The passage most often cited for Confucian reticence about the supernatural. It declines the question rather than denying the spirits, and later Confucians read it both ways. Some editions number it 11:12. Book and chapter numbering follows Legge's printed division; the e-text carries no numerals.
Facts
Passage
TextChi Lu asked about serving the spirits of the dead. The Master said, "While you are not able to serve men, how can you serve their spirits?" Chi Lu added, "I venture to ask about death?" He was answered, "While you do not know life, how can you know about death?" 1 ReferenceAnalects 11:11 (Legge numbering) 1 Reference SchemeCollection, Book, Section 1 Translation
TranslationThe Chinese Classics, vol. 1: Confucian Analects 1 Connections
Concerns
Bears directly on the standing of ancestral rites.
Atheism, Religions Quoted by later readers as an early instance of religious agnosticism.
Passage Of
Source The Chinese Classics, vol. 1: Confucian AnalectsJames Legge
Sources
1. The Chinese Classics, vol. 1: Confucian Analects
James Legge, Trubner / Internet Sacred Text Archive, 1861Analects 11:11 (Legge numbering)View the Source Reader Challenges (0)
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