Byline: lunyu.ai editorial desk · Review: lunyu.ai editorial desk
Who Was Yan Yuan in the Analects?
Yan Yuan (颜渊, also 颜回 or Hui; Legge writes Yen Yuan and Yen Hui) is a disciple Confucius praises again and again, yet you rarely hear him talk. This Note gathers the few lines the Analects gives in his own voice: a vow in 12.1, a sigh in 9.10, a wish in 5.25, one sentence at Kuang in 11.22, and a question on governing in 15.10. Then you set them beside how others describe him in 2.9, 6.2 and 11.10.
Five lines in his own voice
Most passages that name him are about him: Confucius watching, judging, mourning. Only a handful let you hear what he says. In the Chinese text he is 颜渊 when the narrator introduces him and 回 when he names himself; Legge follows with Yen Yuan and Hui. Keep that split in mind, because in 12.1 and 11.22 the self-name 回 is part of what he is saying. The site's people page adds that his courtesy name was 子渊; it gives no firm death year, so you should not supply one.
Yen Yuan 12.1: asking for the items, then a vow
Start with The Analects · Yen Yuan 12.1, because here you hear him speak twice. The source reads 颜渊问仁。子曰，克己复礼为仁，一日克己复礼，天下归仁焉，为仁由己，而由人乎哉。颜渊曰，请问其目。子曰，非礼勿视，非礼勿听，非礼勿言，非礼勿动。颜渊曰，回虽不敏，请事斯语矣。
Listen to his two lines only. First, 请问其目: Legge gives "I beg to ask the steps of that process." Second, 回虽不敏，请事斯语矣, which Legge renders "Though I am deficient in intelligence and vigour, I will make it my business to practise this lesson." The page's modern guide puts it as 我颜回虽然不够聪敏，也要照这话去做。 You will notice he does not debate the answer or ask for a reason; he asks for the concrete items and then commits to them. That reading is your reflection, not the text, so label it as yours when you cite it.
Tsze Han 9.10: a sigh about a teaching that keeps moving
The Analects · Tsze Han 9.10 gives you the longest speech he has. The source: 颜渊喟然叹曰，仰之弥高，钻之弥坚，瞻之在前，忽焉在后。夫子循循然善诱人，博我以文，约我以礼。欲罢不能，既竭吾才，如有所立卓尔，虽欲从之，末由也已。 Legge opens: "I looked up to them, and they seemed to become more high; I tried to penetrate them, and they seemed to become more firm; I looked at them before me, and suddenly they seemed to be behind." He ends: "though I wish to follow and lay hold of it, I really find no way to do so."
You hear a student describing effort, not arrival: he cannot stop, he has used up his ability, and the thing still stands ahead. Notice also that 博我以文，约我以礼 names method, learning and ritual restraint, in his own words.
Kung-ye Ch'ang 5.25: a wish stated as two refusals
In The Analects · Kung-ye Ch'ang 5.25, Confucius asks two disciples for their wishes. Zi Lu speaks first; you only need Yan Yuan's line here: 颜渊曰，愿无伐善，无施劳。 Legge: "I should like not to boast of my excellence, nor to make a display of my meritorious deeds." The guide: 我愿意不夸耀自己的长处，不表白自己的功劳。 You may see that his wish is phrased as two things he will not do. Keep the camera on him; Zi Lu has his own Note.
Hsien Tsin 11.22 and Wei Ling Kung 15.10: one sentence at Kuang, one question on the state
The Analects · Hsien Tsin 11.22 is short: 子畏于匡，颜渊后，子曰，吾以女为死矣。曰，子在，回何敢死。 Legge: "I thought you had died." Hui replied, "While you were alive, how should I presume to die?" You hear him answer fear with a sentence about staying alive for his teacher; you should not add a motive the page does not print.
The Analects · Wei Ling Kung 15.10 opens 颜渊问为邦。 Legge: "Yen Yuan asked how the government of a country should be administered." Only the question is his; the calendar, carriage, cap, music and songs in the reply are Confucius'. Read the full Legge answer on the live passage page.
How others describe him: Wei Chang 2.9 and Yung Yey 6.2
Set those five lines beside two judgments spoken about him. In The Analects · Wei Chang 2.9, Confucius says 吾与回言终日，不违，如愚……回也不愚。 Legge: "he has not made any objection to anything I said;—as if he were stupid." As your own reflection, you might connect this with 12.1: in his own voice, too, he asks for steps rather than objecting.
In The Analects · Yung Yey 6.2, Duke Ai asks who loved learning, and Confucius answers 有颜回者好学，不迁怒，不贰过，不幸短命死矣，今也则亡，未闻好学者也。 Legge: "There was Yen Hui; he loved to learn. He did not transfer his anger; he did not repeat a fault." You will see that these words come from his teacher, after his death, not from Yan Yuan.
Hsien Tsin 11.10: a funeral against the teacher's word
The Analects · Hsien Tsin 11.10 reads 颜渊死，门人欲厚葬之。子曰，不可。门人厚葬之。子曰，回也，视予犹父也，予不得视犹子也，非我也，夫二三子也。 Legge: "The disciples did bury him in great style." Then: The Master said, "Hui behaved towards me as his father. I have not been able to treat him as my son." You should read this as Confucius' complaint about the disciples, not as words Yan Yuan left behind.
What his own words add up to, and what they leave out
Put his five lines together and you get a vow, a sigh, a wish, one reply under danger, and one question on governing. None of them praises himself. What they leave out matters as much: in these five lines there is no account of his own teaching, no office, no saying of his on poverty. The famous basket and gourd of 6.9 are Confucius' words about him, so you should not quote them as his.
FAQ
Who was Yan Yuan in the Analects?
You meet him as 颜渊, also 颜回 or Hui, a disciple whom Confucius praises and mourns. Legge writes Yen Yuan and Yen Hui. The site's people page gives his courtesy name as 子渊. In his own voice he asks about ren and vows to practise it, sighs about his teacher's way, states a wish, answers at Kuang, and asks about governing. You can check each line on its passage page.
What does Yan Yuan himself say in 12.1?
You hear two lines from him. He asks for the items of the practice, 请问其目, and after the four 非礼勿 answers (look, listen, speak, move) he says 回虽不敏，请事斯语矣. Legge renders it "Though I am deficient in intelligence and vigour, I will make it my business to practise this lesson." The definition of ren in that passage belongs to Confucius, so you should not quote it as Yan Yuan's.
What is the "looked up to them" sigh in 9.10?
You are reading Yan Yuan describing his teacher's way: the higher he looks, the higher it seems; it appears ahead and then behind. He credits Confucius with leading step by step, enlarging him with learning and restraining him with ritual. He ends saying he has used all his ability and still finds no way to follow. Quote the live source or Legge rather than a smoothed paraphrase.
Is 不迁怒，不贰过 something Yan Yuan said?
No. You find it in 6.2, where Confucius answers Duke Ai's question about who loved learning. The phrase describes Yan Hui as his teacher remembered him: he did not transfer his anger and did not repeat a fault. The same answer says he died young. When you cite it, attribute it to Confucius and name the passage, not to Yan Yuan.
Are Yan Yuan, Yan Hui, and 回 the same person?
Yes, on this site they are one figure. The English index uses Yan Yuan; Legge prints Yen Yuan, Yen Hui, and Hui. The Chinese text says 颜渊 in narration, 颜回 in 6.2, and 回 when he or Confucius names him directly. The people page sits under the slug yan-hui and adds 字子渊. You should not split these into different people.
Read the Yan Yuan index next
When you want every passage that names him on one page, open Yan Yuan. The index groups how he is asked, seen and mourned; this Note only listened to his own lines. Read them again there in context, and when you quote any of them, give the passage URL and say whether you used the source, the guide, or Legge.