Read, reflect, pray
Taishang Ganying Pian 14: Speech without lies or slander
English rendering of the Japanese reader’s section 14. The 24 divisions are this site’s editorial divisions, not original chapters.
English rendering
Following the words of wife or concubine against parental instruction. Forgetting the old on acquiring the new; saying yes outwardly while meaning no. Coveting wealth and deceiving superiors. Inventing malicious words and slandering innocent people. Calling disparagement frankness and abuse of gods righteousness. Abandoning the proper way for rebellion, rejecting the close for the distant. Calling heaven and earth to witness base intentions and invoking spirits to attest to indecent matters.
Reading note from this site
The opening reflects a historical hierarchy that places parents above a wife or concubine. Translating it does not endorse disregarding a partner’s voice.
Chinese source passage
用妻妾語，違父母訓；得新忘故，口是心非；貪冒於財，欺罔其上；造作惡語，讒毀平人；毀人稱直，罵神稱正；棄順效逆，背親向疏；指天地以證鄙懷，引神明而鑒猥事。
Based on the classical text and this site’s independently prepared Japanese rendering. Classical source edition