Analects 17.13
The Analects (論語), BOOK XVII. YANG HO 陽貨第十七
子曰、鄉原、德之賊也。
The Master said, "Your good, careful people of the villages are the thieves of virtue."
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
- 鄉xiāngcountry, village; rural
- 原yuánsource, origin, beginning
- 德déethics, morality; compassion, kindness
- 之zhīmarks preceding phrase as modifier of fo
- 賊zéithief, traitor; cunning, sly
- 也yěalso, too
Passages with shared wording
- Mencius 7B.37
- Zhuangzi The Universe
- Analects 12.22
- Analects 13.24
- Mencius 6B.9
- Zhuangzi On Declining Power
Data: English Wikisource (Public domain texts; transcription CC BY-SA 4.0). Retrieved 2026-10-22.