中庸第十八章 Doctrine of the Mean Chapter Eighteen

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原文：
子曰：“无忧者，其惟文王乎。以王季为父，以武王为子。父作之，子述之。
武王缵太王、王季、文王之绪。壹戎衣，而有天下。身不失天下之显名。尊为天子。富有四海之内。宗庙飨之。子孙保之。
武王末受命，周公成文武之德。追王太王、王季，上祀先公以天子之礼。斯礼也，达乎诸侯大夫，及士庶人。父为大夫，子为士；葬以大夫，祭以士。父为士，子为大夫；葬以士，祭以大夫。期之丧，达乎大夫；三年之丧，达乎天子；父母之丧，无贵贱，一也。”

白话文：
孔子说：“没有忧愁的人，大概只有周文王吧！他有贤德的王季作为父亲，有圣明的武王作为儿子。父亲为他开创基业，儿子继承遗志，完成未竟的事业。
周武王继承了太王、王季和文王的功业，讨伐商纣王而一统天下。他自身未失显赫的声名，被尊为天子，拥有四海之内的财富，死后在宗庙中受祭祀，子孙世代守护基业。
武王晚年才受天命，周公辅佐成王完成文王、武王的德业，追尊太王和王季为王，以天子之礼祭祀先祖。这种礼制推行至诸侯、大夫、士人及百姓：若父亲是大夫而儿子是士，葬礼用大夫规格，祭祀用士的礼仪；若父亲是士而儿子是大夫，葬礼用士的规格，祭祀用大夫的礼仪。服丧一年的制度适用到大夫，服丧三年则通行至天子；但为父母服丧，无论贵贱，期限和礼仪皆相同。

英文：
Confucius said: "Truly carefree was King Wen! He had King Ji as a virtuous father and King Wu as a worthy son. His father laid the foundation, and his son carried forward his legacy.
King Wu inherited the unfinished cause of King Tai, King Ji, and King Wen. By overthrowing the tyrant Zhou, he gained the empire without tarnishing his reputation. Honored as the Son of Heaven, he possessed the wealth of all lands, received ancestral sacrifices, and left his descendants to safeguard his achievements.
In his later years, King Wu received Heaven's mandate. The Duke of Zhou fulfilled the virtues of Wen and Wu, posthumously enshrining King Tai and King Ji as monarchs, and extending royal rites to honor earlier ancestors. These rituals reached nobles, officials, scholars, and commoners: if a father was a high minister and his son a scholar, the father was buried with ministerial honors but worshipped with scholar rites; conversely, a scholar father of a minister was buried simply but worshipped grandly. A one-year mourning period applied up to ministers, three-year mourning to the Son of Heaven; yet parental mourning remained equal for all, regardless of status."