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古之学者必有师。

师者，

所以传道受业解惑也。

人非生而知之者，

孰能无惑？惑而不 从师，

其为惑也，终不解矣。生乎吾前，其闻道也固先乎吾，吾从而师之；生乎吾后，其 闻道也亦

先乎吾，吾从而师之。吾师道也，夫庸知其年之先后生于吾乎？是故无贵无贱， 无长无少，

道之所存，师之所存也。

嗟乎！师道之不传也久矣！欲人之无惑也难矣！古之圣人，其出人也远矣，犹且从师而问

焉；今之众人，其下圣人也亦远矣，而耻学于师。是故圣益圣，愚益愚。圣人之所以为圣，

愚人之所以为愚，其皆出于此乎？

爱其子，

择师而教之；

于其身也，

则 耻师焉，

惑矣。

彼童子之师，

授之书而 习其句读者也，

非吾所谓传其道解其惑者也。句读之不知，惑之不解，或师焉，或不焉， 小学而大遗，吾未

见其明也。巫医乐师百工之人，不耻相师。士大夫之族，曰师曰弟子云 者，则群聚而笑之。

问之，

则曰：

“彼 与彼年相若也，

道相似也，

位卑则足羞，

官盛则近谀。

”

呜呼！

师道之不复，

可知矣。巫医乐师百工之人，君子不齿，今其智乃反不能及，其可怪也欤！

圣人无常师。孔子师郯子、苌弘、师襄、老聃。 郯子之徒，其贤不及孔子。孔子曰：三人

行，则必有我师。是故弟子不必不如师，师不必 贤于弟子，闻道有先后，术业有专攻，如是

而已。

李氏子蟠

,

年十七，好古文，六艺经传皆通习之，不拘于时，学于余。余嘉其能行古道，

作《师说》 以贻之。

On the Teacher

罗经国

译

In ancient times those who wanted to learn would seek out a teacher, one who could propagate

the doctrine1, impart professional knowledge, and resolve doubts. Since no one is born omniscient,

who can claim to have no doubts? If one has doubts and is not willing to learn from a teacher, his

doubts will never be resolved. Anyone who was born before me and learned the doctrine before

me is my teacher. Anyone who was born after me and learned the doctrine before me is also my

teacher. Since what I desire to learn is the doctrine, why should I care whether he was born before

or after me? Therefore, it does not matter whether a person is high or low in position, young or old

in age. Where there is the doctrine, there is my teacher.

Alas! The tradition of learning from the teacher has long been neglected. Thus it is difficult to

find a person without any doubts at all. Ancient sages, who far surpassed us, even learned from

their teachers. People today, who are far inferior to them, regard learning from the teacher as a

disgrace.

Thus,

wise

men

become

more

wise

and

unlearned

men

become

more

foolish.

This

explains what makes a wise man and what makes a foolish man.

It is absurd that a person would choose a teacher for his son out of his love for him, and yet

refuse to learn from the teacher himself,

thinking it a disgrace to do so. The teacher of his son

teaches the child only reading and punctuation, which is not propagating the doctrine or resolving

doubts

as

the

aforementioned.

I

don't

think

it

wise

to

learn

from

the

teacher

when

one

doesn't

know how to punctuate, but not when one has doubts unresolved, for that I find to be the folly of

learning

in

small

matters,

but

neglecting

the

big

ones.

Even

medicine

men,

musicians

and

handicraftsmen do not think it disgraceful to learn from each other. When one of the literati calls

another man his

at him. If you ask them why they are laughing, they will say that since he is almost of the same

age and as erudite as another man, it would be degrading for him to call the other man

the other man's social rank is lower than his; and it would be flattering if the other man's social

rank

is

higher.

Alas!

It

is

clear

that

the

tradition

of

learning

from

the

teacher

can

no

longer

be

restored.

Medicine

men,

musicians

and

handicraftsmen

are

despised

by

the

gentlemen.

How

strange it is that gentlemen are less wise than these people!

The ancient sages did not limit themselves to particular teachers. Confucius had learned from

people like Tanzi, Changhong, Shixiang, and Laodan, who were not as virtuous and talented as

Confucius. Confucius said

enough to be my teacher.

necessarily be more virtuous and talented than his student. The real fact is that one might have

learned the doctrine earlier than the other, or might be a master in his own special field.

Pan, the son of Li's family, who is only seventeen years old, loves to study Chinese classics of

the Qin and Han dynasties, and masters the six jing6 and their annotations. He does not follow

conventions and is willing to learn from me. I appreciate his ability to act in accordance with the

old tradition of learning. Therefore I dedicate this piece to him.

About the author:

Han Yu (768-824) was born in Henan Province. His parents died when he was young and he

was

brought

up

by

his

sister-in-law.

Through

hard

study

he

passed

the

highest

imperial

civil

service

examination

at

the

age

of

twenty-

five

and

held

the

office

of

Shilang.

He

was

twice

demoted

from

his

office.

Together

with

Liu

Zongyuan,

he

was

opposed

to

the

flashy

style

of

writing

then,

and

advocated

that

writing

was

meant

to

convey

truth,

a

teaching

that

largely

influenced later Chinese writers.

(1)The “doctrine” refers chiefly to Confucius’ teachings.

(2)Tanzi

was

the

king

of

the

State

of

Tan

during

the

Spring

and

Autumn

Period.

Confucius

learned from him about the titles of officials.

(3)Changhong was an official during the reign of Emperor Jing of the Zhou Dynasty. Confucius

learned from him about music.

(4)Shixiang was an official of music in the State of Lu. Confucius learned from him how to play

qin.

(5)Laodan was another name for Laotse. Confucius learned from him about the rites.

(6)The six classics are six classical works of Confucian teachings

古之欲明明德于天下者，先治其国。

In ancient times, one who intended to carry forward all the inherent virtues in the

world and to rid them of material desires had to first rule his state well

欲治其国者，先齐其家。欲齐其家者，先修其身。

欲修其身者，

先正其心。

欲正其心者，

先诚其意。

欲诚其意者，

先致其知。

致知，

在格 物。

To rule his state well, he had

to first educate his family. To educate his family, he had first to cultivate himself. To cultivate himself, he had first to set

his heart right. To set his heart right, he had first to be sincere and honesty. To be sincere and honest, he had first to

perfect his knowledge and perfection of his knowledge depended on his investigation of things.

物格，而后知至，知至

而后意城，