Analects 6.9
The Analects (論語), BOOK VI. YUNG YEY 雍也第六
子曰、賢哉回也、一簞食、一瓢飮、在陋巷、人不堪其憂、回也不改其樂、賢哉回也。
The Master said, "Admirable indeed was the virtue of Hui! With a single bamboo dish of rice, a single gourd dish of drink, and living in his mean narrow lane, while others could not have endured the distress, he did not allow his joy to be affected by it. Admirable indeed was the virtue of Hui!"
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
- 賢xiánvirtuous, worthy; good, able
- 哉zāifinal exclamatory particle
- 回huíto return, to turn around; a time
- 也yěalso, too
- 一yīone; a, an; alone
- 簞dāna small bamboo basket for rice
- 食shífood; to eat
- 瓢piáoa ladle made from a dried gourd
- 飮yǐndrink; swallow; kind of drink
- 在zàiat, in, on; to exist; used to indicate t
- 陋lòucoarse, crude; narrow; ugly
- 巷xiàngalley, lane
- 人rénman, person; people
- 不bùno, not, un-; negative prefix
- 堪kānto endure; adequate, capable, worthy
- 其qíhis, her, its, their; that
- 憂yōusad, grieving; melancholy, grief
- 改gǎito alter, to change, to improve, to remo
- 樂lècheerful, happy, laughing; music
Passages with shared wording
Data: English Wikisource (Public domain texts; transcription CC BY-SA 4.0). Retrieved 2026-10-22.