Analects 13.11
The Analects (論語), BOOK XIII. TSZE-LU 子路第十三
子曰、善人爲邦百年、亦可以勝殘去殺矣、誠哉是言也。
The Master said, "'If good men were to govern a country in succession for a hundred years, they would be able to transform the violently bad, and dispense with capital punishments.' True indeed is this saying!"
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
- 善shàngood, virtuous, charitable, kind
- 人rénman, person; people
- 爲wèido, handle, govern, act; be
- 邦bāngcountry, nation, state
- 百bǎione hundred; numerous, many
- 年niányear; anniversary; a person's age
- 亦yìalso, too; likewise
- 可kěmay, can, -able; possibly
- 以yǐaccording to; so as to; because of; then
- 勝shèngvictory; to excel, to truimph
- 殘cánto injure, to ruin, to spoil; cruel, opp
- 去qùto go away, to leave, to depart
- 殺shāto kill, to murder, to slaughter; to hur
- 矣yǐparticle of completed action
- 誠chénghonest, sincere, true; actually, really
- 哉zāifinal exclamatory particle
- 是shìto be; indeed, right, yes; okay
- 言yánwords, speech; to speak, to say
- 也yěalso, too
Passages with shared wording
- Analects 13.29
- Zhuangzi Kêng Sang Ch’u
- Analects 15.10
- Zhuangzi The Empire
- Analects 17.7
- Zhuangzi Robber Chê
Data: English Wikisource (Public domain texts; transcription CC BY-SA 4.0). Retrieved 2026-10-22.