The full text and correct translation of "Zhu Xi's Family Instructions" are as follows:
The original text of "Zhu Xi's Family Instructions"
Get up at dawn and sweep the courtyard to make it clean inside and outside.
As soon as you feel faint, you will rest. If you lock the door, you must check it yourself.
A porridge and a meal, when you think about the difficulty of getting there; half a thread, half a thread, always think about the difficulty of material resources.
It is better to be prepared before it rains and not to dig a well when thirsty.
You must be frugal in serving yourself, and do not linger when entertaining guests.
The utensils are clean, the earthenware pots and pots are better than gold and jade; the food is simple and refined, and the garden vegetables are delicious.
Don’t build luxurious houses, don’t seek fertile land.
Three aunts and six wives are matchmakers for adulterers and thieves; beautiful maids and coquettish concubines are not the blessings of a boudoir.
Boys and servants should not be handsome, and wives and concubines should not use colorful makeup.
Although the ancestors are far away, the sacrifices must not be dishonest; although the descendants are foolish, they must read the scriptures.
You must be simple in your life and work, and teach your children in a righteous way.
Don’t be greedy for unexpected wealth, and don’t drink too much wine.
When trading with Jian Tiao, do not take advantage; when you see your poor relatives and neighbors, you must show warmth and compassion.
If you are mean and start a family, you will not be able to enjoy it for a long time; if you have a bad relationship, you will soon perish.
Brothers, uncles and nephews must be divided into many to benefit the few; elders and younger ones, both internally and externally, should be strict in their speech.
How can he be a husband if he listens to his wife and behaves well to his own flesh and blood? He who values ??property but neglects his parents cannot be a good son.
When you marry a daughter and choose a good son-in-law, don’t ask for a generous offer; when you marry a daughter-in-law, don’t ask for a generous dowry.
It is most shameful to be flattering when seeing wealth; to be arrogant when seeing poverty is nothing more despicable.
Avoid lawsuits at home, as lawsuits will lead to disaster; avoid talking too much in life, as talking too much will lead to mistakes.
Do not rely on power to bully the orphans and widows; do not be greedy for food and drink, but do not want to kill animals.
If you are eccentric, you will have many regrets and mistakes; if you are lazy and resigned, your family fortune will be difficult to achieve.
If you are young and have bad affection, you will suffer from it for a long time; if you are old and mature, you can rely on each other if you are in a hurry.
Listen lightly to what is said, and be aware of the accusations made by others, and be patient and think twice; when you argue over something, you know it is not your fault, so you must be calm and think again.
Don’t forget to give favors, and never forget to receive favors.
You should leave room for everything, and you should not continue to be proud.
When people are happy, they should not be jealous; when people are in trouble, they should not be happy.
To be kind and to be seen by others is not really good; to be evil and to fear that others will see it is a great evil.
If you see lust and have lustful thoughts, you will repay it to your wife and children; if you hide your grudges and use hidden arrows, you will bring disaster to your descendants.
The family is harmonious, and even though the food is not good, there is still a lot of fun; the national classes are finished early, there is nothing left in the bag, and I am happy.
Studying aims at being a sage, not just a scholar; serving as an official only cares about the country, not about wealth.
Keep your peace and order, and listen to God. If you behave like this, you will be close to common people.
Explanation of "Zhu Xi's Family Instructions"
Rise at dawn and sweep the court to make it clean inside and outside.
Get up at dawn, clean the yard, and keep everything tidy inside and outside.
As soon as you feel faint, you will rest. If you lock the door, you must check it yourself.
Take a rest when the sun goes down, close the doors and windows, and be sure to check it yourself.
A porridge and a meal, when you think about the difficulty of getting there; half a thread, half a thread, always think about the difficulty of material resources.
A bowl of porridge and a bowl of rice should be considered as hard-won; half silk and half thread (on clothes and cloth) should be considered as hard-earned.
It is better to be prepared before it rains and not to dig a well when thirsty.
It is best to prepare for a rainy day and not to dig a well only when you are thirsty.
You must be frugal in serving yourself, and do not linger when entertaining guests.
Live by yourself, be diligent and thrifty when maintaining your health, and don’t be stingy when entertaining guests.
The utensils are clean, the earthenware pots and pots are better than gold and jade; the food is simple and refined, and the garden vegetables are delicious.
Household utensils should be clean and tidy, even if they are made of tiles, they are better than those made of gold and jade; meals should be eaten sparingly and carefully, even ordinary vegetables are delicacies.
Don’t build luxurious houses, don’t seek fertile land.
Don’t build luxurious houses; don’t seek fertile fields.
Three aunts and six wives are matchmakers for adulterers and thieves; beautiful maids and coquettish concubines are not the blessings of a boudoir.
Those three aunts and six women, they are really matchmakers for debauchery and thieves (here is not "three aunts and six women" but refers to some women who love to tell trouble, like the Wang Po in Water Margin) beautiful maids, beautiful concubines, these It is not a blessing within the family.
Boys and servants should not be handsome, and wives and concubines should not use colorful makeup.
Boys and servants should not choose handsome ones, and wives and concubines should not be richly dressed.
Although the ancestors are far away, the sacrifices must not be dishonest; although the descendants are foolish, they must read the scriptures.
Although our ancestors are far away from us, we must be sincere in offering sacrifices; even if our descendants are dull, they must read the scriptures.
You must be simple in your home life and teach your children in a righteous way.
In daily life, one must be honest and simple in character and self-cultivation, and good methods must be used in educating children and grandchildren.
Don’t be greedy for unexpected wealth, and don’t drink too much wine.
Don’t covet unexpected wealth and don’t drink too much.
When trading with Jian Tiao, do not take advantage; when you see your poor relatives and neighbors, you must show warmth and compassion.
When doing business with people who are doing small business on carrying poles, do not take advantage of them; when you see poor relatives or neighbors, be more considerate and comfort them.
If you are mean and have a family, you will not be able to enjoy it for a long time; if you have a bad relationship, you will soon perish.
If you are a mean person in charge of this family, the laws of nature will not allow you to enjoy blessings for a long time; if you violate ethics and are surly and rebellious, you will perish immediately.
Brothers, uncles and nephews must be divided into many to benefit the few; elders and younger ones, both internally and externally, should be strict in their speech.
For brothers, uncles and nephews, we should give more comfort to the poor and widows, and strict family laws should be enforced both inside and outside.
How can he be a husband if he listens to his wife’s words and behaves well to his own flesh and blood? He cannot be a good son if he values ??his property but neglects his parents.
Listening to a woman’s words and doting on one’s own flesh and blood are the actions of a man; being preoccupied with money and not being filial to one’s parents is not the behavior of one’s descendants.
When you marry a daughter and choose a good son-in-law, don’t ask for a generous offer; when you marry a daughter-in-law, don’t ask for a generous dowry.
When marrying a daughter, you should choose a son-in-law of good quality and do not ask for expensive betrothal gifts; when marrying a daughter-in-law, you should choose a decent lady and do not care about a heavy dowry.
It is most shameful to be flattering when seeing wealth; to be arrogant when seeing poverty is nothing more despicable.
The most shameful person is to have the intention of harming someone when he sees a wealthy person; the most despicable person is to deliberately act arrogantly when encountering a poor person.
Avoid lawsuits at home, as lawsuits will lead to disaster; avoid talking too much in life, as talking too much will lead to mistakes.
When managing a family, one must avoid quarrels and lawsuits, as lawsuits will lead to dangerous disasters; one must avoid talking too much in life, as talking too much will lead to mistakes.
Do not rely on power to bully the orphans and widows; do not be greedy for food and drink, but do not want to kill animals.
Don’t rely on your power to humiliate and coerce the weak; don’t want to slaughter livestock just for the pleasure of talking.
If you are eccentric, you will have many regrets and mistakes; if you are lazy and resigned, your family fortune will be difficult to achieve.
If you have an eccentric and self-righteous personality, you will definitely regret a lot of things and make mistakes; if you are decadent, lazy, and resigned to the status quo, it will be difficult to achieve family success.
If you have a bad relationship with others, you will suffer from it for a long time; if you are old and mature, you can rely on each other in times of crisis.
Associate with those bad guys, and you will be dragged down by them over time; if you associate with mature people, you can rely on them if you encounter urgent matters.
Listen to what is said lightly, be aware of the inhuman accusations, and be patient and think twice;
When you argue over something, you know it is not your fault, so you must think about it calmly.
Don’t believe in other people’s slanders, imagine whether it is someone else’s slander, and be patient and think more; if you argue with each other about something, imagine whether it is your own fault, and think about it calmly.
Don’t forget to give favors, and never forget to receive favors.
Don’t worry about helping others all day long, and don’t forget the kindness you received from others.
You should leave room for everything, and you should not go back to where you are proud.
Everything you do must leave room for success, and success must be achieved only in moderation.
When people are happy, don’t be jealous; when people are in trouble, don’t be happy.
Don’t be jealous when someone is happy; don’t take pleasure in someone else’s misfortune.
It is not really good to be kind if you want others to see you; to be evil if you fear others will see you is evil.
If you have a kind heart, you must let others know it, which is not a true kindness; if you have a disgusting heart and you are afraid that others will know it, this is a great evil.
If you see lust and have lustful thoughts, you will repay it to your wife and children; if you hide your grudges and use hidden arrows, you will bring disaster to your descendants.
If you are lustful after seeing beauty, retribution will be on your wife and daughters; if you hide your resentment and stab others in secret, the disaster will be extended to your descendants.
The family is harmonious, and although the food is not good, there is still a lot of fun; the national lessons are finished early, there is nothing left in the bag, and I am happy.
If everyone in the family has a harmonious relationship, they will still be happy even if they have no food to eat; if they have finished studying Chinese studies, they will be happy even if they have nothing in their pockets.
Studying aims at being a sage, not just a scholar; serving as an official only cares about the country, not about wealth.
Studying is for the purpose of learning from the sages, not just for the imperial examination; when you are an official, you must have the monarch and the country in mind, how can you only care about your own family.
Keep your peace and order, and listen to God. If you behave like this, you will be close to common people. Keep your duty as a human being and be content with your fate, obey the seasons and obey God's will. If life were like this, it would be perfect.
"Zhu Xi's Family Instructions"
Also known as "Zhu Xi's Maxims on Family Governance" and "Zhu Bailu's Maxims on Family Governance", it is an enlightenment textbook focusing on family ethics. "Zhu Xi's Family Instructions" has only 634 words. It incisively explains the way of self-cultivation and family management. It is a famous work on family education. Among them, many contents inherit the excellent characteristics of traditional Chinese culture, such as respecting teachers, being diligent and thrifty, and living in harmony with neighbors, etc., which still have practical significance today.
"Zhu Xi's Family Instructions" talks about safety, hygiene, thrift, preparation, food, housing, marriage, beauty, ancestor worship, reading, education, wealth and wine, and sexual discipline from the perspective of running a family. , caring, modesty, non-controversy, making friends, self-examination, doing good, paying taxes, serving as an official, adapting, being content, and accumulating virtue, etc. The core is to make people become upright, knowledgeable, rigorous in life, and tolerant Kind people with lofty ideals are also the consistent pursuit of Chinese culture.
If we truly practice this, we will not only become a person with noble sentiments, but also build a happy family and then build a harmonious society.