Analects 9.15
The Analects (論語), BOOK IX. TSZE HAN 子罕第九
子曰、出則事公卿、入則事父兄、喪事不敢不勉、不爲酒困、何有於我哉。
The Master said, "Abroad, to serve the high ministers and nobles; at home, to serve one's father and elder brothers; in all duties to the dead, not to dare not to exert one's self; and not to be overcome of wine:—which one of these things do I attain to?"
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
- 出chūto go out, to send out; stand; produce
- 則zérule, law, regulation; grades
- 事shìaffair, matter, business; to serve; acci
- 公gōngfair, equitable; public; duke
- 卿qīngnoble; minister; thou (poetic)
- 入rùto enter, to come in; to join
- 父fùfather, dad
- 兄xiōngelder brother
- 喪sàngmourning; mourn; funeral
- 不bùno, not, un-; negative prefix
- 敢gǎnbold, brave; to dare, to venture
- 勉miǎnto endeavor, to make an effort; to urge
- 爲wèido, handle, govern, act; be
- 酒jiǔwine, spirits, liquor, alcohol
- 困kùnto surround; to besiege; surrounded, in
- 何héwhat, why, where, which, how
- 有yǒuto have, to own, to possess; to exist
- 於yúat, in, on; to, from; alas!
- 我wǒI, me, my; our, us
- 哉zāifinal exclamatory particle
Passages with shared wording
- The Doctrine of the Mean Passage 13
- Analects 7.2
- Analects 12.2
- Mencius 6A.16
- Zhuangzi Tien Tzŭ Fang
- Mencius 5B.3
Data: English Wikisource (Public domain texts; transcription CC BY-SA 4.0). Retrieved 2026-10-22.