Make disagreement useful
Xunzi qualifies valuable criticism with 當, while the Analects turns the sight of an unworthy example toward self-examination. The shared educational question is how an encounter produces correction; neither passage makes every judgment by another person authoritative.
非我而當者，吾師也The critic counts as teacher only under a stated qualification.
tls · CC BY-SA 4.0 · KR3a0002_002.txt, lines 22–33見不賢而內自省也An unfavorable example prompts inward examination.
CHANT · CC BY-SA 4.0 · KR1h0004_004.txt, lines 143–145Make the comparison explicit
Xunzi qualifies valuable criticism with 當, while the Analects turns the sight of an unworthy example toward self-examination. The shared educational question is how an encounter produces correction; neither passage makes every judgment by another person authoritative.
荀子: The critic counts as teacher only under a stated qualification.
論語: An unfavorable example prompts inward examination.
What check should precede treating criticism as instruction?
In the Xunzi passage it must be fitting or correct: 當.
Shared words, images, or constructions do not by themselves establish common meaning, authorship, or origin. An explicit citation is identified only where the wording itself supports it.
zimai · AI-assisted editorial notes · Editorial pilot · not independently reviewed. Original learning material: CC BY-SA 4.0. Source text, scholarly reference, and editorial interpretation remain separately attributed.