Book 11: 《先進》 Xian Jin (Former Eras)
《先進》 Passage 11.16
Legge Translation (1861)
Zigong asked which of the two, Shi or Shang, was the superior. The Master said: "Shi goes beyond the due mean, and Shang does not come up to it.""Then," said Zigong, "the superiority is with Shi, I suppose."
The Master said: "To go beyond is as wrong as to fall short."
Word by word
- 子貢 zǐ gòng
Zigong, disciple of Confucius
- 子 prefix of a courtesy name, as in 子路 and 子貢; not the title Master
- 貢 used in the name Zigong, literally tribute, offering
- 問 wèn
to ask
- 師 shī
Shi (Zizhang), disciple of Confucius
- 與 yǔ
and, or, coordinating two alternatives
- 商 shāng
Shang (Zixia), disciple of Confucius
- 也 yě
topic-marking pause particle
- 孰 shú
who, which one (interrogative pronoun of choice)
- 賢 xián
worthy, superior in character
- 子曰 zǐ yuē
the Master said
- 子 the Master, honorific title for Confucius
- 曰 said
- 師 shī
Shi (Zizhang)
- 也 yě
topic-marking particle: as for...
- 過 guò
to go too far, to overshoot the proper mean
- 商 shāng
Shang (Zixia)
- 也 yě
topic-marking particle: as for...
- 不及 bù jí
to fall short, to fail to reach the proper mean
- 不 not
- 及 to reach, to come up to the proper mean
- 曰 yuē
said, asked
The subject is left out in the Chinese; several translators supply 'said Zigong' or 'asked Zigong', reading him as resuming the dialogue.
- 然則 rán zé
so, then, given that
- 然 so, thus
- 則 then, in that case
- 師 shī
Shi (Zizhang)
- 愈 yù
better, more excellent, superior
- 與 yú
interrogative final particle
- 子曰 zǐ yuē
the Master said
- 子 the Master, honorific title for Confucius
- 曰 said
- 過 guò
to go too far, to overshoot the proper mean
- 猶 yóu
equivalent to, just as much at fault as
This clause is the well-known maxim 過猶不及, 'going too far is as bad as not going far enough.'
- 不及 bù jí
to fall short, to fail to reach the proper mean
- 不 not
- 及 to reach, to come up to the proper mean
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