《孝经》英译（开宗明义章）

开宗明义章第一

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仲尼居，曾子侍。子曰：“先王有至德要道，以顺天下，民用和睦，上下无怨。汝知之乎？”曾子避席曰：“参不敏，何足以知之？”子曰：“夫孝，德之本也，教之所由生也。复坐，吾语汝。身体发肤，受之父母，不敢毁伤，孝之始也。立身行道，扬名于后世，以显父母，孝之终也。夫孝，始于事亲，中于事君，终于立身。《大雅》云：‘无念尔祖，聿修厥德。’”

Chapter One

Setting the Theme and Illuminating Its Meaning (1)

Confucius was at leisure in his home, and Master Zeng was attending him. The Master said, “Do you understand how the former kings were able to use the model of their consummate excellence (de) and their vital way (dao) to bring the empire into accord (shun), and how the people on this account were able to attain harmony (he) and to live with each other as good neighbors so that those above and below alike did not resent each other?”

Master Zeng rose from his mat to respond, and said, “I am not clever enough to understand such things.”

      “It is family reverence (xiao),” said the Master, “that is the root of excellence, and whence education (jiao) itself is born. (2) Sit down again and I will explain it to you.

      “Your physical person with its hair and skin are received from your parents. Vigilance in not allowing anything to do injury to your person is where family reverence begins;(3) distinguishing yourself and walking the proper way (dao) in the world; raising your name high for posterity and thereby bringing esteem to your father and mother—it is in these things that family reverence finds its consummation. This family reverence, then, begins in service to your parents, continues in service to your lord, and culminates in distinguishing yourself in the world.

      “In the ‘Greater Odes’ section of the Book of Songs it says: ‘How can you not remember your ancestor, King Wen? You must cultivate yourself and extend his excellence.’ ” (4)

(1)    From the commentarial tradition we learn that these chapter titles were added on at various stages of the later transmission of the text and were not part of the earliest compilation.

(2)    Cf. Analects 1.2. “Education” refers to moral education within the five relations, where the father is instructed in appropriateness (yi 義), the mother in commiseration (ci 慈), the elder brother in friendship (you 友), the younger brother in respectfulness (gong 恭), and the son in family reverence(xiao 孝)

(3)    In the Record of Rituals, the Liji 25.36/128/6, it says: “Lezheng Zichun observed: ‘I learned this from Master Zeng who in turn had learned it from the Master. He said: “Among those things born of the heavens and nurtured by the earth, nothing is grander than the human being. For the parents to give birth to your whole person, and for one to return oneself to them whole is what can be called family reverence. To avoid desecrating your body or bringing disgrace to your person is what can be called keeping your person whole.” ’ ”

(4)    4. Songs 235. Cf. Legge (1960), p. 431, and Karlgren (1950b), p. 187.