Mencius 7B.17
Mencius (孟子), Book 7, Part II: Jin Xin II 盡心下
孟子曰：「孔子之去魯，曰：『遲遲吾行也。』去父母國之道也。去齊，接淅而行，去他國之道也。」
Mencius said, 'When Confucius was leaving Lu, he said, "I will set out by-and-by;" - this was the way in which to leave the State of his parents. When he was leaving Qi, he strained off with his hand the water in which his rice was being rinsed, took the rice, and went away - this was the way in which to leave a strange State.'
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
- 孔kǒngopening, hole, orifice; great
- 之zhīmarks preceding phrase as modifier of fo
- 去qùto go away, to leave, to depart
- 魯lǔfoolish, stupid, rash; vulgar
- 遲chítardy, slow, late; to delay
- 吾wúI, my, our; to resist, to impede
- 行xíngto go, to walk, to move; professional
- 也yěalso, too
- 父fùfather, dad
- 母mǔmother; female elders; female
- 國guócountry, nation, state; national
- 道dàomethod, way; path, road
- 齊qíeven, uniform, of equal length
- 接jiēto connect, to join; to receive, to meet
- 淅xīwater used wash rice
- 而érand, and then, and yet; but
- 他tāother, another; he, she, it
Passages with shared wording
- Mencius 5B.1
- Mencius 3B.3
- Zhuangzi The Evidence of Virtue Complete
- Analects 18.2
- Zhuangzi On Declining Power
- Zhuangzi Kêng Sang Ch’u
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.