Analects 3.21
The Analects (論語), BOOK III. PA YIH 八佾第三
哀公問社於宰我。宰我對曰、夏后氏以松、殷人以柏、周人以栗、曰、使民戰栗。子聞之曰、成事不說、遂事不諫、既往不咎。
1. The Duke Ai asked Tsai Wo about the altars of the spirits of the land. Tsai Wo replied, "The Hsia sovereign planted the pine tree about them; the men of the Yin planted the cypress; and the men of the Chau planted the chestnut tree, meaning thereby to cause the people to be in awe."
2. When the Master heard it, he said, "Things that are done, it is needless to speak about; things that have had their course, it is needless to remonstrate about; things that are past, it is needless to blame."
James Legge (1861), Confucian Analects, The Chinese Classics vol. 1 (1861; 2nd ed. 1893) — public domain.
Character glossary
- 哀āisad, mournful, pitiful; to pity; to grie
- 公gōngfair, equitable; public; duke
- 問wènto ask about, to inquire after
- 社shègroup, organization, society; a god of t
- 於yúat, in, on; to, from; alas!
- 宰zǎito slaughter, to butcher; to govern, to
- 我wǒI, me, my; our, us
- 對duìcorrect, right; facing, opposed
- 曰yuēto speak; to say
- 夏xiàsummer; the Xia or Hsia dynasty
- 后hòuafter; behind, rear; descendants
- 氏shìclan, family; maiden name
- 以yǐaccording to; so as to; because of; then
- 松sōngpine tree; fir tree
- 殷yīnmany, great; abundant, flourishing
- 人rénman, person; people
- 柏bǎicypress, cedar
- 周zhōuZhou dynasty; circumference
- 栗lìchestnut tree; chestnuts; surname
- 使shǐcause, mission, orders; envoy, messenger
- 民míncitizens, subjects; a nation's people
- 戰zhànwar, fighting, battle
- 子zison, child; seed, egg; fruit; small thin
- 聞wénnews; to hear, to smell; to make known
- 之zhīmarks preceding phrase as modifier of fo
- 成chéngto accomplish; to become; to complete, t
- 事shìaffair, matter, business; to serve; acci
- 不bùno, not, un-; negative prefix
- 說shuōto speak, to say; to scold, to upbraid
- 遂suìto fail; to follow, to comply with
- 諫jiànto admonish, to remonstrate
- 既jìalready, since, then; both; de facto
- 往wǎngto go, to depart; past, former
- 咎jiùfault, defect; error, mistake
Passages with shared wording
Data: English Wikisource (Public domain texts; transcription CC BY-SA 4.0). Retrieved 2026-10-22.