Analects 5.5
The Analects (論語), BOOK V. KUNG-YE CH'ANG 公冶長第五
子使漆雕開仕。對曰、吾斯之未能信。子說。
The Master was wishing Ch'i-tiao K'ai to enter on official employment. He replied, "I am not yet able to rest in the assurance of THIS." The Master was pleased.
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
- 使shǐcause, mission, orders; envoy, messenger
- 漆qīvarnish, lacquer; paint
- 雕diāoto carve, to engrave; eagle, vulture
- 開kāito open; to start, to initiate, to begin
- 仕shìofficial; to serve in the government
- 對duìcorrect, right; facing, opposed
- 曰yuēto speak; to say
- 吾wúI, my, our; to resist, to impede
- 斯sīthis, thus, such; emphatic particle; use
- 之zhīmarks preceding phrase as modifier of fo
- 未wèinot yet; 8th terrestrial branch
- 能néngcan, may; capable, full of energy
- 信xìnto trust, to believe; letter, sign
- 說shuōto speak, to say; to scold, to upbraid
Passages with shared wording
- Mencius 6A.12
- Analects 1.15
- Analects 16.12
- Zhuangzi The Circling Sky
- Zhuangzi On Declining Power
- The Doctrine of the Mean Passage 13
Data: English Wikisource (Public domain texts; transcription CC BY-SA 4.0). Retrieved 2026-10-22.