Mencius 6A.20
Mencius (孟子), Book 6, Part I: Gaozi I 告子上
孟子曰：「羿之教人射，必志於彀；學者亦必志於彀。大匠誨人，必以規矩；學者亦必以規矩。」
Mencius said, 'Yi, in teaching men to shoot, made it a rule to draw the bow to the full, and his pupils also did the same. A master-workman, in teaching others, uses the compass and square, and his pupils do the same.'
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
- 羿yìa legendary archer
- 之zhīmarks preceding phrase as modifier of fo
- 教jiàoschool, education
- 人rénman, person; people
- 射shèto shoot, to eject, to emit
- 必bìsurely, certainly; must; will
- 志zhìdetermination, will; mark, sign; to reco
- 於yúat, in, on; to, from; alas!
- 彀gòuenough; quite
- 學xuélearning, knowledge, science; to study,
- 者zhěthat which; they who; those who
- 亦yìalso, too; likewise
- 大dàbig, great, vast, high, deep
- 匠jiàngartisan, craftsman, workman
- 誨huìto teach, to instruct; to encourage, to
- 以yǐaccording to; so as to; because of; then
- 規guīrules, regulations, customs, law
- 矩jǔcarpenter's square, ruler, rule
Passages with shared wording
- Zhuangzi Tien Tzŭ Fang
- Zhuangzi Tsê Yang
- Analects 14.6
- Zhuangzi The Evidence of Virtue Complete
- Mencius 4A.1
- Zhuangzi Joined Toes
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.