Analects 19.1
The Analects (論語), BOOK XIX. TSZE-CHANG 子張第十九
子張曰、士、見危致命、見得思義、祭思敬、喪思哀、其可已矣。
Tsze-chang said, "The scholar, trained for public duty, seeing threatening danger, is prepared to sacrifice his life. When the opportunity of gain is presented to him, he thinks of righteousness. In sacrificing, his thoughts are reverential. In mourning, his thoughts are about the grief which he should feel. Such a man commands our approbation indeed."
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
- 張zhāngto display; to expand, to open; to stret
- 曰yuēto speak; to say
- 士shìscholar, gentleman; soldier
- 見jiànto see, to observe, to meet, to appear
- 危wēidangerous, precarious; high
- 致zhìto send; to present, to deliver; to caus
- 命mìnglife; destiny, fate, luck; an order, ins
- 得déto obtain, to get, to acquire; suitable,
- 思sīto think, to ponder, to consider; final
- 義yìright conduct, propriety; justice
- 祭jìto sacrifice to, to worship
- 敬jìngto respect, to honor; respectfully
- 喪sàngmourning; mourn; funeral
- 哀āisad, mournful, pitiful; to pity; to grie
- 其qíhis, her, its, their; that
- 可kěmay, can, -able; possibly
- 已yǐalready; finished; to stop; then, afterw
- 矣yǐparticle of completed action
Passages with shared wording
Data: English Wikisource (Public domain texts; transcription CC BY-SA 4.0). Retrieved 2026-10-22.