Analects 6.14
The Analects (論語), BOOK VI. YUNG YEY 雍也第六
子曰、不有祝鮀之佞、而有宋朝之美、難乎免於今之世矣。
The Master said, "Without the specious speech of the litanist T'o and the beauty of the prince Chao of Sung, it is difficult to escape in the present age."
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
- 不bùno, not, un-; negative prefix
- 有yǒuto have, to own, to possess; to exist
- 祝zhùto pray; to wish well; surname
- 鮀tuósnakefish
- 之zhīmarks preceding phrase as modifier of fo
- 佞nìngflattery; glib
- 而érand, and then, and yet; but
- 宋sòngthe Song dynasty; surname
- 朝cháoto face; direct, facing; dynasty; mornin
- 美měibeautiful, pretty; pleasing
- 難nánhard, difficult, arduous; unable
- 乎hūinterrogative or exclamatory final parti
- 免miǎnto spare, to excuse from; to evade
- 於yúat, in, on; to, from; alas!
- 今jīnmodern, current; today, now
- 世shìgeneration, era, age; world
- 矣yǐparticle of completed action
Passages with shared wording
- Zhuangzi The Old Fisherman
- The Doctrine of the Mean Passage 30
- Analects 14.20
- Zhuangzi Exercise of Faculties
- Zhuangzi Opening Trunks
- Zhuangzi Knowledge travels North
Data: English Wikisource (Public domain texts; transcription CC BY-SA 4.0). Retrieved 2026-10-22.