The two sayings are practically identical except that in one we have ‘the rites’ while in the other we have ‘learning’. If it plays such an important part in Confucius’ teaching why is it that learning does not figure more frequently in the Analects than it actually does? This is because ‘learning’ is not the only term that is used for the activity. Very often Confucius uses wen (to hear) and, very occasionally, chien (to see) instead.17
