12月28日

問 說
清 劉開 ( 1784~1824 )

君子之學，必好問；
問與學，相輔而行者也。
賢於己者，問焉以破其疑；
不如己者，問焉以求一得；
等於己者，問焉以資切磋。
賢於己者，忌之而不願問焉；
不如己者，輕之而不屑問焉；
等於己者，狎之而不甘問焉。
如是，則天下幾無可問之人。
智者千慮，必有一失。
聖人所不知，未必不為愚人之所知也；
愚人之所能，未必非聖人之所不能也。
貴可以問賤，賢可以問不肖，
而老可以問幼，唯道之所成而已矣。

──選自《劉孟圖詩文集》

December 28

About Asking
Liu Kai (1784 - 1824, Qing Dynasty)
English translation: Zhang Senbing and William Chong

The education of gentlemen must involve proactive query.
Asking and learning complement each other.
Ask he who is more virtuous than thee,
To resolve one's doubts.
Ask he who is inferior to thee,
And hope for a surprise.
Ask he who is equal to thee,
And enjoy a thorough discussion.
If one is of greater virtue,
    you might not be willing to ask him
    for fear of infringing decorum;
If one is inferior,
    you might not care to ask him
    because you belittle him;
If one is an equal,
    you might not be inclined to ask him
    because of your arrogance;
In this way, there would be no one to ask.
The wise can consider a matter without end,
    but there will certainly
    be times he makes mistakes.
What is unknown to the wise
Might not be unknown to the fool.
What the ordinary is capable of,
Might not necessarily be lesser than that of the wise.

The noble can ask the lowly,
The virtuous can ask the vile,
The elder can ask the junior;
One can only stop when one has accomplished the path.

── from Liu Mengtu Shiwen Ji (Liu Mengtu's Collection of Poetry and Prose)