《 DISCOURSES 1.8 》
NOBLE MAN 《君子》
NOBLE MAN
《君子》
If the noble man is not heavy, he will not be powerful;
his learning will then not be solid.
Hold primary loyalty and trustworthiness;
do not have friends who are not like yourself.
Make a mistake, then do not fear to correct yourself.– Kongzi 孔子
君子不重則不威，
學則不固。
主忠信，
無友不如己者。
過則勿憚改。
If the noble man is not heavy, he will not be powerful; his learning will then not be solid. Hold primary loyalty and trustworthiness; do not have friends who are not like yourself. Make a mistake, then do not fear to correct yourself.– Kongzi 孔子
君子不重則不威，學則不固。
主忠信，無友不如己者。過則勿憚改。
[currently under review]
If the noble man is not heavy, he will not be powerful; his learning will then not be solid.
Surly one who is frivolous on the outside cannot be firm on the inside? Thus if one is not heavy (houzhong 厚重, deep and substantial), he will not be powerful (weiyan 威嚴, imposing and awe-inspiring), and what is learned will not be on a solid foundation.
– Zhu Xi 朱熹
輕乎外者，必不能堅乎內，故不厚重則無威嚴，而所學亦不堅固也。
Hold primary loyalty and trustworthiness;
When a person is not loyal and trustworthy all their affairs will be without substance (shi 實, realness). Doing evil will be easy; doing good will be hard. Therefore learners must take these as primary.
– Zhu Xi 朱熹
人不忠信，則事皆無實，為惡則易，為善則難，故學者必以是為主焉。
The Way of man solely depends on loyalty and trust. As the saying goes, “Without sincerity, there would be nothing.”¹ Moreover, “As for man’s heart and mind: they come in and go out at no definite time and without anyone's knowing their direction”.² If without loyalty and trust, how could there be anything?
– Cheng Brothers 程子
人道惟在忠信，不誠則無物，且出入無時，莫知其鄉者，人心也。若無忠信，豈復有物乎？
do not have friends who are not like yourself.
Friendship is a means of supporting virtue.³ If friends are not equal to oneself, they will have no benefit or even be harmful.
– Zhu Xi 朱熹
友所以輔仁，不如己，則無益而有損。
Make a mistake, then do not fear to correct yourself.
If self-governance is not brave, then bad days will be prolonged. Therefore if there is a mistake it should be promptly corrected. One must not fear the difficult and negligently rest.
– Zhu Xi 朱熹
自治不勇，則惡日長，故有過則當速改，不可畏難而苟安也。
As for the way of systematic learning, there is no other. Know when it is not good, then quickly correct to follow the good. That is all.
– Cheng Brothers 程子
學問之道無他也，知其不善，則速改以從善而已。
° ° °
As for this verse, the noble man’s way of self-cultivation should be like this.
– Cheng Brothers 程子
君子自修之道當如是也。
The noble man’s way takes the powerful and heavy and regards them as substance (zhi 質), with learning as a means to become them. Learning’s way must take loyalty and trustworthiness and regard them as primary (zhu 主), with overcoming oneself as a means to support them.
However some people, stubborn in correcting mistakes, in the end have no means to enter into virtue, and wise ones do not necessarily find happiness in informing them with the good way. Thus “make a mistake; do not fear to correct yourself ” finishes this verse.
– You Zuo 游酢
君子之道，以威重為質，而學以成之。學之道，必以忠信為主，而以勝己者輔之。然或吝於改過，則終無以入德，而賢者亦未必樂告以善道，故以過勿憚改終焉。
Translated text: Discourses with Collected Commentaries, Qing Dynasty imperial library edition, pg4: chapter 1, verse 8.