Mencius 4B.25
Mencius (孟子), Book 4, Part II: Li Lou II 離婁下
孟子曰：「西子蒙不潔，則人皆掩鼻而過之。雖有惡人，齊戒沐浴，則可以祀上帝。」
Mencius said, 'If the lady Xi had been covered with a filthy head-dress, all people would have stopped their noses in passing her. Though a man may be wicked, yet if he adjust his thoughts, fast, and bathe, he may sacrifice to God.'
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
- 曰yuēto speak; to say
- 西xīwest, western, westward
- 蒙méngto cover; to deceive; Mongolia
- 不bùno, not, un-; negative prefix
- 潔jiéclean, pure; to purify, to cleanse
- 則zérule, law, regulation; grades
- 人rénman, person; people
- 皆jiēall, every, everybody
- 掩yǎnto cover up (with a hand); to ambush, to
- 鼻bínose; first
- 而érand, and then, and yet; but
- 過guòpass; to go across, to pass through
- 之zhīmarks preceding phrase as modifier of fo
- 雖suīalthough, even though
- 有yǒuto have, to own, to possess; to exist
- 惡èbad, evil, wicked; to hate, to loathe; f
- 齊qíeven, uniform, of equal length
- 戒jièto warn, to admonish; to swear off, to a
- 沐mùto bathe, to cleanse, to shampoo, to was
- 浴yùto bathe, to shower, to wash
- 可kěmay, can, -able; possibly
- 以yǐaccording to; so as to; because of; then
- 祀sìto sacrifice, to worship
- 上shàngabove, on top, superior; to go up; to at
- 帝dìsupreme ruler, emperor; god
Passages with shared wording
- Zhuangzi On Letting Alone
- The Doctrine of the Mean Passage 19
- The Doctrine of the Mean Passage 16
- Analects 14.22
- Zhuangzi Mountain Trees
- Zhuangzi Kêng Sang Ch’u
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.