Three-Character Classic st.1-4, attrib. Wang Yinglin
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lnhammerThree-Character Classic
三字经
1.
People at their birth
By nature start out good:
In nature they are close—
Through habits they diverge.
人之初
性本善
性相近
習相遠
2.
If people aren’t taught,
Their natures will degrade.
The way that’s to be taught
Is “Value staying focused.”
苟不教
性乃迁
教之道
贵以专
3.
The mother of old Mencius
Chose better neighborhoods;
When her son didn’t study
She cut her shuttle from loom.
昔孟母
择邻处
子不学
断机杼
4.
That Duo Yanshan of old,
His method was correct:
He tutored his five sons,
Who all spread wide his name.
窦燕山
有义方
教五子
名俱扬
The Three-Character Classic is a late Song Dynasty pedagogical poem, used for centuries as an early reader with bonus Confucian indoctrination. It’s usually presented as one long text, but the three-character lines (it’s in verse to help with memorization) are organized into mostly four-line groups, which can readily become stanzas for ease of digesting (which I’m numbering for ease of reference). Note that in places the Chinese, steeped in 1500 years of Confucian tradition and shorthand, is way more compact than English—which means my translation sometimes strains my chosen form of three-beat lines. (Especially hard to render: 仁 “benevolence” and 义 “righteousness”.) My notes will mostly involve unpacking the shorthand and historical references. FWIW, I’m not sure how long I’ll keep this up, as there’s 86 stanzas, but ATM I’ve drafts through st.50.
Translation notes:
• 3: Mencius’s mother moved her family a few times to ensure better influences. One day when Mencius returned from school, his mother looked up from her loom and asked how far he had gotten. He answered indifferently that he was doing well enough, so she cut the thread of her shuttle. Alarmed because they lived off her weaving, he asked why she did that, and she lectured him, explaining that cutting her thread was like neglecting his studies. The admonition supposedly worked. • 4: Duo Yanshan was a minister of the Five Dynasties period of noted frugality whose sons, who he educated at home, all passed imperial exams and became officials, three of them high ministers.
---L.
三字经
1.
People at their birth
By nature start out good:
In nature they are close—
Through habits they diverge.
人之初
性本善
性相近
習相遠
2.
If people aren’t taught,
Their natures will degrade.
The way that’s to be taught
Is “Value staying focused.”
苟不教
性乃迁
教之道
贵以专
3.
The mother of old Mencius
Chose better neighborhoods;
When her son didn’t study
She cut her shuttle from loom.
昔孟母
择邻处
子不学
断机杼
4.
That Duo Yanshan of old,
His method was correct:
He tutored his five sons,
Who all spread wide his name.
窦燕山
有义方
教五子
名俱扬
The Three-Character Classic is a late Song Dynasty pedagogical poem, used for centuries as an early reader with bonus Confucian indoctrination. It’s usually presented as one long text, but the three-character lines (it’s in verse to help with memorization) are organized into mostly four-line groups, which can readily become stanzas for ease of digesting (which I’m numbering for ease of reference). Note that in places the Chinese, steeped in 1500 years of Confucian tradition and shorthand, is way more compact than English—which means my translation sometimes strains my chosen form of three-beat lines. (Especially hard to render: 仁 “benevolence” and 义 “righteousness”.) My notes will mostly involve unpacking the shorthand and historical references. FWIW, I’m not sure how long I’ll keep this up, as there’s 86 stanzas, but ATM I’ve drafts through st.50.
Translation notes:
• 3: Mencius’s mother moved her family a few times to ensure better influences. One day when Mencius returned from school, his mother looked up from her loom and asked how far he had gotten. He answered indifferently that he was doing well enough, so she cut the thread of her shuttle. Alarmed because they lived off her weaving, he asked why she did that, and she lectured him, explaining that cutting her thread was like neglecting his studies. The admonition supposedly worked. • 4: Duo Yanshan was a minister of the Five Dynasties period of noted frugality whose sons, who he educated at home, all passed imperial exams and became officials, three of them high ministers.
---L.
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Date: 22 April 2023 04:02 (UTC)no subject
Date: 22 April 2023 13:17 (UTC)