Analects 2.8
The Analects (論語), BOOK II. WEI CHANG 爲政第二
子夏問孝、子曰、色難、有事、弟子服其勞、有酒食、先生饌、曾是以爲孝乎。
Tsze-hsia asked what filial piety was. The Master said, "The difficulty is with the countenance. If, when their elders have any troublesome affairs, the young take the toil of them, and if, when the young have wine and food, they set them before their elders, is this to be considered filial piety?"
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
- 夏xiàsummer; the Xia or Hsia dynasty
- 問wènto ask about, to inquire after
- 孝xiàofilial piety, obedience; mourning
- 曰yuēto speak; to say
- 色sècolor, tint, hue, shade; beauty, form; s
- 難nánhard, difficult, arduous; unable
- 有yǒuto have, to own, to possess; to exist
- 事shìaffair, matter, business; to serve; acci
- 弟dìyoung brother, junior
- 服fúclothes; to dress, to wear; to take medi
- 其qíhis, her, its, their; that
- 勞láoto labor, to toil; to do manual work
- 酒jiǔwine, spirits, liquor, alcohol
- 食shífood; to eat
- 先xiānfirst, former, previous
- 生shēnglife, lifetime; birth; growth
- 饌zhuànto feed, support, provide for; food
- 曾céngalready, formerly, once; the past
- 是shìto be; indeed, right, yes; okay
- 以yǐaccording to; so as to; because of; then
- 爲wèido, handle, govern, act; be
- 乎hūinterrogative or exclamatory final parti
Passages with shared wording
Data: English Wikisource (Public domain texts; transcription CC BY-SA 4.0). Retrieved 2026-10-22.