唐 Tang · 文 Prose
师说·版本二
On Teachers — Version Two
嗟乎！
师道之不传也久矣！
欲人之无惑也难矣！
古之圣人，其出人也远矣，犹且从师而问焉。
It is hard to want people to be without confusion!
The sages of antiquity — they far surpassed the common people,
And yet they still followed the teachers and asked of them.
Now the common people,
Far below the sages,
Are ashamed to learn from the teachers.
Therefore the sages grow wiser and wiser,
And the fools grow more foolish and more foolish —
And this is the reason why the sages are sages,
And the fools are fools!
Meaning
The second version of the famous essay 'On Teachers' by Han Yu, the great master of the Tang prose. The way of the teacher has not been transmitted for a long time; it is hard to want people to be without confusion. The sages of antiquity far surpassed the common people, and yet they still followed the teachers and asked of them; now the common people, far below the sages, are ashamed to learn from the teachers. Therefore the sages grow wiser and wiser, and the fools grow more foolish and more foolish — this is the reason why the sages are sages and the fools are fools. The essay is the cry for the restoration of the way of the teacher: the sages asked and learned, and the shame of the common people is the cause of the folly.
唉！从师学习的风尚失传已经很久了！想要人们没有疑惑，也就太难了！古代的圣人，他们的才智远远超出一般人，尚且跟从老师并向老师请教。
Appreciation
[Plain Paraphrase] Alas! The way of the teacher has not been transmitted for a long time! It is hard to want people to be without confusion! The sages of antiquity — they far surpassed the common people, and yet they still followed the teachers and asked of them. Now the common people, far below the sages, are ashamed to learn from the teachers. Therefore the sages grow wiser and wiser, and the fools grow more foolish and more foolish — and this is the reason why the sages are sages, and the fools are fools! [Structure and Thought] The passage moves from the lament over the lost way of the teacher, through the contrast of the sages who asked and the common people who are ashamed, to the close's conclusion: the sages grow wiser, the fools more foolish — the reason of the sages and the fools. [Key Technique] The essay's art is the contrast of the sages and the fools: the sages, surpassing the common people, still followed the teachers; the common people, below the sages, are ashamed to learn — the contrast explaining the wiser and the more foolish, and the reason of the sages and the fools. [Emotional Tone] Sorrowful, urgent, and contrasting: the passage is the cry for the way of the teacher, the shame of the learning contrasted with the asking of the sages.
【白话串讲】 韩愈写《师说》：“嗟乎！师道之不传也久矣”——从师的风气失传太久了。“古之圣人，其出人也远矣，犹且从师而问焉”——圣人都从师学习。“是故弟子不必不如师，师不必贤于弟子，闻道有先后，术业有专攻”——谁有道理就跟谁学。 【意象与手法】 论说文，节选尽显韩愈议论文章的章法功力。起笔以“嗟乎”两字长叹，先声夺人，定下全段沉痛而激切的基调；随即连用两个感叹句“师道之不传也久矣”“欲人之无惑也难矣”，一论师道、一论惑难，双峰并起、因果相生；再以“古之圣人，其出人也远矣，犹且从师而问焉”树起古之圣人从师的正面典型，对比伏脉——圣人尚且从师，今人耻学于师的荒谬已被暗中照出。 【情感与主旨】 《师说》是中国师道文化的奠基文献，首次系统界定教师的职能（传道、受业、解惑），主张“道之所存，师之所存”，打破门第与年龄的界限，是“说”体文的典范。 【名句点睛】 常考“师道之不传也久矣”以长叹起笔定下激切基调；“古之圣人，其出人也远矣，犹且从师而问焉”以圣人为例反对今人耻学于师。
Background
Han Yu (768–824) was the great master of the Tang prose, the leader of the movement for the ancient style. 'On Teachers' is one of his most famous essays, the cry for the restoration of the way of the teacher: the sages of antiquity asked and learned, and the shame of the common people — the shame of learning from the teachers — is the cause of the folly. The essay is usually read as Han Yu's defense of the learning against the age that was ashamed of it, and the close — the sages wiser and the fools more foolish — is the conclusion of the contrast. This second version carries the core of the argument.
《师说》为韩愈（768—824）约于唐德宗贞元十八年（802）前后所作，时韩愈在长安任国子监四门博士。其时士大夫之族「耻学于师」，以从师为耻：以位卑者为师则「羞」，以官盛者为师则「谀」，师道陵夷，学风日坏；韩愈「奋不顾流俗，犯笑侮，收召后学」（柳宗元《答韦中立论师道书》），作《师说》以振师道、正学风，并赠弟子李蟠，勉其「不拘于时，学于余」。中唐之际，佛老盛行而儒道中微，韩愈以「文起八代之衰，道济天下之溺」自任，力倡古文运动与儒学道统，《师说》正是其复古明道主张在教育领域的落实。本篇节选者为全文第二段的开头：以「嗟乎」长叹领起，痛陈「师道之不传也久矣」，并感叹「欲人之无惑也难矣」，随即以「古之圣人，其出人也远矣，犹且从师而问焉」树立楷模，为下段「今之众人，其下圣人也亦远矣，而耻学于师」的古今对照张本。此文一问世即惊动流俗，后历经千载，成为中国师道观念与劝学文化的核心文献，「传道受业解惑」「不耻相师」等理念至今浸润人心。
Art
The passage's art is the art of the contrast. The lament opens: the way of the teacher has not been transmitted for a long time — it is hard to want people to be without confusion — the lost way and the hard wish. The contrast follows: the sages of antiquity, far surpassing the common people, still followed the teachers and asked of them; now the common people, far below the sages, are ashamed to learn from the teachers — the sages asking, the common people ashamed. And the close concludes the contrast: therefore the sages grow wiser and wiser, and the fools grow more foolish and more foolish — and this is the reason why the sages are sages and the fools are fools — the growth of the wise and the foolish from the asking and the shame, the conclusion of the whole.
本文为论说文，节选部分虽短，已尽显韩愈议论文章的章法功力。起笔以「嗟乎」两字长叹，先声夺人，把千载师道失传的痛惜之情倾泻而出，定下全段沉痛而激切的基调；随即连用两个感叹句「师道之不传也久矣」「欲人之无惑也难矣」，一论师道、一论惑难，双峰并起，由「师道不传」推出「人惑难解」，因果相生，逻辑严密；再以「古之圣人，其出人也远矣，犹且从师而问焉」一笔推开，树起古之圣人从师的正面典型。其章法之妙在「对比伏脉」：圣人生而聪慧，「出人也远矣」，尚且从师而问；则众人之愚钝，更无理由不师——今人「耻学于师」的荒谬，已被这一句暗中照出，虽未明言而下文自明。语言上，本文骈散相济，气势充沛：「不传也久矣」「无惑也难矣」「出人也远矣」三句句式相近而词义递进，排比中见层递，如潮水叠涌；「犹且从师而问焉」以「犹且」转折，语气坚定。韩愈论文主张「气盛则言之短长与声之高下者皆宜」，此节正是「以气驭文」的标本：情感之激、逻辑之严、节奏之促，三者浑然一体。
Allusions
The essay carries no learned allusion; its art is the plain argument. 'The way of the teacher' (shidao) is the way of the teacher — the tradition of the learning from the teachers; 'the sages of antiquity' (gu zhi shengren) are the ancient sages, who asked and learned; 'to follow the teachers and ask of them' (congshi er wen yan) is the asking of the sages — the model of the learning, contrasted with the shame of the common people.
《师说》的师道观念，渊源有自。孔子为万世师表，其言「三人行，必有我师焉」「学而不厌，诲人不倦」，奠定了「从师」的伦理根基；荀子《劝学》「学莫便乎近其人」，强调师法之要；《礼记·学记》「凡学之道，严师为难」「师严然后道尊」，把尊师与重道相连。韩愈「师者，所以传道受业解惑也」的定义，正是对这一传统的总结与升华：以「道」为师的本质，「传道」居首，将师道从技艺传授提升为道统传承，这是对汉魏以来「经师易得，人师难求」观念的理论化。本篇节选句「古之圣人，其出人也远矣，犹且从师而问焉」，以「圣人从师」立论，其潜台词是儒家「圣人无常师」的传统——《论语》载孔子「无常师」，学琴于师襄、问礼于老聃，《师说》后文即引「孔子师郯子、苌弘、师襄、老聃」，正是此意的展开。「圣人」在中国文化中是人格的极致，韩愈以「圣人犹从师」立证，等于宣告「从师」无碍于圣，而无耻于师者之愚，则不言而喻。从文化内涵看，「师道」二字凝聚着中国「尊师重道」的整个价值体系：道之所存，师之所存，师与道一体，尊师即重道，这一观念千年不坠，使《师说》成为中华师道文化的最高文献。
Commentary
This passage is among the most famous of the Tang essays, quoted for the contrast of its argument. The sages asking and the common people ashamed, and the close's conclusion of the wiser and the more foolish, are among the most quoted lines of Han Yu's prose. Critics praise the passage's force: the contrast of the sages and the fools, and the cry for the way of the teacher.
《师说》是中国师道文化的奠基文献，其影响遍及教育、思想与文学。从教育史看，此文首次系统界定教师的职能（传道、受业、解惑），主张「无贵无贱，无长无少，道之所存，师之所存」，打破门第与年龄的界限，为平民教育张目；「弟子不必不如师，师不必贤于弟子」的师生观，更接近现代教育理念，故历代书院、学官皆奉为师道圭臬。从思想史看，此文是韩愈排佛老、兴儒学的古文运动的一部分，以「师道」重构儒学的传习秩序，宋儒之「道统」说实受其启发。从文学史看，《师说》是「说」体文的典范：立意高远、论证严密、文气充沛，欧阳修、王安石、苏轼的论学之文皆承其法度；柳宗元《答韦中立论师道书》称韩愈「奋不顾流俗」，可见其在当时惊世骇俗的勇气。从文化影响看，「师者，所以传道受业解惑也」已成为汉语中关于教师的最经典定义，「不耻下问」「教学相长」等观念由此深化为民族的教育共识。作为经典课文，此节以极短的篇幅浓缩了韩愈的全部论辩艺术，历代科举取士、今日考试研习，皆以其为文言议论文的范本，其价值历千余年而弥新。
Prosody
Line by line
嗟乎！师道之不传也久矣！
Alas! The way of the teacher has not been transmitted for a long time!
唉！从师学习的风尚失传已经很久了！
Alas! The Way of the teacher has not been transmitted for long!
起笔一声「嗟乎」，如平地惊雷，把千载师道失传的痛惜与愤慨倾泻而出。「嗟乎」是感叹词，先秦诗文习用（如《楚辞》「嗟乎！吾独穷困乎此时也」），韩愈取之以起叹，先声夺人，定下全段激切沉痛的基调。「师道之不传也久矣」，「师道」指从师求学的风尚与传统，「不传」言其断绝，「久矣」言其久远，三词连用，把问题的严重性层层坐实——不是个别现象，而是积久成习的风气；不是偶失其道，而是传承断绝的危机。其言外之意尤深：师道不传，则惑无人解，道无人传，人伦教化随之崩坏，故下文「欲人之无惑也难矣」正是由此直接推出。韩愈以一句长叹开篇，不绕弯、不铺垫，直指时弊，足见其「文起八代之衰」的胆气与担当，也见出议论文开门见山、先声夺人的章法之妙。
The opening 'Alas!' like a thunderclap from level ground, pouring out the grief and indignation at the thousand-year loss of the teacher's Way. 'Alas!' is the exclamation, common in pre-Qin verse (as in the Li Sao, 'Alas! I alone am come to grief in this time'), Han Yu taking it to open the lament, seizing the ear, tuning the whole passage's ardent, grievous keynote. 'The Way of the teacher has not been transmitted for long' — 'the Way of the teacher' the custom and tradition of learning from teachers, 'not transmitted' its severance, 'for long' its age; the three words used together, laying the problem's seriousness layer on layer — not an isolated case, but an age-long custom; not an occasional loss of the Way, but the crisis of broken transmission. The meaning between the lines the deeper: if the teacher's Way is lost, then doubt has no one to resolve, the Way no one to transmit, and human ethics and teaching decay with it; hence the later 'to wish men without doubt is hard indeed' follows directly. Han Yu opens with one long sigh, no detour, no groundwork, pointing straight at the age's ill, showing the daring and responsibility of his 'prose that raised the decline of eight ages', and the craft of argumentative writing's opening that seizes the ear.
欲人之无惑也难矣！古之圣人，其出人也远矣，犹且从师而问焉。
It is hard to want people to be without confusion! The sages of antiquity — they far surpassed the common people, and yet they still followed the teachers and asked of them.
想要人们没有疑惑，也就太难了！古代的圣人，他们的才智远远超出一般人，尚且跟从老师并向老师请教。
To wish men without doubt is hard indeed! The sages of old, far above other men, yet still followed teachers and questioned them.
这一句紧承「师道不传」，由「师」推及「人」，由「道」推及「惑」，完成了因果链的构建：师道不传，故人惑难解。其逻辑之严在于：师之职在解惑，惑之解赖于师，师道既废，则「惑」如野草蔓生，无从铲除——「欲人之无惑也难矣」，不是感叹求知的困难，而是指陈制度的危机。深一层看，「惑」字含蕴丰富：不仅指知识的疑难，更指人生的迷惘、道义的困惑，圣人「犹且从师而问焉」，正是承认人人有惑、惑须求解，而这正是「师道」存在的根本理由。韩愈以此句承接上文、开启下文，一叹之中，既见对学子的悲悯，又见对「耻学于师」者的讥刺：人人有惑而不肯问师，其惑将永不得解，这既是个人之患，更是世道之病。短短一句，承上启下，语气沉痛而思理清明。
This line follows close on 'the teacher's Way is lost', turning from 'teacher' to 'man', from 'Way' to 'doubt', completing the chain of cause and effect: the teacher's Way lost, hence man's doubt hard to resolve. The rigor of the logic lies in: the teacher's office is resolving doubt, the doubt's resolution depends on the teacher, and the teacher's Way abandoned, then 'doubt' grows like wild grass, beyond rooting out — 'to wish men without doubt is hard indeed' is not a sigh at the difficulty of seeking knowledge, but the statement of an institutional crisis. Seen deeper, the word 'doubt' holds the rich meaning: not only the perplexity of knowledge, but the bewilderment of life, the confusion of duty; the sages 'still followed teachers and questioned them' precisely because they acknowledged that all men have doubts, and doubt must seek resolution, and this is precisely the fundamental reason for the teacher's Way. Han Yu, through this line carrying the above and opening the below, in one sigh shows both compassion for the students and satire of those 'ashamed to learn from teachers': all men have doubts and will not ask the teacher, and their doubts will never be resolved; this is at once the individual's ill and the age's disease. A short line, carrying the above and opening the below, the tone grieving and the thought clear.
古之圣人，其出人也远矣，犹且从师而问焉。
The sages of antiquity — they far surpassed the common people, and yet they still followed the teachers and asked of them.
古代的圣人，他们的才智远远超出一般人，尚且跟从老师并向老师请教。
The sages of old, far above other men, yet still followed teachers and questioned them.
这是全段的转折与立论之基，以古之圣人树立「从师」的正面典型。「出人也远矣」极言圣人资质之高——「出人」即超出常人，五字写尽圣人之智；然而「犹且从师而问焉」，一个「犹且」（尚且）转折，如悬崖勒马：资质如圣人，尚且虚心从师，则资质远逊于圣人的今人，更无理由「耻学于师」。这一对比虽未明言，而其力已足——韩愈以「以圣证愚」的反证法，把「耻学于师」者的荒谬照得无所遁形。其潜台词正是《论语》「三人行，必有我师焉」与孔子「无常师」的传统：圣人之圣，不在生知，而在善学；从师问学，正是成圣之路。此句为后文「今之众人，其下圣人也亦远矣，而耻学于师。是故圣益圣，愚益愚」的古今对照预立标尺，是理解全篇论证结构的关键枢纽，也是韩愈「破中有立、立中有破」论辩艺术的绝佳示范。
This is the turn of the passage and the foundation of the thesis, setting the sage of old as the positive model of 'following the teacher'. 'Far above other men' writes the sage's endowment to the utmost — 'far above' beyond ordinary men, five words writing the sage's wisdom; yet 'still followed teachers and questioned them', the one word 'still' turning, like reining at the cliff: if those of the sage's endowment still humbly followed teachers, then the modern men, far below the sages, have all the less reason to be 'ashamed to learn from teachers'. This contrast, though unspoken, is forceful enough — Han Yu's reverse proof of 'using the sage to expose the fool' lights up the absurdity of the shame-of-learning men, leaving nowhere to hide. The unspoken meaning is precisely the Analects tradition of 'among three men walking, one must be my teacher' and Confucius's 'no constant teacher': the sage's sainthood lies not in being born knowing, but in being good at learning; following the teacher and questioning is precisely the road to sainthood. This line sets the measure for the later contrast of 'the common men of today, far below the sages, yet ashamed to learn from teachers; hence the sage the more sage, the fool the more fool', the key pivot of the whole's argumentative structure, and the perfect demonstration of Han Yu's 'breaking while establishing, establishing while breaking' art of debate.
Study
Word focus
Related Reading
Han Yu's 'On Horses' cries over the unrecognized talent — the good horse kept wrongly and denied; 'On Teachers' cries over the lost way of the teacher — the sages asking and the common people ashamed — the same master's two essays, the one on the talent and the other on the teacher, both the cries of the ancient-style reformer.
《马说》与《师说》皆作于韩愈中年的长安时期，是姊妹名篇。《马说》以千里马喻人才，叹「食马者不知其能千里而食也」，痛斥「不知马」者的昏聩，是讽世之作；《师说》倡「道之所存，师之所存」，以「古之圣人犹且从师」立论，抗「耻学于师」的流俗，是救世之作。一讽执政之不识才，一正士林之耻求学，看似两途，实为一体：人才的埋没与师道的陵夷，都是「道」之不行的表现。两文同以骈散相济的语言立骨，同样「句句有出处，字字见锋芒」；《马说》寄慨于寓言，《师说》立论于正议，合观正可见韩愈以复古明道自任、以文章救世的完整姿态，也可见中唐古文运动在议论文领域的全面展开。
进学解·节选 The Interpretation of Advancement in Learning 韩愈 · 同为韩愈劝学之作，一论从师之道，一论进学之方 Both are the essays of Han Yu on the learning — the advancement of the learning, the way of the teacher — the two doctrines of the same master.Han Yu's 'Interpretation of Advancement in Learning' — 'the learning is diligent, the practice is accomplished' — is the doctrine of the learning; 'On Teachers' is the doctrine of the teacher — the way of the teacher and the asking of the sages — the two essays of the same master on the learning, the one on the method, the other on the way.
《师说》论「从师」，倡「师道之不传也久矣」之叹；《进学解》论「进学」，立「业精于勤，荒于嬉；行成于思，毁于随」之训，二文合观，恰是韩愈教育思想的完整体系：求师于外，勤思于内，外得师承之正，内尽勤思之功，学方有成。文体上，《师说》为堂堂正正的论说，破立兼施、锋芒毕露；《进学解》为设问答辩的「解」体，明褒暗讽、以庄语写牢骚，一庄一谐，正见韩愈文章风格的丰富。时间上，《师说》作于贞元末年韩愈初入仕途、意气风发之际，《进学解》作于元和年间屡遭贬黜、位卑言轻之时，由倡言师道到自嘲自解，也隐隐可见一位士人在时代中的起伏。两文并列，是学习韩愈文风与思想的绝佳对读。
劝学·版本二 An Exhortation to Learning — Version Two 荀子 · 先秦至唐「劝学尊师」传统的一源一流 Both are the ancient cries for the learning — Xunzi's accumulation of the good, Han Yu's asking of the teachers — the two exhortations of the tradition.Xunzi's 'Exhortation to Learning' — 'the blue comes from the indigo, and is bluer than the indigo' — is the ancient exhortation to the learning; Han Yu's 'On Teachers' is the Tang version — the way of the teacher, the asking of the sages — the same exhortation, the one on the accumulation, the other on the asking.
荀子《劝学》主张「学莫便乎近其人」「学之经莫速乎好其人」，把师法视为学习的捷径，并强调「青出于蓝」「锲而不舍」的积累精神；韩愈《师说》正是承此一脉，而把「近其人」的师法传统上升为系统的「师道」理论。两文相较，荀子之劝学重在「积」——积土成山、积水成渊，以量的积累说成德成圣；韩愈之论师重在「问」——圣人犹且从师而问，以虚心的姿态说破惑明道。荀子以譬喻层层铺陈，气象浑厚；韩愈以正反立论，锋芒峻利。一开其源，一集其成，合观可见中国教育思想由先秦而唐的演进：师道的伦理化、教师的职能化、师生关系的平等化，在《师说》中第一次得到完整表达，而其思想之根，正深植于荀子以来的劝学传统之中。