The 11th Chinese Bridge Chinese Proficiency Competition for Foreign College Students is hold in Changsha City Hunan Province this summer. It has invited over one hundred oversea students to participate this competition and explore Chinese culture. With the spread of Chinese, more foreign friends are interested in Chinese and Confucius Institution has built all over the world. Confucius is the great thinker, educator, and the founder of Confucian. In this blog, we are going to present you some sentences from the Analects of Confucius, which is one of the classics of Confucianist.

子曰：“知者乐水，仁者乐山；知者动，仁者静；知者乐，仁者寿。”

Confucius said， “The wise enjoy water, the humane enjoy mountains. The wise are active, the humane are quiet. The wise are happy; the humane live long lives. ”

林放问礼之本。子曰：“大哉问！礼与其奢也宁俭；丧与其易也宁戚。”

Lin Fang asked about the essence of the rites. Confucius said, “A very significant question! The rites should be performed in a frugal way rather than in an extravagant way. Funerals should be held with grief rather than with pomposity.”

子曰：“不患无位，患所以立。

Confucius said，“One should worry not about having no official position, but about having no proper qualifications. “

“不患莫己知，求为可知也。”

”One should not seek to be known to others, but seek to acquire the qualities worthy of being known.”

子曰：“人无远虑，必有近忧。”

Confucius said，“He who does not think of the future is certain to have immediate worries.”

子曰：“躬自厚而薄责于人，责远怨矣。”

Confucius said，“One can keep hatred and grievance away by putting more blame on oneself and less on others for any fault.”

子曰：“过而不改，是谓过矣。”

Confucius said，“A fault that is not amended is a real fault.”

子曰：“居上不宽，为礼不敬，临丧不哀，吾何以观之哉？”

Confucius said， “What is there for me to observe of a man if he is not broad-minded when he is in high position, not reverent when he is performing the rites, and not sad when he is in mourning?”

子曰：“父母在，不远游，游必有方。”

Confucius said， “While one’s parents are alive, one should not travel to distant places. If it is necessary to travel, there should be a definite direction.”

子曰：“君子喻于义，小人喻于利。”

Confucius said，“The gentleman knows what is right; the mean person keeps his mind only on gains.”

子曰：“君子周而不比，小人比而不周。”

Confucius said，“The gentleman unites and does not plot with others; the mean man plots and does not unite with others.”

子曰：“君子和而不同，小人同而不和。”

Confucius said，“The gentleman aims at harmony, and not at uniformity. The mean man aims at uniformity, and not at harmony.”

From the above selections, we can conclude that Confucius emphasizes harmony, benevolence, propriety. It shows the essence of Chinese culture and has a great influence on the nation, even the world.