| 小 |
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xiǎo ㄒㄧㄠˇ (1.1): 與「大」相對。 Small.
| 《》: | 是以聖人不親細民，明主不躬小事。 | | 《》: | 楚子伐陸渾之戎，遂至于雒，觀兵于周疆，定王使王孫滿勞楚子，楚子問鼎之大小輕重焉，對曰，在德不在鼎，昔夏之方有德也，遠方圖物，貢金九牧，鑄鼎象物，百物而為之備，使民知神姦，故民入川澤山林，不逢不若，螭魅罔兩，莫能逢之，用能協于上下，以承天休，桀有昏德，鼎遷于商，載祀六百，商紂暴虐，鼎遷于周，德之休明，雖小，重也，其姦回昏亂，雖大，輕也，天祚明德，有所底止，成王定鼎于郟鄏，卜世三十，卜年七百，天所命也，周德雖衰，天命未改，鼎之輕重，未可問也。 |
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xiǎo ㄒㄧㄠˇ (1.2): 使變小。 Make small.
| 《·》: | 匠人斵而小之，則王怒，以為不勝其任矣。 | | Should the workmen hew them so as to make them too small, then your Majesty will be angry, thinking that they will not answer for the purpose. | | 《·》: | 凡大者，小鄰國也。 |
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xiǎo ㄒㄧㄠˇ (1.3): 以為小，小看，輕視。 View as small.
| 《·》: | 孟子曰：「孔子登東山而小魯，登太山而小天下。」 | | Mencius said, 'Confucius ascended the eastern hill, and Lu appeared to him small. He ascended the Tai mountain, and all beneath the heavens appeared to him small.' |
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xiǎo ㄒㄧㄠˇ (2.1): 細。 Thin.
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xiǎo ㄒㄧㄠˇ (2.2): 狹隘，不足。 Insufficient.
| 《·》: | 好問則裕，自用則小 | | He who likes to put questions, becomes enlarged; he who uses only his own views, becomes smaller (than he was). |
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xiǎo ㄒㄧㄠˇ (3): 短暫。 Short (time), fleeting.
| 《·》: | 小知不及大知，小年不及大年。 | | The knowledge of that which is small does not reach to that which is great; (the experience of) a few years does not reach to that of many. |
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xiǎo ㄒㄧㄠˇ (4): 年幼。 Young.
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xiǎo ㄒㄧㄠˇ (5): 稍微，略。 Slightly, somewhat.
| 《·》: | 曰：「其為人也小有才，未聞君子之大道也，則足以殺其軀而已矣。」 | | Mencius replied, 'He was a man, who had a little ability, but had not learned the great doctrines of the superior man. He was just qualified to bring death upon himself, but for nothing more.' |
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xiǎo ㄒㄧㄠˇ (6.1): 低微。 Low level.
| 《·》: | 柳下惠，不羞汙君，不辭小官。 | | Hui of Liu Xia was not ashamed to serve an impure prince, nor did he think it low to be an inferior officer. |
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xiǎo ㄒㄧㄠˇ (6.2): 小人，地位低微的人。 A person of low rank.
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xiǎo ㄒㄧㄠˇ (6.3): 品質壞的人。 A person of bad moral character.
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xiǎo ㄒㄧㄠˇ (7): 謙詞：如「小人」、「小子」等。 Humble term for oneself.
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| 小人 |
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xiǎo rén ㄒㄧㄠˇ ㄖㄣˊ (1): 地位低下的人。 Commoner.
| 《·》: | 子曰：「唯女子與小人為難養也，近之則不孫，遠之則怨。」 | | The Master said, "Of all people, girls and servants are the most difficult to behave to. If you are familiar with them, they lose their humility. If you maintain a reserve towards them, they are discontented." | | 《·》: | 有大人之事，有小人之事。 | | Great men have their proper business, and little men have their proper business. |
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xiǎo rén ㄒㄧㄠˇ ㄖㄣˊ (2): 無道德的人，與「君子」相對。 A mean man, a man with no morals.
| 《·》: | 應之曰：「古者羿作弓，伃作甲，奚仲作車，巧垂作舟，然則今之鮑函車匠皆君子也，而羿、伃、奚仲、巧垂皆小人邪？」 | | We answer him: In antiquity Yi invented the bow, Yu invented armour, Xi Zhong invented vehicles, and Qiao Cui invented boats. Would he say, the tanners, armourers, and carpenters of to-day are all superior men, whereas Yi, Yu, Xi Zhong, and Qiao Cui were all ordinary men? | | 《·》: | 子曰：「君子周而不比，小人比而不周。」 | | The Master said, "The superior man is catholic and not partisan. The mean man is partisan and not catholic." | | 《·》: | 尹士聞之曰：「士誠小人也。」 | | When Yin Shi heard this explanation, he said, 'I am indeed a small man.' | | 《·》: | 君子小人之反也：君子大心則敬天而道，小心則畏義而節。 |
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xiǎo rén ㄒㄧㄠˇ ㄖㄣˊ (3): 對地位高於自己或平輩自稱德謙辭。 Humble way of referring to oneself used when speaker to a superior.
| 《》: | 食舍肉，公問之，對曰：「小人有母，皆嘗小人之食矣，未嘗君之羹。」 |
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