San Zi Jing (三字經) · Volume 3
曰岱華嵩恆衡此五嶽山之名
Dai, Hua, Song, Heng and Heng, these Five Sacred Peaks stand for all the famous mountains.
古九州今改制稱行省二十二
In ancient times the land was divided into nine provinces; now the system has changed to what are called provinces, twenty-two in all.
曰士農曰工商此四民國之良
Scholars and farmers, artisans and merchants, these four kinds of people are the good subjects of the state.
醫卜相皆方技星堪輿小道泥
Medicine, divination and physiognomy all belong to the technical arts; astrology and geomancy are minor arts and should not be clung to.
地所生有草木此植物遍水陸
What the earth brings forth includes grasses and trees, plants that cover the waters and the land;
有蟲魚有鳥獸此動物能飛走
there are insects and fish, birds and beasts, living creatures that can fly and can run.
稻粱菽麥黍稷此六穀人所食
Rice, sorghum, beans, wheat, broomcorn millet and panicled millet, these six grains are what people eat.
馬牛羊雞犬豕此六畜人所飼
Horses, cattle, sheep, chickens, dogs and pigs, these six domestic animals are what people raise.
曰喜怒曰哀懼愛惡欲七情具
Joy and anger, sorrow and fear, together with love, hatred and desire, make up the seven emotions in full.
曰仁義禮智信此五常不容紊
Benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom and trustworthiness, these are the Five Constants, which must not be thrown into disorder.
青赤黃及白黑此五色目所識
Blue-green, red, yellow, white and black, these five colors are what the eyes can tell apart.
酸苦甘及辛鹹此五味口所含
Sour, bitter, sweet, pungent and salty, these five flavors are what the mouth and tongue can taste.
羶焦香及腥朽此五臭鼻所嗅
Goatish, scorched, fragrant, fishy and rotten, these five smells are what the nose can perceive.
宮商角及徵羽此五音耳所取
Gong, shang, jue, zhi and yu, these five notes are what the ears can hear.
匏土革木石金與絲竹乃八音
Gourd, earth, hide, wood, stone and metal, with silk and bamboo added, make up the eight kinds of musical sound.
曰平上曰去入此四聲宜調協
Level, rising, departing and entering, these four tones should be matched and made harmonious.
九族者序宗親高曾祖父而身
The Nine Generations set out the order of the clan's relatives: great-great-grandfather, great-grandfather, grandfather and father down to oneself,
身而子子而孫自子孫至玄曾
from oneself to one's son and from son to grandson; counting on from sons and grandsons to great-grandsons and great-great-grandsons.
五倫者始夫婦父子先君臣後
As for the Five Relationships, they begin with husband and wife; father and son come first, and ruler and minister after,
次兄弟及朋友當順敘勿違負
and then brothers and friends. One should follow this order and not go against it.
有伯叔有舅甥婿婦翁三黨名
There are uncles on the father's side, maternal uncles and nephews, sons-in-law, daughters-in-law and fathers-in-law; these are the names of the Three Lines of relatives.
斬齊衰大小功至緦麻五服終
The coarse mourning dress with unhemmed edges, the hemmed one, the greater and lesser coarse-cloth mourning, down to the fine hemp mourning, make the five grades of mourning complete.
凡訓蒙須講究詳訓詁名句讀
In teaching young children one must pay attention to method: explain the meaning of the characters in detail and make clear where the sentences break.
禮樂射御書數古六藝今不具
Ritual, music, archery, charioteering, writing and mathematics were the Six Arts of old, but today they are no longer complete.
惟書學人共遵既識字講說文
Only the study of writing is kept up by everyone. Once one can recognize characters, one goes on to study the Shuowen Jiezi.
有古文大小篆隸草繼不可亂
There are the ancient script, the great seal script and the small seal script, and then clerical script and cursive script followed; they must not be confused.
若廣學懼其繁但略說能知原
If one wants to study widely, one fears it will be too much; with a little explanation, one can know the origin.
為學者必有初小學終至四書
Those who pursue learning always have a place to begin: when the Elementary Learning has been read, go on to the Four Books.
論語者二十篇群弟子記善言
The Analects has twenty chapters, in which the disciples recorded the good words of Confucius.
孟子者七篇是辨王霸說仁義
The Mencius has seven chapters, distinguishing the way of the true king from the way of the hegemon and speaking of benevolence and righteousness.
中庸者子思筆中不偏庸不易
The Doctrine of the Mean is from the hand of Zisi: "mean" (zhong) means not leaning to either side, and "constant" (yong) means not changing.
大學者學之程自修齊至治平
The Great Learning gives the order of study, from cultivating oneself and ordering one's family to governing the state and bringing peace to the world.
此二篇在禮記今單行本元晦
These two texts were originally in the Record of Rites, and the separate editions now in circulation come from Zhu Xi.
四書通孝經熟如六經始可讀
When the Four Books are understood and the Classic of Filial Piety is familiar, one may go on to read the Six Classics.
六經者統儒術文周作孔子述
The Six Classics gather together the learning of the Confucian school: King Wen and the Duke of Zhou made them, and Confucius transmitted them.
易詩書禮春秋樂經亡餘可求
The Changes, the Poetry, the Documents, the Rites and the Spring and Autumn Annals; the Classic of Music is lost, but the rest can all be studied.
有連山有歸藏有周易三易詳
The Changes has the Lianshan, the Guicang and the Zhou Changes, and so the principles of the three Changes are complete.
有典謨有訓誥有誓命書之奧
The Documents has the Canons and Counsels, the Instructions and Announcements, and the Oaths and Commands; this is where its depth lies.
有國風有雅頌號四詩當諷詠
The Poetry has the Airs of the States, the Elegantiae and the Hymns, together called the Four Kinds of Poems, which should be chanted.
周禮者著六官儀禮者十七篇
The Rites of Zhou set down the six offices, and the Ceremonials and Rites has seventeen chapters.
大小戴集禮記述聖言禮法備
The two Dais, the Elder and the Younger, compiled the Record of Rites, which relates the words of the sages, so that ritual law is made complete.
王跡熄春秋作寓褒貶別善惡
When the achievements of the true kings came to an end, the Spring and Autumn Annals was composed; it holds praise and blame within its wording and distinguishes good from evil.
三傳者有公羊有左氏有穀梁
The three commentaries are the Gongyang Commentary, the Zuo Commentary and the Guliang Commentary.
爾雅者善辨言求經訓此莫先
The Erya is good at distinguishing the meaning of words; in seeking explanations of the classics, nothing is more worth reading first.
註疏備十三經惟大戴疏未成
Those classics with commentaries and subcommentaries complete number thirteen; only the subcommentary on the Record of Rites of the Elder Dai was never finished.
左傳外有國語合群經數十五
Beside the Zuo Commentary there is also the Discourses of the States, and counting them all together the classics come to fifteen kinds.
經既明方讀子撮其要記其事
When the classics are understood, one then reads the various masters; pick out their essentials and remember the events of history.
古九流多亡佚取五種備文質
Of the Nine Schools of old, most are lost; five of them are taken, with both literary grace and substance.
五子者有荀楊文中子及老莊
The Five Masters are Xunzi, Yang Xiong and Wenzhongzi, together with Laozi and Zhuangzi.
經子通讀諸史考世系知終始
When the classics and the masters are all understood, one reads the histories, examining the lines of succession and learning when each dynasty began and ended.
自羲農至黃帝並頊嚳在上世
From Fuxi and Shennong to the Yellow Emperor, together with Zhuanxu and Emperor Ku, all belong to high antiquity.
堯舜興禪尊位號唐虞為二帝
Yao and Shun arose and gave up the honored seat by abdication; they are called Tang and Yu, together the Two Emperors.
夏有禹商有湯周文武稱三王
The Xia had Yu the Great, the Shang had Tang the Accomplished, and the Zhou had King Wen and King Wu; together they are called the Three Kings.
夏傳子家天下四百載遷夏社
Yu of the Xia passed the throne to his son, and the world became one family's possession; after four hundred years the altars of the Xia changed hands.
湯伐夏國號商六百載至紂亡
Tang attacked Jie of the Xia and named his state Shang; after six hundred years it perished in the time of King Zhou.
周武王始誅紂八百載最長久
King Wu of Zhou raised an army and put King Zhou to death; the Zhou lasted eight hundred years, the longest of all.
周共和始紀年曆宣幽遂東遷
From the first year of the Gonghe regency the Zhou has a firm chronology; after the kings Xuan and You, the court moved east.
周道衰王綱墮逞干戈尚遊說
The way of the Zhou declined and the royal order collapsed; and so people turned to weapons of war and prized persuasive speech.
始春秋終戰國五霸強七雄出
This began in the Spring and Autumn period and ended in the Warring States; the Five Hegemons claimed supremacy and the Seven Powers arose together.
嬴秦氏始兼併傳二世楚漢爭
The state of Qin, of the Ying clan, began to swallow up the whole realm; it passed down only two generations before Chu and Han fought each other.