| Chinese Text Project | |
| Simplified Chinese version |
《学行卷第一 - Learning and Practice》 | English translation: Jeffrey S. Bullock [?] | Library Resources |
| 1 | 学行卷第... : | 学，行之，上也；言之，次也；教人，又其次也。咸无焉，为众人。 |
| Learning and Practice:...: | As for learning, putting it into practice is best; putting it into words is second best; instructing others is next. To do none of these is to be a common person. | |
| 2 | 学行卷第... : | 或曰：“人羡久生，将以学也，可谓好学已乎？”曰：“未之好也。学不羡。” |
| Learning and Practice:...: |
Someone said: Some people take up study because they covet a long life. Can this be called loving to learn? Yangzi said: This is not loving to learn. One who loves learning does not covet anything else. | |
| 3 | 学行卷第... : | 天之道，不在仲尼乎？仲尼驾说者也，不在兹儒乎？如将复驾其说，则莫若使诸儒金口而木舌。 |
| Learning and Practice:...: | Did Tian's dao not reside in Confucius? Confucius's cart having come unharnessed, does Tian's dao not lie with these ru of today? If they again harnessed up the cart, then nothing could be better than to make all ru to have metal mouths with wooden tongues. | |
| 4 | 学行卷第... : | 或曰：“学无益也，如质何？”曰：“未之思矣。夫有刀者礲诸，有玉者错诸，不礲不错，焉攸用？礲而错诸，质在其中矣。否则辍。” |
| Learning and Practice:...: |
Someone said: Study has no benefits, what can it do for one's zhi? Yangzi said: You have not yet thought about it. If you have a knife, you sharpen it; if you have jade, you polish it. If you do not sharpen and polish them, how are they useful? Sharpening and polishing, their zhi lies in these; if this was not the case, then you might as well stop. | |
| 5 | 学行卷第... : | 螟蛉之子，殖而逢，蜾蠃祝之曰：“类我，类我。”久则肖之矣！速哉，七十子之肖仲尼也。 |
| Learning and Practice:...: | The dying moth larva encountered the wasp. The wasp snatched it away saying, "Be like me, be like me." After awhile, they were alike. How quickly the seventy disciples became like Confucius! | |
| 6 | 学行卷第... : | 学以治之，思以精之，朋友以磨之，名誉以崇之，不倦以终之，可谓好学也已矣。 |
| Learning and Practice:...: | Studying in order to cultivate it, thinking in order to refine it, making friends in order to polish it, achieving fame in order to venerate it, being untiring in order to finish it: this can be referred to as loving to learn. | |
| 7 | 学行卷第... : | 孔子习周公者也，颜渊习孔子者也。羿、逄蒙分其弓，良舍其策，般投其斧而习诸，孰曰非也？或曰：“此名也，彼名也，处一焉而已矣。”曰：“川有渎，山有岳，高而且大者，众人所不能逾也。” |
| Learning and Practice:...: |
Confucius studied the Duke of Zhou, and Yan Yuan studied Confucius. If Hou Yi and Pang Meng had broken their bows, Wang Liang given up the horsewhip, and Gong Shuban thrown away his axes, and if all had studied the Duke of Zhou, Confucius, and Yan Yuan, who could say they were wrong? Someone said: This kind of fame or that kind of fame, a person attains one kind and that's it. Yangzi said: Among streams there are great rivers; among mountains there are great peaks. The high and the great, these are what the common man cannot surpass. | |
| 8 | 学行卷第... : | 或问：“世言铸金，金可铸与？”曰：“吾闻觌君子者，问铸人，不问铸金。”或曰：“人可铸与？”曰：“孔子铸颜渊矣。”或人踧尔曰：“旨哉！问铸金，得铸人。” |
| Learning and Practice:...: |
Someone asked: The world speaks of forging gold. Can gold be forged? Yangzi said: I have heard that when one meets a junzi, one asks about "forging" men, not about forging gold. The other said: Can men be "forged"? Yangzi said: Confucius forged Yan Yuan. The other, surprised, said: Excellent! I asked about forging gold and I learn about "forging" men. | |
| 9 | 学行卷第... : | 学者，所以修性也。视、听、言、貌、思，性所有也。学则正，否则邪。 |
| Learning and Practice:...: | Study is the means by which one cultivates the xing. Looking, hearing, speaking, manner, and thought are aspects of the xing. If one studies, then it becomes rectified. Otherwise, it becomes deviant. | |
| 10 | 学行卷第... : | 师哉！师哉！桐子之命也。务学不如务求师。师者，人之模范也。模不模，范不范，为不少矣。 |
| Learning and Practice:...: | A teacher, a teacher! This is the command for a young boy. Devoting attention to study is not as good as devoting attention to finding a teacher. The teacher is a man's mold and pattern. Molds that do not mold and patterns that do not pattern are not rare. | |
| 11 | 学行卷第... : | 一哄之市，不胜异意焉；一卷之书，不胜异说焉。一哄之市，必立之平。一卷之书，必立之师。 |
| Learning and Practice:...: | In a one-lane market, one cannot exhaust the different ways of calculating prices; in a text of one roll, one cannot exhaust the different interpretations given to it. In a one-lane market, one must establish a standard price; for a text of one roll, one must establish its authoritative teacher. | |
| 12 | 学行卷第... : | 习乎习，以习非之胜是也，况习是之胜非乎？于戏，学者审其是而已矣！或曰：“焉知是而习之？”曰：“视日月而知众星之蔑也，仰圣人而知众说之小也。” |
| Learning and Practice:...: |
Practice, practice! By means of practicing what is false, one overcomes what is true. How much more does practicing what is true overcome what is false. Indeed! Those who study should examine what is true and that's all. Someone said: How can one know what is true and practice it? Yangzi said: Looking at the sun and moon, one knows the faintness of the multitude of stars. Gazing upon the sage one knows the pettiness of the multitude of other doctrines. | |
| 13 | 学行卷第... : | 学之为王者事，其已久矣。尧、舜、禹、汤、文、武汲汲，仲尼皇皇，其已久矣。 |
| Learning and Practice:...: | Learning was the business of those who were rulers, oh how long ago! Yao, Shun, Yu, Tang, Wen, and Wu's intensity! Confucius's brilliance, oh how long ago! | |
| 14 | 学行卷第... : | 或问“进”。曰：“水。”或曰：“为其不舍昼夜与？”曰：“有是哉！满而后渐者，其水乎？”或问“鸿渐”。曰：“非其往不往，非其居不居，渐犹水乎！”“请问木渐。”曰：“止于下而渐于上者，其木也哉！亦犹水而已矣！” |
| Learning and Practice:...: |
Someone asked about advancing. Yangzi said: Be like water. The other said: Because it does not stop flowing day or night? Yangzi said: This is it! That which fills up and then flows out gradually, is it not water? Someone asked about the flight of the wild goose. Yangzi said: If it is not the direction he wants to go, he does not go. If it is not the place he wants to land, he does not land. His flight is like water. May I ask about the gradual growth of wood? Yangzi said: It is rooted below and gradually grows upward, that is wood! Indeed, it is just like water! | |
| 15 | 学行卷第... : | 吾未见斧藻其德若斧藻其楶者也。 |
| Learning and Practice:...: | I have yet to see a fondness for embellishing one's de that was like people's fondness for embellishing the beams and railings of their houses. | |
| 16 | 学行卷第... : | 鸟兽触其情者也，众人则异乎！贤人则异众人矣，圣人则异贤人矣。礼义之作，有以矣夫。人而不学，虽无忧，如禽何？ |
| Learning and Practice:...: | Birds and beasts are motivated by their desires. Is the common man any different? The worthy are different from the common man, and the sage is different from the worthy. There was a purpose to the creation of li and yi. As for people who do not study the Confucian Dao—even if they are without worries, are they not still like animals. | |
| 17 | 学行卷第... : | 学者，所以求为君子也。求而不得者有矣，夫未有不求而得之者也。 |
| Learning and Practice:...: | Study is the means by which one seeks to become a junzi. There are those who seek and yet do not attain the goal, but there has never been one who did not seek and yet did attain it. | |
| 18 | 学行卷第... : | 睎骥之马，亦骥之乘也。睎颜之人，亦颜之徒也。或曰：“颜徒易乎？”曰：“睎之则是。” |
| Learning and Practice:...: |
A horse that looks up to a thoroughbred is a worthy harness-mate for a thoroughbred. People who look up to Yan Yuan can indeed be followers Yan Yuan. Someone said: Is it easy to be a follower of Yan? Yangzi said: If you look up to him, it is. | |
| 19 | 学行卷第... : | 曰：“昔颜尝睎夫子矣，正考甫尝睎尹吉甫矣，公子奚斯尝睎尹吉甫矣。不欲睎则已矣，如欲睎、孰御焉？”或曰：“书与经同，而世不尚，治之可乎？”曰：“可。”或人哑尔笑曰：“须以发策决抖。”曰：“大人之学也为道，小人之学也为利。子为道乎？为利乎？”或曰：“耕不获，猎不飨，耕猎乎？”曰：“耕道而得道，猎德而得德，是获、飨已。吾不睹参辰之相比也，是以君子贵迁善。迁善者，圣人之徒与？”百川学海而至于海，丘陵学山不至于山，是故恶夫画也。 |
| Learning and Practice:...: |
He said: In the past, Yan looked up to the Master, Zheng Kaofu looked up to Yin Xifu, Gongzi Xisi looked up to Zheng Kaofu. If you do not desire to look up to someone, then that's that. But if you do look up to them, then who can stop you? Someone said: The Confucian Books and the Classics are the same, but the world does not respect the Books. Can they still be studied? Yangzi said: They can. The other person snickered, saying: They should only be used for passing government exams and determining ranks. Yangzi said: Great men study for the Dao; small men study for profit. Are you for the Dao, or are you for profit? The other said: Plowing without any harvest, hunting without a feast: are these really "plowing" and "hunting"? Yangzi said: Planting the Dao and getting the Dao, hunting de and getting de, these are the harvest and feast. I have never seen Shen and Chen side by side. Therefore, the junzi values changing for the good. Those who change for the good, are they not the sage's followers? The hundred rivers study the sea and arrive at the sea; mounds and foothills study the mountains but do not reach to the mountains. For this reason, the junzi hates to draw the line. | |
| 20 | 学行卷第... : | 频频之党，甚于鸒斯，亦贼夫粮食而已矣。朋而不心，面朋也。友而不心，面友也。 |
| Learning and Practice:...: | Factions formed from cliques are even worse than a flock of crows; indeed, crows do no more than steal food. Acquaintances lacking sincerity are superficial acquaintances. Friends without heart are surface friends. | |
| 21 | 学行卷第... : | 或谓：“子之治产，不如丹圭之富。”曰：“吾闻先生相与言，则以仁与义；市井相与言，则以财与利。如其富，如其富。”或曰：“先生生无以养也，死无以葬也，如之何？”曰：“以其所以养，养之至也。以其所以葬，葬之至也。” |
| Learning and Practice:...: |
Someone addressed Yangzi: The property that you manage is nothing like Dan Gui's wealth. Yangzi said: I have heard that when gentlemen talk together, they discuss ren and yi. When merchants talk together, they discuss wealth and profit. So much for his wealth! So much for his wealth! The other said: If in life a gentleman lacks the means to support himself and dies without the means to be buried, then what is to be done? Yangzi said: Using only those means which are sufficient to support oneself, this is the height of supporting oneself. Using only those means which are sufficient to be buried, this is the best of burials. | |
| 22 | 学行卷第... : | 或曰：“猗顿之富以为孝，不亦至乎？颜其馁矣。”曰：“彼以其粗，颜以其精；彼以其回，颜以其贞。颜其劣乎？颜其劣乎？” |
| Learning and Practice:...: |
Someone said: Yi Dun's wealth was a means to be filial, isn't this indeed the best? Yan Yuan was so poor that he starved! Yangzi said: The other used crude means, Yan used the essentials. The other used a crooked dao, Yan used the correct Dao. Was Yan inferior? Was Yan inferior? | |
| 23 | 学行卷第... : | 或曰：“使我纡朱怀金，其乐不可量也！”曰：“纡朱怀金者之乐，不如颜氏子之乐。颜氏子之乐也内，纡朱怀金者之乐也外。”或曰：“请问屡空之内。”曰：“颜不孔，虽得天下，不足以为乐。”“然亦有苦乎？”曰：“颜苦孔之卓之至也。”或人瞿然曰：“兹苦也，祇其所以为乐也与？” |
| Learning and Practice:...: |
Someone said: Allow me to tie the red sash and carry the gold stamp, and my happiness could not be measured. Yangzi said: The happiness of one who holds a position in government is not as good as Yan Yuan's happiness. Yan Yuan's happiness [came from] inside [himself], the happiness of one who holds a position in government [comes from] outside [himself]. The other said: May I ask what comes from inside oneself when one is always poor. Yangzi said: If Yan did not have Confucius, even if he had got all under Heaven, it would not have been sufficient to make him happy. The other said: But he still suffered, did he not? Yangzi said: Yan's suffering lay in the height of Confucius's profundity . Startled, the other said: Well then, was this suffering not just the reason he was happy? | |
| 24 | 学行卷第... : | 曰：“有教立道，无止仲尼；有学术业，无止颜渊。”或曰：“立道，仲尼不可为思矣。术业，颜渊不可为力矣。”曰：“未之思也，孰御焉？” |
| Learning and Practice:...: |
Yangzi said: Teaching and establishing the Dao without stopping — Confucius. Studying and transmitting Confucius's teaching without stopping — Yan Yuan. The other said: One couldn't hope to establish the Dao like Confucius. One couldn't have the strength to transmit the teaching like Yan Yuan. Yangzi said: You have not yet thought about it. Who is stopping you? |
URN: ctp:yangzi-fayan/juan-yi