[One Thousand Characters a Day] Professor Lee Kang-jae's 'Lead Like the Analects' <3>

Editor's NoteAsia Economy provides daily 1,000-character transcription content for the 'One Day Ten Thousand Steps, One Day Thousand Characters' newsletter readers. The transcription content is carefully selected according to daily and monthly themes from Eastern and Western classics, Korean literature, famous columns, and notable speeches. Professor Kangjae Lee, a classicist at Seoul National University (Department of Chinese Language and Literature), revisits the teachings of Confucius from long ago in his book Lead Like the Analects, discussing the virtues needed in leaders today and the true meaning of leadership that changes the fate of nations and organizations. He introduces explanations of the original text and Korean pronunciation for each passage and offers various interpretations, adding the enjoyment of classical reading. Character count: 1022.

In Taebaek, Confucius said, "When the country follows the right way, it is shameful to be poor and lowly; when the country does not follow the right way, it is shameful to be rich and noble (邦有道, 貧且賤焉, 恥也, 邦無道, 富且貴焉, 恥也)." In a society that functions properly, one can become wealthy through hard work, but if there is no proper morality and only shortcuts and illegal acts prevail, it is not easy to become wealthy through legitimate effort alone. In such a society, poor and lowly people may live with a more righteous heart. Therefore, while everyone wants to escape poverty and lowliness, if one focuses only on escaping it, individuals may find it difficult to resist the temptation of dishonest methods, and society may become chaotic.

In "Gunja Geoin, O Hoseongmyeong," the character '惡' is pronounced 'O' when it means 'to hate,' and it is also pronounced 'O' when used as an interrogative meaning 'how' or 'where.' 'Seongmyeong (成名)' means to establish a name, that is, to be called a gentleman. If a leader in society abandons benevolence, he cannot be called a leader. In other words, without love for others, one lacks the qualifications of a leader.

In "Gunja Mujongsikjiganwiin," 'Jongsik (綜食)' means 'to finish eating a meal,' and 'Wiin' means 'to violate benevolence.' This means that a leader, even in the brief moment of eating, must not violate benevolence.

In "Jochapireo-si, Jeonpaepireo-si," 'Jochap (造次)' and 'Jeonpae (顚沛)' are two-character words. Generally, in classical Chinese, one character often represents one word, but there are cases like this where two characters form a word. 'Jochap (造次)' means 'in haste and distress,' and 'Jeonpae (顚沛)' means 'falling and collapsing.' 'Pireo-si (必於是)' means 'must be based on this.' This passage means that a leader must act based on benevolence even in urgent and distressing times, or even in dangerous situations where one might fall. Everyone keeps proper morality in daily or comfortable situations, but when interests conflict or difficulties arise, behavior changes. In urgent or critical situations, many people are willing to harm others.

- Kangjae Lee, Lead Like the Analects, 21st Century Books, 22,000 KRW