孔子语录(论语)中英文对照翻译

2024年1月4日发(作者：英语贺卡)

人物语录：孔子语录（论语）中英文对照翻译

Analects

The Master said, to learn and at due times to repeat what one has learned，

is that not after all a pleasure? That friends should come to one from afar，

is this not after all delightful？ To remain unsoured even though one's merits

are unrecognized by others, is that not after all what is expected of a

gentleman?

The Master said, “At fifteen I t my heart upon learning. At thirty， I

planted my feet firm upon the ground. At forty, I no longer suffered from 2）perplexities。 At fifty， I knew what were the 3)biddings of Heaven. At sixty,

I heard them with 4）docile ear。 At venty, I could follow the 5）dictates of

my own heart； for what I desired no longer overstepped the boundaries of

right。”

The Master said， 6）incomparable indeed was Hui！ A handful of rice to

eat， a 7）gourdful of water to drink, living in a mean street. Others would

have found it 8）unendurably depressing， but to Hui's cheerfulness it made no

difference at all。 Incomparable indeed was Hui！

论 语

(一） 子曰:“学而时习之，不亦悦乎？有朋自远方来，不亦乐乎？人不知而不愠，不亦君子乎？"

（二) 子曰:“吾十有五而志于学，三十而立,四十而不惑,五十而知天命，六十而耳顺，七十而从心所欲,不逾矩。”

（三) 子曰：“贤哉回也！一箪食,一瓢饮，在陋巷,人不堪其忧，回也不改其乐.贤哉回也！"

1、 analects ［5An［lekts] n。 论集，文选

2、 perplexity [p［5pleksiti］ n。 困惑;窘困

3、 bidding ［5bidiN］ n。 命令，吩咐

4、 docile [5dEusail] a。 驯顺的,驯良的

5、 dictate [5dikteit] n。 ［常用复］命令，支配

6、 incomparable ［in5kCmpErEbl］ a。 无比的，无双的

7、 gourdful [5guEdful］ n。 一葫芦的量

8、 unendurably [5Qnin5djuErEbli］ ad. 难忍受地,不可容忍地

学而第一

『⒈１』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？”

『⒈２』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！”

『⒈３』子曰:“巧言令色，鲜矣仁！"

『⒈４』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？"

『⒈５』子曰：“道千乘之国,敬事而信，节用而爱人，使民以时.”

『⒈６』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。”

『⒈７』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。”

『⒈８』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.”

『⒈９』曾子曰：“慎终，追远，民德归厚矣."

『⒈１０』子禽问於子贡曰：“夫子至於是邦也，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?”

『⒈１１』子曰：“父在,观其志;父没，观其行；三年无改於父之道，可谓孝矣。”

『⒈１２』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。"

『⒈１３』有子曰:“信近於义，言可复也.恭近於礼，远耻辱也。因不失其亲，

亦可宗也."

『⒈１４』子曰:“君子食无求饱，居无求安，敏於事而慎於言，就有道而正焉，

可谓好学也已。"

『⒈１５』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。”

『⒈１６』子曰：“不患人之不己之，患不知人也。"

1：1 Confucius said： "Isn’t it a pleasure to study and practice what you have learned？ Isn't it also

great when friends visit from distant places? If people do not recognize me and it doesn't bother me, am

I not a Superior Man？"

［Comment］ Superior Man is a common English translation for the Chine term chün-tzu which

originally means ”Son of a Prince"-—thus， someone from the nobility。 In the Analects， Confucius

imbues the term with a special meaning. Though sometimes ud strictly in its original n， it also

refers to a person who has made significant progress in the Way （Tao） of lf—cultivation， by

practicing Righteousness, by loving treatment of parents， respect for elders, honesty with friends, etc.

Though the chün-tzu is clearly a highly advanced human being, he is still distinguished from the

category of sage （sheng—jen）， who is, in the Analects more of a ”divine being，” usually a model

from great antiquity.

The character of the Superior Man, in contrast to the sage, is being taught as a tangible model for all in

the here and now. And although many descriptions of the requirements for chün—tzu status em quite

out of our reach, there are many passages where Confucius labels a contemporary, or one of his

disciples a ”Superior Man,” intending a complement. Thus， the categorization is not so rigid. One

might want to compare the term ”Superior Man” to the Buddhist bodhisattva， in that both are the

models for the tradition， both indicate a very high stage of human development as technical terms，

yet both may be ud colloquially to refer to a ”really good person。"

1:2 Yu Tzu said: "There are few who have developed themlves filially and fraternally who enjoy

offending their superiors. Tho who do not enjoy offending superiors are never troublemakers。 The

Superior Man concerns himlf with the fundamentals。 Once the fundamentals are established, the

proper way （tao） appears. Are not filial piety and obedience to elders fundamental to the enactment

of jen?"

[Comment] The Chine term jen has been translated into English as ”humanity,"

"benevolence," ”goodness,” "Perfect Goodness," etc。 It is a difficult concept to translate becau it

doesn’t really refer to any specific type of virtue or positive endowment, but refers to an inner capacity

possd by all human beings to do good， as human beings should. This is the reason some have

translated it as "humanity。" The problem with this translation is that it does not indicate

the ”goodness” implied by the term jen.

In the Chine ”esnce—function” perception, jen can be understood as the esnce of all kinds of

manifestations of virtuosity： wisdom, filial piety， reverence, courtesy， love, sincerity， etc。，

all of which are aspects, or functions of jen. Through one’s efforts at practicing at the function of jen,

one may enhance and develop one's jen， until one may be called a Superior Man, or even better, a

"Person of jen。" In the Analects， ”person of jen" is an extremely high state， rarely acknowledged

of any human being by Confucius.

1:3 Confucius said: ”Someone who is a clever speaker and maintains a 'too-smiley' face is ldom

considered a person of jen。"

1:4 Tng Tzu said: "Each day I examine mylf in three ways: in doing things for others， have I

been disloyal? In my interactions with friends， have I been untrustworthy？ Have not practiced what

I have preached？"

1：5 Confucius said: "If you would govern a state of a thousand chariots （a small-to-middle-size

state）， you must pay strict attention to business, be true to your word， be economical in

expenditure and love the people. You should u them according to the asons."

［Comment] "Usage of the people according to the asons” is extremely important in an agriculture-bad society, where planting， cultivating， or harvesting a certain crop during a certain few-day

period can be critical. During the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods in China， lfish

and aggressive warlords frequently pulled farmers off their land at important farming times, to u

them for public works projects， or have them fight in the ruler's personal wars.

1：6 Confucius said: "A young man should rve his parents at home and be respectful to elders

outside his home。 He should be earnest and truthful， loving all， but become intimate with jen.

After doing this， if he has energy to spare， he can study literature and the arts。”

[Comment] In the above-mentioned esnce-function view， the development of one’s proper

relationship with one's parents and others around her/him is fundamental in life. Only after the things

are taken care of is it proper to go off and play at whatever one likes-—even if this ”play" involves the

rious study of some art form。

1:7 Tzu Hsia said: "If you can treat the worthy as worthy without strain， exert your utmost in rving

your parents, devote your whole lf in rving your prince, and be honest in speech when dealing with

your friends. Then even if someone says you are not learned (hsüeh), I would say that you are

definitely learned.”

[Comment］ In the Confucian tradition， learning （hsüeh) is more than intellectual， academic

study, or the accumulation of facts （although this aspect is included). It is the process of manifesting

one's jen by developing-onelf in lf-reflection through the various types of human relationships。

1：8 Confucius said: ”If the Superior Man is not 'heavy,’ then he will not inspire awe in others. If he is

not learned， then he will not be on firm ground。 He takes loyalty and good faith to be of primary

importance， and has no friends who are not of equal （moral) caliber。 When he makes a mistake,

he doesn’t hesitate to correct it。"

［Comment］ The Superior Man still makes mistakes。 The difference between him and other people

is that he rectifies his errors as soon as he becomes aware of them。

1：9 Tng Tzu said： ”When they are careful (about their parents) to the end and continue in

reverence after （their parents) are long gone， the virtue of the people will return to its natural

depth。”

1:10 Tzu Ch’in asked Tzu Kung： ”When our teacher (Confucius） arrives in any country， he

invariably finds out everything about its government. Does he ek this information? Or is it given to

him?”

Tzu Kung said, ”Our teacher gets it by being cordial， upright, courteous, temperate and

complaisant。 His way of getting information is quite different from that of other men."

1：11 Confucius said： "When your father is alive, obrve his will. When your father is dead obrve

his former actions。 If， for three years you do not change from the ways of your father， you can be

called a 'real son （hsiao).’"

［Comment］ In terms of the development of the character of the human being， the most

fundamental practice is that of "filial piety，" the English translation of the Chine hsiao， which

means to love， respect and take care of one's parents. Confucius believed that if people cultivated this

innate tendency well, all other natural forms of human goodness would be positively affected by it.

1：12 Yu Tzu said： ”In the actual practice of propriety， flexibility is important。 This is what the

ancient kings did so well——both the greater and the lesr ud flexibility. Yet you should be aware:

If you understand flexibility and u it, but don't structure yourlf with propriety， things won’t go

well。”

［Comment］ Propriety is the English rendition of the Chine li。 This is a word that also has a

wide spectrum of meaning in Classical Chine thought， and is difficult to translate by a single word.

Its most basic meaning is that of ”ritual” or "ceremony，” referring to all sorts of rituals that permeated

early East Asian society. The most significant of cour, would be wedding ceremonies and funerals.

But there were also various agricultural rituals， coming—of-age rituals, coronations, etc。 Confucius

was an expert on the proper handling of all sorts of rituals.

The term li however， has， in the Analects, a much broader meaning than ritual， since it can also

refer to the many smaller ”ritualized” behavior patterns involved in day-to—day human interactions。

This would include proper speech and body language according to status， age， x-—thus, ”manners。” In this n， li means any action proper， or appropriate to the situation. For

instance, in the modern context， I might go up and slap my friend on the back. But I certainly

wouldn't to that to my professor, or to a student in my class whom I don't know very well。

In the Analects, li, as a general category， is clearly defined in a relationship with jen， where jen is

the inner, substantial goodness of the human being, and li is the functioning of jen in the manifest

world. That is to say， li is Righteousness, filial piety, fraternal respect， familial affection, etc.

1:13 Tzu Yu said： "When your own trustworthiness is clo to Righteousness， your words can be

followed。 When your show of respect is according to propriety, you will be far from shame and

disgrace。 If you have genuine affection within your family， you can become an ancestor。"

［Comment］ Righteousness with a capital ”R” is my rendering of the Chine i, which has also

commonly been translated as righteousness。 Although not quite as esntial a concept as jen， it is a

strongly internalized human capacity. Being attuned to Righteousness allows people to do the proper

thing in the proper situation， to give each person， place and thing its proper due。

1：14 Confucius said： "When the Superior Man eats he does not try to stuff himlf; at rest he does

not ek perfect comfort; he is diligent in his work and careful in speech。 He avails himlf to people

of the Tao and thereby corrects himlf. This is the kind of person of whom you can say， 'he loves

learning.'”

1：15 Tzu Kung asked： "What do you think of a poor man who doesn't grovel or a rich man who

isn’t proud？” Confucius said， "They are good, but not as good as a poor man who is satisfied and a

rich man who loves propriety。" Tzu Kung said, "The Book of Odes says：

Like cutting and filing,

Grinding and polishing This simile for the process of lf—perfection is found often in Confucian

texts。

Is this what you are talking about?" Confucius said， "Ah, now I can begin to discuss the Book of

Odes with Tz’u。 I give him a hint and he gets the whole point。"

1:16 Confucius said: "I am not bothered by the fact that I am unknown。 I am bothered when I do not

know others。”