Mencius 7B.11
Mencius (孟子), Book 7, Part II: Jin Xin II 盡心下
孟子曰：「好名之人，能讓千乘之國；苟非其人，簞食豆羹見於色。」
Mencius said, 'A man who loves fame may be able to decline a State of a thousand chariots; but if he be not really the man to do such a thing, it will appear in his countenance, in the matter of a dish of rice or a platter of soup.'
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
- 好hǎogood, excellent, fine; proper, suitable;
- 名míngname; position, rank, title
- 之zhīmarks preceding phrase as modifier of fo
- 人rénman, person; people
- 能néngcan, may; capable, full of energy
- 讓ràngto allow, to permit, to yield
- 千qiānthousand; many, numerous; very
- 乘chéngride, mount; to make use of; to ascend;
- 國guócountry, nation, state; national
- 苟gǒucareless, frivolous, illicit; but, if on
- 非fēinot, negative, non-; to oppose
- 其qíhis, her, its, their; that
- 簞dāna small bamboo basket for rice
- 食shífood; to eat
- 豆dòubeans, peas; bean-shaped
- 羹gēngsoup, broth
- 見jiànto see, to observe, to meet, to appear
- 於yúat, in, on; to, from; alas!
- 色sècolor, tint, hue, shade; beauty, form; s
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.