Quanxue — Exhortation to Learning勸學篇
君子曰：學不可以已。靑，取之於藍而靑於藍；冰，水爲之而寒於水。木直中繩，輮以爲輪，其曲中規，雖有槁曓，不復挺者，輮使之然也。故木受繩則直，金就礪則利，君子博學而日參省乎己，則知明而行無過矣。故不登髙山，不知天之髙也；不臨深谿，不知地之厚也；不聞先王之遺言，不知學問之大也。于、越、夷、貉之子，生而同聲，長而異俗，教使之然也。《詩》曰：「嗟爾君子，無恆安息。靖共爾位，好是正直。神之聽之，介爾景福。」神莫大於化道，福莫長於無禍。吾嘗終日而思矣，不如須臾之所學也，吾嘗跂而望矣，不如登髙之博見也。登髙而招，臂非加長也，而見者遠；順風而呼，聲非加疾也，而聞者彰。假輿馬者，非利足也，而致千里；假舟檝者，非能水也，而絶江河。君子生非異也，善假於物也。南方有鳥焉，名曰蒙鳩，以羽爲巣而編之以髮，繫之葦苕，風至苕折，卵破子死。巣非不完也，所繫者然也。西方有木焉，名曰射干，莖長四寸，生於髙山之上，而臨百仞之淵，木莖非能長也，所立者然也。蓬生麻中，不扶而直。蘭槐之根是爲芷。其漸之滫，君子不近，庶人不服，其質非不美也，所漸者然也。故君子居必擇鄕，遊必就士，所以防邪僻而近中正也。物類之起，必有所始。榮辱之來，必象其德。肉腐出蟲，魚枯生蠹。怠慢忘身，禍災乃作。强自取柱，柔自取束。邪穢在身，怨之所構。施薪若一，火就燥也；平地若一，水就濕也。草木疇生，禽獸羣焉，物各從其類也。是故質的張而弓矢至焉，林木茂而斧斤至焉，樹成蔭而衆鳥息焉，醯酸而蜹聚焉。故言有召禍也，行有招辱也，君子愼其所立乎！
The gentleman said this. Learning must not stop.
Blue dye is taken from the indigo plant, yet it is bluer than indigo. Ice is made of water, yet it is colder than water.
A piece of wood may be straight enough to meet the marking line, but bend it into a wheel and its curve meets the compass. Even when it dries in the sun it never straightens again. The bending made it so.
So wood that takes the marking line becomes straight, and metal that goes to the whetstone becomes sharp. When the gentleman learns widely and examines himself three times a day, his knowing is clear and his conduct is without fault.
So if you do not climb a high mountain, you do not know how high heaven is. If you do not stand over a deep valley, you do not know how thick the earth is. If you do not hear the words left by the former kings, you do not know how great learning is.
The children of Yu (于) and Yue and Yi (夷) and Mo (貉) cry with the same voice when they are born, but grow up with different customs. Teaching made it so.
The Odes say, "Ah, you gentleman, do not always seek your ease. Keep your place with care and love what is upright and straight. The spirits will hear it and give you great blessing."
Nothing is more spiritlike than melting into the way. No blessing lasts longer than having no disaster.
I once thought all day long, and it was not as good as a moment of learning. I once stood on tiptoe and looked out, and it was not as good as climbing high and seeing widely.
When you climb high and wave, your arm is no longer than before, yet those who see you see from far off. When you call with the wind, your voice is no faster than before, yet those who hear you hear it clearly. A man who borrows a cart and horses is not swift of foot, yet he reaches a thousand li. A man who borrows a boat and oars cannot swim, yet he crosses the Jiang and the He. The gentleman is not born different. He is good at borrowing things.
In the south there is a bird called the Mengjiu (蒙鳩). It makes its nest of feathers, weaves it with hair, and ties it to the tip of a reed. When the wind comes the reed snaps, the eggs break, and the young die. The nest was not unsound. The place it was tied to made it so.
In the west there is a tree called Shegan (射干). Its stem is four inches long, but it grows on top of a high mountain and looks down on a pool a hundred fathoms deep. The stem is not able to be long. The place where it stands made it so.
When mugwort grows in a hemp field, it stands straight without being propped. The root of the Lanhuai (蘭槐) is called zhi (芷). Soak it in foul water and the gentleman will not go near it and common people will not wear it. Its substance is not unlovely. What it was soaked in made it so.
So the gentleman chooses his village when he settles and goes to scholars when he travels. This is how he keeps off what is crooked and biased and stays near what is centered and upright.
When a kind of thing arises, there is always something it starts from. When honor or disgrace comes, it always takes after a man's virtue. Rotting meat breeds worms. A dried fish breeds grubs. When a man is idle and slack and forgets himself, disaster then arises.
What is hard brings the pillar upon itself. What is soft brings binding upon itself. When crookedness and filth are in a man, resentment is woven around him.
Spread the firewood out evenly, and the fire still goes to what is dry. Level the ground evenly, and the water still goes to what is wet. Grasses and trees grow in stands and birds and beasts live in herds. Each thing follows its own kind.
So when the target is spread out, the bow and arrows arrive. When the trees of the forest are thick, the axe arrives. When a tree makes shade, many birds rest in it. When vinegar turns sour, the gnats gather. So there are words that call down disaster and deeds that call down disgrace. Let the gentleman be careful where he takes his stand.
積土成山，風雨興焉；積水成淵，蛟龍生焉；積善成德，而神明自得，聖心備焉。故不積蹞歩，無以致千里；不積小流，無以成江海。騏驥一躍，不能十歩；駑馬十駕，功在不舍。鍥而舍之，朽木不折；鍥而不舍，金石可鏤。螾無爪牙之利，筋骨之强，上食埃土，下飲黃泉，用心一也。蟹六跪而二螯，非虵蟺之穴無可寄託者，用心躁也。是故無冥冥之志者無昭昭之明，無惛惛之事者無赫赫之功。行衢道者不至，事兩君者不容。目不能兩視而明，耳不能兩聽而聰。螣蛇無足而飛，梧鼠五技而窮。《詩》曰：「尸鳩在桑，其子七兮。淑人君子，其儀一兮。其儀一兮，心如結兮。」故君子結於一也。
When earth piles up into a mountain, wind and rain arise from it. When water piles up into a deep pool, a jiao dragon is born in it. When good deeds pile up into virtue, spiritlike clarity comes of itself and a sage's heart is complete.
So if you do not pile up half steps, you have no way to reach a thousand li. If you do not pile up small streams, you have no way to make rivers and seas.
A thoroughbred cannot cover ten paces in one leap, and a poor horse that goes on for ten days has its merit in not letting go. Carve and then let go, and you cannot break even rotten wood. Carve and do not let go, and even metal and stone can be cut through.
The earthworm has no sharp claws or teeth and no strong sinews or bones, yet it eats the dry earth above and drinks from the yellow spring below, because its mind is used as one. The crab has six legs and two claws, yet without the hole of a snake or an eel it has nowhere to put itself, because its mind is used restlessly.
So a man with no deep and hidden purpose has no bright clarity, and a man who does no quiet and steady work has no shining merit. A man who walks a forked road does not arrive. A man who serves two rulers is not accepted. The eye cannot look at two things and see clearly. The ear cannot listen to two things and hear clearly. The tengshe (螣蛇) has no feet and yet it flies. The flying squirrel (鼫鼠) has five skills and yet it comes to a stop.
The Odes say, "The cuckoo is in the mulberry tree, and her young are seven. The good man, the gentleman, his bearing is one. His bearing is one, and his heart is as if tied." So the gentleman is tied to one thing.
昔者瓠巴鼓瑟而流魚出聽，伯牙鼓琴而六馬仰秣。故聲無小而不聞，行無隱而不形；玉在山而草木潤，淵生珠而崖不枯。爲善不積邪，安有不聞者乎？學惡乎始？惡乎終？曰：其數則始乎誦經，終乎讀禮；其義則始乎爲士，終乎爲聖人。眞積力久則入，學至乎没而後止也。故學數有終，若其義則不可須臾舍也。爲之，人也；舍之，禽獸也。故《書》者，政事之紀也；《詩》者，中聲之所止也；《禮》者，法之大分，類之綱紀也。故學至乎《禮》而止矣。夫是之謂道德之極。《禮》之敬文也，《樂》之中和也，《詩》、《書》之博也，《春秋》之微也，在天地之間者畢矣。君子之學也，入乎耳，箸乎心，布乎四體，形乎動静，端而言，蝡而動，一可以爲法則。小人之學也，入乎耳，出乎口。口耳之間則四寸耳，曷足以美七尺之軀哉！古之學者爲己，今之學者爲人。君子之學也，以美其身；小人之學也，以爲禽犢。故不問而告謂之傲，問一而告二謂之囋。傲、非也；囋，非也；君子如嚮矣。學莫便乎近其人。《禮》、《樂》法而不説，《詩》、《書》故而不切，《春秋》約而不速。方其人之習君子之説，則尊以徧矣，周於世矣。故曰學莫便乎近其人。學之經莫速乎好其人，隆禮次之。上不能好其人，下不能隆禮，安特將學雜識志，順《詩》、《書》而已耳，則末世窮年，不免爲陋儒而已。將原先王，本仁義，則禮正其經緯蹊徑也。若挈裘領，詘五指而頓之，順者不可勝數也。不道禮憲，以《詩》、《書》爲之，譬之猶以指測河也，以戈舂黍也，以錐飡壺也，不可以得之矣。故隆禮，雖未明，法士也；不隆禮，雖察辯，散儒也。問楛者勿告也，告楛者勿問也，説楛者勿聽也，有争氣者勿與辯也。故必由其道至，然後接之，非其道則避之。故禮恭而後可與言道之方，辭順而後可與言道之理，色從而後可與言道之致。故未可與言而言謂之傲，可與言而不言謂之隱，不觀氣色而言謂之瞽。故君子不傲，不隱，不瞽，謹順其身。《詩》曰：「匪交匪舒，天子所予。」此之謂也。
Long ago Hu Ba (瓠巴) played his zither and the fish in the water came out to listen. Bo Ya played his lute and six horses raised their heads from the fodder.
So no sound is so small that it is not heard, and no deed is so hidden that it does not show. When jade is in the mountain, the grass and trees are glossy. When a pearl grows in a pool, its bank is never dry. Is it that a man does good and does not pile it up? How could there be anything that goes unheard?
Where does learning begin? Where does it end? The answer is this. In its order it begins with reciting the classics (經) and ends with reading the Rites (禮). In its meaning it begins with becoming a scholar and ends with becoming a sage.
Pile it up truly and work at it long, and you enter in. Learning stops only after death. So in its order learning has an end, but in its meaning it cannot be set down for a moment. To do it is to be a man. To set it down is to be a bird or a beast.
So the Documents are the guiding cord of government affairs. The Odes are where fitting sound comes to rest. The Rites are the great division of law and the guiding cord of all kinds. So learning comes to rest when it reaches the Rites. This is called the utmost of the way and virtue.
The reverence and form of the Rites, the measure and harmony of the Music, the breadth of the Odes and the Documents, the subtlety of the Spring and Autumn: all that lies between heaven and earth is complete in these.
The gentleman's learning enters by the ear, settles in the heart, spreads through the whole body, and shows in movement and in stillness. He speaks quietly and he stirs a little, and all of it can be taken as a model. The small man's learning enters by the ear and comes out at the mouth. Between mouth and ear is only four inches. How is that enough to make a body seven feet tall beautiful?
The learners of old worked for themselves. The learners of today work for others. The gentleman's learning makes his own person beautiful. The small man's learning is offered up like a beast or a calf.
So telling a man what he did not ask is called being noisy, and telling him two things when he asked one is called nagging. Being noisy is wrong. Nagging is wrong. The gentleman is like an echo.
In learning nothing is so easy as drawing near the right man. The Rites and the Music give the law but do not explain it. The Odes and the Documents record old matters but do not touch a man closely. The Spring and Autumn is brief but not quick. When such a man practices the words of the gentleman, he is honored and reaches everywhere and goes through all the affairs of the age. So it is said that in learning nothing is so easy as drawing near the right man.
For the great cord of learning nothing is faster than loving the right man, and honoring ritual comes next. If above you cannot love that man and below you cannot honor ritual, you will only learn scattered records and follow the Odes and the Documents. Then in a late age, to the end of your years, you will not escape being a narrow scholar.
If you would go back to the former kings and take benevolence and rightness as your root, then ritual is the warp and weft and the path itself. It is like taking a fur coat by the collar, bending five fingers and shaking it. What follows cannot be counted.
To leave the rules of ritual unspoken and to use the Odes and the Documents in their place is like measuring a river with a finger, like pounding millet with a spear, like eating from a jar with an awl. You cannot get it that way.
So a man who honors ritual is a scholar with law in him, even if he is not yet clear. A man who does not honor ritual is a scattered scholar, even if he examines and argues well.
Do not answer a man who asks about coarse things. Do not ask a man who tells of coarse things. Do not listen to a man who talks of coarse things. Do not argue with a man who has a quarrelsome air. So wait until a man comes by the right way, and then meet him. If it is not the right way, keep away from him.
So only when a man's manner is respectful can you speak with him of the direction of the way. Only when his words are docile can you speak with him of the reason of the way. Only when his face follows can you speak with him of the utmost of the way.
So to speak when you cannot yet speak with a man is called being noisy. Not to speak when you can speak with him is called hiding. To speak without watching his air and face is called being blind. So the gentleman is not noisy, does not hide, and is not blind. He carefully makes his own person follow.
The Odes say, "In his dealings he is neither idle nor slack. This is what the Son of Heaven grants." This is what is meant.
百發失一，不足謂善射；千里蹞歩不至，不足謂善御；倫類不通，仁義不一，不足謂善學。學也者，固學一之也。一出焉，一入焉，涂巷之人也。其善者少，不善者多，桀、紂、盜跖也。全之盡之，然後學者也。君子知夫不全不粹之不足以爲美也，故誦數以貫之，思索以通之，爲其人以處之，除其害者以持養之，使目非是無欲見也，使耳非是無欲聞也，使口非是無欲言也，使心非是無欲慮也。及至其致好之也，目好之五色，耳好之五聲，口好之五味，心利之有天下。是故權利不能傾也，羣衆不能移也，天下不能蕩也。生乎由是，死乎由是，夫是之謂德操。德操然後能定，能定然後能應，能定能應，夫是之謂成人。天見其明，地見其光，君子貴其全也。
To shoot a hundred times and miss once is not enough to be called good at archery. To fall half a step short of a thousand li is not enough to be called good at driving. To fail to go through the kinds and classes, and to be not one in benevolence and rightness, is not enough to be called good at learning.
Learning is by its nature learning to be one. One moment out and one moment in is a man of the streets. When the good in him is little and the bad is much, that is Jie and King Zhou (紂) and Robber Zhi (盜跖). Only when a man makes it whole and carries it through is he a learner.
The gentleman knows that what is not whole and not pure is not enough to be beautiful. So he recites and counts it over to thread it through, thinks and searches to go through it, becomes the right man in order to dwell in it, and takes away what harms it in order to hold it and nourish it. He makes his eyes want to see nothing but this. He makes his ears want to hear nothing but this. He makes his mouth want to speak of nothing but this. He makes his heart want to think of nothing but this.
When he comes to love it utterly, his eyes love it more than the five colors, his ears love it more than the five sounds, his mouth loves it more than the five tastes, and his heart holds it more profitable than possessing all under heaven.
So power and profit cannot tip him. The crowd cannot move him. All under heaven cannot shake him. Living, he goes by this. Dying, he goes by this. This is called holding fast to virtue.
Only after holding fast to virtue can a man be settled. Only after being settled can he respond. To be settled and able to respond is what is called a complete man.
Heaven shows its brightness. Earth shows its radiance. The gentleman prizes his own wholeness.