English
French
Arabic
Bulgarian
Czech
Danish
German
Greek
Spanish
Finnish
Hungarian
Indonesian
Italian
Hebrew
Japanese
Korean
Dutch
Polish
Portuguese, International
Romanian
Russian
Slovak
Swedish
Thai
Turkish
Ukrainian
朝，与下大夫言，侃侃如也，与上大夫言，唁唁如也。君子，椒错如也，与与如也。
君召使摈，色勃如也，足攫如也。揖所与立，左右手，衣前后，谵如也。趋进，翼如也。宾退，必复命，曰：“宾不顾矣。”
入公门，鞠躬如也，如不容。立不中门，行不履阈。过位，色勃如也，足攫如也，其言似不足者。摄齐升堂，鞠躬如也，屏气似不息者。出，降一等，逞颜色，怡怡如也。没阶趋，翼如也，复其位，椒措如也。
执圭，鞠躬如也，如不胜。上如揖，下如授，勃如战色，足缩缩，如有循。享礼，有容色。私觌，愉愉如也。
君子不以绀緅饰，红紫不以为亵服。当暑，絺绤裕，必表而出之。缁衣羔裘，素衣麑裘，黄衣狐裘。亵裘长，短右袂。必有寝衣，长一身有半。狐貉之厚以居。去丧无所不佩。非帷裳，必杀之。羔裘玄冠不以吊。吉月，必朝服而朝。
齐，必有明衣。齐必变食，居必迁坐。
食不厌精，脍不厌细。食馁而谒，鱼馁而肉败，不食。色恶，不食。失饪，不食。不时，不食。割不正，不食。不得其酱，不食。肉虽多，不使胜食气。惟酒无量，不及乱。沽酒市脯不食。不撤姜食。不多食。祭于公，不宿肉。祭肉，不出三日，出三日，不食之矣。食不语，寝不言。虽疏食菜羹瓜祭，必齐如也。
席不正，不坐。
乡人饮酒，杖者出，斯出矣。乡人傩，朝服而立于阼阶。
问人于他邦，再拜而送之。康子馈药，拜而受之。曰：“丘未达，不敢尝。”
厩焚，子退朝，曰：“伤人乎？”不问马。
君赐食，必正席先尝之。君赐腥，必熟而荐之。君赐生，必畜之。伺食于君，君祭，先饭。疾，君视之，东首，加朝服拖绅。君命召，不俟驾行矣。
入太庙，每事问。
朋友死，无所归，曰：“于我殡。”朋友之馈，虽车马，非祭肉，不拜。
寝不尸，居不容。见齐衰者，虽狎必变。见冕者与瞽者，虽亵必以貌。凶服者式之，式负版者。有盛馔，必变色而作。迅雷风烈，必变。
升车，必正立执绥。车中，不内顾，不疾言，不亲指。
色斯举矣，翔而后集。曰：“山梁雌雉，时哉时哉！”子路共之，三嗅而作。
X.1. Confucius, in the village where his family lived, was very simple; he seemed unable to speak. In the ancestral temple and at the ruler's court, he spoke clearly, but with respectful attention.
X.2. In the ruler's palace, he spoke to subordinates firmly and straightforwardly, to superiors with affability and sincerity. In the presence of the ruler, he showed a reverence that was almost fear, a noble solemnity.
X.3. When charged by the ruler to receive guests, his facial expression seemed changed and his gait awkward. To greet the guests upon arrival, he clasped his hands, turning only his clasped hands to the right and left, his robe remained properly fitted front and back. When introducing the guests, he walked quickly, holding his arms slightly extended, like a bird's wings. After a guest's departure, he never failed to inform the ruler. He would say: "The guest no longer looks back."
X.4. Upon entering the palace gate, he bent as if the door were too low to pass through. He did not stand in the middle of the entrance; while walking, he avoided stepping on the threshold. When passing by the ruler's seat, his facial expression seemed changed and his gait awkward; words seemed to fail him. He ascended to the hall, holding his robe lifted, with his body bent, and holding his breath as if he could not breathe. Upon leaving, as soon as he had descended the first step, his face resumed its usual expression; he seemed affable and cheerful. Upon reaching the bottom of the steps, he quickened his pace, like a bird spreading its wings. When returning to his place, he seemed to feel reverent awe.
X.5. He held his ruler's tablet, his body inclined, as if he lacked the strength to support it; he raised it as if he had bowed, that is, to head height; he lowered it as if he had offered an object, that is, to chest height. He looked like a man who trembled in fear. He barely lifted his feet while walking, as if he were trying to follow someone's footprints. When presenting gifts from his ruler to a foreign ruler, he had a gracious and joyful demeanor. When presenting his own gifts during a private visit, he was even more affable.
X.6. This great sage did not wear a collar with a dark blue border, nor a collar with a dark red border. He did not use for his ordinary clothes bright red or purple. In the summer heat, under a loose hemp robe, he wore another robe. In winter, he wore a black robe over a robe lined with black lambskin, or a white robe over a robe lined with white deer skin, or a yellow robe over a robe lined with yellow fox fur. The fur-lined robe he usually wore was long, but the right sleeve was shorter than the left. Thick fur garments of fox or sables served him at home. When not in mourning, he always wore various items hanging from his belt. As for the robe that came down from his waist to his feet, the one he wore at court or in temples had folds at the waist; for others, the fabric was twice as narrow at the waist as at the lower part. He did not wear his lambskin-lined robe or black cap when going to mourn the dead. On the first day of the month, he did not fail to put on his court clothes and go to greet his ruler.
X.7. When observing abstinence, he wore a plain linen robe reserved for days of purification. At night, he rested wrapped in a garment that was one and a half times his body length. He changed his diet and living quarters.
X.8. Confucius liked his congee made from very pure rice, and his minced meat made very finely. He did not eat congee that was moldy and spoiled, nor fish or meat that had begun to rot. He did not eat food that had lost its normal color or smell. He did not eat food that was not cooked properly, nor fruit that was not ripe enough. He did not eat what had not been cut in a regular way, nor what had not been seasoned with the proper sauce.
X.9. He did not sit on a mat that was not placed according to the rules.
X.10. When he had participated in a gathering where the villagers had drunk together, he left the hall after the elderly with canes. When the villagers made supplications to ward off pestilential diseases, he stood in court clothes at the foot of the steps, on the eastern side of the hall.
X.11. When sending greetings to a friend in a foreign state, he made two bows, then escorted the messenger to the door. Kangzi having sent him a remedy as a gift, the philosopher bowed, accepted the gift, and said: "I do not know this remedy; I dare not take it."
X.12. His stable having been burned down, Confucius, upon returning from the palace, said: "Has anyone been injured by the fire?" He did not ask about the horses.
X.13. When the ruler sent him a fully prepared dish, he tasted it on a properly arranged mat. When the ruler sent him raw meat, he cooked it and offered it to the ancestors. When the ruler gave him a live animal, he raised it. When he ate at the palace beside the ruler, at the moment when the ruler offered food to the ancestors, Confucius tasted the food. When he was ill and the ruler announced his visit, he laid his head to the east, put on his court clothes, and spread the official belt over them. When the ruler summoned him to the palace, he went there on foot, without waiting for his carriage to be harnessed.
X.14. At the death of one of his friends, if there were no relatives to take care of the funeral, he said: "I will take charge of the funeral." When he received gifts from his friends, even if they were carriages and horses, he did not bow, unless it was meat offered to the ancestors.
X.15. When lying down to rest, he did not stretch out like a corpse. At home, his demeanor was not overly solemn. When he saw a man in mourning clothes, even if it was an intimate friend, he took on a compassionate expression. When he saw a man in official dress or a blind man, even in private, he did not fail to show him respect. When riding in a carriage, if he saw a man in deep mourning, he placed his hands on the carriage railing and bowed slightly. If he encountered a man carrying census tablets, he greeted him in the same manner. When a great feast was prepared for him, he rose and thanked the host. When thunder roared or the wind raged, his facial expression showed respect for the enraged Heaven.
X.16. When mounting a carriage, he held his body upright and took the handrail with his hand. In the carriage, he did not look back, did not speak hastily, and did not point with his finger.
X.17. When a bird sees a man with a threatening look, it flies away, circles, and then rests. Confucius said: "How well that quail on the bridge in the mountains knows when to fly and when to rest!" Zilu turned toward it to catch it, and it gave three cries and flew away.
Notes:
X.7. When Confucius prepared to make an offering, he observed the prescribed abstinence. After bathing, he wore (over his ordinary clothes) the purifying robe, to keep his body pure and free of any impurity. This robe was of linen. He took care to purify perfectly not only his heart and intentions, but also his body. During the period of abstinence, as it is not permitted to rest either naked or in the purifying robe, he had a special garment he wore at night over his ordinary clothes. This garment was one and a half times his body length, so that it could cover his feet. During the period of abstinence, he changed his usual diet. He did not drink fermented beverages nor eat strong-smelling vegetables, for fear that the smell would cloud his mind's clarity.
X.8. Minced meat is made from beef or mutton, or fish flesh, that is finely chopped. Pure rice nourishes a man, roughly prepared minced meat harms him. Confucius found these foods very good, but not that he absolutely wanted them as such. He ate nothing that could harm his health. He believed that meat should be cut in a regular way. When it was not, he did not eat it; he hated irregularity. Grains should form the main part of one's diet. Therefore, Confucius did not eat more meat than other foods. Fermented beverages serve to stimulate joy at gatherings. Confucius did not prescribe a fixed rule for himself, only he avoided drunkenness and did not go so far as to lose his wits. Ginger brightens the mind and dispels impurities. Confucius always had some on his table.
X.17. If a bird notices all the signs so well, should a man wander about without examination or deliberation?
