三字经英文翻译

三字经

Three-Character Canon

宋

王应麟

著

Written by Wang Yinglin

人之初，

At the beginning of life,

性本善。

性相近，

习相远。

苟不教，

性乃迁。

教之道，

贵以专。

昔孟母，

择邻处。

子不学，

断机杼。

窦燕山，

有义方。

教五子，

名俱扬。

养不教，

父之过。

Man is good in nature.

Human nature is alike,

Habits make them different.

For lack of education,

The nature is in alteration.

And the nurture of the young,

Better be maintained for long.

Once Mencius

’

s mother

Chose the best neighborhood for her son;

When her son played truant,

She cut the threads on the loom.

Another case is Dou Yanshan,

Who was wise in family education.

He raised his five sons,

And all of them were blessed with fame.

Rear children without instructing them,

And the father should be blamed;

教不严，

Teach in a slack and lazy way

师之惰。

And the teacher should be criticized.

子不学，

If a pupil plays truant,

非所宜。

It proves to be improper.

幼不学，

If a child fails to learn,

老何为？

玉不琢，

不成器。

人不学，

不知义。

为人子，

方少时。

亲师友，

习礼仪。

香九龄，

能温席。

孝于亲，

所当执。

融四岁，

能让梨。

弟于长，

宜先知。

What could he be when getting old?

Without being carved and polished,

A jade can

’

t be a work of art.

If one does not learn,

He

’

ll not know human virtues.

When one is young,

He should make the best of his time,

Associating with the good and the wise,

And learning to stand on ceremony.

When Huang Xiang was nine years old,

He could warm the mat for his father.

Whoever has love for their parents

Should be as kind as such.

When Kong Rong was four years old,

He could offer his brothers the bigger pears.

Even if one is quite young,

One should love one

’

s brothers.

首孝悌，

One should bear familial love from the outset,

次见闻。

Before he starts to learn,

知某数，

Including counting and computing,

识某文。

As well as reading and writing.

一而十，

One times ten is ten,

十而百，

百而千，

千而万。

三才者，

天地人。

三光者，

日月星。

三纲者，

君臣义；

父子亲，

夫妇顺。

曰春夏，

曰秋冬。

此四时，

运不穷。

曰南北，

曰西东。

Ten times ten is a hundred,

A hundred times ten is a thousand,

And a thousand times ten is ten thousand.

There

’

re three essential elements to know,

They are heaven, earth and man.

There are three kinds of light;

They

’

re from the sun, the moon and the stars.

There are three ethical disciplines:

That of loyalty between the king and his men,

of love between father and son,

And of harmony between husband and wife.

There are Spring and Summer,

And Autumn and Winter:

They are the four seasons,

Alternating all the year round.

There are north and south,

And east and west.

此四方，

They are the four directions,

应乎中。

Laid out by central position.

曰水火，

There are water and fire,

土木金。

And wood, metal, and earth:

此五行，

They are five elements,

本乎数。

曰仁义，

礼智信。

此五常，

不容紊。

稻粱菽，

麦黍稷。

此六谷，

人所食。

马牛羊，

鸡犬豕。

此六畜，

人所饲。

曰喜怒，

曰哀惧；

爱恶欲，

七情具。

Related to the numerals.

There are benevolence, righteousness,

And courtesy, intelligence and loyalty.

They are the five human norms,

Which are regulated in certain terms.

There are rice, sorghum and bean,

And wheat, millet and corn:

They are six kinds of grain

For one to serve as food.

There are the horse, the ox and the sheep,

And the foul, the dog, and the pig:

They are six kinds of livestock,

Raised in herds by the farmers.

There are joy and anger,

And sorrow and fear,

And love, hate and desire:

They are seven human feelings altogether.

匏土革，

There are gourd, pottery, leather,

木石金；

And wood, stone, and metal,

丝与竹，

Together with string and bamboo,

乃八音。

All these can be made into musical instruments.

高曾祖，

From his great-great-grandfather,

父而身；

身而子，

子而孙；

自子孙，

至玄曾。

乃九族，

人之伦。

父子恩，

夫妇从；

兄则友，

弟则恭；

长幼序，

友与朋；

君则敬，

臣则忠。

此十义，

人所同。

To his great-grandfather,

To his grandfather and father,

To himself and his son,

To his grandson and great-grandson,

And to his great-great-grandson:

Whoever is born into the world

Will face the nine-layer relation.

There should be affection between father and son,

As well as love between husband and wife.

Brothers should be kind to each other:

The elder

’

s amiable, and the younger respectful.

A harmony should be maintained

Among families as well as friends.

Even the king should be cordial,

To whom the subjects can be loyal.

These are called the Ten Doctrines

That everyone in the world should follow.

凡训蒙，

To enlighten the school children,

须讲究。

Good methods must be taken.

详训诂，

The meaning must be correctly grasped,

明句读。

And the syntax clear in mind.

为学者，

A pupil must start his learning

必有初。

小学终，

至四书。

论语者，

二十篇。

群弟子，

记善言。

孟子者，

七篇止。

讲道德，

说仁义。

作中庸，

子思笔。

中不偏，

庸不易。

作大学，

乃曾子。

From the very beginning.

After he has learned the basics,

He

’

d learn the Four Books next.

The first book is Confucius

’

Analects,

Composed of twenty chapters

，

Which were recorded by his disciples

And put together as living doctrines.

The second book is called Mencius,

Consisting of seven sections,

In which is highlighted moralities,

As well as benevolence and righteousness.

The third book is

the Doctrine of the Mean

,

Written by Zi Si, Confucius

’

grandson,

Who poses all midway,

In which the common truth exists.

Zeng Zi wrote the Great learning,

From which one can achieve a great deal.

自修齐，

He demonstrated a way to self-improvement

至平治。

From the individual life to the social affairs.

孝经通，

When one

’

s mastered

the Filial Scripture

,

四书熟。

Together with the four books.

如六经，

The Six Confucian Scriptures

始可读。

诗书易，

礼春秋。

号六经，

当讲求。

有连山，

有归藏；

有周易，

三易详。

有典谟，

有训诰；

有誓命，

书之奥。

我周公，

作周礼。

著六官，

存治体。

Can be for him a new start.

The Songs, the History, and the Changes,

And the Annals and the Rituals

：

Are called the Six Confucian Scriptures,

Which are needed to be studied thoroughly.

There was Lianshan in the Xia Dynasty,

Which was called Guizang in the Shang,

And Zhouyi in the Zhou,

All refer to

the Book of Changes

.

With the records of the early sages

’

deeds,

And with the regulations and laws,

As well as the decrees and rules

The Book of History is hard to read.

A sage is called the Duke of Zhou,

Who drafted the rituals for the country.

He appointed six ministers,

By whom the nation was governed.

大小戴，

Dai and his nephew were two scholars,

著礼记。

Who annotated the Book of Rituals.

述圣言，

By digging from the sage

’

s words,

礼乐备。

The Book of Music came from the Ritual.

曰国风，

With the National Morals,

曰雅颂。

号四诗，

当讽咏。

诗既亡，

春秋作。

寓褒贬，

别善恶。

三传者，

有公羊；

有左氏，

有谷梁。

经既明，

方读子。

撮其要，

记其事。

五子者，

有荀扬；

And the Grace and the Paeans,

The Book of Songs

is divided into four sections,

And each should be chanted and recited.

When tradition of collecting folk songs is lost,

The Book of History was compiled,

Which sets the moral code for state officials,

And which judges the good from the evil.

Three commentaries have been given

To the Book of History ever written:

There are three commentary authors:

Gong Yang, Zuo Qiuming and Gu Liang.

After having grasped the classics,

One can read the works of other schools,

Not only drawing up the essentials,

But also learning by heart the details.

Five figures should be mentioned

Of the great masters of thought:

文中子，

They are named Xun Zi and Yang Zi,

及老庄。

And Wen Zhong Zi, Lao Zi and Zhuang Zi.

经子通，

With a thorough understanding of the above mentioned,

读诸史。

One can proceed to historical works.

考世系，

From each phase of historical evolution,

知始终。

自羲农，

至皇帝。

号三皇，

居上世。

唐有虞，

号二帝。

相揖逊，

称盛世。

夏有禹，

商有汤。

周文武，

称三王。

夏传子，

家天下。

四百载，

迁夏社。

One can learn the ups and downs of each reign.

There lived Fu Xi and Shen Nong,

As well as Xuan Yuan.

They were called the Three Emperors,

Living long before the good old days.

Yao and Shun reigned in the later years,

Who were called the Two Emperors.

Both yielded the crown to capable men,

And their reigns were called the heydays.

There lived Y

u in the Xia Dynasty,

And there appeared Tang in the Shang;

Together with King Zhou Wen and his son,

They were called the Three Great Kings.

After Yu was succeeded by his son,

All under heaven were ruled by one family.

And the Xia Dynasty lasted four centuries long,

Till there were revolution in the country.