Mencius 6A.11
Mencius (孟子), Book 6, Part I: Gaozi I 告子上
孟子曰：「仁，人心也；義，人路也。舍其路而弗由，放其心而不知求，哀哉！人有雞犬放，則知求之；有放心，而不知求。學問之道無他，求其放心而已矣。」
Mencius said, 'Benevolence is man's mind, and righteousness is man's path. How lamentable is it to neglect the path and not pursue it, to lose this mind and not know to seek it again! When men's fowls and dogs are lost, they know to seek for them again, but they lose their mind, and do not know to seek for it. The great end of learning is nothing else but to seek for the lost mind.'
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
- 仁rénbenevolent, humane, kind
- 人rénman, person; people
- 心xīnheart; mind; soul
- 也yěalso, too
- 義yìright conduct, propriety; justice
- 路lùroad, path, street; journey
- 舍shěhouse, dwelling; to reside, to dwell; to
- 其qíhis, her, its, their; that
- 而érand, and then, and yet; but
- 弗fúnot, negative
- 由yóucause, reason; from
- 放fàngto release, to liberate, to free
- 不bùno, not, un-; negative prefix
- 知zhīto know, to perceive, to comprehend
- 求qiúto seek; to request, to demand; to besee
- 哀āisad, mournful, pitiful; to pity; to grie
- 哉zāifinal exclamatory particle
- 有yǒuto have, to own, to possess; to exist
- 雞jīchicken
- 犬quǎndog
- 則zérule, law, regulation; grades
- 之zhīmarks preceding phrase as modifier of fo
- 學xuélearning, knowledge, science; to study,
- 問wènto ask about, to inquire after
- 道dàomethod, way; path, road
- 無wúno, not; lacking, -less
- 他tāother, another; he, she, it
- 已yǐalready; finished; to stop; then, afterw
- 矣yǐparticle of completed action
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.