Book 2 · Wei Zheng 為政
2.1
子曰：「為政以德，譬如北辰，居其所而眾星共之。」
The Master said, “To govern by virtue is like the North Star: it stays in its place, and all the stars turn toward it.”
2.2
子曰：「詩三百，一言以蔽之，曰：思無邪。」
The Master said, “The Songs number three hundred, and one phrase covers them all: ‘No swerving in thought.’”
2.3
子曰：「道之以政，齊之以刑，民免而無恥；
道之以德，齊之以禮，有恥且格。」
The Master said, “Guide the people by government and keep them in line with punishments, and they will stay out of trouble but have no sense of shame;
guide them by virtue and keep them in line with ritual, and they will have a sense of shame and will set themselves right.”
2.4
子曰：「吾十有五而志于學，三十而立，四十而不惑，五十而知天命，六十而耳順，七十而從心所欲，不踰矩。」
The Master said, “At fifteen I set my heart on learning. At thirty I stood firm. At forty I was no longer perplexed. At fifty I knew the mandate of Heaven. At sixty my ear was attuned. At seventy I followed what my heart desired without overstepping the bounds.”
2.5
孟懿子問孝。
子曰：「無違。」
樊遲御，子告之曰：「孟孫問孝於我，我對曰，『無違。』」
樊遲曰：「何謂也？」
子曰：「生，事之以禮；
死，葬之以禮，祭之以禮。」
Meng Yizi1 asked about filial piety.
The Master said, “Do not go against it.”
When Fan Chi2 was driving his chariot, the Master told him, “Meng Sun asked me about filial piety, and I replied, ‘Do not go against it.’”
Fan Chi said, “What did you mean?”
The Master said, “While they live, serve them according to ritual;
when they die, bury them according to ritual and sacrifice to them according to ritual.”
2.6
孟武伯問孝。
子曰：「父母唯其疾之憂。」
Meng Wubo3 asked about filial piety.
The Master said, “Let your father and mother have nothing to worry about but your falling ill.”4
2.7
子游問孝。
子曰：「今之孝者，是謂能養。
至於犬馬，皆能有養；
不敬，何以別乎。」
Ziyou5 asked about filial piety.
The Master said, “Filial piety today means being able to feed one’s parents.
But even dogs and horses are all fed;
without reverence, where is the difference?”
2.8
子夏問孝。
子曰：「色難。
有事，弟子服其勞；
有酒食，先生饌，曾是以為孝乎？」
Zixia asked about filial piety.
The Master said, “The hard part is the face one shows.
When there is work, the young take the burden of it;
when there is wine and food, the elders are given it to eat. Is that what you take to be filial piety?”
2.9
子曰：「吾與回言終日，不違如愚。
退而省其私，亦足以發，回也不愚。」
The Master said, “I can talk with Hui all day, and he never disagrees with me, as if he were slow.
But when he has withdrawn and I look into his private life, he is able to bring it out. Hui is not slow.”6
2.10
子曰：「視其所以，觀其所由，察其所安。
人焉廋哉？
人焉廋哉？」
The Master said, “See what a man does, observe the path he takes, examine what he is at ease in.
How can a man hide?
How can a man hide?”
2.11
子曰：「溫故而知新，可以為師矣。」
The Master said, “One who keeps the old warm and comes to know the new can be a teacher.”
2.12
子曰：「君子不器。」
The Master said, “The gentleman is not a vessel.”
2.13
子貢問君子。
子曰：「先行其言，而後從之。」
Zigong asked about the gentleman.
The Master said, “He acts first on what he would say, and then his words follow his action.”
2.14
子曰：「君子周而不比，小人比而不周。」
The Master said, “The gentleman is inclusive and not partisan; the petty man is partisan and not inclusive.”
2.15
子曰：「學而不思則罔，思而不學則殆。」
The Master said, “Learning without thinking is lost; thinking without learning is perilous.”
2.16
子曰：「攻乎異端，斯害也已。」
The Master said, “To work at strange doctrines does nothing but harm.”7
2.17
子曰：「由！
誨女知之乎！
知之為知之，不知為不知，是知也。」
The Master said, “You,8
shall I teach you what knowing is?
To take what you know as knowing and what you do not know as not knowing, that is knowing.”
2.18
子張學干祿。
子曰：「多聞闕疑，慎言其餘，則寡尤。
多見闕殆，慎行其餘，則寡悔。
言寡尤，行寡悔，祿在其中矣。」
Zizhang9 was studying how to win an official salary.
The Master said, “Hear much, set aside what is doubtful, and speak with care of the rest, and you will make few mistakes.
See much, set aside what is risky, and act with care on the rest, and you will have little to regret.
Few mistakes in speech and little regret in action: the salary lies in that.”
2.19
哀公問曰：「何為則民服？」
孔子對曰：「舉直錯諸枉，則民服；
舉枉錯諸直，則民不服。」
Duke Ai10 asked, “What should be done so that the people will submit?”
Confucius replied, “Raise up the straight and set them over the crooked, and the people will submit;
raise up the crooked and set them over the straight, and the people will not submit.”
2.20
季康子問：「使民敬忠以勸，如之何？」
子曰：「臨之以莊則敬，孝慈則忠，舉善而教不能則勸。」
Ji Kangzi11 asked, “How can I make the people reverent, conscientious, and eager to do well?”
The Master said, “Approach them with gravity, and they will be reverent. Be filial and kind, and they will be conscientious. Raise up the good and teach those who lack ability, and they will be eager.”
2.21
或謂孔子曰：「子奚不為政？」
子曰：「書云：『孝乎惟孝，友于兄弟，施於有政。』
是亦為政，奚其為為政？」
Someone said to Confucius, “Why do you not take part in government?”
The Master said, “The Documents12 say, ‘Filial, only filial, and friendly to his brothers: this he extended to the work of government.’
That too is taking part in government. Why must one hold office to take part in government?”
2.22
子曰：「人而無信，不知其可也。
大車無輗，小車無軏，其何以行之哉？」
The Master said, “A man without good faith, I do not know what he can be good for.
A great wagon without its yoke bar, a small carriage without its collar pin, how can either be made to go?”
2.23
子張問：「十世可知也？」
子曰：「殷因於夏禮，所損益可知也；
周因於殷禮，所損益可知也。
其或繼周者，雖百世，可知也。」
Zizhang asked, “Can ten generations hence be known?”
The Master said, “The Yin took over the ritual of the Xia, and what they took away and added can be known;
the Zhou took over the ritual of the Yin, and what they took away and added can be known.
Whoever may succeed the Zhou, even a hundred generations hence can be known.”13
2.24
子曰：「非其鬼而祭之，諂也。
見義不為，無勇也。」
The Master said, “To sacrifice to spirits not one’s own is flattery.
To see what is right and not do it is want of courage.”
Notes
1. Zhongsun He Ji, a high officer of Lu, head of the Meng (Meng Sun) family, one of the Three Families that held power in Lu.
2. Fan Xu, courtesy name Zichi, a disciple.
3. Zhongsun Zhi, son of Meng Yizi.
4. Read with Zhu Xi. Others read: the only worry of father and mother should be their own illness.
5. Yan Yan, courtesy name Ziyou, a disciple of Wu, known for his learning in letters.
6. Yan Hui, courtesy name Ziyuan (Yan Yuan), the Master’s favorite disciple, who died young.
7. 攻 is read as to work at, with Zhu Xi. Another reading: attack strange doctrines, and the harm will stop.
8. Zhong You, courtesy name Zilu, also called Jilu, the eldest and boldest of the disciples. You is his personal name.
9. Zhuansun Shi, courtesy name Zizhang, a disciple from Chen.
10. Duke Ai of Lu (reigned 494–468 BC), the ruler of Lu in Confucius’s last years.
11. Ji Sun Fei, head of the Ji family, the strongest of the Three Families, chief minister of Lu in Confucius’s last years.
12. The Documents (Shu), the collection of speeches and records of the ancient kings, later called the Book of Documents (Shujing). The words quoted are not in the received text.
13. Xia, Yin (also called Shang), and Zhou are the three dynasties of antiquity; Zhou was ruling in Confucius’s day.