儉樸，古人倡導的一種美德。在不同學派的思想中，“儉”的含義會有所區(qū)別。在儒家看來，“儉”是對奢侈浪費的克服。儒家認為，行禮、行事應避免奢侈。奢侈會帶來對物質財富的浪費，同時也會使人們競逐于物質的富足，從而喪失行禮、行事的初衷與本質。在道家看來，“儉”特指統(tǒng)治者的儉樸。統(tǒng)治者不應為了滿足自己的欲求而耗費民財，應以儉樸的行事避免對百姓生活的干擾。

Thriftiness is a virtue espoused by ancient Chinese. However, its meaning varies somewhat among different schools of thought. According to the Confucian school, thriftiness meant rejecting extravagance and waste. One should practice no extravagance in holding a ceremony or in daily life. Extravagance causes waste of things. Moreover, it would lead people to indulge in the pursuit of wealth and thus deviate from the goal of the ceremony or action. To the Daoist school, thriftiness only referred to thriftiness expected of a ruler. The ruler should not satisfy his own desire by extracting wealth from the people and wasting it. Instead, he should practice thriftiness so as not to impose undue burden on people's lives.

引例 Citations：

◎林放問禮之本。子曰：“大哉問！禮，與其奢也，寧儉；喪，與其易也，寧戚。”（《論語·八佾》）

林放請教禮的根本?？鬃诱f：“你問的是個重大的問題！禮，與其奢侈操辦，寧可節(jié)儉而行。喪禮，與其儀節(jié)周備，寧可哀戚過度?！?/p>

Lin Fang asked Confucius about the essential meaning of ritual ceremonies. Confucius replied, "What you ask is a big question. For rites, it is always desirable to be simple rather than excessive. In the case of mourning, such rites should be determined by degree of grief rather than by over consideration of rituals." (The Analects)

◎我有三寶，持而保之。一曰慈，二曰儉，三曰不敢為天下先。（《老子·六十七章》）

我有三種寶物，持有并保全它。第一種是慈愛，第二種是儉樸，第三種是不敢做天下人都沒有做的事。

There are three things I keep and treasure. The first is kindness; the second is thriftiness; and the third is not venturing anything no others have done. (Laozi)

推薦：教育部 國家語委

供稿：北京外國語大學 外語教學與研究出版社

責任編輯：錢耐安