Confucian Analects · Analects 3.8
1. Tsze-hsia asked, saying, 'What is the meaning of the passage-- "The pretty dimples of her artful smile! The well-defined black and white of her eye! The plain ground for the colours?"' 2. The Master said, 'The business of laying on the colours follows (the preparation of) the plain ground.' 3. 'Ceremonies then are a subsequent thing?' The Master said, 'It is Shang who can bring out my meaning. Now I can begin to talk about the odes with him.'
Chinese · source text【第八章】子夏問曰、巧笑倩兮、美目盼兮、素以為絢兮。何為也。【二節】子曰、繪事後素。【三節】曰、禮後乎。子曰、起予者商也、始可與言詩已矣。
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Confucius · English translation by James Legge · bilingual transcription
James Legge, The Chinese Classics, Volume 1: Confucian Analects · Project Gutenberg #4094
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