Analects 9.27
The Analects (論語), BOOK IX. TSZE HAN 子罕第九
子曰、歲寒、然後知松柏之後彫也。
The Master said, "When the year becomes cold, then we know how the pine and the cypress are the last to lose their leaves."
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
- 歲suìyear; years old, age; harvest
- 寒hánchilly, cold; poor; to shiver, to trembl
- 然ráncertainly; naturally; suddenly
- 後hòuafter; behind, rear; descendants
- 知zhīto know, to perceive, to comprehend
- 松sōngpine tree; fir tree
- 柏bǎicypress, cedar
- 之zhīmarks preceding phrase as modifier of fo
- 彫diāocarve, decorate; emaciated
- 也yěalso, too
Passages with shared wording
- Zhuangzi On Declining Power
- Mencius 1A.7
- Zhuangzi The Evidence of Virtue Complete
- Zhuangzi Lieh Tzŭ
- Mencius 1A.3
- Zhuangzi The Identity of Contraries
Data: English Wikisource (Public domain texts; transcription CC BY-SA 4.0). Retrieved 2026-10-22.