Book 1: 《學而》 Xue Er (Studying)
《學而》 Passage 1.13
Legge Translation (1861)
The philosopher You said: "When agreements are made according to what is right, what is spoken can be made good. When respect is shown according to what is proper, one keeps far from shame and disgrace. When the parties upon whom a man leans are proper persons to be intimate with, he can make them his guides and masters."Word by word
- 有子 yǒu zǐ
Master You, honorific name of the disciple You Ruo
- 有 surname You (of the disciple You Ruo)
- 子 honorific suffix meaning master or sir
- 曰 yuē
to say, said
- 信 xìn
trustworthiness, being true to one's word
- 近於 jìn yú
to be close to, to approximate
- 近 close to, near in character or degree to
- 於 preposition to, at, marking the standard approached
近於 functions as one verb-plus-coverb predicate; 於 has no independent meaning here.
- 義 yì
rightness, moral appropriateness
- 言 yán
words, what one says
- 可復 kě fù
can be kept, fulfilled (of one's word)
- 可 can, may, expressing possibility
- 復 to be fulfilled, honored, kept (of one's word)
朱熹 glosses 復 as 踐言, to make good on what one has said, followed by Legge, Slingerland, Roberts, Watson and Chin; 何晏 has 復猶覆也, and Peimin Ni, Ames & Rosemont and Lau render 'repeated' accordingly.
- 也 yě
explanatory final particle: in that, because
- 恭 gōng
reverent, respectful in manner
- 近於 jìn yú
to be close to, to approximate
- 近 close to, near in character or degree to
- 於 preposition to, at, marking the standard approached
近於 functions as one verb-plus-coverb predicate; 於 has no independent meaning here.
- 禮 lǐ
ritual propriety, the rites
- 遠 yuǎn
to keep far from, to distance oneself from
- 恥辱 chǐ rǔ
shame and disgrace
- 恥 shame
- 辱 disgrace, humiliation
- 也 yě
explanatory final particle: in that, because
- 因 yīn
to rely on, to build a relationship upon
A genuine crux: 孔安國 (in 何晏) glosses 因 as 親 and 朱熹 as 依 'to rely on', the line behind Legge, Slingerland, Roberts, Ames & Rosemont and Watson; Peimin Ni and Lau instead read 因 as 姻 'relations by marriage'.
- 不失 bù shī
to not lose, to not fail to retain
- 不 not
- 失 to lose, to fail to keep or retain
- 其 qí
possessive pronoun: his, her, their
- 親 qīn
those close to one, kin
- 亦 yì
also, indeed
- 可宗 kě zōng
worthy of being honored, esteemed as a leader
- 可 can, may, expressing possibility
- 宗 to honor as head, to esteem as leader
- 也 yě
final particle of assertion
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