Analects 4.15
The Analects (論語), BOOK IV. LE JIN 里仁第四
子曰、參乎、吾道一以貫之。曾子曰、唯。子出、門人問曰、何謂也。曾子曰、夫子之道、忠恕而已矣。
1. The Master said, "Shan, my doctrine is that of an all-pervading unity." The disciple Tsang replied, "Yes."
2. The Master went out, and the other disciples asked, saying, "What do his words mean?" Tsang said, "The doctrine of our master is to be true to the principles of our nature and the benevolent exercise of them to others,—this and nothing more."
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
- 參cānto take part in, to intervene; ginseng
- 乎hūinterrogative or exclamatory final parti
- 吾wúI, my, our; to resist, to impede
- 道dàomethod, way; path, road
- 一yīone; a, an; alone
- 以yǐaccording to; so as to; because of; then
- 貫guànto pierce, to string up; a string of 100
- 之zhīmarks preceding phrase as modifier of fo
- 曾céngalready, formerly, once; the past
- 唯wéionly; sole
- 出chūto go out, to send out; stand; produce
- 門méngate, door, entrance, opening
- 人rénman, person; people
- 問wènto ask about, to inquire after
- 何héwhat, why, where, which, how
- 謂wèito call, to say, to tell; name, title; m
- 也yěalso, too
- 夫fūman, husband; worker; those
- 忠zhōngloyalty, devotion, fidelity
- 恕shùto excuse, to forgive, to show mercy
- 而érand, and then, and yet; but
- 已yǐalready; finished; to stop; then, afterw
- 矣yǐparticle of completed action
Passages with shared wording
- Analects 15.2
- Analects 8.4
- Mencius 3A.1
- The Doctrine of the Mean Passage 13
- Zhuangzi On Letting Alone
- Zhuangzi Hsü Wu Kuei
Data: English Wikisource (Public domain texts; transcription CC BY-SA 4.0). Retrieved 2026-10-22.