On the Teacher

 

　古之學(xué)者必有師。師者，所以傳道受業(yè)解惑也。人非生而知之者，孰能無惑？惑而不從師，其為惑也，終不解矣。生乎吾前，其聞道也，固先乎吾，吾從而師之；生乎吾后，其聞道也，亦先乎吾，吾從而師之。吾師道也，夫庸知其年之先后生于吾乎？是故無貴無賤，無長(zhǎng)無少，道之所存，師之所存也。  

　　嗟乎！師道之不傳也久矣，欲人之無惑也難矣。古之圣人，其出人也遠(yuǎn)矣，猶且從師而問焉；今之眾人，其下圣人也亦遠(yuǎn)矣，而恥學(xué)于師。是故圣益圣，愚益愚。圣人之所以為圣，愚人之所以為愚，其皆出于此乎？愛其子，擇師而教之；于其身也，則恥師焉，惑矣。彼童子之師，授之書而習(xí)其句讀者，非吾所謂傳其道、解其惑者也。句讀之不知，惑之不解，或師焉，或不焉，小學(xué)而大遺，吾未見其明也。巫醫(yī)、樂師、百工之人，不恥相師。士大夫之族，曰“師”曰“弟子”云者，則群聚而笑之。問之，則曰：彼與彼年相若也，道相似也， 位卑則足羞，官盛則近諛。嗚呼！師道之不復(fù)，可知矣。 巫醫(yī)、樂師、百工之人，君子不齒，今其智乃反不能及，其可怪也歟！ 

　　圣人無常師。孔子師郯子、萇弘、師襄、老聃。郯子之徒，其賢不及孔子。孔子曰“三人行，則必有我?guī)煛?rdquo;是故弟子不必不如師，師不必賢于弟子。聞道有先后，術(shù)業(yè)有專攻，如是而已。 

　　李氏子蟠，年十七，好古文，六藝經(jīng)傳皆通習(xí)之，不拘于時(shí)，學(xué)于余。余嘉其能行古道，作《師說》以貽之。

 

　　　In ancient times those who wanted to learn would seek out a teacher, one who could propagate the doctrine1, impart professional knowledge, and resolve doubts. Since no one is born omniscient, who can claim to have no doubts? If one has doubts and is not willing to learn from a teacher, his doubts will never be resolved. Anyone who was born before me and learned the doctrine before me is my teacher. Anyone who was born after me and learned the doctrine before me is also my teacher. Since what I desire to learn is the doctrine, why should I care whether he was born before or after me? Therefore, it does not matter whether a person is high or low in position, young or old in age. Where there is the doctrine, there is my teacher.  

　　Alas! The tradition of learning from the teacher has long been neglected. Thus it is difficult to find a person without any doubts at all. Ancient sages, who far surpassed us, even learned from their teachers. People today, who are far inferior to them, regard learning from the teacher as a disgrace. Thus, wise men become more wise and unlearned men become more foolish. This explains what makes a wise man and what makes a foolish man.  

　　It is absurd that a person would choose a teacher for his son out of his love for him, and yet refuse to learn from the teacher himself, thinking it a disgrace to do so. The teacher of his son teaches the child only reading and punctuation, which is not propagating the doctrine or resolving doubts as the aforementioned. I don"t think it wise to learn from the teacher when one doesn"t know how to punctuate, but not when one has doubts unresolved, for that I find to be the folly of learning in small matters, but neglecting the big ones. Even medicine men, musicians and handicraftsmen do not think it disgraceful to learn from each other. When one of the literati calls another man his "teacher"and himself his "student" people will get together and invariably laugh at him. If you ask them why they are laughing, they will say that since he is almost of the same age and as erudite as another man, it would be degrading for him to call the other man "teacher" if the other man"s social rank is lower than his; and it would be flattering if the other man"s social rank is higher. Alas! It is clear that the tradition of learning from the teacher can no longer be restored. Medicine men, musicians and handicraftsmen are despised by the gentlemen. How strange it is that gentlemen are less wise than these people!  

　　The ancient sages did not limit themselves to particular teachers. Confucius had learned from people like Tanzi2, Changhong3, Shixiang4, and Laodan5, who were not as virtuous and talented as Confucius. Confucius said "If three men are walking together, one of them is bound to be good enough to be my teacher."A student is not necessarily inferior to his teacher, nor does a teacher necessarily be more virtuous and talented than his student. The real fact is that one might have learned the doctrine earlier than the other, or might be a master in his own special field.  

　　Pan, the son of Li"s family, who is only seventeen years old, loves to study Chinese classics of the Qin and Han dynasties, and masters the six jing6 and their annotations. He does not follow conventions and is willing to learn from me. I appreciate his ability to act in accordance with the old tradition of learning. Therefore I dedicate this piece to him.

 

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