Without Trust

This time, we look at Chapter 22 of the 'Analects', Book of Weizheng.

The Master said, 'If a person lacks trust, I do not know how they can be considered capable. If a large cart lacks a crossbar, or a small cart lacks a yoke, how can they be moved?'

The Master said, 'A person who lacks sincerity and integrity cannot find their potential. If an ox cart lacks a crossbar and a carriage lacks a yoke, how could one possibly move them?'

The terms 'gei' and 'getsu' are not in the list of daily-use kanji, and the objects themselves are hard to visualize, so I hadn't brought them up before. However, since there was a diagram on page 79 of 'Confucius' Teachings That Sink Right In', I decided to feature them this time.
I was a bit critical of 'Confucius' Teachings That Sink Right In' yesterday, but it does have its useful aspects (sorry for sounding so arrogant 😅).

Neither an ox cart nor a carriage can be moved without a yoke (the crossbar attached to the ox or horse).
Confucius' words imply that a person without integrity is like a cart without a yoke—they will run wild.

The 'Bamboo of the Southern Mountains' in the third panel is a metaphor used when Zilu, upon meeting Confucius for the first time, said that a superior person does not need formal education. When Confucius replied that if you attach an arrowhead to that bamboo from the Southern Mountains and polish it, it becomes even stronger, Zilu obediently followed his advice.

The header image is a drawing of someone trying to get a Pegasus to pull a carriage, only for it to fly away gracefully 😁.

🐻