進學解 An Explanation of Progress in Learning Han Yu 韓愈 (768–824) Sui–Tang · 813 Cold Library · Open Stacks · S-005209 · https://coldlibrary.com/s/005209 Rights: Tang dynasty prose, written in 813; the author died in 824. Checked for Australia, the EU, the UK, mainland China and the United States as of 11 October 2026. Guidance, not legal advice. Source: Wikisource, https://zh.wikisource.org/wiki/進學解 (retrieved 2026-10-11) English translation: Claude (an AI), 2026 · CC0 1.0 Generated 2026-10-14 from https://coldlibrary.com/en/open-stacks/han-yu-explaining-progress-in-learning ---- 國子先生晨入太學，招諸生立館下，誨之曰：「業精於勤，荒於嬉；行成於思，毀於隨。方今聖賢相逢，治具畢張，拔去凶邪，登崇畯良。占小善者率以錄，名一藝者無不庸，爬羅剔抉，刮垢磨光。蓋有幸而獲選，孰云多而不揚。諸生業患不能精，無患有司之不明，行患不能成，無患有司之不公。」 言未既，有笑於列者曰：「先生欺余哉！弟子事先生，於茲有年矣。先生口不絕吟於六藝之文，手不停披於百家之編。記事者必提其要，纂言者必鉤其玄。貪多務得，細大不捐，焚膏油以繼晷，恆兀兀以窮年。先生之業，可謂勤矣。抵排異端，攘斥佛老。補苴罅漏，張皇幽眇。尋墜緒之茫茫，獨旁搜而遠紹。障百川而東之，回狂瀾於既倒。先生之於儒，可謂有勞矣。沈浸醲郁，含英咀華。作為文章，其書滿家。上規姚姒。渾渾無涯。《周誥》《殷盤》，佶屈聱牙。《春秋》謹嚴，《左氏》浮誇。《易》奇而法，《詩》正而葩。下逮《莊》《騷》，太史所錄，子雲相如，同工異曲。先生之於文，可謂閎其中而肆其外矣。少始知學，勇於敢為：長通於方，左右具宜。先生之於為人，可謂成矣。然而公不見信於人，私不見助於友，跋前躓後，動輒得咎。暫為御史，遂竄南夷；三年博士，冗不見治。命與仇謀，取敗幾時。冬暖而兒號寒，年豐而妻啼饑。頭童齒豁，竟死何裨！不知慮此，而反教人為？」 先生曰：「吁！子來前，夫大木為杗，細木為桷，欂櫨侏儒，椳闑扂楔，各得其宜，施以成室者，匠氏之工也；玉劄丹砂，赤箭青芝，牛溲馬勃，敗鼓之皮，俱收並蓄，待用無遺者，醫師之良也；登明選公，雜進巧拙，紆餘為妍，卓犖為傑，校短量長，惟器是適者，宰相之方也。昔者孟軻好辯，孔道以明，轍環天下，卒老於行；荀卿守正，大論是宏，逃讒於楚，廢死蘭陵。是二儒者，吐辭為經，舉足為法，絕類離倫，優入聖域。其遇於世何如也？今先生學雖勤而不繇其統，言雖多而不要其中，文雖奇而不濟於用，行雖修而不顯於眾，猶且月費俸錢，歲靡廩粟，子不知耕，婦不知織，乘馬從徒，安坐而食，踵常途之促促，窺陳編以盜竊。然而聖主不加誅，宰相不見斥，茲非其幸歟！動而得謗，名亦隨之，投閑置散，乃分之宜。若夫商財賄之有亡，計班資之崇庳，忘己量之所稱，指前人之瑕疵，是所謂詰匠氏之不以杙為楹，而訾醫師以昌陽引年，欲進其豨苓也。」 ---- 国子先生晨入太学，招诸生立馆下，诲之曰：「业精于勤，荒于嬉；行成于思，毁于随。方今圣贤相逢，治具毕张，拔去凶邪，登崇畯良。占小善者率以录，名一艺者无不庸，爬罗剔抉，刮垢磨光。盖有幸而获选，孰云多而不扬。诸生业患不能精，无患有司之不明，行患不能成，无患有司之不公。」 言未既，有笑于列者曰：「先生欺余哉！弟子事先生，于兹有年矣。先生口不绝吟于六艺之文，手不停披于百家之编。记事者必提其要，纂言者必钩其玄。贪多务得，细大不捐，焚膏油以继晷，恒兀兀以穷年。先生之业，可谓勤矣。抵排异端，攘斥佛老。补苴罅漏，张皇幽眇。寻坠绪之茫茫，独旁搜而远绍。障百川而东之，回狂澜于既倒。先生之于儒，可谓有劳矣。沈浸醲郁，含英咀华。作为文章，其书满家。上规姚姒。浑浑无涯。《周诰》《殷盘》，佶屈聱牙。《春秋》谨严，《左氏》浮夸。《易》奇而法，《诗》正而葩。下逮《庄》《骚》，太史所录，子云相如，同工异曲。先生之于文，可谓闳其中而肆其外矣。少始知学，勇于敢为：长通于方，左右具宜。先生之于为人，可谓成矣。然而公不见信于人，私不见助于友，跋前踬后，动辄得咎。暂为御史，遂窜南夷；三年博士，冗不见治。命与仇谋，取败几时。冬暖而儿号寒，年丰而妻啼饥。头童齿豁，竟死何裨！不知虑此，而反教人为？」 先生曰：「吁！子来前，夫大木为杗，细木为桷，欂栌侏儒，椳闑扂楔，各得其宜，施以成室者，匠氏之工也；玉劄丹砂，赤箭青芝，牛溲马勃，败鼓之皮，俱收并蓄，待用无遗者，医师之良也；登明选公，杂进巧拙，纡余为妍，卓荦为杰，校短量长，惟器是适者，宰相之方也。昔者孟轲好辩，孔道以明，辙环天下，卒老于行；荀卿守正，大论是宏，逃谗于楚，废死兰陵。是二儒者，吐辞为经，举足为法，绝类离伦，优入圣域。其遇于世何如也？今先生学虽勤而不繇其统，言虽多而不要其中，文虽奇而不济于用，行虽修而不显于众，犹且月费俸钱，岁靡廪粟，子不知耕，妇不知织，乘马从徒，安坐而食，踵常途之促促，窥陈编以盗窃。然而圣主不加诛，宰相不见斥，兹非其幸欤！动而得谤，名亦随之，投闲置散，乃分之宜。若夫商财贿之有亡，计班资之崇庳，忘己量之所称，指前人之瑕疵，是所谓诘匠氏之不以杙为楹，而訾医师以昌阳引年，欲进其豨苓也。」 ---- English translation by Claude (an AI) In the morning the Master of the National Academy came into the Imperial College, called the students to stand below the hall, and instructed them: “Learning is perfected by diligence and wasted by play; conduct is formed by thought and spoiled by drifting. Now sage rulers and worthy ministers have met, and every instrument of government has been set in place. The wicked have been rooted out, and the able raised to high office. Whoever has the smallest merit is put on the list; whoever is known for a single skill is employed. They are combed through and sifted out, scraped of their grime and polished to brightness. Some, perhaps, are chosen by luck; but who can say that a man of many gifts is passed over? Students, worry that your learning is not refined, not that the officials are not clear-sighted; worry that your conduct is not formed, not that the officials are not fair.” Before he had finished, someone in the ranks laughed and said: “Master, you are deceiving us. We have served you for some years now. Your mouth never stops reciting the texts of the Six Arts, and your hand never stops turning the volumes of the hundred schools. When you record events you always pick out the essentials; when you compile sayings you always draw out what is hidden in them. Greedy for more and set on getting it, you throw nothing away, great or small; you burn the lamp oil to carry on after the sun, and toil on unresting through the years. Master, your labour can be called diligent. You have stood against heresy and driven out the Buddhists and the Daoists; you have patched the cracks and gaps and brought what was dim and remote into the light; you have sought the broken threads of the tradition where they were lost in vagueness, and searched alone, far and wide, to join them up again; you have dammed the hundred rivers and turned them east, and turned back the wild waves after they had broken. Master, for the Confucian way you can be said to have toiled. Steeped in its rich fragrance, savouring its flowers and chewing its blossoms, you have written essays until your books fill the house. Above, you take as your models the vast and boundless documents of Yu and Shun; the Zhou proclamations and the Yin addresses, knotted and hard on the tongue; the Spring and Autumn, strict and severe; the Zuo commentary, ornate and extravagant; the Changes, strange yet lawful; the Songs, upright and in flower. Below, you reach down to Zhuangzi and the Li Sao, to what the Grand Historian recorded, to Ziyun and Xiangru, who played different tunes with the same skill. Master, in literature you can be said to be broad within and unconstrained without. Young, you began to learn and were bold in action; grown, you understood the methods and were fit for anything. Master, as a man you can be said to be complete. And yet in public you are not trusted by others, and in private you are not helped by your friends. You trip going forward and stumble going back, and every move brings blame. You were a censor for a moment and were promptly banished among the southern tribes; three years a professor, you have been idle, with nothing to govern. Your fate conspires with your enemies, and defeat is never far away. In a mild winter your children cry with cold; in a rich harvest your wife weeps with hunger. Your head is bald and your teeth have gaps; what good will it do you to go on like this until you die? Instead of thinking about that, you turn round and teach others?” The Master said: “Ah, come here. Great timbers for beams and small timbers for rafters, brackets and short posts, door pivots and doorstops, bolts and door posts, each in its proper place and put together into a house: that is the craft of the carpenter. Burnet and cinnabar, red arrow and green fungus, plantain and puffballs, the skin of a broken drum, all gathered up and stored together, waiting to be used, none left out: that is the excellence of the physician. Promoting with clear sight and choosing with fairness, bringing in the skilful and the clumsy together, valuing the gentle for their grace and the outstanding for their boldness, comparing short and long and using each according to its capacity: that is the method of the chief minister. Long ago Meng Ke loved to argue, and the way of Confucius was made clear by him; his carriage tracks circled the empire, and he grew old on the road. Xun Qing held to what was right and spread his great arguments wide; he fled slander by going to Chu and died out of office at Lanling. These two scholars uttered words that became classics and took steps that became rules; they left their kind far behind and passed easily into the realm of the sages. And how did the world receive them? Now your master, though his study is diligent, does not keep to the line of the tradition; though his words are many, they do not reach the centre; though his writing is unusual, it is no practical help; though his conduct is careful, it does not stand out among the crowd. Even so he spends his monthly salary and uses up his yearly grain. His son does not know how to plough and his wife does not know how to weave; he rides a horse with followers behind him and eats sitting at his ease. He treads the common road with cramped little steps, and peers into old books to steal from them. And yet the sage ruler has not punished him, and the chief ministers have not dismissed him: is that not his good fortune? Whatever he does draws slander, and his name follows after it; that he has been set aside in an idle post is no more than his share. As for reckoning whether he has wealth or not and counting the height of his grade, forgetting what his own measure deserves and pointing at the faults of those above him: that is like scolding the carpenter for not using a stake as a pillar, or blaming the physician for prolonging life with calamus and wanting him to give you hog-tuber instead.”