People
Yan Yuan
Yan Yuan is written as a man who could stay near ren for months. That is a description, not a badge that says “perfect student.”
This page judges and selects. It is not a new critical edition. Source text, guide, and translation remain layered on each passage page.
How the person appears in the book
He asks about ren and is given restraint
Yan Yuan asks about ren. Confucius gives a discipline, not a title. “Though I am not quick, I will practice these words”: Hui takes the sentence as work.
Yan Yuan 12.1yan-yuan-001His mind did not leave ren for three months
This is an observation about duration: the others reach ren only by days or months. Nearness is written as continuance, not as a seal you can wear.
Yong Ye 6.5yong-ye-005A single bowl of food, a single gourd of drink
“Worthy indeed was Hui” points to joy that does not change, not to poverty as a boast. The joy is seen in a humble lane; it is still a description, not a recruiting poster.
Yong Ye 6.9yong-ye-009There was Yan Hui, who was fond of learning
Fondness for learning is spelled out as not transferring anger and not repeating a fault. He died young; now there is none. The judgment is an elegy, not a class rank.
Yong Ye 6.2yong-ye-002Heaven is destroying me
When Yan Yuan dies, Confucius mourns beyond measure. The disciples want a lavish burial; he says no. Grief and the refusal to make an idol sit in the same group of passages.
Xian Jin 11.8xian-jin-008
Easy confusions
Yan Yuan is not the slogan “perfect student”
The book also says he seemed stupid, that he was no help, that he was often empty, and that Confucius saw him go forward and never stop. “Perfect student” is a later slogan. Read as a slogan, the unfinished sentences disappear.
Nearness to ren is described, not awarded
Three months without leaving ren watches the mind; it does not confer a rank. Confucius himself will not claim sagehood or ren. Writing Yan Yuan as a man who already holds ren turns description into a badge.
Featured passages
These passages show how Yan Yuan is asked, seen, and mourned. Other source passages that name 颜渊, 颜回, or 回也 follow under “view all.”
- Wei Zheng 2.9wei-zheng-009
The Master said, "I have talked with Hui for a whole day, and he has not made any objection to anything I said;—as if he were stupid. He has retired, and I have examined his conduct when away from me, and found him able to illustrate my teachings. Hui!—He is not stupid."
- Gong Ye Chang 5.8gong-ye-chang-008
1. The Master said to Tsze-kung, "Which do you consider superior, yourself or Hui?" 2. Tsze-kung replied, "How dare I compare myself with Hui? Hui hears one point and knows all about a subject; I hear one point, and know a second." 3. The Master said, "You are not equal to him. I grant you, you are not equal to him."
- Yong Ye 6.2yong-ye-002
1. The Duke Ai asked which of the disciples loved to learn. 2.Confucius replied to him, "There was Yen Hui; he loved to learn. He did not transfer his anger; he did not repeat a fault. Unfortunately, his appointed time was short and he died; and now there is not such another. I have not yet heard of any one who loves to learn as he did."
- Yong Ye 6.5yong-ye-005
The Master said, "Such was Hui that for three months there would be nothing in his mind contrary to perfect virtue. The others may attain to this on some days or in some months, but nothing more."
- Yong Ye 6.9yong-ye-009
The Master said, "Admirable indeed was the virtue of Hui! With a single bamboo dish of rice, a single gourd dish of drink, and living in his mean narrow lane, while others could not have endured the distress, he did not allow his joy to be affected by it. Admirable indeed was the virtue of Hui!"
- Zi Han 9.10zi-han-010
1. Yen Yuan, in admiration of the Master's doctrines, sighed and said, "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. 2. "The Master, by orderly method, skilfully leads men on. He enlarged my mind with learning, and taught me the restraints of propriety. 3. "When I wish to give over the study of his doctrines, I cannot do so, and having exerted all my ability, there seems something to stand right up before me; but though I wish to follow and lay hold of it, I really find no way to do so."
- Zi Han 9.20zi-han-020
The Master said of Yen Yuan, "Alas! I saw his constant advance. I never saw him stop in his progress."
- Xian Jin 11.8xian-jin-008
When Yen Yuan died, the Master said, "Alas! Heaven is destroying me! Heaven is destroying me!"
- Xian Jin 11.10xian-jin-010
1. When Yen Yuan died, the disciples wished to give him a great funeral, and the Master said, "You may not do so." 2. The disciples did bury him in great style. 3. The Master said, "Hui behaved towards me as his father. I have not been able to treat him as my son. The fault is not mine; it belongs to you, O disciples."
- Yan Yuan 12.1yan-yuan-001
1. Yen Yuan asked about perfect virtue. The Master said, "To subdue one's self and return to propriety, is perfect virtue. If a man can for one day subdue himself and return to propriety, all under heaven will ascribe perfect virtue to him. Is the practice of perfect virtue from a man himself, or is it from others?" 2. Yen Yuan said, "I beg to ask the steps of that process." The Master replied, "Look not at what is contrary to propriety; listen not to what is contrary to propriety; speak not what is contrary to propriety; make no movement which is contrary to propriety." Yen Yuan then said, "Though I am deficient in intelligence and vigour, I will make it my business to practise this lesson."
- Wei Ling Gong 15.10wei-ling-gong-010
1. Yen Yuan asked how the government of a country should be administered. 2. The Master said, "Follow the seasons of Hsia.
View all related passages10 passages
- Gong Ye Chang 5.25gong-ye-chang-025
1. Yen Yuan and Chi Lu being by his side, the Master said to them, "Come, let each of you tell his wishes." 2. Tsze-lu said, "I should like, having chariots and horses, and light fur dresses, to share them with my friends, and though they should spoil them, I would not be displeased." 3. Yen Yuan said, "I should like not to boast of my excellence, nor to make a display of my meritorious deeds." 4. Tsze-lu then said, "I should like, sir, to hear your wishes." The Master said, "They are, in regard to the aged, to give them rest; in regard to friends, to show them sincerity; in regard to the young, to treat them tenderly."
- Shu Er 7.10shu-er-010
1. The Master said to Yen Yuan, "When called to office, to undertake its duties; when not so called, to lie retired;—it is only I and you who have attained to this." 2. Tsze-lu said, "If you had the conduct of the armies of a great State, whom would you have to act with you?" 3. The Master said, "I would not have him to act with me, who will unarmed attack a tiger, or cross a river without a boat, dying without any regret. My associate must be the man who proceeds to action full of solicitude, who is fond of adjusting his plans, and then carries them into execution."
- Zi Han 9.19zi-han-019
The Master said, "Never flagging when I set forth anything to him;—ah! that is Hui."
- Xian Jin 11.2xian-jin-002
1. The Master said, "Of those who were with me in Ch'an and Ts'ai, there are none to be found to enter my door." 2. Distinguished for their virtuous principles and practice, there were Yen Yuan, Min Tsze-ch'ien, Zan Po-niu, and Chung-kung; for their ability in speech, Tsai Wo and Tsze-kung; for their administrative talents, Zan Yu and Chi Lu; for their literary acquirements, Tsze-yu and Tsze-hsia.
- Xian Jin 11.3xian-jin-003
The Master said, "Hui gives me no assistance. There is nothing that I say in which he does not delight."
- Xian Jin 11.6xian-jin-006
Chi K'ang asked which of the disciples loved to learn. Confucius replied to him, "There was Yen Hui; he loved to learn. Unfortunately his appointed time was short, and he died. Now there is no one who loves to learn, as he did."
- Xian Jin 11.7xian-jin-007
1. When Yen Yuan died, Yen Lu begged the carriage of the Master to sell and get an outer shell for his son's coffin. 2. The Master said, "Every one calls his son his son, whether he has talents or has not talents. There was Li; when he died, he had a coffin but no outer shell. I would not walk on foot to get a shell for him, because, having followed in the rear of the great officers, it was not proper that I should walk on foot."
- Xian Jin 11.9xian-jin-009
1. When Yen Yuan died, the Master bewailed him exceedingly, and the disciples who were with him said, "Master, your grief is excessive?" 2. "Is it excessive?" said he. 3. "If I am not to mourn bitterly for this man, for whom should I mourn?"
- Xian Jin 11.18xian-jin-018
1. The Master said, "There is Hui! He has nearly attained to perfect virtue. He is often in want. 2. "Ts'ze does not acquiesce in the appointments of Heaven, and his goods are increased by him. Yet his judgments are often correct."
- Xian Jin 11.22xian-jin-022
The Master was put in fear in K'wang and Yen Yuan fell behind. The Master, on his rejoining him, said, "I thought you had died." Hui replied, "While you were alive, how should I presume to die?"
What you can do today
Do not resolve to “be Yan Yuan.” Take the four items of returning to li, and keep one of them today: stop one look, hearing, word, or movement that is outside li. Nearness begins in that stop, not in a claim.
Frequently asked questions
Are Yan Yuan, Yan Hui, and Hui the same person?
Yes. Yuan is the courtesy name, Hui the personal name. This page collects the forms the source text uses.
Who says “worthy indeed was Hui”?
Confucius. In the same group, Duke Ai and Ji Kangzi ask who is fond of learning; the answer is again Hui. These are not Yan Yuan's self-introduction.
Is the “virtuous conduct” list a ranking?
Book 11 names virtuous conduct: Yan Yuan, Min Zijian, Ran Boniu, Zhong Gong. It is a grouping, not a modern ranking. Speech, government, and letters stand beside it; there is no total score.
Was Yan Yuan named as Confucius's successor?
The book records no such appointment. It records fondness for learning, not leaving ren, the mourning, and “I could not treat him as my son.” Do not turn an elegy into a succession.
Which English name: Yan Yuan or Yan Hui?
Either is right: courtesy name or personal name. This page titles him Yan Yuan, matching 颜渊, and keeps 回 / 颜回 when the source uses them.
Is “restrain the self and return to li” Yan Yuan's definition of ren?
It is the program Confucius gives him. Fan Chi and Zhong Gong are given other sentences. Do not make this reply Yan Yuan's label, or the book's only definition.