Analects 3.20
The Analects (論語), BOOK III. PA YIH 八佾第三
子曰、關睢樂而不淫、哀而不傷。
The Master said, "The Kwan Tsu is expressive of enjoyment without being licentious, and of grief without being hurtfully excessive."
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
- 關guānfrontier pass; to close, to shut; relati
- 睢suīto gaze at, to stare at; uninhibited
- 樂lècheerful, happy, laughing; music
- 而érand, and then, and yet; but
- 不bùno, not, un-; negative prefix
- 淫yínobscene, licentious, lewd, kinky
- 哀āisad, mournful, pitiful; to pity; to grie
- 傷shāngto injure, to harm; wound, injury; to fa
Passages with shared wording
- Analects 19.14
- Analects 8.15
- Zhuangzi On Letting Alone
- Zhuangzi The Secret of Life
- Zhuangzi Exercise of Faculties
- Tao Te Ching Chapter 60
Data: English Wikisource (Public domain texts; transcription CC BY-SA 4.0). Retrieved 2026-10-22.