《顏淵》 Passage 12.6

Zizhang, a disciple of Confucius

• 子 prefix of a courtesy name, as in 子路 and 子貢; not the title Master
• 張 Zhang, courtesy-name element in 子張; the disciple's surname is 顓孫 (Zhuansun), not 張

to ask about, inquire about

clear-sightedness, discernment, perceptiveness

the Master said

• 子 master; honorific title for Confucius
• 曰 to say, speak

to soak in gradually, permeate over time (of slander that erodes resistance)

• 浸 to soak, seep in gradually
• 潤 to moisten, permeate; seep in

The soaking-in metaphor is for slander that seeps in so gradually it is never consciously noticed, contrasted with 膚受's immediate, bodily impact.

attributive particle: that, which (marks the preceding phrase as a modifier)

slander, slanderous accusation

felt directly on the skin, visceral and immediate (of an accusation)

• 膚 skin
• 受 to receive, be subjected to

Literally 'received on the skin'. 朱熹 reads it as an accusation whose harm one feels on one's own skin, pressing and immediate, against 浸潤's slow seepage; 馬融 in 何晏's 集解 took it instead as skin-deep, superficial charges with nothing behind them, the reading behind Roberts's 'superficial'.

attributive particle: that, which (marks the preceding phrase as a modifier)

accusation, complaint

to have no effect, fail to prevail, not be swayed by

• 不 not
• 行 to proceed, take effect, succeed

final particle: in this matter, with him (fuses a preposition and pronoun)

can be called, may be said to be

• 可 can, may (modal marking possibility)
• 謂 to call, term, describe as

clear-sightedness, discernment, perceptiveness

The verdict term for someone whose judgment resists the two metaphors just described: slander that seeps in unnoticed, and accusation felt immediately on the skin.

stacked final particles marking strong assertion: indeed, for certain

• 也 final particle of assertion
• 已 final particle reinforcing completion, finality
• 矣 final particle marking completed state, emphatic assertion

Only Legge marks this emphasis explicitly as 'indeed'; the other translators leave the completed, emphatic force of the verdict implicit.

to soak in gradually, permeate over time (of slander that erodes resistance)

• 浸 to soak, seep in gradually
• 潤 to moisten, permeate; seep in

attributive particle: that, which (marks the preceding phrase as a modifier)

No translator repeats a relativizer here.

slander, slanderous accusation

felt directly on the skin, visceral and immediate (of an accusation)

• 膚 skin; superficial, on the surface
• 受 to receive, be subjected to

attributive particle: that, which (marks the preceding phrase as a modifier)

As with the first 之 in this clause, no translator repeats a relativizer the second time; the description is either dropped via anaphora ('such a person') or restated as a bare adjective, so nothing stands for the particle here.

accusation, complaint

to have no effect, fail to prevail, not be swayed by

• 不 not
• 行 to proceed, take effect, succeed

final particle: in this matter, with him (fuses a preposition and pronoun)

can be called, may be said to be

• 可 can, may (modal marking possibility)
• 謂 to call, term, describe as

far-sighted, far-reaching in perception, able to see what is distant

Ames & Rosemont departs from the 'far' image entirely, rendering 遠 as 'discerning' rather than a distance metaphor.

stacked final particles marking strong assertion: indeed, for certain

• 也 final particle of assertion
• 已 final particle reinforcing completion, finality
• 矣 final particle marking completed state, emphatic assertion

The assertive force surfaces as an interjection or aside ('Yea', 'Indeed', 'Of this I am more than certain') for some translators and is left unmarked by others.