To Give Broadly and Relieve the Many

answered by Analects of Confucius, Yong Ye

기원전 5세기(공자 언행록)

🎬 TODAY'S FILM — IT ASKS THIS

Red Beard (1965)

dir. Akira Kurosawa · Japan

Before the suffering of the poor, an educated person's gifts may become a ladder for advancement, or a hand reaching down to those no one cares for. When giving broadly to relieve the many parts ways with paving my own road, which do I choose first?

THE QUESTION THE FILM ASKS

Do I use my gifts only to raise myself, forgetting they could be a hand reaching down to others?

THE CLASSIC'S ANSWER · ORIGINAL

博施濟衆

博施於民而能濟衆

📜 THE CLASSIC'S ANSWER

To give broadly to the people and relieve the many — that goes beyond mere benevolence.

💡 TL;DR

Confucius drew giving broadly to relieve the many as the highest reach of benevolence.

📝The Classic Answers

Confucius drew giving broadly to relieve the many as the highest reach of benevolence. Learning and talent are by nature both ladder and hand. Used only as a ladder upward, they raise me; used as a hand reaching down, they touch those no one tends. Neither happens on its own — each is a choice. When I decide where to spend my gifts, I choose first to ask whether they are a ladder that lifts me or a hand that reaches another.

— ONGO · Curator

🌱Apply It Today

When choosing where to spend your ability today, imagine one place where it could become a hand that reaches someone.

📖 Classic Source: Analects of Confucius, Yong Ye. Ancient text in the public domain; rendered and interpreted independently by ONGO.
The film is honored as an equal questioner; its plot is rendered only as a universal dilemma. The classic source is an ancient text (Public Domain), and the reflection is 100% original ONGO content.