No One in the World Is Born Noble
天下没有生来就尊贵的人。这是儒家经典《礼记》提出的一个命题。这个命题的实质是为了培养王公贵族子弟的品德，即不要让他们因自己出身尊贵而骄傲；而要让他们有一个由低到高努力成长的过程，使其领会到尊贵的依据不在于出身，而在于德行。在古代中国历史语境中，这个命题亦有其积极的一面，即包含着对于出身决定论的否定以及在人格上人人生而平等的观念，犹言上天不生人上之人，亦不生人下之人。
Quoted from The Book of Rites, a Confucian classic, this proposition justified the necessity of cultivating aristocratic virtues, which served as a reminder that aristocrats should not take pride in their noble birth but work hard to improve their social status and realize from such improvement that nobility is defined by virtue rather than birth. In the context of ancient China, this proposition acquired a positive role in negating the decisiveness of descent and implying that all men are created equal in terms of character. To put it another way, Heaven does not create one superior or inferior to another.
引例 Citations：
◎天子之元子，士也。天下无生而贵者也。继世以立诸侯，象贤也。（《礼记·郊特牲》）
天子的嫡长子亦只是个士。这说明天下没有生来就尊贵的人。让诸侯的子孙继位为诸侯，这是为了尊重其先人的功德。
The eldest son of the king by his proper queen is but a son, which means that no one in the world is born noble. Sons and grandsons of dukes and princes are allowed to inherit the position as nobility simply because that is the way respect is shown to their forefathers for their meritorious deeds and virtues, not because they are themselves noble by birth. (The Book of Rites)
◎无生而贵，皆由下升也。明人有贤行著德，乃得贵之。（杜佑《通典·礼十六·皇太子冠》）
没有人生来就尊贵，都是自下而上一步步升上来的。这表明人有了美善突出的德行，才变得尊贵。
No one is born noble. Instead, nobility is earned step by step through improvement in social status. Only those with meritorious deeds and remarkable virtues will attain to nobility. (Du You: An Encyclopedic History of Institutions)
推荐：教育部 国家语委
供稿：北京外国语大学 外语教学与研究出版社
责任编辑：钱耐安
