乐而不淫，哀而不伤 le er bu yin, ai er bu shang
(Express Enjoyment Without Indulgence and Express Grief Without Excessive Distress)

快乐而不放纵，悲哀而不伤身。原是孔子对于《诗经·周南·关雎》中有关青年男女爱情描写的评语，后世儒家将其作为倡导诗歌及其他文学作品中正平和、情理协和之美的基本规范与评价标准。这一术语与儒家提倡的中庸思想相一致。近现代以来，其思想昂内涵也因受到时代潮流冲击而不断更新。

This is what Confucius said of the description of love between young men and women in the poem entitled “Guan Ju” in “Ballads of Zhounan”, The Book of Songs. Later Confucian scholars regarded this as a basic requirement for poems and other literary works to advocate impartiality, peace of mind, and harmony between emotion and reason, making it a criterion for evaluating literary works. Its connotation is in accord with Zhongyong (the golden mean) of Confucianism. In the more recent history, the connotation of the term has been continuously renewed to keep pace with the times.

例句 Example:

《关雎》乐而不淫，哀而不伤。（《论语·八佾》）
（《关雎》快乐而不放纵，悲哀而不伤身。）
The poem “Guan Ju” expresses enjoyment without indulgence and grief without excessive distress. (The Analects)

《国风》好色而不淫，《小雅》怨诽而不乱。（司马迁《史记·屈原贾生列传》）
（《国风》虽然描写爱恋情欲，但是并不放纵；《小雅》虽有怨恨与批评，但是并不煽动祸乱。）
Ballads from the states express passion of love without indulgence. Minor court hymns make complaints and criticisms without inciting trouble. (Sima Qian: Records of the Historian)