一孔录The video for this lecture is still in production. For now this page gives the text, the base-edition pages, a recording and a translation.
人之初，性本善，性相近，習相遠。苟不教，性乃遷，教之道，貴以專。昔孟母，擇鄰處，子不學，斷機杼。竇燕山，有義方，教五子，名俱揚。TrTranslation
人之初，性本善，性相近，習相遠。
At birth, people are good by nature. By nature they are close to one another; by practice they grow far apart.
苟不教，性乃遷，教之道，貴以專。
If they are not taught, that nature will change. In the way of teaching, what matters is steady focus.
昔孟母，擇鄰處，子不學，斷機杼。
Long ago, Mencius's mother chose her neighbours with care. When her son would not study, she cut the cloth on her loom.
竇燕山，有義方，教五子，名俱揚。
Dou Yanshan had the right way of teaching. He taught his five sons, and every one of them made a name.
Draft translation; it will be revised when the lecture is filmed.
From the Father's Lecture Notes
Children start out much alike and end up far apart, and the difference is whether anyone takes them in hand. Mencius's mother took care of the surroundings; Dou Yanshan took care of the principles. Both were parents doing the work themselves, not handing it to someone else. These four groups are one passage; don't split them up.
Translated from Yikonglu's Father's Lecture Notes for the Three Character Classic, written for a parent teaching a child.
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