or: Plus Mandarin Pinyin & Cantonese Pronunciation

I translate jin^ (谨) in jin^ xin` (谨信) as “being reverent” and not as as “being careful” or “being cautious” the way most Di Zi Gui websites have it. That’s because I believe the jin being used here means gong- jin^ (恭谨) and not jin^ shen` (谨慎). Indeed, if one looks carefully at the verses in the section on jin in Di Zi Gui (verses 57-86), one can see that they are about living life reverently: being clean, being neat, being tidy, being careful with possessions, adhering to standards in one’s movements, being respectful when saluting people, and so forth.

Living one’s life reverently includes living one’s life carefully, but it is much more than that. While living one's life carefully doesn't necessarily involve being good to others, living one's life reverently always does. Moreover, it involves being good to oneself. Living life revently means always maintaining, in whatever how small or everyday a thing we do, a high degree of respect for all around us as well as a high degree of respect for ourselves. Maintaining a high degree of respect for ourselves is not an exhortation to be arrogant, but is in the spirit of the traditional Chinese exhortations to never abuse oneself and to never give up on oneself, but to value and love oneself and thus to strive to reach ever higher (切勿自暴自棄，必 須自重自爱，力爭上游).

So Di Zi Gui is teaching a very lofty state of mind indeed, one that is far above simply being "careful".

The first four verses (v. 57-60) in Di Zi Gui talk about being reverent to one's youth and body. Then the next six verses (v. 61-66) talk about being reverent to one's attire. The next sixteen verses (v. 67-82) talk about being reverent to one's body, bearing and movements and being reverent to the surrounding things and matters. Then the next four verses (v. 83-86) talk about being reverent to people around one. Right after that, with the verse on "when borrowing other people’s things" (v. 87), Di Zi Gui switches to the section on "Being Trustworthy (Xin)", which is one of the most important aspects of being respectful to people around oneself.

恭谨地过日常生活包括了但远远超越了谨慎地过生活。谨慎地过生活未必要对他人好，但是恭谨地过生活就一定要对他人好，也包括了对自己好。恭谨地过生活就是要对自己和对自己周围所有的人和物都要保持高度尊重的态度。对自己高度尊重不是要骄傲，而是要好像中华传统的训勉那样，切勿自暴自弃，必须自重自爱，力争上游。

所以，《弟子规》所教授的，是一个很崇高的心态，远远超越了「谨慎」。

「谨」段的头四句，从「朝起早」到「辄净手」（第57－60句），就是说怎样对自己的青春和身体尊重。然后，从「冠必正」到「下称家」的六句（第61－66句），就是说怎样对自己的装束尊重。之后，从「对饮食」到「绝勿声」的十六句（第67－82句），就是说怎样对自己的身体、仪态、动作和对周围的事和物尊重。继续，从「将入门」到「不分明」的四句（第83－86句），就是说怎样对周围的人尊重。紧接著下来，刚说完了对周围的人尊重，就从「借人物」（第87句）开始，进入「信」段，说对周围的人尊重的最主要方面之一：信。