(1) If you don’t follow the rules, you won’t be able to form a circle. Mencius
Translation: Without compasses and rulers, squares and circles cannot be drawn correctly.
(2) Right, then you know the severity; degree, then you know the length. Only by weighing a translation can one know its importance; only by measuring it can one know its length.
(3) People do not do anything, and then they can do something. The translator must do something not to do before he can do something.
(4) Although there are things that are easy to grow in the world, if they are violent in one day and cold in ten days, nothing can survive. Translation Even if there is a plant that is the easiest to grow, if it is exposed to the sun for one day and then frozen for ten days, nothing will grow again.
(5) Those who advance sharply will retreat quickly. Translation: People who move forward too quickly will retreat too quickly.
(6) The organ of the heart is thinking, and if you think, you can get it, and if you don’t think, you can’t get it. Translation: The organ of the heart is responsible for thinking. Only by thinking can we obtain it, but without thinking we cannot obtain it.
(7) Born in sorrow and died in happiness. The translation survives due to sorrow and declines due to addiction to peace and happiness.
(8) Only benevolent people should be in high positions. Being unkind and holding a high position is spreading evil to others. Translation Only benevolent people with high moral standards should be in a dominant position. ?If an unkind person with low morals is in a dominant position, his evil will be spread to the masses. (9) If the emperor is unkind, he will not protect the world; if the princes are unkind, he will not protect the country; if the ministers and officials are unkind, they will not protect the ancestral temple; if the scholars and common people are unkind, they will not protect the four bodies. Translation: If the emperor is not benevolent, he cannot preserve his empire; if the princes are not benevolent, they cannot preserve their country; if ministers and officials are not benevolent, they cannot preserve their ancestral temples; if ordinary people are not benevolent, they cannot preserve their own bodies.
(10) If the king is benevolent, he will be invincible in the world. Translation: If the monarch of a country loves benevolence, there will be no rivals in the world.
(11) Save penalties, reduce taxes, and make farming easier (nòu). The translation reduces penalties and reduces taxes, so that people can cultivate deeply and carefully and get rid of filthy weeds early.
(12) The benevolent are invincible. Translation: A virtuous person is invincible in the world.
(13) For a five-acre house with mulberry trees, a person in his fifties can wear silk clothes. Chickens, dolphins, dogs, and pigs are all animals that have not lost their season. Those who are seventy years old can eat meat. If you don’t take away a hundred acres of land, then a family of one hundred people will not be hungry. I sincerely follow the teachings of Xiangxu, apply the meaning of filial piety and brotherhood, and award the white ones to live up to the road. Translation: If each family is given five acres of land for their house, and mulberry trees are planted around it, then people over fifty years old can wear silk cotton-padded jackets. Domestic animals such as chickens, dogs, and pigs have the power to raise and reproduce. Then, people over the age of seventy will have meat to eat. If the family gives him one hundred acres of land and does not hinder his production, the family of eight can have enough to eat. Run schools at all levels well and educate them repeatedly on the principles of filial piety and respect for brothers. Then the old people with gray hair and beards will have someone to do the work for them, and they will no longer have to walk on the road with things on their heads and shoulders.
(14) By changing the fields and reducing taxes, the people can become rich. Translation: Doing farming well and reducing taxes can make the people rich.
(15) If a king is benevolent, he will never be unkind; if a king is righteous, he will never be unjust; if he is upright, he will never be unrighteous. Translation: If the monarch is benevolent, no one will be unkind; if the monarch is righteous, no one will be unjust; if the monarch is upright, no one will be unjust.
(16) Those who enjoy the happiness of the people will also enjoy the happiness of the people; those who care about the worries of the people will also worry about the worries of the people. Translation: He who takes the happiness of the people as his own happiness, the people will also take the happiness of the king as his own happiness; he who takes the sorrow of the people as his own sorrow, the people will also take the sorrow of the king as their own sorrow.
(17) Benevolence brings honor, while unkindness brings disgrace. Translation: If the princes and ministers implement benevolent government, they will have glory; if they implement unbenevolent government, they will suffer humiliation.
(18) Those who have permanent property have perseverance, and those who do not have perseverance have no perseverance. If you don't have perseverance, you will do anything to ward off evil spirits. Translation Only those who have a certain amount of industrial income have certain moral concepts and codes of conduct. People who do not have a certain amount of industrial income will not have certain moral concepts and codes of conduct. ?If you don’t have certain moral concepts and codes of conduct, you will act randomly, violate laws and disciplines, and do anything.
(19) Fight for land and kill people to fill the fields; fight for cities and kill people to fill the city. This so-called taking advantage of the land and eating human flesh is a crime not punishable by death. Translation: Fighting for land, killing people everywhere; fighting for a city, killing people all over the city? This is leading the land to eat human flesh, and even the death penalty is not enough to atone for their sins.
(20) If the king regards his ministers as his hands and feet, then the ministers will regard him as his heart; if the king regards his ministers as dogs and horses, then his ministers will regard him as a countryman; if the king regards his ministers as earth and mustard, then his ministers will regard him as You are like a bandit. Translation: If the monarch regards his ministers as his own brothers and sisters, the ministers will regard the monarch as their confidant; if the monarch regards his ministers as cattle and horses, the ministers will regard the monarch as ordinary people they meet on the road; if the monarch regards his ministers as dirt or weeds, the ministers will Will regard the monarch as an enemy.
(21) Fish is also what I want, and bear paws are also what I want; you cannot have both, and you would give up fish and take bear paws.
Life is what I want, and righteousness is also what I want. You cannot have both, and you have to sacrifice life for righteousness. Translation: Fish is what I want, and bear paws are also what I want. (If) these two things cannot be obtained, I will abandon the fish and choose bear paws. Life is also something I want, and righteousness (truth, faith, justice, thoughts and actions that are beneficial to the public) is also something I want. (If) these two things cannot be obtained, I will give up life and choose righteousness.
(22) Old people, I am old, and people are old; young people, I am young, and people are young. Translation: Respect my elders, thus extending to respecting other people’s elders; caring for my own juniors,? thus extending to caring for other people’s juniors.
(23) Mencius said: The nature of water is not divided into east and west, nor is it divided into upper and lower? The goodness of human nature is like water flowing down. There is no bad person, and there is no water that cannot flow. Today, if the water is stroking and leaping, it can be carried over the river; if it is stirred and moved, it can be carried up the mountain. Is this the nature of water? The momentum is just like that! People can do bad things, but their nature is still the same. Translation Mencius said: "The nature of water does not distinguish between east and west. Doesn't it distinguish between up and down? The goodness of human nature is just like water flowing downwards (it is inevitable). There is no unkind person, just like there is no unkind nature in water. It's the same as flowing downwards. Now let's talk about water (the other side). If you slap it hard, it can jump higher than a person's forehead; if you block it and make it whirlpool, it can stop on the mountain. How can this be the nature of water? This is really caused by external forces! People can be made to do bad things. This kind of behavior that goes against their good nature is the same as the behavior of letting water flow downwards against it. ”
(24) The weather is not as good as the right place, and the right place is not as good as the people. Translation: The fortune given by God is not as good as the geographical advantage, and the geographical advantage is not as good as the unity and cooperation of people.
(25) It is not benevolent to kill a person without sin, and it is not righteous to take something that does not exist. Translation: It is unkind to kill an innocent person; it is unjust to take something that is not yours.
(26) Those who rebel against benevolence are called "thieves", and those who rebel against righteousness are called "crippling". Those who are crippled thieves are called "one husband". I have heard of the execution of one husband, Zhou, but I have not heard of regicide. Translation: People who destroy benevolence are called "thieves", and people who destroy morality are called "cruel". We call such a person a "lonely husband". I only heard that King Wu of Zhou killed the only man Yin Zhou, but I never heard that he committed regicide with his ministers.
(27) The wise are in office and the capable are in office. The translation places virtuous people in appropriate official positions and talented people in certain positions.
(28) Respect the virtuous and enable the capable, and the heroes will reign. Translation: Respect moral people, use capable people, and outstanding figures have official positions.
(29) The people are the most important, the country is the second most important, and the king is the least important. Translation: The people are the most important, the God of Earth and Valley, who represents the country, is second, and the monarch is the least important.
(30) A city of three miles and a country of seven miles can be surrounded and attacked without victory. If you attack Huhuan, you will definitely get the right time. However, if you don't win, the right time is not as good as the right place. Translation: If we surround the inner city of three li and the outer city of seven li and attack it, we will definitely have the right opportunity to attack it. However, we cannot win in this way. This is because the favorable weather is not as good as the favorable terrain.
(31) The city is not too high, the pond is not not deep, the military revolution is not not strong and powerful, and the rice and millet are not not abundant. If we leave them, the geographical advantage is not as good as the people. Translation: The city wall is not too high, the moat is not too deep, the weapons and armor are not too sharp, and the food supply is not insufficient. If you abandon the city and flee, this means that the favorable terrain is not as good as the unity of the people.
(32) Therefore, it is said: The people of the region do not rely on the boundaries of the territory, the country does not rely on the dangers of mountains and rivers, and the power of the world does not rely on the benefits of military revolution. Those who have attained the truth will receive much help, while those who have lost the truth will receive little help. When there is little help, relatives will be there; when there is much help, the world will follow. If the people of the world are in obedience, they will attack their relatives. Therefore, if a gentleman does not fight, he will definitely win in battle. The translation therefore says: The common people cannot be restrained by sealing the borders, the country cannot be preserved by the dangers of mountains and rivers, and the rise of prestige in the world cannot be achieved by sharp weapons. People with moral integrity will get more help, while people who lose morality will get less help. When there are too few people to help, even relatives will rebel; when there are too many people to help, everyone in the world will obey. Use the power that everyone in the world obeys to attack those who will even betray their relatives. Therefore, if you don't fight, you will be defeated. If you fight, you will win. There is no doubt about it.
(33) Mencius said: "When Heaven assigns a great responsibility to this person, he must first strain his mind, strain his muscles and bones, starve his skin, deplete his body, and disturb his actions. Therefore, Explanation: When God places a great responsibility on such a person, it must first cause pain to his heart, fatigue his muscles and bones, make him suffer from hunger, and cause his skin to become thin and emaciated. He suffers from poverty, which makes what he does confusing and always unsatisfactory. Through these things, it makes his heart alert, strengthens his character, and increases the talents he does not possess.
Being in adversity not only "works your muscles and bones, starves your body and skin", but also experiences a different physical experience from that in the "hothouse"; it also "suffers your mind and will", and mentally experiences and "good times" Different kinds of tempering: "emptying his body", leaving him with nothing to rely on; "walking and messing up his actions", making him at a loss and at a loss as to what to do; all these processes will achieve a result, which is also the fundamental way to get out of adversity: " Therefore, "tempt one's heart and endure one's nature" and "enhance what one cannot do". One's own temperament, wisdom and abilities will be tempered and improved in the process. This process may only be a moment, or it may be difficult and long. During this period, we often feel at a loss, lose courage and confidence, and lose the direction of progress.