Analects 8.6
The Analects (論語), BOOK VIII. T'AI-PO 泰伯第八
曾子曰、可以託六尺之孤、可以寄百里之命、臨大節、而不可奪也、君子人與、君子人也。
The philosopher Tsang said, "Suppose that there is an individual who can be entrusted with the charge of a young orphan prince, and can be commissioned with authority over a state of a hundred li, and whom no emergency however great can drive from his principles:—is such a man a superior man? He is a superior man indeed."
James Legge (1861), Confucian Analects, The Chinese Classics vol. 1 (1861; 2nd ed. 1893) — public domain.
Character glossary
- 曾céngalready, formerly, once; the past
- 子zison, child; seed, egg; fruit; small thin
- 曰yuēto speak; to say
- 可kěmay, can, -able; possibly
- 以yǐaccording to; so as to; because of; then
- 託tuōto commission, to entrust, to rely on
- 六liùsix
- 尺chǐruler, tape-measure; unit of length, abo
- 之zhīmarks preceding phrase as modifier of fo
- 孤gūorphaned; alone, lonely, solidary
- 寄jìto mail, to send, to transit; to deposit
- 百bǎione hundred; numerous, many
- 里lǐunit of distance equal to 0.5km; village
- 命mìnglife; destiny, fate, luck; an order, ins
- 臨línto draw near, to approach; to descend
- 大dàbig, great, vast, high, deep
- 節jiéfestival; knot, joint; segment; to econo
- 而érand, and then, and yet; but
- 不bùno, not, un-; negative prefix
- 奪duóto rob, to snatch, to take by force
- 也yěalso, too
- 君jūnsovereign, ruler, prince, monarch, chief
- 人rénman, person; people
- 與yǔand; with; to; for; to give, to grant
Passages with shared wording
- Zhuangzi On Letting Alone
- Mencius 6A.15
- Zhuangzi Autumn Floods
- Zhuangzi The Old Fisherman
- Zhuangzi On Declining Power
- Mencius 3A.4
Data: English Wikisource (Public domain texts; transcription CC BY-SA 4.0). Retrieved 2026-10-22.