Yan Shi Jia Xun (顏氏家訓) · Volume 1

顔氏家訓雜家類一【雜學之屬】提要

Yan shi jia xun (Family Instructions of the Yan Clan), Miscellaneous Writings, Category One [Miscellaneous Learning]. Summary.

【臣】等謹案顔氏家訓二卷舊本題北齊黃門侍郎顔之推撰考陸法言切韻序作於隋仁夀中所列同定八人之推與焉則實終於隋代舊本所題葢據作書之時也陳振孫書録解題雲古今家訓以此為祖然李翶所稱太公家訓雖屬偽書至杜預家誡之類則在前久矣特之推所撰卷帙較多耳晁公武讀書志雲之推本梁人所著凡二十篇述立身治家之法辨正時俗之謬以訓子孫今觀其書大抵於世故人情深明利害而能文之以經訓故唐志宋志俱列之儒家然其中歸心等篇深明因果不出當時好佛之習又兼論字畫音訓並考正典故品第文藝曼衍旁涉不専為一家之言今特退之雜家從其類焉又是書隋志不著録唐志宋志俱作七卷今本乃止二卷錢曾讀書敏求記載有宋鈔淳熈七年嘉興沈揆本七卷以閣本蜀本及天台謝氏所校五代和凝本叅定末附考證二十三條別為一卷且力斥流俗併為二卷之非今沈本不可復見無由知其分卷之舊姑從明人刋本録之然其文既無異同則卷帙分合亦為細故惟考證一卷佚之為可惜耳乾隆四十二年十月恭校上

Your servants respectfully note: the Yan shi jia xun, in two fascicles, is attributed in the old edition to Yan Zhitui, Attendant Gentleman of the Yellow Gate of the Northern Qi. On examination, Lu Fayan's preface to the Qieyun was written in the Renshou era of the Sui, and among the eight men listed as jointly deciding it is Yan Zhitui; so he actually died in the Sui, and the attribution in the old edition was probably based on the time the book was written. Chen Zhensun's Shulu jieti says: of all family instructions, ancient and modern, this book is the ancestor. However, although the Taigong jia xun that Li Ao mentioned is a forgery, works like Du Yu's Jia jie came long before this book; it is only that Yan Zhitui's composition has more fascicles. Chao Gongwu's Dushu zhi says: Yan Zhitui was originally a man of Liang; the work has twenty chapters in all, describing the methods of establishing oneself and managing a household and correcting the errors of contemporary custom, used to admonish his descendants. Looking at this book now, it is for the most part deeply clear about the advantages and drawbacks of worldly affairs and human feeling, and also adorns them with the teachings of the classics, so the Tang zhi and Song zhi both list it under the Confucian school. However, chapters such as "Guixin" deeply explain cause and effect and do not escape the prevailing fondness for Buddhism of that time; it also discusses the shape of characters and the sounds and meanings of words, verifies allusions, and ranks literary works, sprawling and branching out, and is not the words of a single school. Now I have deliberately moved it down to the Miscellaneous school, following its category. Also, this book is not recorded in the Sui zhi, and the Tang zhi and Song zhi both give seven fascicles, while the present edition has only two. Qian Zeng's Dushu min qiu ji records a Song copy of seven fascicles, the 1180 Jiaxing edition of Shen Kui, compared and settled using the Palace edition, the Shu edition, and the edition of He Ning of the Five Dynasties collated by Mr. Xie of Tiantai, with twenty-three notes of verification appended at the end as a separate fascicle, and it strongly criticizes as wrong the common practice of combining it into two fascicles. Now the Shen edition can no longer be seen, and there is no way to know its original division into fascicles, so I tentatively follow the Ming printed edition in recording it. Yet since the wording shows no differences, the division or combination of fascicles is a minor matter; only that the fascicle of verification is lost is truly a pity. Respectfully collated and submitted in the tenth month of the forty-second year of Qianlong.

隋顔之推

Yan Zhitui of the Sui dynasty. [The source text has a rare character here, lost in transcription.]

夫聖贒之書教人誠孝慎言檢跡立身名亦已備矣魏晉以來所著諸子理重事逓相模斆猶屋下架屋床上施床耳吾今所以復為此者非敢軌物範世也業以整齊門內提撕子孫夫同言而信信其所親同命而行行其所服禁童子之暴謔則師友之誡不如婢之指揮止凡人之鬭防則堯舜之道不如寡妻之誨諭吾望此書為汝曹之所信猶賢於傳婢寡妻耳吾家風教素為整宻昔在齠齓便防誨誘每從兩兄曉夕溫凊規行矩步安辭定色鏘鏘翼翼若朝嚴君焉賜以優言問所好尚勵短引長莫不懇篤年始九嵗便丁荼蓼家徒離散百口索然慈兄鞠養苦辛備至有仁無威導示不切雖讀禮傳微愛屬文頗為凡人之所陶染肆欲輕言不備邊幅年十八九少知砥礪習若自然卒難洗盪二十以後大過稀焉每常心共口敵性與情競夜覺曉非今悔昨失自憐無教以至於斯追思平昔之指銘肌鏤骨非徒古書之誡經目過耳故留此二十篇以為汝曹後範耳

The books of the sages and worthies teach sincerity and filial devotion, caution in speech, care in conduct, and how to establish oneself. [The source text has a rare character here, lost in transcription.] Name, and it is already complete. The works of the masters composed since the Wei and Jin repeat the same principles and [the source text has a rare character here, lost in transcription] matters, and imitate one another, like building a house under a house or piling a bed upon a bed. The reason I now write this again is that I do not dare offer it to the world as a model or to the realm as a standard; it is only to put order in my own household and to rouse my descendants. The same words are believed from one person because people trust those they are close to; the same order is carried out by one person because people obey those they respect. To stop a child's rough teasing, the warnings of teachers and friends are not as good as [the source text has a rare character here, lost in transcription] a maidservant's instructions; to stop quarrels among ordinary people [the source text has a rare character here, lost in transcription], the principles of Yao and Shun are not as good as the teachings of one's own wife. I hope this book will be trusted by you even more than a maidservant's or a wife's word. My family's customs and teachings were always orderly and strict. In my childhood [the source text has a rare character here, lost in transcription] I was instructed, and I was always with my two elder brothers, warming and cooling the bed morning and evening, walking and acting with propriety, speaking and composing my face calmly, and moving with stately care as if attending a stern lord. Good words were granted, my likes were asked about, my shortcomings were made up and my strengths drawn out, and in all this there was nothing that was not earnest and sincere. When I was just nine I suffered the death of both parents, the family fell apart and scattered, and the household of a hundred was desolate. My kind elder brother raised me, going through every hardship; he had benevolence but no stern authority, and his guidance and instruction were not urgent enough. Though I read the ritual commentaries and rather liked to write essays, I was greatly influenced by ordinary people, indulging my desires, speaking carelessly, and not tidying my appearance. Only at eighteen or nineteen did I begin to know a little discipline; but habit had become like nature itself and in the end was hard to wash away. After twenty, my great faults became rarer. Often my mind and my mouth opposed each other, and my nature and my feelings fought; at night I realized the errors of the morning, and today I regretted the faults of yesterday, pitying myself that I had not been taught and so had come to this. Recalling my aspirations of earlier days, it is engraved in my flesh and bones, not merely admonitions of ancient books passing before the eye and the ear. So I have left these twenty chapters as a standard for you in future days.

上智不教而成下愚雖教無益中庸之人不教不知也古者聖王有胎教之法懷子三月出居別宮目不邪視耳不妄聴音聲滋味以禮節之書之玉版藏諸金櫃子生咳防師保固明仁智禮義導習之矣凡庶縱不能爾當撫嬰稚識人顔色知人喜怒便加教誨使為則為使止則止比及數嵗可省笞罰父母威嚴而有慈則子女畏慎而生孝矣吾見世間無教而有愛每不能然飲食運為恣其所欲宜誡翻奬應訶反笑至有識知謂法當耳驕慢已習方複製之捶撻至死而無威忿怒日隆而增怨逮於成長終為敗德孔子云少成若天性習慣如自然是也俗諺曰教婦初來教兒嬰孩誠哉斯語凡人不能教子女者亦非欲陷其罪惡但重於訶怒傷其顔色不忍楚撻慘其肌膚耳當以疾病為諭安得不用湯藥針艾救之哉又宜思勤督訓者可願苛虐於骨肉乎誠不得已也王大司馬母魏夫人性甚嚴正王在湓城時為三千人將年逾四十少不如意猶捶撻之故能成其勲業梁元帝時有一學士聦敏有才為父所寵失於教義一言之是徧於行路終年譽之一行之非揜藏文飾冀其自改年登防宦暴慢日滋竟以言語不擇為周逖抽腸釁鼓雲父子之嚴不可以狎骨肉之愛不可以簡簡則慈孝不接狎則怠慢生焉由命士以上父子異宮此不狎之道也抑搔癢痛縣衾篋枕此不簡之教也或問曰陳亢喜聞君子之逺其子何謂也對曰有是也蓋君子之不親教其子也詩有諷刺之詞禮有嫌疑之誡書有悖亂之事春秋有褒僻之譏易有備物之象皆非父子之可通言故不親授耳【其意見白虎通】齊武成帝子琅瑘王太子母弟也生而聰慧帝及後並篤愛之衣服飲食與東宮相凖帝每面稱之曰此黠兒也當有所成及太子即位王居別宮禮數優僣不與諸王等太后猶謂不足常以為言年十許嵗驕恣無節器服玩好必擬乘輿常朝南殿見典御進新氷鉤盾獻早李還索不得遂大怒訽曰至尊已有我何意無不知分齊率皆如此識者多有叔段州籲之譏後嫌宰相遂矯詔斬之又懼有救乃勒麾下軍士防守殿門既無反心受勞而罷後竟坐此幽薨人之愛子罕亦能均自古及今此多矣賢俊者自可賞愛頑魯者亦當矜憐有偏寵者雖欲以厚之更所以禍之共叔之死母實為之趙王之戮父實使之劉表之傾宗覆族袁紹之地裂兵亡可為靈明鑑也齊朝有一士大夫嘗謂吾曰我有一兒年已十七頗曉書防教其鮮卑語及彈琵琶稍欲通解以此伏事公卿無不寵愛亦要事也吾時俛而不答異哉此人之教子也若由此業自致卿相亦不願汝曹為之

The highest wisdom needs no teaching to succeed, the lowest stupidity gains no benefit even with teaching, and the middling do not know without being taught. In ancient times the sage kings had a method of prenatal instruction: when the queen was three months pregnant she moved to live in a separate palace, her eyes did not look askance, her ears did not listen carelessly, and sounds and flavors were all regulated by ritual, recorded on jade tablets and kept in a golden chest. When the child was born and coughed [the source text has a rare character here, lost in transcription], teachers and guardians firmly guided his learning with benevolence, wisdom, ritual, and righteousness. Though ordinary families cannot do this, they should begin instructing a baby once he can recognize faces and know when people are pleased or angry, letting him do what he is told to do and stop when told to stop, and by the time he is a few years old, flogging can be used less. When parents are stern and also loving, children are respectful and cautious and so become filial. I see that in the world there are those who give no instruction but only dote, and they often cannot do this: letting him indulge in what he wants in food and drink, rewarding when they should warn, laughing when they should scold, and when he has gained knowledge he thinks that rules are meant to be so; when arrogance has already been formed they then try to stop it, and even beating him to death will give no authority, and anger grows daily but only increases resentment, and when he is grown, he in the end ruins his virtue. Confucius said: "What is formed in youth is like nature, and habit is like what is natural." This is it. A proverb says: "Teach a wife when she first arrives, teach a son when he is an infant." These words are true. All those who cannot teach their children are not wishing them to fall into wrongdoing, but find it hard to scold or be angry, afraid of hurting their feelings, and cannot bear to flog them and cause pain to their flesh. This should be compared to illness: how can one not use decoctions, needles, and moxa to cure it? And one should also think of those who are diligent in supervising and training: are they willing to be harsh and cruel to their own flesh and blood? It truly cannot be helped. Wang the Grand Marshal's mother, Lady Wei, was very strict and upright; when Wang Sengbian was at Penchen as a general of three thousand men, he was over forty, yet if the least thing displeased her she still had him flogged, and so he was able to achieve distinguished service. In the time of Emperor Yuan of Liang there was a scholar, intelligent and talented, doted on by his father and failing to be taught the right way: if he said one thing right, it was spread to passersby and praised all year; if he did one thing wrong, it was covered up and glossed over in the hope he would correct himself. When he rose to [the source text has a rare character here, lost in transcription] office, his violence and arrogance grew worse day by day, and in the end because of careless words he was disemboweled by Zhou Ti and had his blood used to consecrate a drum. Therefore it is said: between father and son, sternness must not be turned into familiarity, and the love between flesh and blood must not be treated casually. Casualness blocks kindness and filial devotion from connecting, and overfamiliarity gives birth to disrespect. From the rank of ming shi upward, father and son lived apart in separate residences; this is the method of not being overfamiliar. Rubbing and scratching where it itches or hurts, hanging up the quilts and pillows, and tidying the boxes: these are the instructions for not being casual. Someone asked: Chen Kang was pleased to hear that the gentleman keeps his son at a distance; what does it mean? Answer: There is such a principle. It is probably that the gentleman does not personally teach his own son. The Book of Songs has satirical words, the Book of Rites has warnings about suspicion, the Book of Documents has matters of rebellion and disorder, the Spring and Autumn Annals has censures that praise and blame the crooked, and the Book of Changes has the images of preparing things; none of these can be spoken of between father and son, and so he does not personally transmit them [this meaning is found in the Baihu tong]. Prince Langye, son of Emperor Wucheng of Qi, was the full younger brother of the crown prince, born intelligent, and loved by both emperor and empress, with clothing and food equal to the Eastern Palace. The emperor often praised him face to face: "This is a shrewd and clever child, who should accomplish something." When the crown prince took the throne, the prince lived in a separate palace, with ritual honors that exceeded his rank and were not equal to those of the other princes, and the empress dowager still felt it was not enough and often brought it up. At the age of ten or so he was arrogant and without restraint, and his vessels, clothes, and playthings had to match the emperor's. Once, attending court at the South Hall, he saw the master of food bringing fresh ice and the keeper of gardens presenting early plums; on returning he asked for some and was refused, and in great anger he demanded: "His Majesty already has them; why do I not?" Not knowing his proper rank or equality, he was mostly like this. Those with insight often compared him to Gong Shuduan or Zhou Xu. Later, hating the chancellor, he forged an edict and had him beheaded, and fearing someone would come to rescue him, he ordered the soldiers under his command to guard the palace gates. Since he had no intention of rebellion, he stopped after being reassured, but later he died in confinement because of this. People's love for their sons is rarely equal; from ancient times to now this [the source text has a rare character here, lost in transcription] has been so, and many. The worthy and outstanding can naturally be favored and loved, but the dull and slow should also be pitied. Those who show partiality, though wishing to treat the child generously, instead harm him thereby. Gong Shu's death was actually caused by his mother; the killing of Prince Ru Yi of Zhao was actually brought about by his father; Liu Biao brought ruin on his clan and Yuan Shao lost his land and army because of this, and these can serve as a clear mirror. [The source text has a rare character here, lost in transcription.] A scholar-official of the Qi dynasty once said to me: "I have a son, now seventeen, very well versed in writing [the source text has a rare character here, lost in transcription]; I teach him Xianbei language and the pipa, and now he understands them somewhat; by using these to serve the high ministers, there are none who do not favor him, and it is also an important matter." I lowered my head and did not answer at the time. How strange, that this man teaches his son in this way! Even if one could become a minister by this kind of study, I would not wish you to do it.