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天地玄黃，宇宙洪荒。
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tian1 di4 xuan2 huang2, yu3 zhou4 hong2 huang1.
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The sky was black and earth yellow; space and time vast, limitless.
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Xuan2 here means black, as in xuan2sai4, a foreboding name for the Great Wall. Yu3zhou4 is now a common term for outer space, the cosmos, all creation. Yu3 means the space around us, zhou4 is time eternal. Hong2 huang1 refers to the fluid, plastic, chaotic condition of the primordial state before the structuring of the world, as used in Chinese in Wu Cheng'eng's "Chinese Genesis" in the begining of his famed 16th century novel "Journey to the West".
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日月盈昃，辰宿列張。
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ri4 yue4 ying2 ze4, chen2 xiu4 lie4 zhang1.
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Sun high or low, moon full or parsed; with stars and lodges spread in place.
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Ying2 means full, refering to the moon; ze4 refers to the sun's inclination. Chen is the sun, moon and stars. Xiu4 here, a rare literary reading, is commonly pronounced su4 in modern Chinese. It is the character for the star lodges, or Chinese constellations, 28 of them in ancient Chinese astronomy.
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寒來暑往，秋收冬藏。
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han2 lai2 shu(3) wang3, qiu1 shou1 dong1 cang2.
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Cold arrives then heat once more; Autumn's harvest, Winter's store.
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The ancestors of the Chinese people were systematically cultivating rice and millet over 4,500 years ago, with a grasp of the seasonal timing of planting and reaping. One site, Tao3he2 Mu3du4 in Zhejiang Province has produced evidence of rice cultivation 7,500 years ago, the oldest such record on earth. Chinese farmers very early on used the lunar calendar, known as the agrarian calendar, nong2 li4, to time their activities, using its 24 periods.
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閏餘成歲，律呂調陽。
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run4 yu2 cheng2 sui4, lv4 lv3 tiao2 yang2.
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Extra days round out the years; scale in tune with sun and spheres.
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Run4 yu2 refers to the lunar year being about ten days shorter than the time of the a complete journey around the sun. The Chinese added extra months, run4 yue4, to compensate, often lengthening the year. The bamboo pitch pipe played 12 notes, six of them high, called lv4 and considered Yang force, and six low, known as lv3 and considered to reflect Yin energy. These corresponded to the twelve months of the year. In addition, the wind and soundwaves from the flute could be used for divination according to Yang and Yin, by scattering ashes.
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雲騰致雨，露結為霜。
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yun2 teng2 zhi4 yu3, lu4 jie2 wei2 shuang1.
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Clouds soar up to end in rain; the dew congeals to morning frost.
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A very succinct and clear description, for the late 5th century, of the physical processes involved, what meteorologists would now call the behavior of an adiabatic mass lifted into colder air under unstable conditions (high lapse rate, or rate of temperature decrease per unit of height), resulting in faster and faster lifting, further condensation and rain. The night's dew freezes with morning's cold. It is also explained as the sublimation of energies of the cultivated Junziren.
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金生麗水，玉出崑岡。
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jin1 sheng1 li4 shui3, yu4 chu1 kun1 gang1.
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Gold is born in the River Li; jade comes from Kunlun's vault.
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The ancient Chinese panned for gold in running streams as prospectors still do. Kunlun probably refers to the Kunlun mountains, where the legendary Jade Pool Yao2chi3 in Tibet, home of the fairies and the Queen Mother of the West, Xi1wang2mu3 of ancient legend.
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劍號巨闕，珠稱夜光。
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jian4 hao4 ju4 que1, zhu1 cheng1 ye4 guang1.
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A sword is styled "Excalibur"; a pearl, the "Gleam of Night".
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The Chinese "Excalibur", ju4que1, was the legendary jade sword of Gou3Jian4, (?-465BC), the king of Yue4 during the Spring and Autumn period, BC 770-476. According to one legend, it was given by the Mystery Girl, xuan2nv3, an unbeatable swordswoman and transformation of the Queen Mother of the West. He used it to avenge defeat and conquer his arch rival, Fu1Cha4, the king of Wu2. It has long refered to any jade sword, etc. The "Gleam of Night" or ye4guang1 was a famed legendary pearl, once, according to superstition, the eye of a whale, also refered to as ye4ming2zhu1.
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果珍李柰，菜重芥姜。
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guo3 zhen1 li3 nai4, cai4 zhong4 jie4 jiang1.
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Dearest fruit are pears and apples; fine crops mustard, ginger.
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Li3 meaning "pear", the second most common surname after Zhang1 (with the "bow" radical), in ancient times also refered to the peach. Aside from the mustard plant itself, the seeds were of course used for seasoning food. Ginger is valued as an ingredient, spice and as a medicinal herb, useful in treating hypertension and other illnesses.
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海咸河淡，鱗潛羽翔。
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hai3 xian2 he2 dan4, lin2 qian2 yu3 xiang2.
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Sea is saline, streams sublime; fish school below, birds flock on high.
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Dan4 meaning clear or pure here, as opposed to saline, is also used as well like "sweet" as the opposite of "dry", in reference to alcoholic drinks. Lin2 literally means "scale(s)" but here refers to fish in general, and yu3 "feather(s)" is used the same way to mean birds. This concludes the first chapter of the Qian1 Zi4 Wen1, which begins with the heavens and earth and progresses to common knowledge about nature.
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龍師火帝，鳥官人皇。
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long2 shi1 huo3 di4, niao3 guan1 ren2 huang2.
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Dragon Master, Fire King; Bird Official, Lord of Men.
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These are four of China's earliest rulers and officials; they vary according to the many legends. They were perhaps chieftains of small tribal alliances of hamlets. The "Dragon Master" long2 shi1, or, "Dragon-sent Master" long2 ming4 shi1 was none other than Fu2 Xi1, also called Tai4 Hao4, depicted with a snake-like body and human face, who legendarily devised the Ba Gua (trigrams of heaven and earth) and taught his followers how to make nets and to fish, hunt, and raise cattle. Huo3 Di4, the "Fire Emperor" was called Sui4 Ren2, and true to his title he taught the people, legend has it, how to make fire by drilling into wood and how to boil rice. Then there is the later "Glorious (literally, flame) Emperor", or Yan2 Di4, better known as the illustrious Shen2 Nong2, often depicted as a man with the head of an ox. During this reign humanity learned how to make plows and cultivate crops, and he (or the period) is credited in legend with discovering medicinal plants and making the first medicines. Chi1 You2 was chief of a dark-skinned tribe of the north, and gave mankind the first weapons of war. Both he and Shen Nong were defeated by the Yellow Emperor, or Huang2 Di4, named Hsuan1 Yuan2, first to be shown as completely human in form. Chi1 You2 was killed on the plain of Zhuo1 Lu4 in today's central Hebei Province. The Yellow Emperor used the magnetic compass to navigate through Chi You's man-made fog and defeat him. Shao3 Hao4, the "Bird Official" or "Bird-sent Official", niao3 ming4 guan1, was son of Hsuan1 Yuan2, the Yellow Emperor, born of his wife Lei2 Zu3. He was so named for his revision of Tai4 Hao4's (the above Fu Xi's) metaphysical system, the Trigrams, or Tai4 Hao4 Fa3, and his name was Zhi4; titles include Jin1 De2 Wang2, Jin1 Tian1 shi4, and Qiong2 Sang1 shi4 among others. Ren2 Huang2 was the last of one grouping of legendary "Three Emperors", namely Tian1 Huang2, Di4 Huang2, and Ren2 Huang2. These correspond to tian1, di4, ren2, the san1 cai2, or "Three Achievements" of creation: heaven, earth and people. They also often correspond to Fu2 Xi1, Sui4 Ren2, and Shen2 Nong2. The Book of Poems, (Shang Song) says tian1 ming4 xuan2 niao3, jiang er2 sheng1 shang1, and here is one of the more interesting tales: "Heaven mandated Xuan2 Niao3," (Queen Tun1 Ya4, the blackbird wife of Di4 Ku4), "down it came, gave birth to Shang". So born from a royal egg was Zi3 Xie4 who is the grand ancestor of both the much, much later Shang Dynasty and the clan of Confucius, albeit myriad generations later); Di4Ku4, father of Xia Dynasty founder Yao the Great, was son of Zhuan Xu (the Yellow Emperor's grandson). Legendary figures are often depicted in art as black birds or with crow-like attributes, magpie heads, etc. The many legends differ as to names, groupings, deeds etc. The Wu Di4 or "Five Emperors" vary by account but are typically Huang Di, his grandson Zhuan Xu, Di Ku, Yao2, Shun, and Yu3.
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始制文字，乃服衣裳。
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shi3 zhi4 wen2 zi4, nai3 fu2 yi1 shang1.
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The beginning of writing; what's more, wearing clothes.
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In China's remote past, before writing, people kept records by tieing knots in strings or ropes. According to legend, writing originated with Cang2 Jie2, an official of the Yellow Emperor. Furthermore, legend also has it that Lei2 Zu3, wife of the Yellow Emperor, taught the people how to raise silkworms, cultivate and spin silk, and so textile clothing replaced the animal skins and tree leaves worn up to that time.
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推位讓國，有虞陶唐。
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tui1 wei4 rang4 guo2, you3 yu2 tao2 tang2.
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Yielding the throne, passing the land; rulers of Yu2, Tao2 and Tang2.
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Yao2, chieftain of the communities of Tao2 and Tang2, and Shun4, chieftain of the principality of Yu2, or you3yu2, are famed for selflessness; they willfully gave up their reigns to successful and worthy men. Shun4 is therefore often called Yu2 Shun4 or simply Yu2. As for Yao2, he was originally made chief of Tao2 (Dingtao in modern Shandong) and expanded his rule to Tang2, (nowadays Linfeng in adjoining Shanxi), so he is also known in history as Tao2 Tang2 or Tang2 Yao2. According to legend, Yao2 passed on his throne to Shun4, who in turn abdicated to Yu3, the founder of the Xia4 Dynasty in the 21st Century BC, beginning the tradition of hereditary succession to the throne with his son Qi3.
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弔民伐罪，周發殷湯。
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diao4 min2 fa2 zui4, zhou1 fa1 yin1 tang1
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Relieve the people, right the wrong; as did Zhou1 Fa1, as did Yin1-Tang1.
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Zhou1 Fa1 in the original text refers to Ji1 Fa1, original personal name of the man who became Emperor Zhou1 Wu3 Wang2, who crushed the tyrant Zhou4, evil last ruler of the Shang Dynasty and founded the Zhou1, China"s longest lived dynasty, around 1100BC, roughly contemporary with King David of ancient Israel. Ji1, his surname, had also been that of the Yellow Emperor, taken from the nearby Ji1 River. Yin1 Tang1 refers to the much earlier destruction of Jie2, evil last ruler of the Xia Dynasty, by Cheng2 Tang1, and the later's founding of the Shang Dynasty around 1600 BC. Bad Kings Jie2 and Zhou4 are the notorious pair of evil last rulers, the first to lose the Mandate of Heaven, celebrated in many popular sayings such as "Jie2's dog barked at righteousness," and Zhou4's consort, Da2 Ji3 is reviled for her wild banquets, lust, cruelty and excesses. The tenth ruler of Shang, Pan2 Kang1 moved his capital to Yin1, hence in history and literature the Shang is often called Yin or Yin-Shang, and its founder is often known as Yin1 Tang1 or Shang1 Tang1.
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坐朝問道，垂拱平章。
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zuo4 chao2 wen4 dao4, chui2 gong3 ping2 zhang1
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Presiding at court and asking the Way; gracious yet lordly, discuss and decide.
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Wen4 here means "enquire, discuss in detail." As for the jun1 zi3's (superior man's, worthy king's) Dao, the Way, the Zhong1 Yong1 (Doctrine of the Mean, Ch.12) says fu4 fu2 zhi1 yu2, ke(3) yi3 yu4 zhi1 yan1; ji 2 qi2 zhi4 ye3, sui1 sheng4 ren2 yi4 you(3) suo3 bu4 zhi1 yan1: "ordinary people (lit. husbands and wives) in all their sillyness can come to know, or unwittingly demonstrate, most of it, but in its fine points there is much that even the sages still cannot explain. Chui2 gong3: graciously, (humbly, condescendingly) with genteel dignity. Ping2 zhang1 to discuss and clarify (matters of the day, of state,); in later times, (Tang, Song) it became the name of a high office, councilor of state. Precedents: Shang Tang relied heavily on Yi1 Yin3 and took his advice; Zhou Wu Wang appointed Lv3 Shang4 to a high military post and empowered him to handle very grave matters. Confucius said that if anybody could fully explain the Way to him some morning, he would be able to die satisfied that night.
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愛育黎首，臣伏戎羌。
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ai4 yu4 li2 shou3, chen2 fu2 rong2 qiang1
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With love he taught the dark and soiled; in submission, wild tribes.
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Li2 here means "black"; li2 shou3 refers to the masses of common people engaged in agriculture as well as to two darker skinned tribes, the Li2 and Miao2, then living in the North. In subsequent times, li2 miao2 has had the non-literal meaning of masses as well, so I believe that here li2 shou3 is a "shuangguanyu'" meaning these darker peoples as well as the soiled, sunbaked masses. The Rong2 and Qiang1 were two tribes to the west. Together these represent all the unschooled common folk of various ethnicity as well as the tribes surrounding China in Zhou times; all the tribes in time pacified or otherwise brought around to China's civilized ways, to the way of the cultivated and correct Jun1zi3 ren2; they add their land and talented men to the Chinese state.
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遐邇一體，率賓歸王。
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xia2 er3 yi4 ti3, shuai4 bin1 gui1 wang2
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Far and near, they joined as one; all followed, rallied to the king.
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Here, xia2 means "far"; er3 means "near". shuai4 means "completely, all" and bin1 here means "obeyed, submitted"; gui1 here has a similar meaning. Emperor Zhou Wu Wang's son Cheng2 Wang2 and grandson Kang1 Wang2 each ruled with diligence and reason at court, provided relief and assistance far and near and established a great reign over the world; hence the two periods together are famously called Cheng2 Kang1 Zhi1 Zhi4, "The Rule of Cheng and Kang".
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鳴鳳在竹，白駒食場。
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ming2 feng4 zai4 zhu2, bai2 ju1 shi2 chang2
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The phoenix calls from bamboo stand; White pony grazes pasture land.
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feng4 is the male of the legendary bird of good fortune, the Phoenix, that feeds on bamboo tips; (huang2 is the female). Bai2 ju1, white pony, is an allusion to the lines "Jiao(3) jiao3 bai2 ju1, shi2 wo3 chang2 miao2" in the Book of Poems, (Xiao3 Ya2, Bai2 Ju1: "Sparkling is the white pony, feeding in our fields.") These sentences state that only under the conditions of universal peace and abundance can these scenes occur. They also serve as a metaphor, signifying cultivated and good people peacefully serving the illustrious king.
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化被草木，賴及萬方。
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hua4 bei4 cao3 mu4, lai4 ji2 wan4 fang1
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Wise teachings dress each plant and tree; bounty everywhere we see.
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Hua4 is jiao4 hua4 the king's civilizing guidance and cultural enlightenment of his people. bei4 here means to "dress, blanket, cover"; lai4 has a the meaning here of (noun u&c)"benefit(s)". This concludes Chapter 2 of the Qian1 Zi4 Wen2, from the virtuous governance of the ancient emperors to the might, greatness and widespread abundance that they brought forth.
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蓋此身髮，四大五常。
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gai4 ci3 shen1 fa4, si4 da4 wu3 chang2
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These bodies and this hair of ours; Four Great Things, Five Principles.
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Gai4 here is an initial grammatical particle. Si4 Da4 is the Buddhist notion of "Four Elements", Earth, Wind, Fire and Water. The constituent parts and functions of the body each correspond to one of these. Flesh, bones and hair belong to Earth, body fluids to Water, body temperature to Heat, and internal circulation to Wind. As for the Wu3 Chang2, these are the Confucian "Five Virtues": ren2, benevolence, human kindness; Yi4, righteousness, justice; Li3, ritual, propriety; Zhi4, wisdom, intelligence, and Xin4, truthfulness and trust. These are the traditional Confucianist regulating principles of social morality. As the bodily functions are governed by the former, our words and deeds are to be controlled in accordance with the latter.
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恭惟鞠養，豈敢毀傷。
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gong1 wei2 ju1 yang3, qi(3) gan(3) hui3 shang1
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Do honor to your upbringing; how dare one inflict a wound!
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Honor your father and mother and the loving sacrifices they made in bearing and raising you. Who dares harm their own body, an act of utmost disrespect to one's parents and their kindness! The Xiao4 Jing1 or Classic of Filial Piety says, in its opening chapter discourse between Zengzi and Confucius, "Shen1 ti3 fa4 fu1, shou4 zhi1 fu4 mu3, bu4 gan(3) hui3 shang1, xiao4 zhi1 shi(3) ye3": "Your body, hair and skin were received from your father and mother, so don't you dare harm yourself; that is the beginning of filial piety". This includes the Confucian prohibition against wounding, tatooing, self mutilation, and excessive, dangerous, deleterious, undignified and or harmful behavior. In its strictest expressions it extended to the cutting of hair and fingernails.
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女慕貞絜，男效才良。
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nv3 mu4 zhen1 jie2, nan2 xiao4 cai2 liang2
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Girls admire the chaste and pure; boys, the talented and good.
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Young women look up to the true wives and chaste maidens in stories who are the traditional models of virtue, while young men seek to imitate illustrious, talented, and good men. Mu4 and xiao4 can both mean pursue, chase, yearn for as well as admire, look up to, emulate, imitate. "A friend who is upright, sincere, and knowledgable is truly to be valued" said Confucius, in Analects. Countless stories tell of model lie4 nv3, loyal women who remained chaste in widowhood or chose death to betrayal of their marriage vows, such as Meng4 Jiang1 Nv3 who legendarily "cried down" a segment of the Great Wall ku1 dao3 chang2 cheng2 to remove her husband's bones and then drowned herself in the Bohai (Bay of Zhili) to avoid marrying the Emperor Qin Shi Huang.
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知過必改，得能莫忘。
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zhi1 guo4 bi4 gai3, de2 neng2 mo4 wang4
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Aware of wrong, you must then change; mind the limits of your strength.
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"Nothing is more more obvious than the hidden, nothing more visible than the miniscule". (The Doctrine of the Mean, Ch 1). Zengzi reflected on his failures daily (Analects). With every new day comes a chance to reform... although Zhou was an old country, it was able to restore itself. (The Book of Poems, Greater Odes, Wen Wang) quoted in the Great Learning Chapter 2). de2 here means matching, befitting; neng2 here means ability and is similar to the English modal auxilliary can in that it covers broad potential, including mood of physical ability as well as other those of possibility and permission. "If I said I could not lift Mount Tai over the North Sea," said Mencius to King Xuan Wang of Qi, "could not would really mean due to a lack of ability. But if I said I couldn't break a long stick into smaller pieces, it would simply reflect unwillingness to let it happen." In other words, know what you can accomplish or change and what you can't, for whatever reason. Be self reliant but don't overreach yourself; don't promise what you cannot do. The San Zi Jing tells children of the one-time rascal Dou Yanshan, Dou4 Yan4 Shan1, who, still unmarried and childless after an early life of wrongdoing and wasting his family's fortune, suddenly grasped the ephemeral and treasured nature of an existance and managed to see the error of his ways. He took in and taught orphaned boys and produced five famous scholars, achieving fame and redeeming his parents' good name.
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罔談彼短，靡恃己長。
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wang3 tan2 bi(3) duan3, mi2 shi4 ji3 chang2
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Refrain from talk of others' faults; don't rest upon your strengths.
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A person who does so will never advance. Aesop's fable of the Tortoise and the Hare comes to mind. According to Lao Zi, "A self-glorifying person cannot be considered successful, and will not advance further."
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信使可覆，器欲難量。
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mo4 bei1 si4 ran3, shi1 zan4 gao1 yang2
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Mozi wept that the silk was dyed; in the Poems the lamb was glorified.
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Seeing dyed silk made Mozi think of how the body's original purity and goodness are adulterated, never to return to their original state, just as the dye would never wash out of the silk. Shi1, poem(s) refers to the Shi1 Jing1 or Book of Poems, in which the poem gao1 yang2 praises the austere purity of some legendary local officials who had su1 si1 zhi1 jie2, "the purity of plain silk".
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墨悲絲染，詩讚羔羊。
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wang3 tan2 bi(3) duan3, mi2 shi4 ji3 chang2
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Refrain from talk of others' faults; don't rest upon your strengths.
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A person who does so will never advance. Aesop's fable of the Tortoise and the Hare comes to mind. According to Lao Zi, "A self-glorifying person cannot be considered successful, and will not advance further."
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景行維賢，克念作聖。
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jing3 xing2 wei2 xian2, ke4 nian4 zuo4 sheng4
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Exalted go only the wise and good; control desire, achieve sagehood.
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Controlling desire here refers to following moral precepts and rules. The two sentences can be summed up in the exhortation jian4 xian2 er2 si1 qi2, "behold the wise and good, and order your thoughts accordingly".
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德建名立，形端表正。
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de2 jian4 ming2 li4, xing2 duan1 biao3 zheng4
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Virtue built, good name made; figure upright, bearing straight.
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This emphasizes the relationship between internal, or personal, rearing and cultivation and the external, or public, achievement of a good name and fame (as opposed to its much more common variant, notoriety). A saying goes: shen1 zheng4 bu2 pa4 ying(3) zi3 xie2, "If you stand upright, you need not fear the words of others". Li4 shen1, xing2 dao4, yang2 ming2 yu2 hou4 shi4, "establish yourself, follow the path, build up your name for future generations," says the Classic of Filial Piety, yi(3) xian3 fu4 mu3 "so as to glorify your father and mother". Similarly, the Book of Poems, (Guo Feng, Wei Feng, Qi Ao) says (quoted in Chapter 3 of the Great Learning), you(3) fei3 jun1 zi3, ru2 qie1 ru2 zuo4, ru2 zho2 ru2 mo2, se4 xi1 xian4 xi1, he4 xi1 xuan4 xi1, you(3) fei3 jun1 zi3, zhong1 bu4 ke3 xuan1 x1, "There is an elegant fine young prince, as if chiselled, as if cut, as if ground, as if polished; sung of, celebrated, hailed, proclaimed; there is an elegant young prince, at the end never to be forgotten"!
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空谷傳聲，虛堂習聽。
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kong1 gu3 chuan2 sheng1, xu1 tang2 xi2 ting1
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The empty valleys broadly resonate; in hollow halls wisely officiate.
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In the earliest commentary extant today, from Li Xian of the Northern Wei, the empty valleys refer to an ancient story from the Spring and Autumn period in which a prince unfilally ran off into the wilderness valleys of Mt Fu to make his name heard. Instead of fame, he was fatally lost amidst echoes and trees, and his searching father the King set fire to the woods out of frustration and in hope of leading him back, thus sealing his fate. The lesson is that your place as a prince is in the palace, studying and achieving perfection as a son and brother, then speaking and ruling clearly; your name is formed inside the family, then rises in the world. Literal meanings of ting1 are listen, preside over, to judge, to govern, to rule, officiate, and here the meaning is to speak, to rule. Xi2 here means carefully; with clarity; clearly, in a studied and wise manner, reflecting perfect cultivation. The characters for hollowness and emptiness, abstruseness, add a Buddhist dimension, connoting the emptiness and illusory nature of worldly things, high and low. Sheng1 also refers to the Emperor's works and edicts, name etc, resounding far off in the wilderness. The Emperor's filial piety. Gain the hearts and minds of the world by serving your royal ancestors. Another analogy between nature and society; how to behave in the halls and vast chambers of power, as teacher of all tribes of men and universal giver of laws. All tribes of men everywhere depend on the One's (Son of Heaven's) perfection, his filial piety in particular. Conversely, bad news travels fast down among the people; what goes around comes around, so serve your elders and ancestors, speak, listen, reflect, study the classics and chant sutras, live and rule carefully in pursuit of perfection. This ties into the next line.
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禍因惡積，福緣善慶。
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huo4 yin1 e4 ji1, fu2 yuan2 shan4 qing4
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Calamity's caused by evil stored; blessings result as good's reward.
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Calamity is brought about through the accumulation of repeated acts acts of evil; bounties and joys happen (are fated) because of many years of good deeds and perfect conduct. This is the Buddhist notion of Yin1 guo3, fatal cause and effect, and that of Yin1 yuan2 (the words are contraposed in the lines) in accord with our stored deeds. Not that the Chinese were without such ideas; proper kingly behavior (particularly in filial obeisance) was long before linked to the avoidance of disaster and the achievement of harmony. When the Qian Zi Wen was written, Buddhism, along with Confucianism and Daoism, was already one of the "Three Great Teachings," having been introduced from India about two to three centuries earlier during the Eastern (Later) Han Dynasty, when systematic religious Daoism had also come into being out of older beliefs. Tantric Buddhist amuletic chants and charm formulas of (sanskrit)Dharani (tuo2luo2ni2 in Chinese), for maximizing one's account of good and minimizing one's balance of evil, appeared in China as early as the 3rd cenury AD. They coexisted and syncretized (blended) harmoniously for the most part in the Liang state at the time of Zhou Xingsi's writing, with Confucianism dominant. The ethical system of Confucius did yet not have a large formal and exclusive metaphysical system, as was later created in the Northern Song, at its roots. It could probably coexist with any ideological or metaphysical basis, anything that has people sharing the same values; here we see a Buddhist precept adding a new dimension to the foundation of Confucian ethics. Emperor Liang Wu Di, who ordered the Qian Zi Wen created, patronized Buddhism heavily and had state monasteries, known as Liang2 Si4, or Liang Temples built, forseeing the Tang ("Restored Zhou" during her rule) Empress Wu's frenzied and extravagent building of State Temples and prosyletizing of Buddhism nearly two centuries later. Zhou Xingsi could be expected to say something about an important Buddhist teaching in a work called for by such a king, who late in his life actually took vows as a bonze. It was during the Liang, shortly after the Qian Zi Wen's creation that the Tian1 Tai2 Buddhist sect (Tendai in Japanese) was founded, on the Tian Tai mountain range in Zhejiang; Chi4 Cheng2, mentioned below in this work, is one of its peaks. The Japanese later named Mt Akagi, in present-day Gunma Prefecture, after it. "State-established Temple" building apread, first to Korea and then to Japan and was important in the development and spread of the very early Japanese state beginning on record with Shomu Tenno's edict in the 8th century AD. Buddhism was also very strong in the Southern Dynasty Liang's contemporary Northern Wei Dynasty; this Northern and Southern Dynasties period left many striking and priceless Buddhist relics and works of art.
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尺璧非寶，寸陰是競。
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chi3 bi4 fei1 bao3, cun4 yin1 shi4 jing4
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A foot of jade is no treasure; an inch of time is to fight for.
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Time is life itself, the very unit of existance. Time is money. We struggle to meet a deadline; time is our lives flowing by never to return. Marlowe's Faust, his time up, comes to mind, pleading for "another minute, another second". Benjamin Franklin said "If you treasure life, then treasure time, for time is the very stuff of life itself." Lu Xun's protagonist in Kuangren Riji", "Diary of a Madman" and his delusion becomes interesting from the standpoint of time; if time is life, and labor is time, then people eat each other when they eat the fruits of labor, exploit their time, charge interest and so forth. The Chinese word for time here is guang1 yin1 or "bright (flash) yin energy", like "moonlight," rare and limited enough. Time is based on heaven's periods of brightness, around which people arrange their activities in life and government, in using the blessings and fertility of earth. An old Chinese saying goes yi1 cun4 guang1 yin1, yi1 cun4 jin1, cun4 jin1 nan2 mai3 cun4 guang1 yin1: "An inch of time, an inch of gold, it's pretty hard for that inch of gold to buy an inch of time!" Still, today, it's time that people contend for.
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資父事君，曰嚴與敬。
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zi1 fu4 shi4 jun1, yue1 yan2 yu3 jing4
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Nourish your father and serve your king; known as reverence and respect.
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Zi4 means to support, with the sense of nourish here. Shi4 is verbal here, meaning to serve as child or subject, to work on the parent or ruler's behalf, when alive, and to offer prayer when departed. Yan2 here is verbal, as in the ancient meaning of yan2 fu4, revere your father, meaning revere and respect one's parents by supporting and worshipping them, for nothing is greater than their continuance of the male line, "kneeling before and nourishing your living parents is called (yue1) yan2 (Xiao Jing, 9) and this reverent duty, "yan" is the model for service to one's ruler, respect, or jing4. The ancient sages gently taught "respect" (jing4) through filial reverence and duty (yan2); it came naturally to them. Your mother gets your love and your ruler gets your respect; only your father gets both. From filial piety, the above yan2 and jing4, also comes zhong1, or, loyalty, which transfers to serving one's ruler. Fulfilled filial duty to the father brings the blessed light of heaven, that to mother brings the fertile blessings of earth. From the Junzi's filial piety comes the quality of loyalty to ruler. One's character forms in the home with filiality, and then one's name rises in the world. This line and the next ones deal with the delicate balance between conflicting obligations: private and public, family and State.
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