Book 14: 《憲問》 Xian Wen (Xian Asked)
《憲問》 Passage 14.11
子曰：「孟公綽，為趙魏老則優，不可以為滕薛大夫。」
Legge Translation (1861)
The Master said: "Meng Gongchuo is more than fit to be chief officer in the families of Zhao and Wei, but he is not fit to be great officer to either of the States Teng or Xue."Word by word
- 子曰 zǐ yuē
the Master said
- 子 the Master, Confucius (respectful title)
- 曰 said, spoke
- 孟公綽 mèng gōng chuò
Meng Gongchuo, proper name of a Lu grandee
- 孟 surname Meng
- 公 duke; public (personal-name syllable here)
- 綽 Chuo, second element of the personal name Gongchuo
- 為 wéi
to act as, serve as
- 趙魏 zhào wèi
Zhao and Wei, powerful clans/states in Jin
- 趙 Zhao, a powerful clan/state in Jin
- 魏 Wei, a powerful clan/state in Jin
- 老 lǎo
steward, chief retainer of a great family's household
- 則 zé
consequential conjunction: then, in that case
- 優 yōu
excellent, more than adequate, superior
- 不 bù
not
- 可以 kě yǐ
can, be able to
- 可 can, be able to
- 以 by means of; expresses capability here
Roberts elides the modal in the second clause, relying on the parallel structure carried over from the first.
- 為 wéi
to be, serve as
- 滕薛 téng xuē
Teng and Xue, two small states
- 滕 Teng, a small state
- 薛 Xue, a small state
- 大夫 dà fū
grand officer, minister (a high official rank)
- 大 great, high-ranking
- 夫 man, official; here denotes a high-ranking officer
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