Amid the chaos of 6th Century BCE China—where warring states fought endlessly among themselves for supremacy, and rulers were frequently assassinated, sometimes by their own relatives—Confucius exemplified benevolence and integrity, and through his teaching, became one of China's greatest philosophers.

紀元前 6 世紀中国の混乱の真っ只中、好戦的な国々が覇権を巡って絶え間なく交戦し、支配者たちは頻繁に暗殺されていました。時には身内の者の手によって。孔子は仁愛と誠実さを実証し、彼の教えを通して、中国の偉大な思想家の 1 人となりました。

Born to a nobleman, but raised in poverty from a very young age following the untimely death of his father, Confucius developed what would become a lifelong sympathy for the suffering of the common people.

孔子は貴族として生まれるも、父親の早すぎる死の後、貧困の中で育ち、生涯にわたって庶民の苦しみに対して持つ同情心を身につけました。

Barely supporting his mother and disabled brother as a herder and account keeper at a granary, and with other odd jobs, it was only with the help of a wealthy friend that Confucius was able to study at the Royal Archives, where his world view would be formed.

家畜の世話係と穀物倉の帳簿記録係として、また他の雑用で、なんとか母親と体の不自由な兄を支えていた孔子は、ある裕福な友の助けのおかげで中央記録保管所で学ぶことができ、そこで彼の思想が形成されました。

Though the ancient texts there were regarded by some as irrelevant relics of the past, Confucius was inspired by them.

古代の文書は一部の人たちにとって重要ではない過去の遺物だと考えられていましたが、孔子はそれらの文書の影響を受けました。

Through study and reflection, Confucius came to believe that human character is formed in the family and by education in ritual, literature, and history.

勉強と塾考を通して、孔子は人格は家族の中で形成され、儀式、文学、歴史の教育を通して形成されるという考えに至りました。

A person cultivated in this way works to help others, guiding them by moral inspiration rather than brute force.

このように教養を受けた人は、他人を助け、彼らを力ずくではなく道徳的な啓示によって指導しようとします。

To put his philosophy into practice, Confucius became an advisor to the ruler of his home state of Lu.

孔子は彼の思想を実践するために、故郷の魯国の支配者の顧問となりました。

But after another state sent Lu's ruler a troop of dancing girls as a present, and the ruler ignored his duties while enjoying the girls in private, Confucius resigned in disgust.

しかし、他国が魯国の支配者に贈り物として多数の女の舞人送り、支配者は義務を怠って内々にその女たちと遊んだため、孔子は憤慨して辞職しました。

He then spent the next few years traveling from state to state, trying to find a worthy ruler to serve, while holding fast to his principles.

その後数年間、彼は国から国へ放浪し、彼の倫理信条を堅持しながら、仕えるにふさわしい支配者を探し求めました。

It wasn't easy.

それは簡単なことではありませんでした。

In accordance with his philosophy, and contrary to the practice of the time, Confucius dissuaded rulers from relying on harsh punishments and military power to govern their lands, because he believed that a good ruler inspires others to spontaneously follow him by virtue of his ethical charisma.

孔子は彼の思想に従い、当時の慣行に反して、支配者を厳格な処罰と軍事力によって領土を治めないように忠告しました。なぜなら、彼は良き支配者は道徳的カリスマ性の美徳によって周囲の人たちの心を動かして自発的に従わせると信じたからです。

Confucius also believed that because the love and respect we learn in the family are fundamental to all other virtues, personal duties to family sometimes supersede obligations to the state.

孔子は家族の中で学ぶ愛と尊敬はその他の美徳の基本で、家族に対する個人的な義務は母国に対する義務に勝ると信じました。

So when one duke bragged that his subjects were so upright that a son testified against his own father when his father stole a sheep,

ですから、ある君主が民衆が正直であるため、ある息子は実の父親が羊を盗んだ時に父親に不利な証言をしたと自慢した時、

Confucius informed the duke that genuinely upright fathers and sons protected one another.

孔子は心から正直な父子はお互いをかばい合うと君主に伝えました。

During his travels, Confucius almost starved, he was briefly imprisoned, and his life was threatened at several points.

孔子は放浪していた際、餓死しかけ、投獄されかけ、命が危険にさらされることが数回ありました。

But he was not bitter.

しかし、彼は苦々しく思いませんでした。

Confucius had faith that heaven had a plan for the world, and he taught that a virtuous person could always find joy in learning and music.

孔子は天は世に計画を持つと信じ、徳のある人は常に学習と音楽から喜びを見つけることができると教えました。

Failing to find the ruler he sought, Confucius returned to Lu and became a teacher and philosopher so influential, that he helped shaped Chinese culture and we recognize his name worldwide, even today.

孔子は探し求めた支配者を見つけることができず、魯国に帰り、非常に影響力の大きい先生及び思想家となり、中国文化を形作り、今でも世界中で彼の名が知られています。

For the disciples of Confucius, he was the living embodiment of a sage who leads others through his virtue, and they recorded his sayings, which eventually were edited into a book we know in English as "The Analects."

孔子の弟子たちにとって、彼は自らの美徳を通して人々を導く聖人の体現であり、弟子たちは彼の名言を記録し、後に私たちが英語名で知る『The Analects（論語）』という本に編纂されました。

Today, millions of people worldwide adhere to the principles of Confucianism.

今日、世界中の何百万もの人々が儒教の信条を信じています。

And though the precise meaning of his words has been debated for millennia, when asked to summarize his teachings in a single phrase, Confucius himself said, "Do not inflict upon others that which you yourself would not want."

彼の言葉の正確な定義は数千年にわたって討論されてきましたが、彼の教えを一文で要約するように求められたら、孔子自身はこう言うでしょう、「自分がしてほしくないことは他人にしてはならない。」

2,500 years later, it's still sage advice.

2,500 年後の今でも賢明な助言です。