導源

導源

1. (of a river, or figuratively) to originate; to come from

   • 後世之君，欲以如父如天之空名禁人之窺伺者，皆不便於其言，至廢孟子而不立，非導源於小儒乎！ [Literary Chinese, trad.]
     后世之君，欲以如父如天之空名禁人之窥伺者，皆不便于其言，至废孟子而不立，非导源于小儒乎！ [Literary Chinese, simp.]

     From: 1663, 黃宗義 (Huang Zongxi),《原君》(On Kingship), translation modified from Lin Yutang's version

     Hòushì zhī jūn, yù yǐ rú fù rú tiān zhī kōng míng jìn rén zhī kuīsì zhě, jiē bùbiàn yú qí yán, zhì fèi Mèngzǐ ér bù lì, fēi dǎoyuán yú xiǎo rú hū! [Pinyin]

     The kings of later ages want to wrap up kingship in the sacred cloak of a phrase ‘like father and like heaven’ behind which the people are not allowed to peer. Such rulers found Mencius' views most inconvenient to themselves and even dethroned Mencius from his place of worship. The narrow-minded Confucian scholars are to blame for having led them to think this way.

Often followed by 於／于 (yú).