Abstract: According to the chapter of “Xian's Questions” in The Analects of Confucius,Confucius advocated “rendering justice for evil”,but he didn't explicitly express an approval or disapproval attitude towards “rendering good for evil”. So far,there have been many controversies among scholars over the exact meaning of “rendering justice for evil” and over how “rendering good for evil” should be viewed correctly,and no definitive explanation has been found to date. The author,through examining various discussions about “justice” and “evil” in The Analects of Confucius,and combining with the relevant views of scholars from past generations,points out three ideas as follows:Firstly,the “justice” in “rendering justice for evil” should contain a wide range of meanings of honesty,selflessness,rectitude that conforms to the principle of general rights and changes,equivalence,and straightforwardness in accordance with courtesy. Secondly,the situations of “rendering good for evil” are rather complicated. Some of them reflect people's noble quality of forgetting their past grudges and are public-minded,while others reflect the hypocrisy,affectation,and selfish calculations in the character of people. Therefore,we cannot generalize the right and wrong of “rendering good for evil”. Lastly,“rendering justice for evil” contains not only the content that is worth affirming or advocating in “rendering good for evil”,but also covers the content of taking corresponding retaliatory measures against the object of a grudge that is not found in “rendering good for evil”,which makes it a more comprehensive and reasonable way of repaying evil.

Key words: Confucius, justice, evil, rendering justice for evil, rendering good for evil