经典学习

At fifteen I set my heart upon learning. 

At thirty, I took my stand. / I had planted my feet firm upon the ground. 

At forty, I no longer suffered from perplexities./ I came to be free from doubts

At fifty, I knew what were the biddings of Heaven. /understood the Decree of Heaven

吾十有五而志于学，三十而立，四十而不惑，五十而知天命，

At sixty, I heard them with docile ear. /my ear was atuned

At seventy, I could follow the dictates of my own heart;

for what I desired no longer overstepped the boundaries of right. / I followed my heart’s desire without overstepping the line.

六十而耳顺，七十而从心所欲，不逾矩。

Do not do to others what you would not want others to do to you

己所不欲勿施于人

Do not do to others what you don't want to be done to you

When you know a thing, say that you know it; When you do not know a thing, admit you do not know it. That is wisdom.

   Confucius(557-479 B.C.E) The Moral Way

    Lao Tzu(6^th century B.C.E) The Way of Dao

天下皆知美之为美，斯恶已。皆知善之为善，斯不善已。

故有无相生，难易相成，长短相形，高下相倾，音声相和，前后相随。 

When people see some things as beautiful, other things become ugly. When people see some things as good, other things become bad.

The ultimate good is like water.

Water  benefits all things without competing with them.

上善若水，水善利万物而不争，处众人之所恶(wù)，故几于道。

   The best people are like water, which benefits all things and does not compete with them. It stays in lowly places that others reject. This is why it is so similar to the Way.

  上善若水，水善利万物而不争，处众人之所恶(wù)，故几于道。

   最完美最高境界，就像水的品性一样，泽被万物而不争名利。处于众人所不注意的地方或者细微的地方，所以是最接近道的。水有滋养万物的德行，它使万物得到它的利益，而不与万物发生矛盾、冲突，人生之道，莫过于此。

大学 The way of great learning

  consists in manifesting one's bright virtue, consists in loving the people,

   consists in stopping in perfect goodness.

大學之道在明明德，在親民，在止於至善。

The ancients who wanted to manifest their bright virtue to all in the world

    first  governed well their own states.

Wanting to govern well their states,

    they first harmonized their own clans.

古之欲明明德於天下者、先治其國。欲治其國者先齊其家。 

Wanting to harmonize their own clan, they first cultivated themselves.

Wanting to cultivate themselves, they first corrected their minds.

Wanting to correct their minds, they first made their wills sincere.

Wanting to make their wills sincere, they first extended their knowledge.

修身 正心 诚意

欲齊其家者先脩其身,

欲脩其身者先正其心。

欲正其心者先誠其意,

欲誠其意者先致其知。 

Wanting to harmonize their own clan, they first cultivated themselves.

Wanting to cultivate themselves, they first corrected their minds.

Wanting to correct their minds, they first made their wills sincere.

Wanting to make their wills sincere, they first extended their knowledge.

Extension of knowledge consists of the investigation of things.

致知在格物。

When things are investigated, knowledge is extended.

When knowledge is extended, the will becomes sincere.

物格而后知至。知至而后意誠。 

When the will is sincere, the mind is correct.

When the mind is correct, the self is cultivated.

意誠而后心正，心正而后身脩。 

When the self is cultivated, the clan is harmonized. 

When the clan is harmonized, the country is well governed.

When the country is well governed, there will be peace throughout the land.

身脩而后家齊，家齊而后國治，國治而后天下平。

   “学而时习之，不亦说乎”

1. “To learn and at due times to repeat what one has learnt, is that not after all a pleasure?” --- by Arthur Waley

 2. “Is it not pleasant to learn with a constant perseverance and application?”  ---- by James Legge 

 3. “Isn't it a pleasure to study and practice what you have learned?”

                           ----- by Charles Muller

4. “Is it not a pleasure to learn and practice from time to time what is learned?” in “100 Sayings of Confucius”,  丁往道编译，中国对外翻译出版公司，1999

5. “To study, and when the occasion arises to put what one has learned into practice ------- is that not deeply satisfying?”

• 语言与文化

“学而时习之，不亦说乎”

“学问是要大家随时练习它，不也高兴吗？”（南怀瑾《论语别裁》）

“学了，然后按一定的时间去实习它，不也高兴吗？”

This statement looks so simple that everyone has good reasons to think that he himself understands it thoroughly and completely.

The fact is that their interpretations of the statement differ vastly from each other.

 It can be seen that even these so-called experts do not agree with each other on the understanding and interpretation of it.