line then says that when jing and yi stand, virtue is not solitary. The page therefore redirects the searcher from a likely wording error to the received text. The point is disciplined inward seriousness joined to outward rightness.

Watch jing, zhi nei, yi; these terms decide where the literal layer and the readable layer separate.
Compare this page with de bu gu and self-cultivation pages before citing the phrase in essays about virtue.

Grammar Before Smooth English

This block uses Book of Changes, Kun hexagram, Wenyan commentary as the anchor, with "君子敬以直內，義以方外，敬義立而德不孤。" kept in front of the explanation.

Wording Correction: The queue title says jing yi zhi yong, but the received classical line is jing yi zhi nei. This page does not silently pretend the title wording is the source. It keeps the URL stable while telling the reader that the source phrase concerns making the inner straight.

Kun Commentary: The line belongs to the Kun material in the Book of Changes, not to the Analects sentence de bu gu by itself. That matters because the passage joins inner formation, outer conduct, and virtue's social resonance in one compact line.

Jing: Jing can mean reverent seriousness, attentiveness, or respectful concentration. Here it works inwardly. The gentleman uses jing to straighten the inner life. The word should not be reduced to politeness, because the line makes it a discipline of interior alignment.

The Pivot Word And Its Neighbor

Zhi Nei: Zhi nei means to make the inner straight. Nei marks inwardness, and zhi gives the image of straightness. This is why the wording matters. If nei is lost, the line loses its inward axis and becomes a vague statement about usefulness or function.

Yi And Fang Wai: Yi is rightness, and fang wai means to square the outer. The outer world of action, relation, and conduct needs form. The line pairs inward straightness with outward squareness so that cultivated life is not merely private sincerity or public correctness alone.

De Bu Gu Link: The final phrase says that when jing and yi are established, de is not solitary. This connects the line to the Analects-like phrase de bu gu, but the reasoning is different. Here virtue gains non-isolation through the standing of inward seriousness and outward rightness.

Keep the term set visible here: jing, zhi nei, yi. The reading changes if one of these terms is translated too smoothly.

Use The Sentence With Context

Inner And Outer Together: The line is easy to flatten into personal sincerity, but it is more balanced than that. Jing works on the inside, while yi works on the outside. The cultivated person is not complete if the inner life is straight but conduct has no square measure, or if outer conduct is correct while the inner life is scattered.

Jing Yi Zhi Yong Citation Practice: A careful citation should use jing yi zhi nei, not jing yi zhi yong, and name the Book of Changes Kun commentary. If the line is cited for self-cultivation, include both halves: jing for the inner and yi for the outer. One half alone weakens the structure.

Jing Yi Zhi Yong Reading Payoff: This page differs from the de bu gu Analects page because it explains why virtue is not solitary through jing and yi. It differs from broad self-cultivation pages because it corrects the likely search wording and gives the inner-straight outer-square structure. The article gives readers a source-safe path from a mistaken phrase to the received line.

The reading should end in one practical move: Compare this page with de bu gu and self-cultivation pages before citing the phrase in essays about virtue.

Next reading

Links chosen for reading movement

De Bu Gu Bi You Lin Classical Chinese Sentence AnalysisFrom Jing Yi Zhi Yong, open De Bu Gu Bi You Lin Classical Chinese Sentence Analysis to compare jing with a second checked passage; the path starts from Kun hexagram, Wenyan commentary, so the link has a specific reading job rather than a generic recommendation.Hou De Zai Wu Classical Chinese Sentence AnalysisFrom Jing Yi Zhi Yong, open Hou De Zai Wu Classical Chinese Sentence Analysis to test the translation boundary against a neighboring source; the path starts from Kun hexagram, Wenyan commentary, so the link has a specific reading job rather than a generic recommendation.Confucius Quotes About Self-cultivation: Analects Source and MeaningFrom Jing Yi Zhi Yong, open Confucius Quotes About Self-cultivation to move from this wording to a concrete reader workflow; the path starts from Kun hexagram, Wenyan commentary, so the link has a specific reading job rather than a generic recommendation.Yi Zhi Yu Li Classical Chinese Sentence AnalysisFrom Jing Yi Zhi Yong, open Yi Zhi Yu Li Classical Chinese Sentence Analysis to keep the next step tied to source evidence instead of a loose related list; the path starts from Kun hexagram, Wenyan commentary, so the link has a specific reading job rather than a generic recommendation.