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Confucius - The Analects - Li Ren 09
Identifier
013292
Type of Spiritual Experience
Background
A description of the experience
[4-9] 子曰。士志於道、而恥惡衣惡食者、未足與議也
[4:9] “A shi who is set on the way, but is ashamed of old clothes and coarse food, is not worth consulting.”
[Translators Comment: The title shi is translated into English with such terms as “elite”, “knight”, “scholar,” etc. While the shi of later Chinese history is more definitely a scholar than a knight, in the Analects, what Confucius is referring to is a level of spiritual/moral development, as well as academic and martial cultivation which is clearly above that of the average person. Thus, we can understand the shi to be a person who is well on the way toward becoming a “noble man,” but is not quite there yet. I am reluctant to render shi, as either “scholar” or “knight” because of the limitations in meaning that occur with these English words