Mencius 4B.6
Mencius (孟子), Book 4, Part II: Li Lou II 離婁下
孟子曰：「非禮之禮，非義之義，大人弗為。」
Mencius said, 'Acts of propriety which are not really proper, and acts of righteousness which are not really righteous, the great man does not do.'
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
- 非fēinot, negative, non-; to oppose
- 禮lǐcourtesy, manners, social customs
- 之zhīmarks preceding phrase as modifier of fo
- 義yìright conduct, propriety; justice
- 大dàbig, great, vast, high, deep
- 人rénman, person; people
- 弗fúnot, negative
- 為wèito do, to act; to handle, to govern; to
Passages with shared wording
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.