Book of Documents
The Book of Documents (Chinese: 書經; Pinyin: Shūjīng; Wade–Giles: Shu King) or the Classic of History, is one of the Five Classics of ancient Chinese literature. It is a collection of rhetorical prose attributed to figures of ancient China, and served as the foundation of Chinese political philosophy for over two millennia.
Quotes
[edit]- 天作孽，猶可違；自作孽，不可活。
- Calamities sent by Heaven may be avoided, but from calamities brought on by one's-self there is no escape.
- "The Books of Shang". Bk. V. Pt. ii, 3. Quoting Tai Jia in conversation with Yi Yin. Translated by James Legge, The Chinese Classics, Vol. III. Pt. i (1865) p. 207. Quoted slightly differently in the Mencius, Pt. I. Sec. 4: 天作孽，猶可違；自作孽，不可逭。Lionel Giles (1942) p. 48: "Heaven-sent calamities you may stand up against, but you cannot survive those brought on by yourself."
About
[edit]- It would be better to be without the Shu-King than to believe every word of it.
- Attributed to Mencius in Charles D. B. Mills (ed.) Pebbles, Pearls and Gems of the Orient (1882) nos. 131 and 587
