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Antique Chinese ovoid form ink stone carved of green serpentine and inscribed with calligraphy on one side and archaic script on the reverse. The text on the front of the ink stone references a quote from the Analects of Confucius:
子曰：“不患人之不己知，患不知人也。 Which translates as Xue Er: The Master said, "I will not be afflicted at men's not knowing me; I will be afflicted that I do not know men." There is a key difference however in the middle of the phrase. Where the comma is in the original quote, the character 書 (book) is added — 不患人之不己知書患不知人也
Presumably 'book/books' could become the subject here to mean something like: "They will not worry that people do not understand them; the books will worry that they do not understand people."
quotes on the other side provide some context for interpreting that. The text is all in seal script and gives fragments of quotes. These two both come from Zeng Guofan:
The 1st says: 人以氣為主 "People are primarily qi (vital energy/life force)"
The 2nd says: 吾輩讀書 Literally this means something like "We read books" (which could also mean "we study", more generally), but taken out of the context of the full quote (something like "In our generation's studying, there are just two matters: moral advancement and academic learning.")
Age: 19th century
Dimensions: 6 1/8" long x 4 5/8" wide x 3/4" deep
子曰：“不患人之不己知，患不知人也。 Which translates as Xue Er: The Master said, "I will not be afflicted at men's not knowing me; I will be afflicted that I do not know men." There is a key difference however in the middle of the phrase. Where the comma is in the original quote, the character 書 (book) is added — 不患人之不己知書患不知人也
Presumably 'book/books' could become the subject here to mean something like: "They will not worry that people do not understand them; the books will worry that they do not understand people."
quotes on the other side provide some context for interpreting that. The text is all in seal script and gives fragments of quotes. These two both come from Zeng Guofan:
The 1st says: 人以氣為主 "People are primarily qi (vital energy/life force)"
The 2nd says: 吾輩讀書 Literally this means something like "We read books" (which could also mean "we study", more generally), but taken out of the context of the full quote (something like "In our generation's studying, there are just two matters: moral advancement and academic learning.")
Age: 19th century
Dimensions: 6 1/8" long x 4 5/8" wide x 3/4" deep
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item #1451878
