Analects 12.13
The Analects (論語), BOOK XII. YEN YUAN 顏淵第十二
子曰、聽訟、吾猶人也、必也、使無訟乎。
The Master said, "In hearing litigations, I am like any other body. What is necessary, however, is to cause the people to have no litigations."
James Legge (1861), Confucian Analects, The Chinese Classics vol. 1 (1861; 2nd ed. 1893) — public domain.
Character glossary
- 子zison, child; seed, egg; fruit; small thin
- 曰yuēto speak; to say
- 聽tīngto hear, to listen; to understand; to ob
- 訟sòngto accuse, to argue; to dispute, to liti
- 吾wúI, my, our; to resist, to impede
- 猶yóusimilar to, just like, as
- 人rénman, person; people
- 也yěalso, too
- 必bìsurely, certainly; must; will
- 使shǐcause, mission, orders; envoy, messenger
- 無wúno, not; lacking, -less
- 乎hūinterrogative or exclamatory final parti
Passages with shared wording
- The Great Learning Passage 8
- Analects 7.32
- Art of War 6.22
- Zhuangzi The Circling Sky
- Mencius 6A.3
- Analects 7.10
Data: English Wikisource (Public domain texts; transcription CC BY-SA 4.0). Retrieved 2026-10-22.