選自《群書治要》之《周易‧繫辭下傳》

Excerpted from A Compendium of Books on the Essentials of Governing, vol. 1, “Book of Changes, Doctrines of the Divinations, The First Half.” 

【譯文】孔子說：「君子必先安頓自己的身心，然後才可以行動；必先使自己平心靜氣，然後再開口說話；必先以誠信待人，建立信譽，然後才可以提出要求。君子能夠在這三個方面加強修養，才能保全自己不受損傷。」

[Explanation]  Confucius said:  “A gentleman must first protect his body before he takes action; must make sure his mind is tranquil before he speaks; must treat people honestly to establish trust and credibility before requesting something from others.  A gentleman who practices these three things can comprehensively protect himself from harm.”

　　◎君子安不忘危，存不忘亡，治不忘亂；是以身安，而國家可保也。

            A gentleman (ruler) will not forget danger while secure; will not forget annihilation while established; will not forget upheavals while in peace; thus, he is secure in person, and his country is also protected.

選自《群書治要》之《周易‧繫辭下傳》

Excerpted from A Compendium of Books on the Essentials of Governing, vol. 1, “Book of Changes, Doctrines of the Divinations, The Second Half.” 

【譯文】君子處在安樂的時候不會忘記危險的隱患，在生存時不忘記有滅亡的危機，在太平的時候不忘記動亂的威脅，因此身心安樂，而國家也得以保全。

[Explanation]  A gentleman ruler will not forget the hidden risk of calamities while enjoying serenity and happiness; will not forget the danger of annihilation while his state is established; and will not forget the threat of upheavals while in peace and order; thus, he is secure in person, and his country is also protected.

◎天之道，曰陰與陽；地之道，曰柔與剛；人之道，曰仁與義。

The Way of Heaven is Yin and Yang; the Way of Earth is gentle and firm; the Way of mankind is benevolence and righteousness.

選自《群書治要》之《周易‧說卦傳》

Excerpted from A Compendium of Books on the Essentials of Governing, vol. 1, “Book of Changes, Hexagram of Guan (Contemplation).”

【譯文】天的運行規律是陰陽交替，地的運行規律是剛柔相濟，人處世的準則是仁義並舉。

[Explanation]  The rules of operation for Heaven are the interchange of Yin and Yang; the rules of operation for Earth are the mutual benefits of gentleness and firmness; the standards of conduct for mankind are benevolence and righteousness.

　　◎中國特色:  The characteristics of Chinese civilization are as follows:

五倫：父子有親、夫婦有別、君臣有義、長幼有序、朋友有信。

Five ethical relationships:  the affinity between father and son; the difference between the husband and wife; the righteousness between the king and his subjects; the order between the elder and younger siblings; and the trustworthiness between friends.

五常：仁、義、禮、智、信。

The Five Constant Morals:  benevolence, righteousness, etiquettes (propriety), wisdom, and trustworthiness.

四維：禮、義、廉、恥。

The four cardinal supports:  propriety, righteousness, integrity, and shame.

八德：忠孝仁愛，信義和平。

The eight virtues: loyalty, filial piety, benevolence, love, trustworthiness, righteousness, harmony, and peace.

重義循理 Emphasize righteousness and follow reason.

五倫出自《孟子》。　The Five ethical relationships are from the Book of Mencius.

五常：仁義禮智由孟子提出，董仲舒擴充為仁義禮智信，後稱為五常。

The Five Constant Morals:  benevolence, righteousness, etiquettes (rituals, propriety), and wisdom were delineated by Mencius.  Dong Zhongsu of Han Dynasty added trustworthiness and made them into five morals, later on called the Five Constant Morals, or the Five Cardinal Virtues.

四維：出自《管子》。八德：由孫中山先生提出。

The Four Cardinal Supports were from Guan Zi.  The Eight Virtues were promulgated by Dr. Sun Yet-Shian.

【譯文】中國文化的特色是五倫、五常、四維、八德，人人能重義循理，家庭幸福，社會祥和，國泰民安。

[Explanation]  The characteristics of Chinese civilization are the five ethical relationships, the five constant morals, the four cardinal supports, and the eight virtues.  If every one can put emphasis on righteousness and follow reason, families will have happiness, societies will be harmonious and peaceful; in other words, the country will be prosperous and the people safe.

五常倫理：一、父子有親，此為天性，父母愛護、教育子女，子女孝順、恭敬父母要，父慈子孝。

The Five Ethical Relationships are: 

1.       The affinity between father and son, which is our true nature.  Parents would love, protect, and educate their children, and children should respect their parents; perform filial duties; and show piety and submissiveness toward their parents.  This is called the loving-kindness of the father and the filial piety of the son.

二、夫婦有別，男女結成夫婦，其任務不同。男子主外，負責家庭經濟收入。女子主內，持家相夫教子。

2.       The difference between the husband and wife.  When a male and female marry and become a couple, they each have different duties.  The male should work outside the home and be responsible for the income of the family.  The female should stay at home to keep the household in order, take care family members, help her husband, and teach the children (good manners).

三、君臣有義，領導者與被領導者要遵循道義。

3.       The righteousness between the king and his subjects.   The leader and his subordinates must obey and follow the way of righteousness.

四、長幼有序，長為兄，幼為弟，兄友弟恭，互相禮讓。

4.       The order between the elder and younger siblings.  The elder brothers should treat his younger brothers as if friends, and the younger brothers should show respect to his older brothers, both will be polite towards each other and let the other have things first.

  五、朋友有信，與朋友交言而有信，若有過錯，勸而改之，若有善事助而成之，不論貧富，一視同仁，彼此信賴，以道義來往，自然朋友有信。

5.       The trustworthiness between friends.  In the relationship between friends, they should keep their promises.  A person should advise his friends when they make mistakes and help them reform.  He will help his friends to accomplish their good deeds and treat them, whether rich or poor, equally.  Friends should be able to rely on each other and follow the way of righteousness; naturally, there will be trust between friends.

五常仁、義、禮、智、信是五個根本的德行，「常」是恆常、永遠不變，不能一刻離開，所以稱為常。

The Five Constant Morals--benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom, and trustworthiness—are the five fundamental virtuous conducts.  Constant means everlasting, consistent, never changing, never deviates even for a moment, thus it is called Constant.

四維The four cardinal supports: 

禮：是約束身體行為的標準，一舉一動、一言一笑要合禮。誠敬存於心，在外言行的表現，自然有禮。

1.       Propriety:  Propriety is a standard to restrain the bodily movements and facial expressions.  Every movement, action, word, or smile must conform to propriety.  A person whose mind is internalized with honesty and reverence, his external speech and conduct will naturally be proper.

義：「義」是盡義務，為一切眾生服務，決不求果報，不求報酬，不講權利。

2.       Righteousness:  Righteousness means to fulfill one’s obligations and to serve all sentient beings without seeking rewards, compensations, or rights and privileges.

廉：廉潔，廉潔就不貪污，不取分外之財，不占別人一點便宜。知道節儉是美德，日常生活當中，守本分，一飲一啄不浪費。

3.       Integrity:  Integrity means not to take bribery, anything not belonging to oneself, or take advantages of others.  It is the understanding that frugality is a virtue; to live within one’s station, without wasting a grain of rice or a sip of water in daily life.

恥：知恥、有羞恥、慚愧心。慚愧在中國道德來說，就是起心動念、言語造作，問心無愧。慚是中國人講的良心，是對自己所言，起心動念、言語造作能否對得起自己的良心；愧是外面輿論的批評。內不違背良心，外面就不會有輿論的批評指責，這就是知恥。

4.       Shame: to know shame, to be ashamed and/or remorseful.  According to Chinese ethics, shame and remorse mean whether a person’s thoughts, motivations, speeches, and actions are conscionable and without regrets.  Shame is what the Chinese call one’s conscious, it means to examine whether one’s thoughts, motivations, speech, and actions are conscionable.  Remorse is a mental state caused by other’s opinions or criticisms.  In other words, to know shame is a mental state aroused by the introspection of whether, internally, one violated one’s conscious, and externally, one aroused other’s criticisms or recriminations.

知恥是規範自己的行為，自己起心動念、言語造作一定要想想如不如法，反省這樣做能否對得起父母、對得起祖宗、對得起自己的天良？能否不讓別人批評我、指責我？用內外的力量約束著自己。

A person who knows shame will regulate his conducts; will introspect whether his thoughts, motivations, speeches, and actions are proper and virtuous; and whether his thoughts and actions will bring shame to his parents, ancestors, or against his own conscious.  Would my actions not bring criticisms or recriminations of others?  He uses inner strength and outer criticisms to control and discipline himself.

八德是人應當具備的八個基本道德。

The Eight Virtues are the eight fundamental ethics mankind should have:

忠：不偏頗、不偏私、不偏邪，心地端莊。

Loyalty:  not biased, not personal, not deviant, a mindset of steadfastness (devotion).

孝：是中國文化精神的大根大本，孝是大乘佛法的根基。人一定要孝順父母，尊敬師長。

Filial piety: the greatest foundation, origin, and spirit of Chinese civilization, as well as the foundation of the Mahayana Buddhism.  Humans must show filial piety towards their parents and reverence to their teachers and elders.

仁：仁是愛人，推己及人，想到自己一定想到別人，己所不欲，勿施於人，我自己不願意做的就不可以叫別人做。

Benevolence:  benevolence is to love people; to put yourself in other’s shoes; to consider others when thinking about oneself; to not to do unto others what you would not have others done to you; and what I would not do willingly, I would not ask others to do either.

愛：是中國傳統文化的核心，也是宇宙的核心。中國傳統教育就是教「愛」，始從胎教，母親就要教他。母親有愛心，胎兒就感受到了，這叫胎教。出生之後到三歲，這一千天，教他什麼？就是堅定他的愛心，讓他看到的、聽到的、接觸到的全是愛心。與愛心相違背的，不能讓他看見、聽到、接觸到。這是培養他的愛心。

Love:  love is the core essence of the traditional Chinese culture as well as the core essence of the universe.  In the traditional Chinese culture, mothers teach “love” to her children at the embryonic stage.  When the mother’s heart is loving, the fetus can feel it (will be responsive to it); this is called the embryonic education.  After birth to three years of age, during these one thousand days, what should be taught to the child?  It is to affirm his loving mind, everything the child sees, hears, or in contact with should be full of love.  A child should not be allowed to see, hear, or in contact with anything that is in violation of a loving heart.  This is the way to cultivate the child’s loving heart.

信：是言而有信，講信用，這是做人最基本的道理；言而有信的人做事情負責任，說到做到，絕不欺騙別人，這樣的人會得到社會大眾的支持、幫助。孔子講「人無信不立」，老祖宗把信放在道德的最底限，所以「信」是基本的道德，稱為信德。

Trustworthiness: refers to the credibility of a person’s words, to be trustworthy is the basis of being a human.  A person who keeps his words will take care with his responsibilities.  He will do whatever he says, without lying or cheating.  Such a person will be supported and helped by the general public.  Confucius said: “A person without credibility cannot establish himself.”  Thus, our ancestors deemed trustworthiness as the bottom line of ethics, a basic virtue, and called it the virtue of trustworthiness.

義：解釋如前。Righteousness: as explained above.

和平：和是因，平是果。與任何人、事都要和，和就沒有爭；和睦相處，平等對待，方能達到天下太平。

Harmony and peace: harmony is the cause and peace is the result; to be harmonious in associations with people and matter.  If there is harmony, there will be no arguments.  To live harmonious with others and to treat everyone equally, world peace can be achieved.

重義循理：重，重視、慎重；義：公正合宜的道理或舉動；循：遵守、依照沿襲；理：事物的規律。　　

Emphasize righteousness and follow reason: emphasize means to pay special attention to; to give great importance to something.  Righteousness means correct, just, and proper rationale or actions.  “Follow” means to obey, to do something according to tradition.  Reason means the rules and regulations of things.

　　   ◎明明德（體也）：真實之際，真如自性。

親民（相也）：真實之利，大悲大慈。

To illuminate the clarity of virtues (essence): the realm of absolute reality, the true and the same; the self-nature. 

Affinity to the people (forms): refer to the benefits of the realm of absolute reality; the greatest compassion and loving-kindness.

止於至善（用也）（清淨平等覺）：真實智慧，善巧方便。

落實在格物（格除物欲）、放下（自私自利、名聞利養、五欲六塵、貪瞋痴慢）。

致知（發菩提心、深信因果、讀誦大乘、勸進行者）。

To stop at the ultimate goodness (effects/functions) (purity, equality, enlightenment):  the supreme wisdom, the skillful, expedient means. 

Actualized in the eradication of materialistic desires (to eradicate the avarice for things); let go (of selfishness, self-interests, fame, reputation, profits/riches, offerings, five cravings, six sensations, greed, anger, stupidity, and pride). 

To attain wisdom: to proclaim Bodhicitta, to deeply believe in the law of cause and effect, to read and recite the Mahayana scriptures, and to advise practitioners and help their progress.

◎誠意：不執著、不分別、不起心、不動念；

正心：仁、義、忠、恕，推己及人。

Sincerity of the mind:  without attachment, without differentiation, without thoughts arising, and without the stirring of the mind.

Correctness of the mind: benevolence, righteousness, loyalty, forgiveness, and to consider others while consider oneself.

修身：五倫、五常、四維、八德（五戒、十善）

齊家（家道、家規、家學、家業）。

Cultivation of the person:  the five ethical relationships, the five constant morals, the four cardinal supports, and the eight virtues (five precepts, ten virtuous karmas).

To rule/unify the family: family mottos, family rules, family education, and family business.