Mencius 4A.25
Mencius (孟子), Book 4, Part I: Li Lou I 離婁上
孟子謂樂正子曰：「子之從於子敖來，徒餔啜也。我不意子學古之道，而以餔啜也。」
Mencius, addressing the disciple Yue Zheng, said to him, 'Your coming here in the train of Zi Ao was only because of the food and the drink. I could not have thought that you, having learned the doctrine of the ancients, would have acted with a view to eating and drinking.'
James Legge (1861), The Works of Mencius, The Chinese Classics vol. 2 (1861; 2nd ed. 1895); romanization modernized on Wikisource — public domain.
Character glossary
- 孟mèngfirst in a series; great, eminent
- 子zison, child; seed, egg; fruit; small thin
- 謂wèito call, to say, to tell; name, title; m
- 樂lècheerful, happy, laughing; music
- 正zhèngstraight, right, proper, correct, just,
- 曰yuēto speak; to say
- 之zhīmarks preceding phrase as modifier of fo
- 從cóngfrom, by, since, whence, through
- 於yúat, in, on; to, from; alas!
- 敖áoto ramble, to play about; leisurely; sur
- 來láito arrive, to come, to return; in the fu
- 徒túdisciple, follower; only, merely; in vai
- 餔bùeat; dinner time; sunset
- 啜chuàito drink, to sip; to sob, to weep
- 也yěalso, too
- 我wǒI, me, my; our, us
- 不bùno, not, un-; negative prefix
- 意yìthought, idea, opinion; desire, wish; me
- 學xuélearning, knowledge, science; to study,
- 古gǔold, classic, ancient
- 道dàomethod, way; path, road
- 而érand, and then, and yet; but
- 以yǐaccording to; so as to; because of; then
Passages with shared wording
- Mencius 4A.24
- Zhuangzi The Great Supreme
- Mencius 4B.27
- Art of War 1.24
- Art of War 6.5
- Zhuangzi On Declining Power
Data: English Wikisource (Public domain texts; transcription CC BY-SA 4.0); Chinese Wikisource (Public domain texts; transcription CC BY-SA 4.0). Retrieved 2026-10-22.