Uprightness ﹣ 正箴
- 正箴
- ZHENG (Uprightness)
| 體有不正 | 見者嗤笑 | 行有不正 | 寧免人誚 |
| 曷謂之正 | 表裏無差 | 禮毋不敬 | 詩思無邪 |
體有不正 體身體也。論語曰：「正其衣冠，尊其瞻視。」 禮曰：「正爾容。」此皆言體之宜正也，倘衣冠容貌，一有不正。
見者嗤笑 他人見之，自然冷笑。
O嗤, 音蚩， 冷笑也。
行有不正 行，言行也。倘語言動作，一有不正。
寧免人誚 又何能免人之譏誚。
曷謂之正 然則應如何而後能正。
表裏無差 以根本言之，衣冠容貌，語言動作，固屬宜正。其最要者，必須先正其心。心正是裏，衣冠容貌語言動作是表。心正而衣冠容貌語言動作便能正，而後表裏庶無差錯。 倘外表雖正，而心不正，則外若君子，內實小人。所以講正字，先從正心始。
禮毋不敬 禮記所謂：「毋不敬」三字，是言心身既正，則處事無不敬恭。
詩思無邪 詩經所謂：「思無邪」三字，是言心身既正，則思想自無邪念，此六字可以將正字之意義，包括殆盡矣。
If a person is not ZHENG (upright) in the way of his appearance, he will be laughed at and scorned by those who see him. How can one escape the censure of others, if one is not upright both in words and deeds? To be true to the meaning of uprightness, one has to be upright both inwardly and outwardly. Remember the adage in the Book of Rites (A): “If your mind and body are upright, you will without a doubt pay reverent attention to your interaction.” Throughout the Classics of Poetry (B), there is absolutely no trace of any depraved cogitation.
NOTE:-
(A) Book of Rites is one of the Confucian Classic Sutras. It consists of articles that were written by the disciples of Confucius and they emphasize the spirit of piety and respect for others through rules of conduct and ceremony.
(B) Classics of Poetry includes 305 poems and songs dating from the 10th to the 7th century BC selected and organized by Confucius.
