| Chinese Text Project |
《學行卷第一 - Learning and Practice》 | English translation: Jeffrey S. Bullock [?] | Library Resources |
| 1 | 學行卷第... : | 學，行之，上也；言之，次也；教人，又其次也。咸無焉，為眾人。 |
| 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 | 學行卷第... : | 或曰：「人羨久生，將以學也，可謂好學已乎？」曰：「未之好也。學不羨。」 |
| 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 | 學行卷第... : | 天之道，不在仲尼乎？仲尼駕說者也，不在茲儒乎？如將復駕其說，則莫若使諸儒金口而木舌。 |
| 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 | 學行卷第... : | 或曰：「學無益也，如質何？」曰：「未之思矣。夫有刀者礲諸，有玉者錯諸，不礲不錯，焉攸用？礲而錯諸，質在其中矣。否則輟。」 |
| 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 | 學行卷第... : | 螟蛉之子，殖而逢，蜾蠃祝之曰：「類我，類我。」久則肖之矣！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 | 學行卷第... : | 學以治之，思以精之，朋友以磨之，名譽以崇之，不倦以終之，可謂好學也已矣。 |
| 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 | 學行卷第... : | 孔子習周公者也，顏淵習孔子者也。羿、逄蒙分其弓，良舍其策，般投其斧而習諸，孰曰非也？或曰：「此名也，彼名也，處一焉而已矣。」曰：「川有瀆，山有嶽，高而且大者，眾人所不能踰也。」 |
| 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 | 學行卷第... : | 或問：「世言鑄金，金可鑄與？」曰：「吾聞覿君子者，問鑄人，不問鑄金。」或曰：「人可鑄與？」曰：「孔子鑄顏淵矣。」或人踧爾曰：「旨哉！問鑄金，得鑄人。」 |
| 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 | 學行卷第... : | 學者，所以修性也。視、聽、言、貌、思，性所有也。學則正，否則邪。 |
| 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 | 學行卷第... : | 師哉！師哉！桐子之命也。務學不如務求師。師者，人之模範也。模不模，範不範，為不少矣。 |
| 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 | 學行卷第... : | 一哄之市，不勝異意焉；一卷之書，不勝異說焉。一哄之市，必立之平。一卷之書，必立之師。 |
| 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 | 學行卷第... : | 習乎習，以習非之勝是也，況習是之勝非乎？於戲，學者審其是而已矣！或曰：「焉知是而習之？」曰：「視日月而知眾星之蔑也，仰聖人而知眾說之小也。」 |
| 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 | 學行卷第... : | 學之為王者事，其已久矣。堯、舜、禹、湯、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 | 學行卷第... : | 或問「進」。曰：「水。」或曰：「為其不舍晝夜與？」曰：「有是哉！滿而後漸者，其水乎？」或問「鴻漸」。曰：「非其往不往，非其居不居，漸猶水乎！」「請問木漸。」曰：「止於下而漸於上者，其木也哉！亦猶水而已矣！」 |
| 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 | 學行卷第... : | 吾未見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 | 學行卷第... : | 鳥獸觸其情者也，眾人則異乎！賢人則異眾人矣，聖人則異賢人矣。禮義之作，有以矣夫。人而不學，雖無憂，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 | 學行卷第... : | 學者，所以求為君子也。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 | 學行卷第... : | 睎驥之馬，亦驥之乘也。睎顏之人，亦顏之徒也。或曰：「顏徒易乎？」曰：「睎之則是。」 |
| 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 | 學行卷第... : | 曰：「昔顏嘗睎夫子矣，正考甫嘗睎尹吉甫矣，公子奚斯嘗睎尹吉甫矣。不欲睎則已矣，如欲睎、孰禦焉？」或曰：「書與經同，而世不尚，治之可乎？」曰：「可。」或人啞爾笑曰：「須以發策決抖。」曰：「大人之學也為道，小人之學也為利。子為道乎？為利乎？」或曰：「耕不獲，獵不饗，耕獵乎？」曰：「耕道而得道，獵德而得德，是獲、饗已。吾不睹參辰之相比也，是以君子貴遷善。遷善者，聖人之徒與？」百川學海而至於海，丘陵學山不至於山，是故惡夫畫也。 |
| 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 | 學行卷第... : | 頻頻之黨，甚於鸒斯，亦賊夫糧食而已矣。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 | 學行卷第... : | 或謂：「子之治產，不如丹圭之富。」曰：「吾聞先生相與言，則以仁與義；市井相與言，則以財與利。如其富，如其富。」或曰：「先生生無以養也，死無以葬也，如之何？」曰：「以其所以養，養之至也。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 | 學行卷第... : | 或曰：「猗頓之富以為孝，不亦至乎？顏其餒矣。」曰：「彼以其粗，顏以其精；彼以其回，顏以其貞。顏其劣乎？顏其劣乎？」 |
| 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 | 學行卷第... : | 或曰：「使我紆朱懷金，其樂不可量也！」曰：「紆朱懷金者之樂，不如顏氏子之樂。顏氏子之樂也內，紆朱懷金者之樂也外。」或曰：「請問屢空之內。」曰：「顏不孔，雖得天下，不足以為樂。」「然亦有苦乎？」曰：「顏苦孔之卓之至也。」或人瞿然曰：「茲苦也，祇其所以為樂也與？」 |
| 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 | 學行卷第... : | 曰：「有教立道，無止仲尼；有學術業，無止顏淵。」或曰：「立道，仲尼不可為思矣。術業，顏淵不可為力矣。」曰：「未之思也，孰禦焉？」 |
| 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