Book 12 · Yan Yuan 顏淵
12.1
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 humaneness.
The Master said, “To master oneself and return to ritual is humaneness.
If for one day a man could master himself and return to ritual, the world would credit him with humaneness.
The practice of humaneness comes from oneself. Does it come from others?”
Yan Yuan said, “May I ask for the particulars?”
The Master said, “Look at nothing contrary to ritual, listen to nothing contrary to ritual, say nothing contrary to ritual, do nothing contrary to ritual.”
Yan Yuan said, “Slow as I am, I ask to make these words my work!”
12.2
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。」
Zhonggong asked about humaneness.
The Master said, “Going out of your door, behave as if receiving a great guest; employing the people, behave as if assisting at a great sacrifice.
What you do not want for yourself, do not impose on others.
Then there will be no resentment against you in the state, and no resentment in the family.”
Zhonggong said, “Slow as I am, I ask to make these words my work.”
12.3
司馬牛問仁。
子曰：「仁者，其言也訒。」
曰：「斯言也訒，斯謂之仁矣乎？」
子曰：「為之難，言之得無訒乎？」
Sima Niu1 asked about humaneness.
The Master said, “The humane man is slow to speak.”
He said, “Slow to speak: is that all it takes to be called humane?”
The Master said, “When a thing is hard to do, can one help being slow to speak of it?”
12.4
司馬牛問君子。
子曰：「君子不憂不懼。」
曰：「不憂不懼，斯謂之君子矣乎？」
子曰：「內省不疚，夫何憂何懼？」
Sima Niu asked about the gentleman.
The Master said, “The gentleman does not worry and does not fear.”
He said, “Not worrying and not fearing: is that all it takes to be called a gentleman?”
The Master said, “If he looks within and finds nothing wrong, what is there to worry about or fear?”
12.5
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？」
Sima Niu, troubled, said, “All men have brothers. I alone have none!”
Zixia said, “I have heard it said: ‘Death and life are a matter of fate; wealth and rank rest with Heaven.’
If the gentleman is reverent and does not fail, respectful toward others and observant of ritual,
then all within the four seas are his brothers.
Why should a gentleman worry that he has no brothers?”
12.6
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。」
Zizhang asked about clear sight.
The Master said, “When slander that soaks in slowly and accusations that sting the skin get nowhere with a man, he can be called clear-sighted.
When slander that soaks in slowly and accusations that sting the skin get nowhere with a man, he can be called far-sighted.”
12.7
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。」
Zigong asked about government.
The Master said, “Enough food, enough arms, and the people’s trust.”
Zigong said, “If one had no choice but to give one up, which of the three should go first?”
He said, “Give up the arms.”
Zigong said, “If one had no choice but to give one up, which of the two should go first?”
He said, “Give up the food.
Since ancient times all have died, but without the people’s trust nothing stands.”
12.8
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；
虎豹之鞹，猶犬羊之鞹。」
Ji Zicheng2 said, “A gentleman is a matter of substance, and that is all. What does he need refinement for?”
Zigong said, “It is a pity, sir, what you say of the gentleman. A team of four horses cannot overtake the tongue!
Refinement is as substance, and substance is as refinement;
with the hair scraped off, a tiger’s or leopard’s hide is like a dog’s or sheep’s.”
12.9
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？」
Duke Ai asked You Ruo, “The harvest is poor, and there is not enough for the state’s needs. What is to be done?”
You Ruo replied, “Why not tithe?”3
He said, “With two tenths I still do not have enough. How could I tithe?”
He replied, “If the common people have enough, with whom would the ruler lack enough?
If the common people do not have enough, with whom would the ruler have enough?”
12.10
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。
Zizhang asked how to raise up virtue and how to resolve perplexity.
The Master said, “Hold to conscientiousness and good faith, and move toward what is right: that raises up virtue.
When you love a man you want him to live, and when you hate him you want him to die;
having wanted him to live, you then want him to die. That is perplexity!
‘Truly it was not for wealth, but only for something strange.’”4
12.11
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？」
Duke Jing of Qi5 asked Confucius about government.
Confucius replied, “Let the ruler be a ruler, the minister a minister, the father a father, the son a son.”
The duke said, “Well said!
Truly, if the ruler is not a ruler, the minister not a minister, the father not a father, the son not a son, though there is grain, would I get to eat it?”
12.12
子曰：「片言可以折獄者，其由也與！」
子路無宿諾。
The Master said, “The one who can settle a lawsuit with half a word, would it not be You?”
Zilu never slept on a promise.
12.13
子曰：「聽訟，吾猶人也，必也使無訟乎！」
The Master said, “In hearing lawsuits I am like anyone else. What is needed is to bring it about that there are no lawsuits!”
12.14
子張問「政」。
子曰：「居之無倦，行之以忠。」
Zizhang asked about government.
The Master said, “Dwell on it without tiring, and carry it out with conscientiousness.”
12.15
子曰：「博學於文，約之以禮，亦可以弗畔矣夫。」
The Master said, “One who learns widely in letters and holds it together with ritual can keep from straying.”
12.16
子曰：「君子成人之美，不成人之惡。
小人反是。」
The Master said, “The gentleman brings out what is beautiful in others and does not bring out what is ugly.
The petty man does the opposite.”
12.17
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 Kangzi asked Confucius about government. Confucius replied, “To govern is to correct. If you lead by being correct, who will dare not to be correct?”
12.18
季康子患盜，問於孔子。
孔子對曰：「苟子之不欲，雖賞之不竊。」
Ji Kangzi was troubled by thieves and asked Confucius about it.
Confucius replied, “If you yourself were not covetous, they would not steal even if you rewarded them for it.”
12.19
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 Kangzi asked Confucius about government, saying, “What if I killed those who are without the Way to help those who have the Way?”
Confucius replied, “You are there to govern. Why use killing?
Desire the good yourself, and the people will be good!
The virtue of the gentleman is the wind, and the virtue of the petty man is the grass. When the wind passes over the grass, the grass is sure to bend.”
12.20
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。」
Zizhang asked, “What must a man of service be like to be called distinguished?”
The Master said, “What is it,
what you call distinguished?”
Zizhang replied, “To be sure of a name in the state, to be sure of a name in the family.”
The Master said, “That is having a name, not being distinguished.
The distinguished man is straight in substance and loves what is right; he weighs men’s words and observes their faces, and is mindful to put himself below others;
in the state he is sure to be distinguished, in the family he is sure to be distinguished.
The man with a name puts on a look of humaneness while his conduct goes against it, and he lives with it without a doubt;
in the state he is sure to have a name, in the family he is sure to have a name.”
12.21
樊遲從遊於舞雩之下。
曰：「敢問崇德、修慝、辨惑？」
子曰：「善哉問！
先事後得，非崇德與？
攻其惡，無攻人之惡，非修慝與？
一朝之忿，忘其身以及其親，非惑與？」
Fan Chi was walking with the Master below the Rain Altar.
He said, “May I ask how to raise up virtue, how to reform hidden wickedness, and how to resolve perplexity?”
The Master said, “A good question!
To put the task first and the gain after, is that not raising up virtue?
To attack your own evil and not the evil of others, is that not reforming hidden wickedness?
In the anger of a morning to forget yourself and bring harm even to your kin, is that not perplexity?”
12.22
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 humaneness.
The Master said, “Love others.”
He asked about wisdom.
The Master said, “Know others.”
Fan Chi did not understand.
The Master said, “Raise up the straight and set them over the crooked, and you can make the crooked straight.”
Fan Chi withdrew, saw Zixia, and said, “Just now I saw the Master and asked about wisdom.
He said, ‘Raise up the straight and set them over the crooked, and you can make the crooked straight.’
What did he mean?”
Zixia said, “How rich those words are!
When Shun held the world, he chose from the multitude and raised up Gao Yao, and those who were not humane kept far away;
when Tang held the world, he chose from the multitude and raised up Yi Yin,6 and those who were not humane kept far away.”
12.23
子貢問「友」。
子曰：「忠告而善道之，不可則止，毋自辱焉。」
Zigong asked about friends.
The Master said, “Advise them conscientiously and guide them well. If they will not listen, stop. Do not bring disgrace on yourself.”
12.24
曾子曰：「君子以文會友，以友輔仁。」
Master Zeng said, “The gentleman gathers friends through letters, and through friends supports his humaneness.”
Notes
1. Sima Geng, courtesy name Ziniu, a disciple, younger brother of Huan Tui (7.22), who had rebelled in Song.
2. A high officer of Wei.
3. A tax of one tenth of the harvest, the rate of the Zhou; Lu had raised it to two tenths.
4. Two lines of the ode “Wo Xing Qi Ye” in the Songs. Zhu Xi takes them to have strayed here from 16.12.
5. Duke Jing of Qi (reigned 547–490 BC).
6. Gao Yao, Shun’s minister of justice; Tang, founder of the Shang; Yi Yin, his chief minister.