則
Usages
2 distinct jobs 則 does in the Analects, each with examples from the text.
1Conditional (then)
Introduces the result clause after a condition. The "if" may be implied or explicit.
子曰：「君子不重則不威，學則不固。主忠信，無友不如己者，過則勿憚改。」
The Master said: "If the scholar be not grave, he will not call forth any veneration, and his learning will not be solid. Hold faithfulness and sincerity as first principles. Have no friends not equal to yourself. When you have faults, do not fear to abandon them."
Legge 1861
過則勿憚改
則 moves straight to what follows.
子曰：「弟子入則孝，出則弟，謹而信，汎愛眾，而親仁。行有餘力，則以學文。」
The Master said: "A youth, when at home, should be filial, and, abroad, respectful to his elders. He should be earnest and truthful. He should overflow in love to all, and cultivate the friendship of the good. When he has time and opportunity, after the performance of these things, he should employ them in polite studies."
Legge 1861
入則孝，出則弟
則 = then, in that case
子曰：「不憤不啟，不悱不發，舉一隅不以三隅反，則不復也。」
The Master said: "I do not open up the truth to one who is not eager to get knowledge, nor help out any one who is not anxious to explain himself. When I have presented one corner of a subject to any one, and he cannot from it learn the other three, I do not repeat my lesson."
Legge 1861
則不復也
則 introduces what follows on.
子曰：「學而不思則罔，思而不學則殆。」
The Master said: "Learning without thought is labor lost; thought without learning is perilous."
Legge 1861
學而不思則罔
則 opens the consequence.
子曰：「弟子入則孝，出則弟，謹而信，汎愛眾，而親仁。行有餘力，則以學文。」
The Master said: "A youth, when at home, should be filial, and, abroad, respectful to his elders. He should be earnest and truthful. He should overflow in love to all, and cultivate the friendship of the good. When he has time and opportunity, after the performance of these things, he should employ them in polite studies."
Legge 1861
行有餘力，則以學文
則 = then (introduces result)
2Contrastive pairing (X則⋯，Y則⋯)
Two clauses set against each other, each with its own 則, so the pair reads as a contrast rather than a single condition.
子路、曾皙、冉有、公西華侍坐。子曰：「以吾一日長乎爾，毋吾以也。居則曰：「不吾知也！』如或知爾，則何以哉？」子路率爾而對曰：「千乘之國，攝乎大國之間，加之以師旅，因之以饑饉；由也為之，比及三年，可使有勇，且知方也。」夫子哂之。「求！爾何如？」對曰：「方六七十，如五六十，求也為之，比及三年，可使足民。如其禮樂，以俟君子。」「赤！爾何如？」對曰：「非曰能之，願學焉。宗廟之事，如會同，端章甫，願為小相焉。」「點！爾何如？」鼓瑟希，鏗爾，舍瑟而作。對曰：「異乎三子者之撰。」子曰：「何傷乎？亦各言其志也。」曰：「莫春者，春服既成。冠者五六人，童子六七人，浴乎沂，風乎舞雩，詠而歸。」夫子喟然歎曰：「吾與點也！」三子者出，曾皙後。曾皙曰：「夫三子者之言何如？」子曰：「亦各言其志也已矣。」曰：「夫子何哂由也？」曰：「為國以禮，其言不讓，是故哂之。」「唯求則非邦也與？」「安見方六七十如五六十而非邦也者？」「唯赤則非邦也與？」「宗廟會同，非諸侯而何？赤也為之小，孰能為之大？」
Zilu, Zeng Xi, Ran You, and Gongxi Hua were sitting by the Master. He said to them: "Though I am a day or so older than you, do not think of that. From day to day you are saying, 'We are not known.' If some ruler were to know you, what would you like to do?" Zilu hastily and lightly replied: "Suppose the case of a State of ten thousand chariots; let it be straitened between other large States; let it be suffering from invading armies; and to this let there be added a famine in corn and in all vegetables: — if I were entrusted with the government of it, in three years' time I could make the people to be bold, and to recognize the rules of righteous conduct." The Master smiled at him. Turning to Ran You, he said: "Qiu, what are your wishes?" Qiu replied: "Suppose a state of sixty or seventy li square, or one of fifty or sixty, and let me have the government of it; — in three years' time, I could make plenty to abound among the people. As to teaching them the rules of propriety and music, I must wait for the rise of a superior man to do that." "And what are your wishes, Chi?" said the Master to Gongxi Hua. Chi replied: "I do not say that my ability extends to these things, but I should like to learn them. At the services of the ancestral temple, and at the audiences of the princes with the emperor, I should like, dressed in the dark-colored cap and robes, to act as a small assistant." Last of all, the Master asked Zeng Xi: "Dian, what are your wishes?" Dian, pausing as he was playing on his lute, while it was yet twanging, laid the instrument aside, and rose. "My wishes," he said, "are different from the cherished purposes of these three gentlemen." "What harm is there in that?" said the Master; "do you also, as well as they, speak out your wishes." Dian then said: "In this, the last month of spring, with the dress of the season all complete, along with five or six young men who have assumed the cap, and six or seven boys, I would wash in the Yi, enjoy the breeze among the rain altars, and return home singing." The Master heaved a sigh and said: "I give my approval to Dian."
Legge 1861
居則曰
則 sets off the circumstance.
子曰：「質勝文則野，文勝質則史。文質彬彬，然後君子。」
The Master said: "Where the solid qualities are in excess of accomplishments, we have rusticity; where the accomplishments are in excess of the solid qualities, we have the manners of a clerk. When the accomplishments and solid qualities are equally blended, we then have the man of virtue."
Legge 1861
質勝文則野
則 divides condition from judgment.
子曰：「質勝文則野，文勝質則史。文質彬彬，然後君子。」
The Master said: "Where the solid qualities are in excess of accomplishments, we have rusticity; where the accomplishments are in excess of the solid qualities, we have the manners of a clerk. When the accomplishments and solid qualities are equally blended, we then have the man of virtue."
Legge 1861
文勝質則史
Paired with 質勝文則野.
子曰：「甯武子邦有道則知，邦無道則愚。其知可及也，其愚不可及也。」
The Master said: "When good order prevailed in his country, Ning Wu acted the part of a wise man. When his country was in disorder, he acted the part of a stupid man. Others may equal his wisdom, but they cannot equal his stupidity."
Legge 1861
邦有道則知，邦無道則愚
則 introduces contrasting results based on different conditions
Combos
2 fixed patterns built on 則, with the role each plays and where to read them.
"If so, then..." / "In that case..."
11.16 子貢問：「師與商也孰賢？」子曰：「師也過，商也不及。」曰：「然則師愈與？」子曰：「過猶不及。」
Draws a conclusion based on what was just stated.
"If you … them, then …"
17.25 子曰：「唯女子與小人為難養也，近之則不孫，遠之則怨。」
The object pronoun 之 closes the condition and 則 opens the consequence. 7.11 pairs 用之則行 with 舍之則藏.