Three Questions, Each Day

Zengzi said: Each day I examine myself on three matters. In acting for others, have I failed to give my full effort? In dealings with friends, have I failed to keep faith? What has been passed on—have I failed to practice it?

Self-examination becomes useful when it addresses commitments rather than judging the whole self. Zengzi names three: care in work undertaken for another, trustworthiness with friends, and integrity between learning and transmission. The questions do not ask whether the day looked successful. They ask whether conduct matched what had been entrusted.

The speaker here is Zengzi, or Zeng Shen, a disciple of Confucius. He describes a daily examination organized around three concrete questions. The phrase san xing can point to the three matters that follow and has also been read as repeated examination. Nothing in the chapter requires a rigid schedule of exactly three inspections each day.

The first question concerns work undertaken for another person. Zhong here is the full use of one’s effort and conscientiousness within a trust; it is not blind loyalty to authority. The second asks whether dealings with friends have been xin—reliable and faithful. Both questions test conduct within a relationship rather than private intention alone.

The final question is less settled. Chuan can refer to what one transmits to others or to learning transmitted by a teacher. Early commentary warns against passing on material that one has not studied and rehearsed. A familiar alternative asks whether received teaching has been practiced. The passive English phrase “what has been passed on” keeps both directions available: learning should not be repeated or taught without being worked through.

For a modern reader, Zengzi’s method can make reflection more exact. It is not a nightly trial, a productivity review, or a demand to blame oneself for every result. Outcomes depend on more than one person. The narrower discipline is to revisit a few commitments, identify what one actually did, and notice where effort, trust, or practice did not yet meet the responsibility accepted.