Ancient Chinese Proverb from about 2500 BC

[crouchingdragon]

Please can someone write in Chinese the ancient Chinese Proverb:

 

 When the sun rises, I go to work. When the sun goes down, I take my rest. I dig the well from which I drink. I farm the soil which yields my food. I share creation. Kings can do no more.

 

Although I can translate in Modern Chinese using Google or other,  perhaps somebody could supply a more scholarly Translation that has been used for this ancient proverb. 

 

Thank you   

[889]

In classical Chinese, your first two sentences shrink down to just 出作入息. As you can imagine, there's great latitude in translating such a compact language. (That particular expression is from Zhu Xi's commentary on Mencius.)

 

http://baike.baidu.com/view/845805.htm

[skylee]

It is quite common to say 日出而作，日入而息 (doesn't almost everyone do this?).

鑿井而飲，耕田而食 is much less commonly used as most modern people don't do this any more.

The last bit is 帝力於我何有哉.

Ref - http://eastasian.virginia.edu/chinese-electronic-resources/chinese-text-initiative/watson/chapter3.html

The whole poem -

擊壤歌 Ground-Thumping Song

日出而作
日入而息
鑿井而飲
耕田而食
帝力於我何有哉

PS - The last two sentences quoted in #1 are not quite right for this poem.

[yvesc]

as Skylee said.

 

it's not a proverb.

it's a well-known poem, everyone can quote the first two verses.

it's old but certainly not 2500 BC.

"I share creation" doesn't exist in the original.

The last line is probably more like "what do I care about the emperor and his might".

 

It's strange to ask "Although I can translate in Modern Chinese using Google or other,  perhaps somebody could supply a more scholarly Translation".

The original IS Chinese after all.

 

And if you think you can use Google to translate anything to Chinese, you are sadly mistaken.

[crouchingdragon]

For sake of discussion; 

 

I have read in multiple sources that this ancient proverb is about 2500 years old.  This might place this proverb origin in the Langshang Culture.    It is believed by many scholars that Mencius lived 372 – 289 BC.    

 

Perhaps i misunderstood what 889 wrote ?   Perhaps Mencius was going back to antiquity to use this proverb for his teaching ?

 

Thanks,

[889]

I have not myself tracked the phrase through history; I was just quoting the source on that Chinese page I linked to.

 

I do think, though, that you are confused about the dating of the Longshan culture. You might date its midpoint at around 2500 B.C., which is some 4500 years ago.

[imron]

I have read in multiple sources that this ancient proverb is about 2500 years old

2,500 years old and 2,500 BC are very different things.

[deathtrap]

Can someone explain to me why some chinese people are correcting the second verse if I write it as 日入而息

They say that 日入而息 is wrong and 日落而息 is correct.

can anyone shed some light on this please?

Edit: I understand technically that 日落 means sunset. Is it a typo on that website?

[Kenny同志]

They say that 日入而息 is wrong and 日落而息 is correct.

can anyone shed some light on this please? 

 

 

Type 日入而息 in the box on this site, hit 'search', and show the results to them.

 

 

（春秋戰國）慎到 《愼子》（四部叢刊景江陰繆氏蕅香簃寫本） 慎子外篇 ： 以休食日岀而作日入而息逍遥於天地之間而心   （春秋戰國）莊周 《莊子》（四部叢刊景明世德堂刊本） 南華眞經卷第八 ： 城之野　日出而遊日入而息〇少詩召反瞀莫豆反   （春秋戰國）莊周 《莊子》（四部叢刊景明世德堂刊本） 南華真經卷第九 ： 足以休食日出而作日入而息逍遙於天地之間而心   （漢）王充 《論衡》（四部叢刊景通津草堂本） 論衡卷第五 ： 壤者曰吾日出而作日入而息鑿井而飲耕田而食堯   （漢）王充 《論衡》（四部叢刊景通津草堂本） 論衡卷第八 ： 壤者曰吾日出而作日入而息鑿井而飲耕田而食堯   （漢）王充 《論衡》（四部叢刊景通津草堂本） 論衡卷第二十 ： 壤者曰吾日出而作日入而息鑿井而飲耕田而食堯   （漢）佚名 《太平經》（明正統道藏本） 鈔戊部卷五 ： 家謹力子平旦日作日入而息不避勞苦日有積聚家   （晉）葛洪 《抱朴子内外篇》（四部叢刊景明本） 抱朴子外篇卷四十八 ： 耕由而食日出而作日入而息汎然不繫恢爾自得不   （晉）皇甫謐 《高士傳》（明古今逸史本） 卷上 ： 足以休食日出而作日入而息逍遙於天地之間而心   （晉）皇甫謐 《高士傳》（明古今逸史本） 卷上 ： 壤父曰吾日出而作日入而息鑿井而飲耕田而食帝   （南北朝）范曄 《後漢書》（百衲本景宋紹熙刻本） 卷二十八下馮衍傳第十八下 ： 善卷曰吾日出而作日入而息逍遙天地之閒吾何以   （南北朝）劉勰 《文心雕龍輯注》（清文淵閣四庫全書本） 卷九 ： 壤而歌曰日出而作日入而息鑿井而飲耕田而食帝   （南北朝）蕭統 《六臣注文選》（四部叢刊景宋本） 六臣註文選卷第十六 ： 善卷曰余日出而作日入而息逍遥於天地之間而心   （南北朝）蕭統 《六臣注文選》（四部叢刊景宋本） 六臣註文選卷第二十六 ： 野郭象曰日出而遊日入而息濟曰言歡樂乗此暇日   （南北朝）蕭統 《六臣注文選》（四部叢刊景宋本） 六臣註文選卷第二十六 ： 曰堯時擊壤者曰吾日入而息列仙傳曰王子喬周靈   （南北朝）蕭統 《六臣注文選》（四部叢刊景宋本） 六臣註文選卷第二十六 ： 壤者曰吾日出而作日入而息鑿井而飲耕田而食堯   （南北朝）蕭統 《六臣注文選》（四部叢刊景宋本） 六臣註文選卷第三十 ： 善卷曰余日出而作日入而息尸子晝動而夜息天之   （南北朝）蕭統 《六臣注文選》（四部叢刊景宋本） 六臣註文選卷第三十 ： 野郭象曰日出而遊日入而息也車或爲居楚辞曰載   （南北朝）蕭統 《六臣注文選》（四部叢刊景宋本） 六臣註文選卷第三十 ： 遊郭象曰日出而遊日入而息也車或為居銑曰顧惟   （南北朝）蕭統 《六臣注文選》（四部叢刊景宋本） 六臣註文選卷第三十五 ： 擊壤歌曰日出而作日入而息帝何力於我哉蓋和平

[Kenny同志]

Edit: I understand technically that 日落 means sunset. Is it a typo on that website? 

 

 

Can 'sunset' be used as a verb? Anyway, literally 日落 means (when) the sun sets here.

[deathtrap]

@Kenny yes I understand. But why is there this difference? Is 日入 classical chinese while 日落 is modern mandarin?

[Kenny同志]

Is 日入 classical chinese while 日落 is modern mandarin? 

I don't think so. Both can be used in both classical and modern Chinese. I ascribe the prevailing popularity of 日落而息 and the obscurity of 日入而息 to people's unfamiliarity with classical Chinese. 

 

If you search the modern Chinese corpus for 日入而息 on that site, you will notice that 日入而息 was very popular in newspapers and journals published in the first half of the 20th century.

[deathtrap]

That's really interesting. I wonder if it has anything to do with the founding of the people's republic since it's widely used in the first half of the 20th century. Maybe they emphasized 日落 in the education system?