Who Was Fan Chi in the Analects?

The index lists six doors: Wei Zheng 2.5, Yong Ye 6.20, Yan Yuan 12.21 and 12.22, Zi Lu 13.4 and 13.19. Card labels are maps, not citation anchors—cite the live short titles Wei Chang, Yung Yey, Yen Yuan, and Tsze-lu. Legge prints Fan Ch'ih, and in 13.4 also Fan Hsu for 樊须; Chinese lines use 樊迟 in most scenes and 樊须 once after he leaves. The people page under fan-xu says 樊须字子迟，通称樊迟, and attributes to the Shiji that Fan Xu was thirty-six years younger than Confucius. Treat that age line as attribution, not a firm birth year.

Open The Analects · Wei Chang 2.5 first, because the index puts it first and because you meet Fan Chi mid-scene. The source line is 孟懿子问孝，子曰，无违。樊迟御，子吿之曰，孟孙问孝于我，我对曰，无违。樊迟曰，何谓也，子曰，生事之以礼，死葬之以礼，祭之以礼。 The modern Chinese guide on that page says: 孟懿子问什么是孝。孔子说：不要违背礼。后来樊迟为孔子驾车，孔子告诉他说：孟孙问我孝，我回答说不要违背礼。樊迟问这是什么意思。孔子说：父母活着时，要按礼侍奉；父母去世后，要按礼安葬，按礼祭祀。

Legge's 1893 English on the same page reads: Soon after, as Fan Ch'ih was driving him, the Master told him, saying, "Mang-sun asked me what filial piety was, and I answered him,—'not being disobedient.'" Fan Ch'ih said, "What did you mean?" The Master replied, "That parents, when alive, be served according to propriety; that, when dead, they should be buried according to propriety; and that they should be sacrificed to according to propriety." Notice the order: a short answer to Mang I, then Fan Chi driving, then the clarification he asks for. Your reflection on that retelling belongs in your own layer, marked as yours. Keep 吿 as the live page prints it.

The Analects · Yung Yey 6.20 keeps two questions in one short exchange. The source is 樊迟问知。子曰，务民之义，敬鬼神而远之，可谓知矣。问仁。曰，仁者先难而后获，可谓仁矣。 The guide says: 樊迟问怎样才算聪明智慧。孔子说：专心去做对百姓合宜有益的事，敬奉鬼神而又远离它，这就可以算是聪明智慧了。樊迟又问怎样才算仁。孔子说：有仁德的人，凡事先付出艰苦的努力，然后才收获成果，这就可以算是仁了。 Legge writes: Fan Ch'ih asked what constituted wisdom. The Master said, "To give one's self earnestly to the duties due to men, and, while respecting spiritual beings, to keep aloof from them, may be called wisdom." He asked about perfect virtue. The Master said, "The man of virtue makes the difficulty to be overcome his first business, and success only a subsequent consideration;—this may be called perfect virtue." Hold the two answers on one page; when you cite them, say whether you used the source, the guide, or Legge.

Under the rain altars, The Analects · Yen Yuan 12.21 gives you three verbs in one ask. The source opens 樊迟从游于舞雩之下。曰，敢问崇德，修慝，辨惑。子曰，善哉问。先事后得，非崇德与，攻其恶，无攻人之恶，非修慝与，一朝之忿，忘其身以及其亲，非惑与。 The guide's opening says: 樊迟陪着孔子在舞雩台下游览。他说：请问怎样提高道德、消除内心的邪恶、辨别迷惑？孔子说：问得好啊！ Read that as a lighter door about repair of the self, then move to the denser Yen Yuan scene.

The Analects · Yen Yuan 12.22 begins 樊迟问仁。子曰，爱人。问知。子曰，知人。樊迟未达。子曰，擧直错诸枉，能使枉者直。 The guide's opening says: 樊迟请教什么是仁。孔子说：爱人。又问什么是智。孔子说：了解人。樊迟没有领会。 Legge's opening reads: Fan Ch'ih asked about benevolence. The Master said, "It is to love all men." He asked about knowledge. The Master said, "It is to know all men." Fan Chi does not yet understand, so Confucius adds 擧直错诸枉，能使枉者直, and Fan Chi takes the line to Zi Xia (子夏; Legge Tsze-hsia). Keep 擧 as the live page prints it. Stay inside Fan Chi's scenes when you quote 爱人 and 知人; do not turn this Note into a separate ren essay.

The Analects · Tsze-lu 13.4 is one door among the six, not the title spine of this Note. The source opens 樊迟请学稼。子曰，吾不如老农。请学为圃。曰，吾不如老圃。樊迟出。子曰，小人哉，樊须也。 The guide says: 樊迟请求学种庄稼。孔子说：我不如老农。樊迟又请求学种菜。孔子说：我不如老菜农。樊迟出去后，孔子说：樊须真是个器量狭小的人啊！ Legge's opening reads: Fan Ch'ih requested to be taught husbandry. The Master said, "I am not so good for that as an old husbandman." He requested also to be taught gardening, and was answered, "I am not so good for that as an old gardener." Fan Ch'ih having gone out, the Master said, "A small man, indeed, is Fan Hsu!" After Fan Chi leaves, Confucius turns to ritual, righteousness, and good faith as what draws people. You should not rewrite this page as a farming essay.

The Analects · Tsze-lu 13.19 is the lightest of the six for this Note, yet it still shows the same habit of asking. The source is 樊迟问仁。子曰，居处恭，执事敬，与人忠，虽之夷狄，不可弃也。 The guide says: 樊迟问怎样才是仁。孔子说：平日居家态度恭敬，办理事务严肃认真，待人忠诚。即使到了没有教化的偏远地方，这些也是不能丢弃的。 Legge writes: Fan Ch'ih asked about perfect virtue. The Master said, "It is, in retirement, to be sedately grave; in the management of business, to be reverently attentive; in intercourse with others, to be strictly sincere. Though a man go among rude, uncultivated tribes, these qualities may not be neglected." Hold it as practice you can carry.

Read together, the pages show you a student who will not leave a short answer alone: he clarifies 无违 while holding the reins, pairs wisdom with ren, asks how to repair the heart, presses 爱人 and 知人 until Zi Xia helps, requests farming skill and hears a refusal, and hears ren named as conduct that travels with you. Offices, a firm birth year, and a battle narrative are not what these six print, so you should leave them out. Zi Lu has his own Who Note; this page stays with the asker. When you quote any line above, name the passage URL and say whether you used the source, the modern Chinese guide, or Legge.

When you want all six passages on one screen, open Fan Chi and read them in the order the index lists them, beginning with Wei Chang 2.5. Ask yourself which question you would have pressed first before you leave the page. Then stop, and let the source, the guide, and Legge each speak in its own layer rather than through your summary.