49。
父 |
子 |
恩, |
夫 |
妇 |
从。 |
fù |
zǐ |
ēn |
fū |
fù |
cóng |
(father, |
son |
kindness; |
husband, |
wife |
harmony) |
Kindness between father and son, harmony between man and wife, . . .
50。
兄 |
则 |
友, |
弟 |
则 |
恭。 |
xiōng |
zé |
yǒu |
dì |
zé |
gōng |
(elder brother |
rule |
friend, |
younger brother |
rule |
respect) |
. . . friendliness from elder brother to younger, respect from younger
brother to elder, . . .
51。
长 |
幼 |
序, |
友 |
与 |
朋。 |
zhǎng |
yòu |
xù |
yǒu |
yǔ |
péng |
(old, |
young, |
order; |
friend |
support |
friend) |
. . . proper relations between generations, mutual support between
friend and friend, . . .
52。
君 |
则 |
敬, |
臣 |
则 |
忠。 |
jūn |
zé |
jìng |
chén |
zé |
zhōng |
(sovereign |
rule |
respect, |
subject |
rule |
loyalty) |
. . . respect from sovereigns, loyalty from subjects, . . .
53。
此 |
十 |
义, |
人 |
所 |
同。 |
cǐ |
shí |
yì |
rén |
suǒ |
tóng |
(these |
ten |
duties, |
people |
therefore |
same) |
. . . these ten behaviors bind all people.1
1
The alert reader will have
noticed that there are only 8 qualities of relationships mentioned, yet
the total, from line 53, is given as ten. Some of these are one-way
relationships, and some are two-way. There seems to have been some
debate about how to count to come up with a total of ten. Lines 50 and
52 are clearly one-way. Some propose construing line 51 along the lines
of "relationships among generations should be as the kindliness between
friends", thus allowing lines 49 and 51 to be interpreted as two-way
relationships, thus giving the required total.
Notice that lines 49 and 52 define and reiterate the Three Basic
Principles mentioned in line 28, which leaves 4 one-way relationships
to be made of the remaining two lines, and the only way out of the
problem is along the lines suggested above. It is further supported by
the interpretation that the characters used for the two "friends" in
line 51 are different; one refers to the elder friend, whose quality of
friendship is kindliness, the other "friend" is the younger whose
quality is trust, which could be read as definitive of
inter-generational relationships.