第2章 学而第一

1-1

子曰：“学而时习之，不亦说乎？有朋自远方来，不亦乐乎？人不知而不愠，不亦君子乎？”

Confucius remarked! “It is indeed a pleasure to acquire knowledge and, as you go on acquiring, to put into practice what you have acquired. A greater pleasure still it is when friends of congenial minds come from afar to seek you because of your attainments. But he is truly a wise and good man who feels no discomposure even when he is not noticed of men.”

【白话译文】

孔子说：“不断地学习知识，并时常温习，把这些学到的知识应用到现实生活中去，实在是一件很快乐的事。志同道合的朋友因为仰慕你，而从很远的地方来看望你，则是件更快乐的事。但是，一个人即使不能被人称道也能够淡然处之，确实是真正睿智高尚的人啊！”

1-2

有子曰：“其为人也孝弟，而好犯上者，鲜矣；不好犯上，而好作乱者，未之有也。君子务本，本立而道生。孝弟也者，其为仁之本与？”

A disciple of Confucius remarked! “A man who is a good son and a good citizen will seldom be found to be a man disposed to quarrel with those in authority over him; and men who are not disposed to quarrel with those in authority will never be found to disturb the peace and order of the State.”

“A wise man devotes his attention to what is essential in the foundation of life. When the foundation is laid, wisdom will come.Now, to be a good son and a good citizen—do not these form the foundation of a moral life?”

【白话译文】

孔子的一位学生（有子[3]）说：“一个人作为孝子和良民，绝不会以下犯上；不会以下犯上的人，也绝不会破坏国家的和平与社会秩序。君子会把精力放在生命之根本的事务上，根本建立了，就有了治国做人的原则智慧。那么，做一个孝子和良民——这些难道不是构成高尚生活的基础吗？”

1-3

子曰：“巧言令色，鲜矣仁。”

Confucius remarked! “With plausible speech and fine manners will seldom be found moral character.”

【白话译文】

孔子说：“满嘴花言巧语，却装出和颜悦色的样子，这种人绝不是德高望重之人。”

1-4

曾子曰：“吾日三省吾身。为人谋而不忠乎？与朋友交而不信乎？传不习乎？”

A disciple of Confucius remarked! “I daily examine into my personal conduct on three points: —First, whether in carrying out the duties entrusted to me by others, I have not failed in conscientiousness; Secondly, whether in intercourse with friends, I have not failed in sincerity and trustworthiness; Thirdly, whether I have not failed to practice what I profess in my teaching.”

【白话译文】

孔子的一位学生（曾子[4]）说：“我每天从三个方面进行自我反省：第一，为别人办事是不是尽心尽力，不至于没有履行自己的承诺？第二，与朋友交往是不是做到以诚相待了？第三，老师传授给我的知识是不是用于实践了？”

1-5

子曰：“道千乘之国，敬事而信，节用而爱人，使民以时。”

Confucius remarked! “When directing the affairs of a great nation, a man must be serious in attention to business and faithful and punctual in his engagements. He must study economy in the public expenditure, and love the welfare of the people.He must employ the people at the proper time of the year.”

【白话译文】

孔子说：“治理一个大国时，应严谨认真地处理国家大事，恪守信用，施令及时；节约财政开支，爱护官吏臣僚；在一年当中适宜的时间役使百姓，不至于耽误农时。”

1-6

子曰：“弟子入则孝，出则弟，谨而信，泛爱众，而亲仁，行有余力，则以学文。”

Confucius remarked! “A young man, when at home, should be a good son; when out in the world, a good citizen. He should be circumspect and truthful.He should be in sympathy with all men, but intimate with men of moral character.If he has time and opportunity to spare, after the performance of those duties, he should then employ them in literary pursuits.”

【白话译文】

孔子说：“年轻人在家就应做个孝子，在外面就应做个良民，必须做到言行谨慎，诚实可信，与别人交往时要充满友爱，对于德高望重的人要亲近。这样躬行实践之后，如果还有余力的话，就再以学术为目的将这些东西写出来。”

1-7

子夏曰：“贤贤易色；事父母，能竭其力；事君，能致其身；与朋友交，言而有信。虽曰未学，吾必谓之学矣。”

A disciple of Confucius remarked! “A man who can love worthiness in man as he loves beauty in woman; who in his duties to his parents is ready to do his utmost, and in the service of his prince is ready to give up his life; who in intercourse with friends is found trustworthy in what he says! —such a man, although men may say of him that he is an uneducated man, I must consider him to be really an educated man.”

【白话译文】

孔子的一位学生（子夏[5]）说：“一个人应当像喜欢女子的美貌那样去追求他人身上的美德；侍奉父母，能够竭尽全力；忠于君主，能够舍生取义；同朋友交往，能够言而有信。这样的人，即便人们说他是一个没有接受过教育的人，我也一定会承认他确实是一个有教养的人。”

1-8

子曰：“君子，不重则不威，学则不固；主忠信，无友不如己者；过则勿惮改。”

Confucius remarked! "A wise man who is not serious will not inspire respect; what he learns will not remain permanent.

"Make conscientiousness and sincerity your first principles.

"Have no friends who are not as yourself.

“When you have bad habits do not hesitate to change them.”

【白话译文】

孔子说：“聪明的人，如果不庄重，就得不到别人的尊重，所学的知识也不会持久巩固；尽职尽责，要以忠信为第一准则；不和品行不如自己的人交朋友；如果有不良习惯，就应该毫不犹豫地改正。”

1-9

曾子曰：“慎终追远，民德归厚矣。”

A disciple of Confucius remarked! “By cultivating respect for the dead, and carrying the memory back to the distant past!* the moral feeling of the people will waken and grow in depth.”

（Co. gitavi dies antiquos et annos aternos in mente babui! —Psalm ixxvil! 5.）

【白话译文】

孔子的一位学生（曾子）说：“通过悼念死者，追忆久远的过去，*可以唤醒人们的道德情感，并使之趋于深厚。”

（我想起过去的日子，追忆以往的岁月。——《圣经·旧约·诗篇》第77篇第5节。）

1-10

子禽问于子贡曰：“夫子至于是邦也，必闻其政。求之与，抑与之与？”子贡曰：“夫子温、良、恭、俭、让以得之。夫子之求之也，其诸异乎人之求之与？”

A man once asked a disciple of Confucius, saying! “How was it that whenever the Master came into a country he was always informed of the actual state and policy of its government? Did he seek for the information or was it given to him?”

“The Master!” replied the disciple! “was gracious, simple, earnest, modest and courteous; therefore he could obtain what information he wanted. The Master's way of obtaining information—well, it was different from other people's ways.”

【白话译文】

有个人（子禽[6]）问孔子的一位学生（子贡[7]）说：“老师每到一个国家，总是能了解这个国家的政事。（这些信息）是他自己去求得的呢，还是人家主动来告诉他的？”子贡回答说：“老师温顺、善良、恭敬、俭朴、谦逊，因此才能得到他想要的信息。大师获得信息的方式——啊，总是那么与众不同。”

1-11

子曰：“父在，观其志；父没，观其行；三年无改于父之道，可谓孝矣。”

Confucius remarked! “When a man's father is living the son should have regard to what his father would have him do; when the father is dead, to what his father has done. A son who for three years after his father's death does not in his own life change his father's principles, may be said to be a good son.”

【白话译文】

孔子说：“父亲在世的时候，儿子应该听从父亲的教诲去做事；父亲不在世的时候，儿子应该牢记父亲是如何做事的；父亲去世三年后，儿子仍能终生不改父亲的做事准则，这样的儿子可以称为孝子。”

1-12

有子曰：“礼之用，和为贵。先王之道，斯为美。小大由之，有所不行。知和而和，不以礼节之，亦不可行也。”

A disciple of Confucius remarked! "In the practice of art!* what is valuable is natural spontaneity. According to the rules of art held by the ancient kings it was this quality in a work of art which constituted its excellence; in great as well as in small things they were guided by this principle.

"But in being natural there is something not permitted. To know that it is necessary to be natural without restraining the impulse to be natural by the strict principle of art! —that is something not permitted.'

[Dr. Legge says of the Chinese word 礼，which we have here translated “art!” that it is a word not easily rendered in another language.On the other hand, Mr.B.H.Chamberlain in his book Things Japanese, remarks that Japanese language (China and Japan have the same written language) has no genuine native word for “art.”

The English word “art!” if we mistake not, is used in various senses to express: 1st，a work of art; 2nd，the practice of art; 3rd，artificial as opposed to natural; 4th, the principle of an as opposed to the principle of nature; 5th, the strict principle of art, in this last sense of the use of the English word “art” lies, as Dr.Legge says of the Chinese word mentioned above! “the idea of what is proper” and fit, Tò p, in all relations of things.

For those who may be interested in the subject, we may here mention that the modern Japanese invention, bijutsu 美术（beautiful legerdemain) for “art” is not a happy one.The proper term in Chinese for a work of art would be文物；for the practice of art! 艺.In fact, the Japanese word Geisha 艺师 means literally an artiste.As for the use of the term “art” in the sense of “artificial” as opposed to something “natural!” the philosopher Chuang Tz uses 人（human) and 天（divine）.

Then “the principle of art” ，not taken by itself, but as opposed to the principle of nature, would be in Chinese 文 for “art” and 质 for “nature.” Such a sentence as that of Goethe, for instance! “Art is called Art, because it is no Nature!” would be rendered into Chinese or Japanese thus: 文之所以谓之文为非质也.Chinese art critics also speak of 化工 creative art and 画工 imitative art.Finally, we may as well add, the Chinese term for mechanical art or the practice of it is 技艺.]

【白话译文】

孔子的一位学生（有子）说：“在礼的实践中，顺其自然才是最宝贵的。古代君王所奉行的治国之道*，正因为依据礼本身所具备的这种特征，所以才极其完美。无论大小事情，都遵循了这一原则。但是，在顺其自然的基础上，也有些东西的确是不被允许的。在严格遵守礼的过程中，要知道哪些是必须顺其自然而不受制于自然，哪些是受制于自然且不被自然之道所允许的。”

[理雅各[8]博士认为，中文“礼”字，也就是我们翻译为“art”的这个字，在其他语言中很难找到相对应的词。另一方面，张伯伦先生在他的作品《日本物语》中写道，日语（汉语和日语属于同源语言）里也没有和“art”真正对应的原生词。

英语“art”，如果我们没有弄错的话，一般用来表达以下几种意思：1.工艺品；2.工艺制作；3.（相对于自然的）人工制造的；4.（相对于自然原理的）工艺原理或制作原理；5.严格的艺术理论，本质、根源。根据英语“art”的最后一个解释，理雅各博士认为上述汉字的意思，是适合于所有事物的“正确的思想”。

对这个话题感兴趣的人而言，我们在这里提到的现代日语中对应“art”而新发明的bijutsu“美术”（“美丽的骗术”），并不是一个很完美的词。在汉语中，对应“工艺品”的正确词语是“文物”，对应“工艺制作”的词语是“艺”。事实上，日语中的Geisha（艺师），字面意思是大师、能手。至于相对“自然”而言的“人工的”art的使用上，哲学家庄子则解释为“天人合一”。

那么，“艺术的本质原理”（不是它本身所具有的，而是同自然原理相对立的），或许可以用汉语中的“文”来对应“art”，用“质”来对应“nature”。这种解释来自歌德，例如，“艺术之所以被称为艺术，是因为它不是自然天成的。”对应为汉语或日语，即：“文之所以谓之文，为非质也。”中国的艺术评论家也把创造性艺术称为“造化之工”，而把模仿性艺术称为“画工”。最后，我们不妨把“人造艺术”或“艺术实施过程”理解为汉语中的“技艺”。]

1-13

有子曰：“信近于义，言可复也；恭近于礼，远耻辱也；因不失其亲，亦可宗也。”

A disciple of Confucius remarked! “If you make promises within the bounds of what is right, you will be able to keep your word. If you confine earnestness within the bounds of judgment and good taste, you will keep out of discomfiture and insult.If you make friends of those with whom you ought to, you will be able to depend upon them.”

【白话译文】

孔子的一位学生（有子）说：“如果在正确的范围内做出承诺，你就能信守诺言。如果经过正确的判断，并在符合礼的情况下保持诚信，你就会远离耻辱。和值得交往的人交朋友，你就能信赖他们。”

1-14

子曰：“君子食无求饱，居无求安，敏于事而慎于言，就有道而正焉，可谓好学也已。”

Confucius remarked! “A wise and good man, in matters of food, should never seek to indulge his appetite; in lodging, he should not be too solicitous of comfort. He should be diligent in business and careful in speech.He should seek for the company of men of virtue and learning, in order to profit by their lessons and example.In this way he may become a man of real culture.”

【白话译文】

孔子说：“聪明而高尚的人在饮食方面不会暴饮暴食，在居住方面不会奢求舒适，在工作上勤奋敏捷，在言谈上小心谨慎，并且总是寻找有道德的人为伴，并学习那些人的经验和榜样。通过这种方式，才有可能成为一个真正有学问的人。”

1-15

子贡曰：“贫而无谄，富而无骄，何如？”子曰：“可也。未若贫而乐，富而好礼者也。”子贡曰：“《诗》云，‘如切如磋！如琢如磨’，其斯之谓与？”子曰：“赐也！始可与言《诗》已矣，告诸往而知来者。”

A disciple of Confucius said to him! “To be poor and yet not to be servile; to be rich and yet not to be proud, what do you say to that?”

“It is good!” replied Confucius! “but better still it is to be poor and yet contented; to be rich and yet know how to be courteous.”

“I understand!” answered the disciple:

'We must cut, we must file! '

'Must chisel and must grind.'

“My friend!” replied Confucius! “now I can begin to speak of poetry to you. I see you understand how to apply the moral.”

【白话译文】

孔子的一位学生（子贡）问道：“虽然贫穷但不会谄媚，虽然富有但不会骄傲，您认为这样的人怎么样？”孔子回答道：“这也算可以了。但是这还不如虽然贫穷却能乐于求道，虽然富贵却能喜好礼仪。”子贡说：“我明白了。就是说要像对待骨、角、象牙和玉石一样，不断地切磋和琢磨，必须经过一番艰苦磨砺才会有所成就吧？您说的就是这个意思吧？”孔子回答：“你总算明白了！现在我可以给你讲《诗经》了，因为我看到你已经明白了如何去弘扬道德。”

1-16

子曰：“不患人之不己知，患不知人也。”

Confucius remarked! “One should not be concerned not to be understood of men; one should be concerned not to understand men.”

【白话译文】

孔子说：“一个人不要总是关心别人是否理解自己，而应该关心自己是否能理解别人。”