The Analects of Confucius: Tai Bo
(论语·泰伯)

子曰：“泰伯，其可谓至德也已矣。三以天下让，民无得而称焉。”

The Master said, “Tai Bo may be said to have reached the highest point of virtuous action. Thrice he declined the kingdom, and the people in ignorance of his motives could not express their approbation of his conduct.”

子曰：“恭而无礼则劳；慎而无礼则葸；勇而无礼则乱；直而无礼则绞。君子笃于亲，则民兴于仁；故旧不遗，则民不偷。”

The Master said, “Respectfulness, without the rules of propriety, becomes laborious bustle; carefulness, without the rules of propriety, becomes timidity; boldness, without the rules of propriety, becomes insubordination; straightforwardness, without the rules of propriety, becomes rudeness. When those who are in high stations perform well all their duties to their relations, the people are aroused to virtue. When old friends are not neglected by them, the people are preserved from meanness.”

曾子有疾，召门弟子曰：“启予足，启予手。《诗》云：‘战战兢兢，如临深渊，如履薄冰。’ 而今而后，吾知免夫，小子！”

The philosopher Zeng being ill, he cared to him the disciples of his school, and said, “Uncover my feet, uncover my hands. It is said in the Book of Poetry, ‘We should be apprehensive and cautious, as if on the brink of a deep gulf, as if treading on thin ice, I and so have I been. Now and hereafter, I know my escape from all injury to my person. O ye, my little children.”

曾子有疾，孟敬子问之。曾子言曰：“鸟之将死，其鸣也哀；人之将死，其言也善。君子所贵乎道者三：动容貌，斯远暴慢矣；正颜色，斯近信矣；出辞气，斯远鄙倍矣。笾豆之事，则有司存。”

The philosopher Zeng being ill, Meng Jing went to ask how he was. Zeng said to him, “When a bird is about to die, its notes are mournful; when a man is about to die, his words are good. There are three principles of conduct which the man of high rank should consider specially important: that in his deportment and manner he keep from violence and heedlessness; that in regulating his countenance he keep near to sincerity; and that in his words and tones he keep far from lowness and impropriety. As to such matters as attending to the sacrificial vessels, there are the proper officers for them.”

曾子曰：“以能问于不能；以多问于寡；有若无，实若虚，犯而不校。昔者吾友尝从事于斯矣。”

The philosopher Zeng said, “Gifted with ability, and yet putting questions to those who were not so; possessed of much, and yet putting questions to those possessed of little; having, as though he had not; full, and yet counting himself as empty; offended against, and yet entering into no altercation; formerly I had a friend who pursued this style of conduct.”

曾子曰：“可以托六尺之孤，可以寄百里之命，临大节而不可夺也。君子人与？君子人也。”

The philosopher Zeng said, “Suppose that there is an individual who can be entrusted with the charge of a young orphan prince, and can be commissioned with authority over a state of a hundred li, and whom no emergency however great can drive from his principles – is such a man a superior man? He is a superior man indeed.”

曾子曰：“士不可以不弘毅，任重而道远。仁以为己任，不亦重乎？死而后已，不亦远乎？”

The philosopher Zeng said, “The officer may not be without breadth of mind and vigorous endurance. His burden is heavy and his course is long. Perfect virtue is the burden which he considers it is his to sustain – is it not heavy? Only with death does his course stop – is it not long?”

子曰：“兴于《诗》，立于礼，成于乐。”

The Master said, “It is by the Odes that the mind is aroused. It is by the Rules of Propriety that the character is established. It is from Music that the finish is received.”

子曰：“民可，使由之；不可，使知之。”

The Master said, “The people may be made to follow a path of action, but they may not be made to understand it.”

子曰：“好勇疾贫，乱也。人而不仁，疾之已甚，乱也。”

The Master said, “The man who is fond of daring and is dissatisfied with poverty, will proceed to insubordination. The man who is not virtuous, when you carry your dislike of him to an extreme, will also proceed to insubordination.”

子曰：“如有周公之才之美，使骄且吝，其余不足观也已。”

The Master said, “Though a man have abilities as admirable as those of the duke of Zhou, yet if he be proud and niggardly, those other things are really not worth being looked at.”

子曰：“三年学，不至于谷，不易得也。”

The Master said, “Having learned for three years without coming to be good – such a man is not easy to find.”

子曰：“笃信好学，守死善道。危邦不入，乱邦不居。天下有道则见，无道则隐。邦有道，贫且贱焉，耻也；邦无道，富且贵焉，耻也。”

The Master said, “With sincere faith he unites the love of learning; holding firm to death, he is perfecting the excellence of his course. Such a one will not enter a tottering state, nor dwell in a disorganized one. When right principles of government prevail in the kingdom, he will show himself; when they are prostrated, he will keep concealed. When a country is well governed, poverty and a mean condition are things to be ashamed of. When a country is ill governed, riches and honor are things to be ashamed of.”

子曰：“不在其位，不谋其政。”

The Master said, “He who is not in any particular office has nothing to do with plans for the administration of its duties.”

子曰：“师挚之始，《关雎》之乱，洋洋乎盈耳哉！”

The Master said, “When the music master Zhi first entered on his office, the finish of the Guan Ju was magnificent – how it filled the ears!”

子曰：“狂而不直，侗而不愿，悾悾而不信，吾不知之矣。”

The Master said, “Ardent and yet not upright, stupid and yet not attentive; simple and yet not sincere – such persons I do not understand.”

子曰：“学如不及，犹恐失之。”

The Master said, “Learn as if you could not reach your object, and were always fearing also lest you should lose it.”

子曰：“巍巍乎！舜、禹之有天下也而不与焉。”

The Master said, “How majestic was the manner in which Shun and Yu held possession of the empire, as if it were nothing to them!”

子曰：“大哉尧之为君也！巍巍乎，唯天为大，唯尧则之。荡荡乎，民无能名焉。巍巍乎其有成功也，焕乎其有文章！”

The Master said, “Great indeed was Yao as a sovereign! How majestic was he! It is only Heaven that is grand, and only Yao corresponded to it. How vast was his virtue! The people could find no name for it. How majestic was he in the works which he accomplished! How glorious in the elegant regulations which he instituted!”

舜有臣五人而天下治。武王曰：“予有乱臣十人。” 孔子曰：“才难，不其然乎？唐虞之际，于斯为盛；有妇人焉，九人而已。三分天下有其二，以服事殷。周之德，其可谓至德也已矣。”

Shun had five ministers, and the empire was well governed. King Wu said, “I have ten able ministers.” Confucius said, “Is not the saying that talents are difficult to find, true? Only when the dynasties of Tang and Yu met, were they more abundant than in this of Zhou, yet there was a woman among them. The able ministers were no more than nine men. King Wen possessed two of the three parts of the empire, and with those he served the dynasty of Yin. The virtue of the house of Zhou may be said to have reached the highest point indeed.”

子曰：“禹，吾无间然矣。菲饮食而致孝乎鬼神，恶衣服而致美乎黼冕，卑宫室而尽力乎沟洫。禹，吾无间然矣。”

The Master said, “I can find no flaw in the character of Yu. He used himself coarse food and drink, but displayed the utmost filial piety towards the spirits. His ordinary garments were poor, but he displayed the utmost elegance in his sacrificial cap and apron. He lived in a low, mean house, but expended all his strength on the ditches and water channels. I can find nothing like a flaw in Yü.”