| | 三年問: |
凡生天地之間者，有血氣之屬必有知，有知之屬莫不知愛其類；今是大鳥獸，則失喪其群匹，越月逾時焉，則必反巡，過其故鄉，翔回焉，鳴號焉，蹢躅焉，踟躕焉，然後乃能去之；小者至於燕雀，猶有啁噍之頃焉，然後乃能去之；故有血氣之屬者，莫知於人，故人於其親也，至死不窮。 |
| San Nian Wen: |
All living creatures between heaven and earth, being endowed with blood and breath, have a certain amount of knowledge. Possessing that amount of knowledge, there is not one of them but knows to love its species. Take the larger birds and beasts - when one of them has lost its mate, after a month or a season, it is sure to return and go about their old haunts. It turns round and round, utters its cries, now moves, now stops, and looks quite embarrassed and uncertain in its movements, before it can leave the place. Even the smaller birds, such as swallows and sparrows, chatter and cry for a little before they can leave the place. But among all creatures that have blood and breath, there is none which has intelligence equal to man; and hence the feeling of man on the death of his kindred remains unexhausted even till death. |
| | 三年問: |
將由夫患邪淫之人與，則彼朝死而夕忘之，然而從之，則是曾鳥獸之不若也，夫焉能相與群居而不亂乎？將由夫修飾之君子與，則三年之喪，二十五月而畢，若駟之過隙，然而遂之，則是無窮也。故先王焉為之立中制節，壹使足以成文理，則釋之矣。 |
| San Nian Wen: |
Will any one follow the example of those men who are under the influence of their depraved lusts? In that case, when a kinsman dies in the morning, he will forget him by the evening. But if we follow the course of such men, we shall find that they are not equal to the birds and beasts. How can they live with their kindred, and not fall into all disorders? Will he rather follow the example of the superior man who attends to all the methods by which the feeling of grief is set forth? In that case, the twenty-five months, after which the mourning of three years comes to an end, will seem to pass as quickly as a carriage drawn by four horses is whirled past a crevice. And if we continue to indulge the feeling, it will prove to be inexhaustible. Therefore the ancient kings determined the proper medium for mourning, and appointed its definite terms. As soon as it was sufficient for the elegant expression of the varied feeling, it was to be laid aside. |
