Mencius 5B.8
Mencius (孟子), Book 5, Part II: Wan Zhang II 萬章下
孟子謂萬章曰：「一鄉之善士，斯友一鄉之善士；一國之善士，斯友一國之善士；天下之善士，斯友天下之善士。以友天下之善士為未足，又尚論古之人。頌其詩，讀其書，不知其人，可乎？是以論其世也。是尚友也。」
Mencius said to Wan Zhang, 'The scholar whose virtue is most distinguished in a village shall make friends of all the virtuous scholars in the village. The scholar whose virtue is most distinguished throughout a State shall make friends of all the virtuous scholars of that State. The scholar whose virtue is most distinguished throughout the kingdom shall make friends of all the virtuous scholars of the kingdom. When a scholar feels that his friendship with all the virtuous scholars of the kingdom is not sufficient to satisfy him, he proceeds to ascend to consider the men of antiquity. He repeats their poems, and reads their books, and as he does not know what they were as men, to ascertain this, he considers their history. This is to ascend and make friends of the men of antiquity.'
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
- 萬wànten thousand; innumerable
- 章zhāngchapter, section, writing; seal
- 曰yuēto speak; to say
- 一yīone; a, an; alone
- 鄉xiāngcountry, village; rural
- 之zhīmarks preceding phrase as modifier of fo
- 善shàngood, virtuous, charitable, kind
- 士shìscholar, gentleman; soldier
- 斯sīthis, thus, such; emphatic particle; use
- 友yǒufriend, companion; fraternity
- 國guócountry, nation, state; national
- 天tiānsky, heaven; god, celestial
- 下xiàbelow, underneath; inferior; to bring do
- 以yǐaccording to; so as to; because of; then
- 為wèito do, to act; to handle, to govern; to
- 未wèinot yet; 8th terrestrial branch
- 足zúfoot; to attain, to satisfy; enough
- 又yòuand, also, again, in addition
- 尚shàngstill, yet; even; fairly, rather
- 論lùndebate; discussion
- 古gǔold, classic, ancient
- 人rénman, person; people
- 頌sòngto laud, to acclaim; ode, hymn
- 其qíhis, her, its, their; that
- 詩shīpoetry; poem, verse, ode
- 讀dúto study, to learn; to read, to pronounc
- 書shūbook, letter, document; writing
- 不bùno, not, un-; negative prefix
- 知zhīto know, to perceive, to comprehend
- 可kěmay, can, -able; possibly
- 乎hūinterrogative or exclamatory final parti
- 是shìto be; indeed, right, yes; okay
- 世shìgeneration, era, age; world
- 也yěalso, too
Passages with shared wording
- Mencius 5B.7
- Zhuangzi Hsü Wu Kuei
- Mencius 7B.37
- Zhuangzi The Great Supreme
- Zhuangzi The Tao of God
- Zhuangzi The Empire
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.