弟子規

【英文語音撥放（Play English Audio） – Chapter 1】

Standards for Students

Di Zi Gui (Standards for Being a Good Student and Child)

翻譯1： 法界佛教總會（DRBA/BTTS/DRBU） 翻譯

翻譯2： 澳洲淨宗學院 翻譯

前言（Foreword）

The Standards for Students are basic requisites for being a good person and guidelines for living in harmony with others.

… For today’s society, it applies to all children, both male and female.

總敘

Preface

Outline

弟子規。聖人訓。

These are the rules for being a student

Handed down to us by Ancient Sages.

Standards for Being a Good Student and Child(註1) is a book that

was taught by Chinese saints and sages of the ancient past.

首孝弟。次謹信。

First be filial to your own parents

And respectful to all of your elders.

The book first teaches us how to be dutiful to your parents, and how to be respectful and loving to our siblings. (註2)

It then teaches us how to be cautious with all people, matters, and things in our daily life, and how to be a trustworthy person; and to believe in the teachings of the ancient saints and sages. (註3)

汎愛眾。而親仁。

Be trustworthy, cautious and kind,

And draw near to those who are good.

Furthermore, it teaches us to love all equally,

and to be close to and learn from people of virtue and compassion.

有餘力。則學文。

Whatever time you have left

Should be devoted to learning.

Only when we have accomplished all the above

can we then study further and learn literature and art to improve the quality of our cultural and spiritual lives.

第一章 入則孝

Chapter 1 On Being Filial at Home

Chapter 1 At Home, Be Dutiful to My Parents

父母呼。應勿緩。

When your mother or father is calling,

Do not be slow to respond.

When my parents call me,

I will answer them right away.

父母命。行勿懶。

When your parents tell you to do something,

Do not be lazy or sulky.

When they ask me to do something,

I will do it quickly.

父母教。須敬聽。

When your parents need to instruct you,

You should listen with patient respect.

When my parents instruct you,

I will listen respectfully.

父母責。須順承。

Whenever your parents must scold you,

Accept it with faithful compliance.

When my parents reproach me,

I will obey and accept their scolding. I will try hard to change and improve myself, to start anew.

冬則溫。夏則凊。

In the winter, make sure they are warm.

In the summer, make sure they are cool.

In the winter, I will keep my parents warm;

in the summer, I will keep your parents cool.

晨則省。昏則定。

In the morning, cheerfully greet them.

In the evening, tell them “Good night.”

I will always greet my parents in the morning to show them that I care.

At night I will always make sure my parents rest well.

出必告。反必面。

If you plan to go out, tell your parents.

Report to them when you get back.

Before going out, I must tell my parents where I are going, for parents are always concerned about their children.

After returning home, I must go and see my parents to let them know I am back, so they do not worry about me.

居有常。業無變。

Settle down in one certain place.

Do not switch from one job to another.

I will maintain a permanent place to stay and lead a routine life.

I will persist in whatever I do and will not change my aspirations at will.

事雖小。勿擅為。

No matter how small the affair,

Do not act just as you please.

A matter might be trivial, but if it is wrong to do it or unfair to the other person,

I must not do it thinking it will bear little or no consequence. (註4)

苟擅為。子道虧。

For if you act just as you please,

Then you have not performed as you should.

If I do,

I am not being a dutiful child because my parents would not want to see me doing things that are irrational or illegal.

物雖小。勿私藏。

Although a thing may be small,

Do not save it just for yourself.

Even though an object might be small,

I will not keep it a secret from my parents.

苟私藏。親心傷。

For if you hoard things for yourself,

Your parents’ hearts will be grieved.

If I do,

I will hurt my parents’ feelings. (註5)

親所好。力為具。

Whatever your parents like best,

You should provide for them soon.

If whatever pleases my parents is fair and reasonable,

I will try my best to attain it for them. (註6)

親所惡。謹為去。

Whatever your parents dislike,

You should do your best to remove.

If something displeases my parents, if within reason(註7)

I will cautiously keep it away from them.

身有傷。貽親憂。

If you carelessly injure your body,

Your parents will worry and fret.

When my body is hurt,

My parents will be worried.

德有傷。貽親羞。

If you heedlessly damage your virtue,

You bring shame and disgrace to your parents,

If my virtues(註8) are compromised,

my parents will feel ashamed.

親愛我。孝何難。

When your parents are loving and kind,

Of course it’s not hard to be filial.

When I have loving parents,

it is not difficult to be dutiful to them.

親憎我。孝方賢。

The true test of being a person

Comes when parents are hateful and cruel.

But if I can be dutiful to parents who hate me,

only then will I meet the standards of the saints and sages for being a dutiful child.

親有過。諫使更。

If your recognize faults in your parents,

Exhort them to change for the better.

When my parents do wrong,

I will urge them to change.

怡吾色。柔吾聲。

Speak to them kindly and gently

With a pleasant smile on your face.

I will do it with a kind facial expression

and a warm gentle voice.

諫不入。悅復諫。

If they cannot accept your advice,

Wait for an opportune time.

If they do not accept my advice,

I will wait until they are in a happier mood before I attempt to dissuade them again,

號泣隨。撻無怨。

You may even use tears to exhort them,

But don’t resent it if you are punished.

followed by crying, if necessary, to make them understand.

If they end up whipping me(註9) I will not hold a grudge against them.

親有疾。藥先嘗。

When your parents are ill, call the doctor,

Be sure the prescription is right.

When my parents are ill,

I will taste the medicine first before giving it to them. (註10)

晝夜侍。不離床。

Wait on them day after day,

At their bedside by day and by night.

I will take care of them night and day and

stay by their bedside.

喪三年。常悲咽。

For three years after their death,

Remember them always in sorrow.

During the first three years of mourning after my parents have passed away,

I will remember them with gratitude and feel sad often for not being able to repay them for their kindness in raising me.

居處變。酒肉絕。

During this period of mourning,

Don’t drink wine or eat meat.

During this period I will arrange my home to reflect my grief and sorrow.

I will also avoid festivities and indulgence in food and alcoholic drinks.

喪盡禮。祭盡誠。

Take care of their funeral arrangements,

Make offerings on their behalf.

I will observe proper etiquette(註11) in arranging my parents’ funerals.

I will hold the memorial ceremony and commemorate my parents’ anniversaries with utmost sincerity.

事死者。如事生。

Reverently cherish their memory

As if they were still in the world.

I will serve my departed parents

as if they were still alive. (註12)

註1：Sourced from Analects of Confucius, Book I, Chapter 6. It was taught by Confucius, Mencius, and other Chinese saints and sages of the ancient past.

摘自於【論語】─學而第一篇第六章，是孔子,孟子以及其他中國古聖先賢所教導的。

註2：“Xiao” and “Ti” have been the very foundation of Chinese culture for five thousand years. Xiao (孝) means to be dutiful to one’s parents with affection, and to understand the basic relationship of grandparents, parents and self. In ideogram form, xiao has two components –the top part of xiao is the top portion of the word elder (老) and the bottom part is the word son (子). Combined into one, it implies that the older generation and the younger generation are one: there should be no gap between them. In Buddhism, the meaning is further extended. Outside the family, the child should treat every male and female of the parents’ generation as if they were the child’s own father and mother. Ti (弟) means sincere fraternal love. Here the term refers to the principle and standard of conduct between brothers not only when they are at home but when they are away from home. In Buddhism, its meaning also extends further to include conduct towards all older persons of any generation.

孝、弟是中國五千年文化固有的基礎。“孝”是孝順。孝的概念就是要瞭解祖父母、父母與自己的關係。把“孝”分開來看，上面與“老”字相同，下面是一個“子”字；表示老一輩跟小一輩的是同一體，不像現代的人有代溝。佛法更深一步的教導我們平時在外，遇見與父母同輩的長者，要如同對待自己的父母一樣。“弟”是指兄弟姐妹之間彼此誠心的友愛。在此用來衡量做弟妹的在外對兄長應有的標準原則。同樣的在佛法，我們對待同輩的長者也要如同我們自己兄長一樣的敬愛。

註3：“To believe in the teachings of the ancient saints and sages” means to trully practice and put the teachings of the ancient saints and sages into effect.

“信”是必須要落實古聖先賢在經典裡所教誨的，要做到才是真信。

註4： For example, in Buddhism, it is considered breaking the precept of not stealing if you borrow a piece of paper or take someone’s pen without permission. It is considered breaking the precept of not killing if I kill an ant or mosquito. If I lie or talk about someone behind his back, I have broken the precept of not lying, etc.

譬如在佛法，沒有經過同意拿別人紙、筆犯盜戒。殺螞蟻、蚊蟲犯殺戒。說謊，兩舌犯妄語戒等等。

註5：Parents will be saddened by the actions of a child who behaves secretively. If he behaves in such a way when he is still young, then he will probably twist the law, obtain bribes, and be a curse to his country and his people when he grows up.

父母感到悲傷，因為孩子從小就會私藏東西，將來長大後，可能就會做貪贓枉法，禍國殃民的事。

註6： If what pleases your parents is illegitimate or unreasonable, I should tactfully dissuade my parents, and tell them the reasons that they should not have it.

不合情、理、法的愛好，要婉轉的勸導父母。

註7： I should lead my parents to proper views and understanding of things.

要誘導父母走向正知正見。

註8：Virtues are standards and principles of one’s conduct. In China a man’s conduct is ruled by“Wu Chang” (五常) and “Ba De” (八德). “Wu Chang” are the five moral principles: kindheartedness(仁), personal loyalty(義), proper etiquette(禮), wisdom(智), and trustworthiness(信).“Ba De” are the eight virtues: duty to parents(孝), respect for elders(悌), loyalty(忠), credibility(信), proper etiquette(禮), personal loyalty(義), a sense of honor(廉), and a sense of shame(恥).

“德”是人的道德修養。德有五常八德。五常是仁、義、禮、智、信。八德是孝、悌、忠、信、禮、義、廉、恥。

註9： In ancient China, when a child did not obey the parents, the parents were allowed to discipline the child. If a child refused to be disciplined, the parents had the right to ask the authorities to have the child executed.

中國的古法，如孩子不聽管教，父母有權懲罰他們，如果很不聽話，有權要求官府把孩子處死。

註10： Chinese people take herbal medicine prescribed by Chinese doctors. Herbs are boiled with water to make a liquid medicine. Before giving such medicine to one’s parents, a child should first taste it to ensure it is not too hot or too bitter.

古時候的中國用草藥治病。把醫生開的藥方加水煮成藥湯。子女要先替父母親試嘗藥的溫度與苦味，調理好後才端去給父母喝。

註11： In ancient China, funeral etiquette was laid down by the emperor.

喪禮在中國古時候是由皇帝制定的。

註12： When my parents are alive, I should treat them with love and respect. When they pass away, I should arrange their funerals with deepest sorrow. For all the subsequent commemorations and anniversaries held, I should show love and respect as if they were still alive.

當我的父母在世時，我要敬愛他們。他們過世後，我要以沉痛的心籌備他們的喪事。往後每年祭祀父母，我都要以同樣敬愛的心紀念他們。