Book 6 · Yong Ye 雍也
6.1
子曰：「雍也可使南面。」
仲弓問子桑伯子。
子曰：「可也簡。」
仲弓曰：「居敬而行簡，以臨其民，不亦可乎？
居簡而行簡，無乃大簡乎？」
子曰：「雍之言然。」
The Master said, “Yong could be set to face south.”1
Zhonggong asked about Zisang Bozi.2
The Master said, “He will do. He is easygoing.”
Zhonggong said, “To hold oneself in reverence and act in an easy way in governing the people, is that not acceptable?
But to be easygoing in oneself and easy in action as well, is that not too easy?”
The Master said, “What Yong says is right.”
6.2
哀公問：「弟子孰為好學？」
孔子對曰：「有顏回者好學，不遷怒，不貳過。
不幸短命死矣，今也則亡，未聞好學者也。」
Duke Ai asked, “Which of your disciples loves learning?”
Confucius replied, “There was Yan Hui who loved learning. He did not shift his anger onto others, and he did not repeat a fault.
Unfortunately his allotted span was short, and he died. Now there is no one. I have not heard of another who loves learning.”
6.3
子華使於齊，冉子為其母請粟。
子曰：「與之釜。」
請益。
曰：「與之庾。」
冉子與之粟五秉。
子曰：「赤之適齊也，乘肥馬，衣輕裘。
吾聞之也：君子周急不繼富。」
原思為之宰，與之粟九百，辭。
子曰：「毋！
以與爾鄰里鄉黨乎！」
When Zihua was sent on a mission to Qi, Master Ran asked for grain for his mother.
The Master said, “Give her a fu.”
He asked for more.
The Master said, “Give her a yu.”
Master Ran gave her five bing of grain.3
The Master said, “When Chi went to Qi, he rode behind sleek horses and wore light furs.
I have heard that the gentleman helps the needy; he does not add to the rich.”
When Yuan Si4 was serving as his steward, he was offered nine hundred measures of grain, and he declined it.
The Master said, “Do not!
Could you not give it to your neighbors and your village?”
6.4
子謂仲弓，曰：「犁牛之子騂且角，雖欲勿用，山川其舍諸？」
The Master said of Zhonggong, “If the calf of a plough ox is red and has proper horns, though men might not wish to use it, would the hills and rivers reject it?”5
6.5
子曰：「回也，其心三月不違仁，其餘則日月至焉而已矣。」
The Master said, “Hui could go three months without his heart departing from humaneness. The others reach it for a day or a month, and that is all.”
6.6
季康子問：「仲由可使從政也與？」
子曰：「由也果，於從政乎何有？」
曰：「賜也可使從政也與？」
曰：「賜也達，於從政乎何有？」
曰：「求也可使從政也與？」
曰：「求也藝，於從政乎何有？」
Ji Kangzi asked, “Could Zhong You be given a part in government?”
The Master said, “You is decisive. What difficulty would he have in taking part in government?”
He said, “Could Ci be given a part in government?”
He said, “Ci is perceptive. What difficulty would he have in taking part in government?”
He said, “Could Qiu be given a part in government?”
He said, “Qiu is accomplished. What difficulty would he have in taking part in government?”
6.7
季氏使閔子騫為費宰。
閔子騫曰：「善為我辭焉！
如有復我者，則吾必在汶上矣。」
The Ji wanted to make Min Ziqian6 steward of Bi.
Min Ziqian said, “Decline for me, and decline well!
If anyone comes back for me again, I will surely be on the far bank of the Wen.”7
6.8
伯牛有疾，子問之，自牖執其手，曰：「亡之，命矣夫！
斯人也，而有斯疾也！
斯人也，而有斯疾也！」
Boniu8 was ill. The Master went to ask after him and took his hand through the window. He said, “We are losing him. It is fate!
That such a man should have such an illness!
That such a man should have such an illness!”
6.9
子曰：「賢哉，回也！
一簞食，一瓢飲，在陋巷，人不堪其憂，回也不改其樂。
賢哉，回也！」
The Master said, “A worthy man, Hui!
A bowl of rice, a gourd of water, in a mean alley: others could not bear the misery, but Hui does not let it change his joy.
A worthy man, Hui!”
6.10
冉求曰：「非不說子之道，力不足也。」
子曰：「力不足者，中道而廢。
今女畫。」
Ran Qiu said, “It is not that I do not delight in your Way. My strength is not enough.”
The Master said, “Those whose strength is not enough give out halfway.
Now you are setting yourself a limit.”
6.11
子謂子夏曰：「女為君子儒！
無為小人儒！」
The Master said to Zixia, “Be a gentleman scholar!
Do not be a petty scholar!”
6.12
子游為武城宰。
子曰：「女得人焉爾乎？」
曰：「有澹臺滅明者，行不由徑，非公事，未嘗至於偃之室也。」
Ziyou was steward of Wucheng.
The Master said, “Have you found any good men there?”
He said, “There is one Tantai Mieming,9 who never takes a shortcut and has never come to my room except on public business.”
6.13
子曰：「孟之反不伐，奔而殿，將入門，策其馬，曰：『非敢後也，馬不進也。』」
The Master said, “Meng Zhifan10 did not boast. When the army fled, he held the rear. As they were about to enter the gate, he whipped his horse and said, ‘It was not that I dared to stay behind. My horse would not go faster.’”
6.14
子曰：「不有祝鮀之佞，而有宋朝之美，難乎免於今之世矣。」
The Master said, “Without the glibness of the priest Tuo or the good looks of Song Zhao,11 it is hard to escape harm in the present age.”
6.15
子曰：「誰能出不由戶？
何莫由斯道也？」
The Master said, “Who can go out except by the door?
Why does no one go by this Way?”
6.16
子曰：「質勝文則野，文勝質則史。
文質彬彬，然後君子。」
The Master said, “When substance outweighs refinement, a man is rustic; when refinement outweighs substance, he is a clerk.
Only when refinement and substance are well blended is he a gentleman.”
6.17
子曰：「人之生也直，罔之生也幸而免。」
The Master said, “Man is born straight. If a crooked man lives, it is by luck that he escapes.”
6.18
子曰：「知之者不如好之者，好之者不如樂之者。」
The Master said, “To know it is not as good as to love it; to love it is not as good as to delight in it.”
6.19
子曰：「中人以上，可以語上也；
中人以下，不可以語上也。」
The Master said, “To those above the middle one can speak of higher things;
to those below the middle one cannot speak of higher things.”
6.20
樊遲問知。
子曰：「務民之義，敬鬼神而遠之，可謂知矣。」
問仁。
曰：「仁者先難而後獲，可謂仁矣。」
Fan Chi asked about wisdom.
The Master said, “To devote oneself to what is right for the people, and to revere the spirits while keeping one’s distance from them, can be called wisdom.”
He asked about humaneness.
The Master said, “The humane put the hard part first and the reward after. That can be called humaneness.”
6.21
子曰：「知者樂水，仁者樂山。
知者動，仁者靜。
知者樂，仁者壽。」
The Master said, “The wise delight in water; the humane delight in mountains.
The wise are active; the humane are still.
The wise are joyful; the humane live long.”
6.22
子曰：「齊一變，至於魯；
魯一變，至於道。」
The Master said, “Qi with one change could come to the level of Lu;
Lu with one change could come to the Way.”
6.23
子曰：「觚不觚，觚哉！
觚哉！」
The Master said, “A gu that is not a gu! What a gu!
What a gu!”12
6.24
宰我問曰：「仁者，雖告之曰，『井有仁焉。』
其從之也？」
子曰：「何為其然也？
君子可逝也，不可陷也；
可欺也，不可罔也。」
Zai Wo asked, “Suppose a humane man were told, ‘There is a man in the well.’13
Would he go in after him?”
The Master said, “Why would he do that?
A gentleman can be made to go there, but not to fall in;
he can be deceived, but not duped.”
6.25
子曰：「君子博學於文，約之以禮，亦可以弗畔矣夫！」
The Master said, “The gentleman learns widely in letters and holds it together with ritual; then he can keep from straying.”
6.26
子見南子，子路不說。
夫子矢之曰：「予所否者，天厭之！
天厭之！」
The Master went to see Nanzi.14 Zilu was displeased.
The Master swore to him, “If I have done wrong, may Heaven reject me!
May Heaven reject me!”
6.27
子曰：「中庸之為德也，其至矣乎！
民鮮久矣。」
The Master said, “The mean as a virtue, is it not the highest!
For a long time it has been rare among the people.”
6.28
子貢曰：「如有博施於民，而能濟眾，何如？
可謂仁乎？」
子曰：「何事於仁，必也聖乎！
堯舜其猶病諸！
夫仁者，己欲立而立人，己欲達而達人。
能近取譬，可謂仁之方也已。」
Zigong said, “If there were one who gave widely to the people and could help the multitude, what of him?
Could he be called humane?”
The Master said, “Why stop at humaneness? He would surely be a sage!
Even Yao and Shun15 found that hard!
As for the humane, wishing to establish himself, he establishes others; wishing to reach his goal, he helps others reach theirs.
To be able to take an example from what is near at hand can be called the method of humaneness.”
Notes
1. The ruler sat facing south. Yong is Ran Yong, Zhonggong.
2. A man of Lu, otherwise unknown.
3. Measures of grain: a fu was about six dou, a yu sixteen dou, a bing one hundred sixty dou. Five bing was a great deal.
4. Yuan Xian, courtesy name Zisi, a disciple known for his poverty, steward to the Master when he held office.
5. Red was the color favored by the Zhou for sacrificial animals, and the gods of hills and rivers would accept such a calf. Zhonggong’s father was said to be of low birth.
6. Min Sun, courtesy name Ziqian, a disciple known for his filial piety.
7. The Wen river was the border between Lu and Qi; beyond it he would be out of the Ji’s reach.
8. Ran Geng, courtesy name Boniu, a disciple. His illness is said to have been leprosy.
9. Tantai Mieming, courtesy name Ziyu, later a disciple.
10. Meng Zhice, a high officer of Lu, in a defeat by Qi in 484 BC.
11. Tuo, the temple priest of Wei, a skillful talker; Song Zhao, a handsome prince of Song, favorite of Nanzi, wife of Duke Ling of Wei.
12. A gu was a ritual wine vessel with corners. In the Master’s day it seems to have lost them, keeping only the name.
13. 仁 here is read as 人, man, after Zhu Xi.
14. The wife of Duke Ling of Wei, of doubtful reputation, who had great influence at his court.
15. Yao and Shun, the sage kings of high antiquity, who passed the throne to the worthiest rather than to their sons.