Book 1: 《學而》 Xue Er (Studying)
《學而》 Passage 1.14
Legge Translation (1861)
The Master said: "He who aims to be a man of complete virtue in his food does not seek to gratify his appetite, nor in his dwelling place does he seek the appliances of ease; he is earnest in what he is doing, and careful in his speech; he frequents the company of men of principle that he may be rectified: — such a person may be said indeed to love to learn."Word by word
- 子曰 zǐ yuē
the Master said
- 子 honorific title: Master, teacher (i.e., Confucius)
- 曰 said, spoke
- 君子 jūn zǐ
gentleman, exemplary person
- 君 lord, ruler; 君子 is literally a lord's son
- 子 son; 君子 is literally a lord's son, one of the ruling class, which the Analects makes a term of character
Legge paraphrases entirely as 'a man of complete virtue'; Roberts renders as 'the true prince'.
- 食 shí
food, eating
- 無 wú
negation: not, does not
- 求 qiú
to seek, desire
- 飽 bǎo
to eat one's fill, satiation, a full belly
- 居 jū
dwelling, residence
- 無 wú
negation: not, does not
- 求 qiú
to seek, desire
- 安 ān
comfort, ease
- 敏 mǐn
quick, diligent, alert (in action)
- 於 yú
preposition: in, with regard to
- 事 shì
affairs, tasks, matters
- 而 ér
conjunctive particle: and, and yet
- 慎 shèn
careful, cautious
- 於 yú
preposition: in, with regard to
- 言 yán
words, speech
- 就 jiù
to draw near, approach, go to
- 有道 yǒu dào
possessing the Way, a man of the Way
- 有 to have, possess
- 道 the Way; moral path, method
- 而 ér
conjunctive particle: and, in order to
- 正 zhèng
to correct, rectify, be set straight
- 焉 yān
final particle: by them, thereby (fused pronoun-preposition)
- 可謂…也已 kě wèi … yě yǐ
can indeed be said to be..., emphatic affirmation frame
- 可 auxiliary: can, may
- 謂 to call, to say of, to describe as
- 也 final particle of affirmation, emphasis
- 已 final particle: that is all, only, simply
也已 adds emphatic closure ('and that is all'); Roberts omits this entire closing clause of the passage.
- 好學 hào xué
to love learning, be fond of study
- 好 to love, be fond of
- 學 learning, study
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