An In-Depth Study of the Way of Ruler and Minister in the Analects Xianwen Chapter
This article focuses on the core political discourses in the Xianwen chapter of the Analects concerning Zang Wuzhong, Guan Zhong, Duke Ling of Wei, and others, analyzing Confucius's profound insights on ruler-minister relations, the distinction between hegemony and kingship, and the weighing of humaneness against righteousness — particularly the chasm between 'the difficulty of action' and 'the essence of humaneness (ren).'
Section 3. "Were It Not for Guan Zhong, We Would All Be Wearing Our Hair Unbound and Our Robes Fastened on the Left" — The Height of Civilizational Discourse
"Were it not for Guan Zhong, we would all be wearing our hair unbound and our robes fastened on the left" (Wei Guan Zhong, wu qi bei fa zuo ren yi) — If not for Guan Zhong, we would all be wearing our hair loose and our garments fastened on the left.
The full force of this statement can be appreciated only when one understands the cultural significance of "unbound hair and left-fastened robes" (bei fa zuo ren).
"Unbound hair" (bei fa, lit. "loose hair") — The people of Hua-Xia bound their hair, which was the mark of civilization. The Record of Rites, Guan Yi states: "What makes a person human is ritual and righteousness. Ritual and righteousness begin with proper bearing, composed countenance, and measured speech." The capping ceremony was the critical rite of passage for Hua-Xia men; binding the hair and donning the cap signified the transformation from a natural being into a civilized person. "Unbound hair" — hair worn loose, neither bound nor capped — was the custom of the Rong and Di barbarians, a symbol of the "uncivilized."
In the mythological and folk traditions of high antiquity, "unbound hair" carried even deeper significance. The Shan Hai Jing (Classic of Mountains and Seas), Hai Wai Bei Jing, records: "The spirit of Mount Zhong, named Zhu Yin — when it gazes, it is day; when it closes its eyes, it is night; when it blows, it is winter; when it exhales, it is summer. It neither drinks nor eats nor breathes." Many of the spirits and foreign peoples described in the Shan Hai Jing are depicted with "loose" or "unbound" hair. In the Hua-Xia worldview, bound hair represented the human transcendence of the natural state — one was no longer a purely natural existence but a civilized being possessed of culture, ritual, and order.
"Left-fastened robes" (zuo ren) — The people of Hua-Xia wore their lapels fastened to the right (you ren), the mark of "Hua" (civilization); to fasten on the left (zuo ren) was the mark of "Yi" (barbarian). The Record of Rites, Sang Fu Da Ji contains relevant records — the dead were dressed with left-fastened lapels, because the dead had returned to the natural state and were no longer part of the world of the living. For a living person to wear left-fastened robes meant, by Hua-Xia standards, that they were already "dead" — their civilizational identity had been lost.
In pre-Qin texts, "left-fastened robes" was virtually synonymous with barbarization. "Unbound hair and left-fastened robes" together signified the utter ruin of Hua-Xia civilization — a regression to a state of savagery and barbarism.
When the Master said, "Were it not for Guan Zhong, we would all be wearing our hair unbound and our robes fastened on the left," he elevated Guan Zhong's contribution to the level of civilizational survival. Guan Zhong was not merely the prime minister of Qi, not merely the chief advisor of Duke Huan — he was the guardian of Hua-Xia civilization. His achievement lay not in helping one state achieve hegemony, but in ensuring the survival of Hua-Xia civilization as a whole.
This enables us to understand why the Master said "Such was his humaneness" — because Guan Zhong's "humaneness" was a civilizational humaneness, a humaneness directed toward all the people of Hua-Xia. Such humaneness far transcended personal loyalty to one lord.