My father gave me birth,
my mother sustenance.
Without father and mother, would I have life?
How can I
repay a favor that is boundless as Heaven?
The relationship between king and people
is the same as that between heaven and earth.
Since the king would feign know our plight,
how can we,
the people, eat the succulent parsley by ourselves.
Big brother, little brother,
touch each other's flesh.
Who gave you birth? You are so alike.
Suckled at
the same breast, don't harbour divided hearts.
While your parents are alive,
do all that filial piety requires.
It's too late for regret when they go.
Filial piety
is one service you can't then provide, though you try
for the rest of your life.
Husband and wife
are one body in two,
meant to grow old together, to go in death together.
Why, then,
does that doting old fool glare at me so?
A man turns aside from the road
a woman walks;
and a woman turns aside from the road a man walks.
So ask not
the name of one who is neither husband nor wife.
Your son is reading the Book of Filial Piety;
how much has he learned?
In a few days my son will finish the Book of Rites. When our children
complete these books, will they attain wisdom?
The kat is the traditional Korean horsehair hat;
the cowl is the monk's cowl.
Village people,
let's do what is right.
A man born into this world who doesn't do what is right
is like
a horse or a cow being fed with a kat and cowl on its head?
If an elder takes you by the wrist,
offer both hands to help him to his feet.
If he has to go out, follow him with a walking stick.
After the village festival
make sure he gets safely home.
In the world of men is there anything
more trustworthy than a friend?
A friend points out all my faults.
Without such friends,
would I be a complete man?
Family Support in Poverty and Calamity
Ah, nephew! Nothing to eat;
what will you do?
Ah, poor man! Nothing to wear; what will you do? Speak up about
things that are amiss! I want to take care of you.
How are you managing
the bereavements in your house?
When will you get your daughter a husband?
I don't have
much myself, but I'd like to help.
It's full daylight now;
let's take our hoes and go.
When I finish my fields, I'll help you weed yours.
On the way back
we'll pick mulberry leaves and feed the silkworms.
Though you go without clothes yourself,
don't filch the clothes of another.
Though you go without food yourself, don't beg the food of another.
Stained once
it's hard to get washed clean again.
Don't play dice or chess;
don't write litigation writs.
If your family is ruined, what will you do? You could become someone's enemy?
Don't you know
it's the nation makes the laws and decides what's right and wrong.
Old-timer, burdened head and back,
give me your load.
I'm young; not even stones are heavy.
It's bad enough
to be old without bearing extra baggage.