The Analects of Confucius 論語
12. 《顏淵》 Yan Yuan
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《顏淵》 Yan Yuan1
顏淵問仁。子曰：「克己復禮為仁。一日克己復禮，天下歸仁焉。為仁由己，而由人乎哉？」顏淵曰：「請問其目。」子曰：「非禮勿視，非禮勿聽，非禮勿言，非禮勿動。」顏淵曰：「回雖不敏，請事斯語矣。」
Yan Yuan asked about perfect virtue. The Master said, "To subdue one's self and return to propriety, is perfect virtue. If a man can for one day subdue himself and return to propriety, all under heaven will ascribe perfect virtue to him. Is the practice of perfect virtue from a man himself, or is it from others?" Yan Yuan said, "I beg to ask the steps of that process." The Master replied, "Look not at what is contrary to propriety; listen not to what is contrary to propriety; speak not what is contrary to propriety; make no movement which is contrary to propriety." Yan Yuan then said, "Though I am deficient in intelligence and vigor, I will make it my business to practice this lesson."
仲弓問仁。子曰：「出門如見大賓，使民如承大祭。己所不欲，勿施於人。在邦無怨，在家無怨。」仲弓曰：「雍雖不敏，請事斯語矣。」
Zhong Gong asked about perfect virtue. The Master said, "It is, when you go abroad, to behave to every one as if you were receiving a great guest; to employ the people as if you were assisting at a great sacrifice; not to do to others as you would not wish done to yourself; to have no murmuring against you in the country, and none in the family." Zhong Gong said, "Though I am deficient in intelligence and vigor, I will make it my business to practice this lesson."
司馬牛問仁。子曰：「仁者其言也訒。」曰：「其言也訒，斯謂之仁已乎？」子曰：「為之難，言之得無訒乎？」
Si Ma Niu asked about perfect virtue. The Master said, "The man of perfect virtue is cautious and slow in his speech." Niu replied, "Cautious and slow in his speech! Is this what is meant by perfect virtue?" The Master said, "When a man feels the difficulty of doing, can he be other than cautious and slow in speaking?"
司馬牛問君子。子曰：「君子不憂不懼。」曰：「不憂不懼，斯謂之君子已乎？」子曰：「內省不疚，夫何憂何懼？」
Si Ma Niu asked about the superior man. The Master said, "The superior man has neither anxiety nor fear." Niu said, "Being without anxiety or fear! Does this constitute what we call the superior man?" The Master said, "When internal examination discovers nothing wrong, what is there to be anxious about, what is there to fear?"
5
司馬牛憂曰：「人皆有兄弟，我獨亡。」子夏曰：「商聞之矣：死生有命，富貴在天。君子敬而無失，與人恭而有禮。四海之內，皆兄弟也。君子何患乎無兄弟也？」
Si Ma Niu, full of anxiety, said, "Other men all have their brothers, I only have not." Zi Xia said to him, "There is the following saying which I have heard - 'Death and life have their determined appointment; riches and honors depend upon Heaven.' Let the superior man never fail reverentially to order his own conduct, and let him be respectful to others and observant of propriety - then all within the four seas will be his brothers. What has the superior man to do with being distressed because he has no brothers?"
子張問明。子曰：「浸潤之譖，膚受之愬，不行焉。可謂明也已矣。浸潤之譖膚受之愬不行焉，可謂遠也已矣。」
Zi Zhang asked what constituted intelligence. The Master said, "He with whom neither slander that gradually soaks into the mind, nor statements that startle like a wound in the flesh, are successful, may be called intelligent indeed. Yea, he with whom neither soaking slander, nor startling statements, are successful, may be called farseeing."
子貢問政。子曰：「足食。足兵。民信之矣。」子貢曰：「必不得已而去，於斯三者何先？」曰：「去兵。」子貢曰：「必不得已而去，於斯二者何先？」曰：「去食。自古皆有死，民無信不立。」
Zi Gong asked about government. The Master said, "The requisites of government are that there be sufficiency of food, sufficiency of military equipment, and the confidence of the people in their ruler." Zi Gong said, "If it cannot be helped, and one of these must be dispensed with, which of the three should be foregone first?" "The military equipment," said the Master. Zi Gong again asked, "If it cannot be helped, and one of the remaining two must be dispensed with, which of them should be foregone?" The Master answered, "Part with the food. From of old, death has been the lot of an men; but if the people have no faith in their rulers, there is no standing for the state."
棘子成曰：「君子質而已矣，何以文為？」子貢曰：「惜乎！夫子之說，君子也。駟不及舌。文猶質也，質猶文也。虎豹之鞟，猶犬羊之鞟。」
Ji Zi Cheng said, "In a superior man it is only the substantial qualities which are wanted; why should we seek for ornamental accomplishments?" Zi Gong said, "Alas! Your words, sir, show you to be a superior man, but four horses cannot overtake the tongue. Ornament is as substance; substance is as ornament. The hide of a tiger or a leopard stripped of its hair, is like the hide of a dog or a goat stripped of its hair."
哀公問於有若曰：「年饑，用不足，如之何？」有若對曰：「盍徹乎？」曰：「二，吾猶不足，如之何其徹也？」對曰：「百姓足，君孰與不足？百姓不足，君孰與足？」
The duke Ai inquired of You Ruo, saying, "The year is one of scarcity, and the returns for expenditure are not sufficient - what is to be done?" You Ruo replied to him, "Why not simply tithe the people?" The duke replied, "With two tenths I find it not enough - how could I do with that system of one tenth?" You Ruo answered, "If the people have plenty, their prince will not be left to want alone. If the people are in want, their prince cannot enjoy plenty alone."
10
子張問崇德、辨惑。子曰：「主忠信，徙義，崇德也。愛之欲其生，惡之欲其死。既欲其生，又欲其死，是惑也。『誠不以富，亦祗以異。』」
Zi Zhang having asked how virtue was to be exalted, and delusions to be discovered, the Master said, "Hold faithfulness and sincerity as first principles, and be moving continually to what is right - this is the way to exalt one's virtue. You love a man and wish him to live; you hate him and wish him to die. Having wished him to live, you also wish him to die. This is a case of delusion. 'It may not be on account of her being rich, yet you come to make a difference.'"
齊景公問政於孔子。孔子對曰：「君君，臣臣，父父，子子。」公曰：「善哉！信如君不君，臣不臣，父不父，子不子，雖有粟，吾得而食諸？」
The duke Jing, of Qi, asked Confucius about government. Confucius replied, "There is government, when the prince is prince, and the minister is minister; when the father is father, and the son is son." "Good!" said the duke; "if, indeed, the prince be not prince, the minister not minister, the father not father, and the son not son, although I have my revenue, can I enjoy it?"
子曰：「片言可以折獄者，其由也與？」子路無宿諾。
The Master said, "Ah! it is You, who could with half a word settle litigations!" Zi Lu never slept over a promise.
子曰：「聽訟，吾猶人也，必也使無訟乎！」
The Master said, "In hearing litigations, I am like any other body. What is necessary, however, is to cause the people to have no litigations."
子張問政。子曰：「居之無倦，行之以忠。」
Zi Zhang asked about government. The Master said, "The art of governing is to keep its affairs before the mind without weariness, and to practice them with undeviating consistency."
15
子曰：「君子博學於文，約之以禮，亦可以弗畔矣夫！」
The Master said, "By extensively studying all learning, and keeping himself under the restraint of the rules of propriety, one may thus likewise not err from what is right."
子曰：「君子成人之美，不成人之惡。小人反是。」
The Master said, "The superior man seeks to perfect the admirable qualities of men, and does not seek to perfect their bad qualities. The mean man does the opposite of this."
季康子問政於孔子。孔子對曰：「政者，正也。子帥以正，孰敢不正？」
Ji Kang asked Confucius about government. Confucius replied, "To govern means to rectify. If you lead on the people with correctness, who will dare not to be correct?"
季康子患盜，問於孔子。孔子對曰：「苟子之不欲，雖賞之不竊。」
Ji Kang, distressed about the number of thieves in the state, inquired of Confucius how to do away with them. Confucius said, "If you, sir, were not covetous, although you should reward them to do it, they would not steal."
季康子問政於孔子曰：「如殺無道，以就有道，何如？」孔子對曰：「子為政，焉用殺？子欲善，而民善矣。君子之德風，小人之德草。草上之風，必偃。」
Ji Kang asked Confucius about government, saying, "What do you say to killing the unprincipled for the good of the principled?" Confucius replied, "Sir, in carrying on your government, why should you use killing at all? Let your evinced desires be for what is good, and the people will be good. The relation between superiors and inferiors is like that between the wind and the grass. The grass must bend, when the wind blows across it."
子張問：「士何如斯可謂之達矣？」子曰：「何哉，爾所謂達者？」子張對曰：「在邦必聞，在家必聞。」子曰：「是聞也，非達也。夫達也者，質直而好義，察言而觀色，慮以下人。在邦必達，在家必達。夫聞也者，色取仁而行違，居之不疑。在邦必聞，在家必聞。」
Zi Zhang asked, "What must the officer be, who may be said to be distinguished?" The Master said, "What is it you call being distinguished?" Zi Zhang replied, "It is to be heard of through the state, to be heard of throughout his clan." The Master said, "That is notoriety, not distinction. Now the man of distinction is solid and straightforward, and loves righteousness. He examines people's words, and looks at their countenances. He is anxious to humble himself to others. Such a man will be distinguished in the country; he will be distinguished in his clan. As to the man of notoriety, he assumes the appearance of virtue, but his actions are opposed to it, and he rests in this character without any doubts about himself. Such a man will be heard of in the country; he will be heard of in the clan."
樊遲從遊於舞雩之下，曰：「敢問崇德、脩慝、辨惑。」子曰：「善哉問！先事後得，非崇德與？攻其惡，無攻人之惡，非脩慝與？一朝之忿，忘其身，以及其親，非惑與？」
Fan Chi rambling with the Master under the trees about the rain altars, said, "I venture to ask how to exalt virtue, to correct cherished evil, and to discover delusions." The Master said, "Truly a good question! If doing what is to be done be made the first business, and success a secondary consideration - is not this the way to exalt virtue? To assail one's own wickedness and not assail that of others - is not this the way to correct cherished evil? For a morning's anger to disregard one's own life, and involve that of his parents - is not this a case of delusion?"
樊遲問仁。子曰：「愛人。」問知。子曰：「知人。」樊遲未達。子曰：「舉直錯諸枉，能使枉者直。」樊遲退，見子夏。曰：「鄉也吾見於夫子而問知，子曰，『舉直錯諸枉，能使枉者直』，何謂也？」子夏曰：「富哉言乎！舜有天下，選於眾，舉皋陶，不仁者遠矣。湯有天下，選於眾，舉伊尹，不仁者遠矣。」
Fan Chi asked about benevolence. The Master said, "It is to love all men." He asked about knowledge. The Master said, "It is to know all men." Fan Chi did not immediately understand these answers. The Master said, "Employ the upright and put aside all the crooked; in this way the crooked can be made to be upright." Fan Chi retired, and, seeing Zi Xia, he said to him, "A Little while ago, I had an interview with our Master, and asked him about knowledge. He said, 'Employ the upright, and put aside all the crooked; in this way, the crooked will be made to be upright.' What did he mean?" Zi Xia said, "Truly rich is his saying! Shun, being in possession of the kingdom, selected from among all the people, and employed Gao Yao, on which all who were devoid of virtue disappeared. Tang, being in possession of the kingdom, selected from among all the people, and employed Yi Yin, and all who were devoid of virtue disappeared."
子貢問友。子曰：「忠告而善道之，不可則止，無自辱焉。」
Zi Gong asked about friendship. The Master said, "Faithfully admonish your friend, and skillfully lead him on. If you find him impracticable, stop. Do not disgrace yourself."
曾子曰：「君子以文會友，以友輔仁。」
The philosopher Zeng said, "The superior man on grounds of culture meets with his friends, and by friendship helps his virtue."
Source: Chinese Text Project http://ctext.org/analects, from "The Chinese Classics, volume 1", James Legge, 1861
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