Analects 12.1 and the Commentarial Tradition

The two characters ke ji <E in Analects 12.1, To ke ji and return to propriety is Goodness, have been interpreted in a number of different ways. The two most common interpretations of the phrase-to overcome the self and return to propriety is Goodness, and To be able of oneself to return to propriety is Goodness-imply opposite views of the self, and consequently, human nature, that is to say, one's natural, spontaneous impulses. An examination of these two interpretations of the passage, and of one less influential interpretation, sheds light on both the Analects and the commentarial tradition that grew up around it.