The Analects 12

顏淵第十二

顏淵問「仁」。子曰：「克己復禮爲仁。一日克己復禮，天下歸仁焉，爲仁由己，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！」

Book XII. Yen Yuan.

Yen 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?' Yen 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.' Yen Yuan then said, 'Though I am deficient in intelligence and vigour, I will make it my business to practise 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！」

Chung-kung 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.' Chung-kung said, 'Though I am deficient in intelligence and vigour, I will make it my business to practise 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：「爲之難，言之得無訒乎！」

Sze-ma Niu asked about perfect virtue. The Master said, 'The man of perfect virtue is cautious and slow in his speech.' 'Cautious and slow in his speech!' said Niu;—'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！」

Sze-ma Niu asked about the superior man. The Master said, 'The superior man has neither anxiety nor fear.' 'Being without anxiety or fear!' said Nui;—'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?'

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！」

Sze-ma Niu, full of anxiety, said, 'Other men all have their brothers, I only have not.' Tsze-hsia said to him, 'There is the following saying which I have heard:— '"Death and life have their determined appointment; riches and honours 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。」

Tsze-chang 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。」

Tsze-kung 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.' Tsze-kung 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. Tsze-kung 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 all 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，何以文爲？」子貢曰：「惜乎，夫子之說，君子也，駟不及舌！文猶質也，質猶文也；虎豹之鞹，猶犬羊之鞹。」

Chi Tsze-ch'ang said, 'In a superior man it is only the substantial qualities which are wanted;—why should we seek for ornamental accomplishments?' Tsze-kung 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 Yu Zo, saying, 'The year is one of scarcity, and the returns for expenditure are not sufficient;—what is to be done?' Yu Zo replied to him, 'Why not simply tithe the people?' 'With two tenths, said the duke, 'I find them not enough;—how could I do with that system of one tenth?' Yu Zo 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.'

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，亦祇以異。）

Tsze-chang 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 Ching, of Ch'i, 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 Yu, who could with half a word settle litigations!' Tsze-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。」

Tsze-chang asked about government. The Master said, 'The art of governing is to keep its affairs before the mind without weariness, and to practise them with undeviating consistency.'

子曰：「博學以文，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？」

Chi K'ang 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。」

Chi K'ang, 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：「子爲政，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。」

Chi K'ang 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。」

Tsze-chang asked, 'What must the officer be, who may be said to be distinguished?' The Master said, 'What is it you call being distinguished?' Tsze-chang 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 Ch'ih 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：「擧直錯諸枉，能使枉者直。」樊遲退，見子夏曰：「鄉也吾見於夫子而問『知』，子曰：『擧直錯諸枉，能使枉者直』，何謂也？」子夏曰：「富哉言乎！舜有天下，選於眾，擧皋陶，不仁者遠矣。湯有天下，選於眾，擧伊尹，不仁者遠矣。」

Fan Ch'ih 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 Ch'ih 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 Ch'ih retired, and, seeing Tsze-hsia, 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?' Tsze-hsia said, 'Truly rich is his saying! 'Shun, being in possession of the kingdom, selected from among all the people, and employed Kao-yao, on which all who were devoid of virtue disappeared. T'ang, being in possession of the kingdom, selected from among all the people, and employed I Yin, and all who were devoid of virtue disappeared.'

子貢問「友」。子曰：「忠吿而善道之，不可則止，毋自辱焉。」

Tsze-kung asked about friendship. The Master said, 'Faithfully admonish your friend, and skilfully 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 Tsang said, 'The superior man on grounds of culture meets with his friends, and by their friendship helps his virtue.'