Mencius 7B.5
Mencius (孟子), Book 7, Part II: Jin Xin II 盡心下
孟子曰：「梓匠輪輿能與人規矩，不能使人巧。」
Mencius said, 'A carpenter or a carriage-maker may give a man the circle and square, but cannot make him skilful in the use of them.'
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
- 梓zǐCatalpa ovata
- 匠jiàngartisan, craftsman, workman
- 輪lúnwheel; to turn, to revolve; to recur
- 輿yúcart, palanquin, sedan chair
- 能néngcan, may; capable, full of energy
- 與yǔand; with; to; for; to give, to grant
- 人rénman, person; people
- 規guīrules, regulations, customs, law
- 矩jǔcarpenter's square, ruler, rule
- 不bùno, not, un-; negative prefix
- 使shǐcause, mission, orders; envoy, messenger
- 巧qiǎoskillful, ingenious, clever
Passages with shared wording
- Mencius 3B.4
- Mencius 4A.1
- Zhuangzi The Empire
- Zhuangzi Kêng Sang Ch’u
- Zhuangzi The Secret of Life
- Zhuangzi The Tao of God
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.