Analects 11.13
The Analects (論語), BOOK XI. HSIEN TSIN 先進第十一
魯人爲長府。閔子騫曰、仍舊貫、如之何、何必改作。子曰、夫人不言、言必有中。
1. Some parties in Lu were going to take down and rebuild the Long Treasury.
2. Min Tsze-ch'ien said, "Suppose it were to be repaired after its old style;—why must it be altered and made anew?"
3. The Master said, "This man seldom speaks; when he does, he is sure to hit the point."
James Legge (1861), Confucian Analects, The Chinese Classics vol. 1 (1861; 2nd ed. 1893) — public domain.
Character glossary
- 魯lǔfoolish, stupid, rash; vulgar
- 人rénman, person; people
- 爲wèido, handle, govern, act; be
- 長zhǎnglong, lasting; to excel in
- 府fǔprefect; prefecture, government
- 閔mǐnto mourn, to grieve; to incite, to urge
- 子zison, child; seed, egg; fruit; small thin
- 騫qiānto lift, to raise; to fly, to soar
- 曰yuēto speak; to say
- 仍réngyet, still; keeping, continuing; again
- 舊jiùold, ancient; former, past
- 貫guànto pierce, to string up; a string of 100
- 如rúas, as if, like, such as, supposing
- 之zhīmarks preceding phrase as modifier of fo
- 何héwhat, why, where, which, how
- 必bìsurely, certainly; must; will
- 改gǎito alter, to change, to improve, to remo
- 作zuòto make; to write, to compose; to act, t
- 夫fūman, husband; worker; those
- 不bùno, not, un-; negative prefix
- 言yánwords, speech; to speak, to say
- 有yǒuto have, to own, to possess; to exist
- 中zhōngcentral; center, middle; amidst; to hit
Passages with shared wording
- Analects 6.7
- Zhuangzi Hsü Wu Kuei
- Zhuangzi Man Among Men
- Zhuangzi Contingencies
- Zhuangzi Robber Chê
- Zhuangzi Tien Tzŭ Fang
Data: English Wikisource (Public domain texts; transcription CC BY-SA 4.0). Retrieved 2026-10-22.
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