Confucius Rectification of Names

If language is not correct, then what is said is not what is meant; if what is said is not what is meant, then what must be done remains undone; if this remains undone, morals and art will deteriorate; if justice goes astray, the people will stand about in helpless confusion. Hence there must be no arbitrariness in what is said. This matters above everything.

From The Analects of Confucius, Book 13, Verse 3 (James R. Ware, translated in 1980.)

Tsze-lu said, The ruler of Wei has been waiting for you, in order with you to administer the government. What will you consider the first thing to be done?

The Master replied, What is necessary is to rectify names. So! indeed! said Tsze-lu. You are wide of the mark! Why must there be such rectification?

The Master said, How uncultivated you are, Yu! A superior man, in regard to what he does not know, shows a cautious reserve.

If names be not correct, language is not in accordance with the truth of things. If language be not in accordance with the truth of things, affairs cannot be carried on to success.

When affairs cannot be carried on to success, proprieties and music do not flourish. When proprieties and music do not flourish, punishments will not be properly awarded. When punishments are not properly awarded, the people do not know how to move hand or foot.

Therefore a superior man considers it necessary that the names he uses may be spoken appropriately, and also that what he speaks may be carried out appropriately. What the superior man requires is just that in his words there may be nothing incorrect.