The Great Learning Passage 8
子曰：「聽訟，吾猶人也，必也使無訟乎！」無情者不得盡其辭，大畏民志。此謂知本。
The Master said, "In hearing litigations, I am like any other body. What is necessary is to cause the people to have no litigations." So, those who are devoid of principle find it impossible to carry out their speeches, and a great awe would be struck into men's minds; this is called knowing the root.
English: James Legge (1861), The Great Learning, The Chinese Classics vol. 1 (1861); romanization modernized on Wikisource — public domain. Chinese: Chinese text from the Wikisource bilingual edition.
Character glossary
- 子zison, child; seed, egg; fruit; small thin
- 曰yuēto speak; to say
- 聽tīngto hear, to listen; to understand; to ob
- 訟sòngto accuse, to argue; to dispute, to liti
- 吾wúI, my, our; to resist, to impede
- 猶yóusimilar to, just like, as
- 人rénman, person; people
- 也yěalso, too
- 必bìsurely, certainly; must; will
- 使shǐcause, mission, orders; envoy, messenger
- 無wúno, not; lacking, -less
- 乎hūinterrogative or exclamatory final parti
- 情qíngemotion, feeling, sentiment
- 者zhěthat which; they who; those who
- 不bùno, not, un-; negative prefix
- 得déto obtain, to get, to acquire; suitable,
- 盡jǐnto exhaust, to use up, to deplete
- 其qíhis, her, its, their; that
- 辭cíwords, speech; to resign, to take leave
- 大dàbig, great, vast, high, deep
- 畏wèifear, dread, awe, reverence
- 民míncitizens, subjects; a nation's people
- 志zhìdetermination, will; mark, sign; to reco
- 此cǐthis, these; in this case, then
- 謂wèito call, to say, to tell; name, title; m
- 知zhīto know, to perceive, to comprehend
- 本běnroot, origin, source; basis
Similar passages
- Analects 12.13
- The Great Learning Passage 2
- Zhuangzi The Circling Sky
- Zhuangzi Perfect Happiness
- Analects 7.32
- Art of War 6.22
Data: English Wikisource (Public domain texts; transcription CC BY-SA 4.0). Retrieved 2026-10-22.