| | 曲禮上: |
人生十年曰幼，學。二十曰弱，冠。三十曰壯，有室。四十曰強，而仕。五十曰艾，服官政。六十曰耆，指使。七十曰老，而傳。八十、九十曰耄，七年曰悼，悼與耄雖有罪，不加刑焉。百年曰期，頤。 |
| Qu Li I: |
When one is ten years old, we call him a boy; he goes (out) to school. When he is twenty, we call him a youth; he is capped. When he is thirty, we say, 'He is at his maturity;' he has a wife. When he is forty, we say, 'He is in his vigour;' he is employed in office. When he is fifty, we say, 'He is getting grey;' he can discharge all the duties of an officer. When he is sixty, we say, 'He is getting old;' he gives directions and instructions. When he is seventy, we say, 'He is old;' he delegates his duties to others. At eighty or ninety, we say of him, 'He is very old.' When he is seven, we say that he is an object of pitying love. Such a child and one who is very old, though they may be chargeable with crime, are not subjected to punishment. At a hundred, he is called a centenarian, and has to be fed. |
| | 曲禮上: |
大夫七十而致事。若不得謝，則必賜之几杖，行役以婦人。適四方，乘安車。自稱曰老夫，於其國則稱名；越國而問焉，必告之以其制。 |
| Qu Li I: |
A great officer, when he is seventy, should resign (his charge of) affairs. If he be not allowed to resign, there must be given him a stool and staff. When travelling on service, he must have the attendance of his wife; and when going to any other state, he will ride in an easy carriage. (In another state) he will, style himself 'the old man;' in his own state, he will call himself by his name. When from another they ask (about his state), he must tell them of its (old) institutions. |
| | 曲禮上: |
夫為人子者：出必告，反必面，所游必有常，所習必有業。恒言不稱老。年長以倍則父事之，十年以長則兄事之，五年以長則肩隨之。群居五人，則長者必異席。 |
| Qu Li I: |
A son, when he is going abroad, must inform (his parents where he is going); when he returns, he must present himself before them. Where he travels must be in some fixed (region); what he engages in must be some (reputable) occupation. In ordinary conversation (with his parents), he does not use the term 'old' (with reference to them). He should serve one twice as old as himself as he serves his father, one ten years older than himself as an elder brother; with one five years older he should walk shoulder to shoulder, but (a little) behind him. When five are sitting together, the eldest must have a different mat (by himself). |
| | 曲禮上: |
名子者不以國，不以日月，不以隱疾，不以山川。男女異長。男子二十，冠而字。父前，子名；君前，臣名。女子許嫁，笄而字。 |
| Qu Li I: |
In giving a name to a son, it should not be that of a state, nor of a day or a month, nor of any hidden ailment, nor of a hill or river. Sons and daughters should have their (relative) ages distinguished. A son at twenty is capped, and receives his appellation. Before his father a son should be called by his name, and before his ruler a minister. When a daughter is promised in marriage, she assumes the hair-pin, and receives her appellation. |
| | 曲禮上: |
居喪之禮，毀瘠不形，視聽不衰。升降不由阼階，出入不當門隧。居喪之禮，頭有創則沐，身有瘍則浴，有疾則飲酒食肉，疾止復初。不勝喪，乃比於不慈不孝。五十不致毀，六十不毀，七十唯衰麻在身，飲酒食肉，處於內。 |
| Qu Li I: |
According to the rules for the period of mourning (for a father), (a son) should not emaciate himself till the bones appear, nor let his seeing and hearing be affected (by his privations). He should not go up to, nor descend from, the hail by the steps on the east (which his father used), nor go in or out by the path right opposite to the (centre of the) gate. According to the same rules, if he have a scab on his head, he should wash it; if he have a sore on his body, he should bathe it. If he be ill, he should drink spirits, and eat flesh, returning to his former (abstinence) when he is better. If he make himself unable to perform his mourning duties, that is like being unkind and unfilial. If he be fifty, he should not allow himself to be reduced (by his abstinence) very much; and, if he be sixty, not at all. At seventy, he will only wear the unhemmed dress of sackcloth, and will drink and eat flesh, and occupy (the usual apartment) inside (his house). |
| | 檀弓下: |
五十無車者，不越疆而吊人。 |
| Tan Gong II: |
Men of fifty, who had no carriage, did not make visits of condolence beyond the boundaries (of their states). |
| | 檀弓下: |
曾子曰：「晏子可謂知禮也已，恭敬之有焉。」有若曰：「晏子一狐裘三十年，遣車一乘，及墓而反；國君七個，遣車七乘；大夫五個，遣車五乘，晏子焉知禮？」曾子曰：「國無道，君子恥盈禮焉。國奢，則示之以儉；國儉，則示之以禮。」 |
| Tan Gong II: |
Zeng-zi said, 'Yan-zi may be said to have known well the rules of propriety;-he was humble and reverent! You Ruo said, 'Yan-zi wore the same (robe of) fox-fur for thirty years. (At the burial of his father), he had only one small carriage (with the offerings to be put into the grave); and he returned immediately from the grave (without showing the usual attentions to his guests). The ruler of a state has seven bundles of the offerings, and seven such small carriages for them; a Great officer has five bundles of the offerings, and five such small carriages. How can it be said that Yan-zi knew propriety?' Zeng-zi replied, 'When a state is not well governed, the superior man is ashamed to observe all ceremonies to the full. Where there is extravagance in the administration of the state, he shows an example of economy. If the administration be economical, he shows an example of (the strict) observance' of all rules.' |
| | 檀弓下: |
趙文子與叔譽觀乎九原。文子曰：「死者如可作也，吾誰與歸？」叔譽曰：「其陽處父乎？」文子曰：「行并植於晉國，不沒其身，其知不足稱也。」「其舅犯乎？」文子曰：「見利不顧其君，其仁不足稱也。我則隨武子乎，利其君不忘其身，謀其身不遺其友。」晉人謂文子知人。文子其中退然如不勝衣，其言吶吶然如不出諸其口；所舉於晉國管庫之士七十有餘家，生不交利，死不屬其子焉。 |
| Tan Gong II: |
Zhao Wen-zi and Shu-Yu were looking about them at the Nine Plains, when Wen-zi said, 'If these dead could arise, with whom would I associate myself?' Shu-Yu asked, 'Would it be with Yang Chu-fu?' 'He managed by his course,' was the reply, 'to concentrate in himself all the power of Jin, and yet he did not die a natural death. His wisdom does not deserve to be commended.' 'Would it be with uncle Fan?' Wen-zi said, 'When he saw gain in prospect, he did not think of his ruler; his virtue does not deserve to be commended. I think I would follow Wu-zi of Sui. While seeking the advantage of his ruler, he did not forget himself; and while consulting for his own advantage, he was not forgetful of his friends.' The people of Jin thought that Wen-zi knew men. He carried himself in a retiring way, as if he could not bear even his clothes. His speech was low and stuttering, as if he could not get his words out. The officers whom he advanced to responsible charges in the depositories of Jin were more than seventy. During his life, he had no contentions with any of them about gain, and when dying he required nothing from them for his sons. |
