Book 1 · Xue Er 學而
1.1
子曰：「學而時習之，不亦說乎？
有朋自遠方來，不亦樂乎？
人不知而不慍，不亦君子乎？」
The Master said,1 “To learn and at due times to practice what one has learned, is that not a pleasure?
To have friends come from far away, is that not a joy?
To go unrecognized by others and not resent it, is that not a gentleman?”
1.2
有子曰：「其為人也孝弟，而好犯上者，鮮矣；
不好犯上，而好作亂者，未之有也。
君子務本，本立而道生。
孝弟也者，其為仁之本與！」
Master You2 said, “Few who are filial and respectful to elders are fond of defying their superiors;
and of those not fond of defying their superiors, there has never been one fond of stirring up disorder.
The gentleman works at the root. When the root is established, the Way grows from it.
Being filial and respectful to elders, is that not the root of practicing humaneness?”
1.3
子曰：「巧言、令色，鮮矣仁！」
The Master said, “Clever words and an ingratiating face are seldom humane!”
1.4
曾子曰：「吾日三省吾身，為人謀而不忠乎？
與朋友交而不信乎？
傳不習乎？」
Master Zeng3 said, “Each day I examine myself on three counts. In planning for others, have I failed to be conscientious?
In dealing with friends, have I failed to be trustworthy?
What has been passed on to me, have I failed to practice?”
1.5
子曰：「道千乘之國，敬事而信，節用而愛人，使民以時。」
The Master said, “To guide a state of a thousand chariots,4 be reverent in its affairs and keep good faith, be sparing in expenditure and love the people, and employ the people only in the proper season.”
1.6
子曰：「弟子入則孝，出則弟，謹而信，汎愛眾，而親仁。
行有餘力，則以學文。」
The Master said, “A young man should be filial at home and respectful to his elders abroad, careful and trustworthy, loving all broadly, and close to the humane.
If he has strength to spare after doing this, let him use it to study letters.”
1.7
子夏曰：「賢賢易色，事父母能竭其力，事君能致其身，與朋友交言而有信，雖曰未學，吾必謂之學矣。」
Zixia5 said, “If a man treats the worthy as worthy in place of loving beauty,6 can give all his strength in serving his father and mother, can give his very person in serving his ruler, and keeps his word in dealing with his friends, then though he may be said to be unlearned, I would surely call him learned.”
1.8
子曰：「君子不重，則不威，學則不固。
主忠信，無友不如己者，過則勿憚改。」
The Master said, “A gentleman who is not grave will not inspire awe, and his learning will not be firm.
Hold to conscientiousness and good faith. Have no friend who is not your equal. When at fault, do not fear to change.”
1.9
曾子曰：「慎終追遠，民德歸厚矣。」
Master Zeng said, “Take care over the end of a parent’s life and remember those long gone, and the virtue of the people will return to fullness.”
1.10
子禽問於子貢曰：「夫子至於是邦也，必聞其政，求之與？
抑與之與？」
子貢曰：「夫子溫良恭儉讓以得之，夫子之求之也，其諸異乎人之求之與？」
Ziqin asked Zigong,7 “When the Master comes to a state, he always learns about its government. Does he seek this out?
Or is it offered to him?”
Zigong said, “The Master gains it by being warm, good, respectful, frugal, and deferential. The Master’s way of seeking it, is it not different from the way other men seek it?”
1.11
子曰：「父在觀其志，父沒觀其行，三年無改於父之道，可謂孝矣。」
The Master said, “While his father lives, observe a son’s intentions; when his father is gone, observe his conduct. If for three years he does not change his father’s ways, he can be called filial.”
1.12
有子曰：「禮之用，和為貴。
先王之道，斯為美，小大由之，有所不行，知和而和，不以禮節之，亦不可行也。」
Master You said, “In the use of ritual, harmony is what is prized.
In the Way of the former kings, this was the beautiful part; small and great matters alike proceeded from it. Yet there is something that will not work: to know harmony and to seek harmony alone, without regulating it by ritual, will not work either.”
1.13
有子曰：「信近於義，言可復也。
恭近於禮，遠恥辱也。
因不失其親，亦可宗也。」
Master You said, “When good faith is close to rightness, one’s word can be kept.
When respect is close to ritual, one keeps far from shame and disgrace.
If one relies on those one should rightly be close to, one may honor them as kin.”
1.14
子曰：「君子食無求飽，居無求安，敏於事而慎於言，就有道而正焉，可謂好學也已。」
The Master said, “A gentleman who does not seek a full belly when he eats or comfort where he lives, who is quick in action and careful in speech, and who goes to those who have the Way to be set right by them, can be called one who loves learning.”
1.15
子貢曰：「貧而無諂，富而無驕，何如？」
子曰：「可也，未若貧而樂，富而好禮者也。」
子貢曰：「詩云：『如切如磋，如琢如磨』，其斯之謂與？」
子曰：「賜也，始可與言詩已矣，告諸往而知來者。」
Zigong said, “To be poor without flattering, to be rich without arrogance, what of that?”
The Master said, “That will do. But it is not as good as to be poor and yet joyful, rich and yet fond of ritual.”
Zigong said, “The Songs8 say, ‘As cut, as filed, as carved, as polished.’ Is that not what this means?”
The Master said, “Ci,9 now I can begin to talk about the Songs with you. Told what has gone before, you know what is to come.”
1.16
子曰：「不患人之不己知，患不知人也。」
The Master said, “Do not worry that others do not know you; worry that you do not know others.”
Notes
1. The Master is Confucius (Kongzi, Master Kong), personal name Qiu, courtesy name Zhongni (551–479 BC), of the state of Lu. His disciples called him simply the Master, and the book keeps their usage.
2. You Ruo, a disciple. With Zeng Shen he is the only disciple the book regularly calls Master.
3. Zeng Shen, courtesy name Ziyu, a younger disciple known for his filial piety.
4. A chariot was drawn by four horses. A state that could field a thousand war chariots was a large feudal state.
5. Bu Shang, courtesy name Zixia, a disciple known for his learning in letters.
6. The reading of Zhu Xi. Others take 賢賢易色 as valuing worth in a wife above her looks.
7. Ziqin is Chen Kang, said to be a disciple of Confucius or of Zigong. Zigong is Duanmu Ci, a disciple gifted in speech and in trade.
8. The Songs (Shi), the collection of some three hundred poems known later as the Book of Songs (Shijing). The lines come from the ode “Qi Yu” in the Airs of Wei, where a gentleman is praised as worked like bone, ivory, and jade.
9. Zigong’s personal name. The Master calls his disciples by their personal names.