Analects 9.13
The Analects (論語), BOOK IX. TSZE HAN 子罕第九
子欲居九夷。或曰、陋、如之何。子曰、君子居之、何陋之有。
1. The Master was wishing to go and live among the nine wild tribes of the east.
2. Some one said, "They are rude. How can you do such a thing?" The Master said, "If a superior man dwelt among them, what rudeness would there be?"
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
- 欲yùdesire, want, longing, intent
- 居jūto live, to reside; to dwell; to sit
- 九jiǔnine
- 夷yíancient barbarian tribes
- 或huòor, either, else; maybe, perhaps, possib
- 曰yuēto speak; to say
- 陋lòucoarse, crude; narrow; ugly
- 如rúas, as if, like, such as, supposing
- 之zhīmarks preceding phrase as modifier of fo
- 何héwhat, why, where, which, how
- 君jūnsovereign, ruler, prince, monarch, chief
- 有yǒuto have, to own, to possess; to exist
Passages with shared wording
- Analects 17.7
- Analects 2.20
- Analects 19.12
- Mencius 4B.31
- Zhuangzi On Declining Power
- The Doctrine of the Mean Passage 10
Data: English Wikisource (Public domain texts; transcription CC BY-SA 4.0). Retrieved 2026-10-22.