One word to practise for a lifetime.
Asked for a single word that could serve as a rule for life, Confucius gave shu — reciprocity — and glossed it as not imposing on others what you would not choose yourself. It is the Golden Rule in its negative form, and it predates the positive one by several centuries.
Analects 15.24: Zigong asks whether there is a single word one can practise for a whole life, and Confucius answers shu, reciprocity, glossing it as what you do not want done to yourself, do not do to others. The same formulation appears at 5.12 and 12.2. It predates Hillel and the Sermon on the Mount, and it is stated negatively — a prohibition rather than a prescription. Defenders of the negative form argue it is the stronger version precisely because it cannot be turned into a licence: it forbids imposition without authorising you to do things to people for their own good, which is the standard failure mode of the positive rule. Critics reply that a rule fully satisfiable by inaction cannot generate an obligation to feed anyone. Confucius pairs shu with zhong, doing one's utmost, and the tradition treats the two together as the single thread running through his teaching, which suggests he was aware of the gap.
Zigong asked: is there one word that can serve as a rule of practice for all one's life? The Master said: is not reciprocity such a word? What you do not want done to yourself, do not do to others.
Analects 15.24 (rendered)Stated negatively, and offered as the single word.
The same ground, other faiths
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