Book 14: 《憲問》 Xian Wen (Xian Asked)
《憲問》 Passage 14.5
Legge Translation (1861)
Nangong Kuo, submitting an inquiry to Confucius, said: "Yi was skillful at archery, and Ao could move a boat along upon the land, but neither of them died a natural death. Yu and Ji personally wrought at the toils of husbandry, and they became possessors of the kingdom."The Master made no reply; but when Nangong Kuo went out, he said: "A superior man indeed is this! An esteemer of virtue indeed is this!"
Word by word
- 南宮适 nán gōng kuò
Nangong Kuo (Nan Rong), a disciple of Confucius
- 南 surname element: 'Nan-' in the compound surname Nangong
- 宮 surname element: '-gong' in the compound surname Nangong, lit. palace
- 适 given name Kuo, of the disciple Nangong Kuo
- 問 wèn
to ask, inquire of
- 於 yú
preposition introducing the addressee of speech: to, of
- 孔子 kǒng zǐ
Confucius, Master Kong
- 孔 surname element: 'Kong' in Confucius's name Kongzi
- 子 honorific suffix: master, a title of respect for a teacher
- 曰 yuē
to say, speak, introduces direct speech
- 羿 yì
Yi, legendary archer of superhuman skill
- 善 shàn
skilled at, good at, expert in
- 射 shè
archery, shooting with a bow
- 奡 ào
Ao, legendary figure of great physical strength
- 盪舟 dàng zhōu
to push or move a boat over dry land, a feat of great strength
- 盪 to push, shift, move a heavy object
- 舟 boat
Most translators take this literally as pushing/moving a boat on land, a byword for Ao's great strength; Slingerland instead casts him as a naval commander, reflecting an alternate commentarial tradition.
- 俱 jù
both, all of them, together
- 不得其死 bù dé qí sǐ
to fail to meet a natural death, to die a violent or premature death
- 不 not, negates the following verb
- 得 to obtain, get, attain
- 其 possessive pronoun: their, his
- 死 death, to die
A fixed idiomatic expression for dying by violence rather than by natural causes; the same phrase recurs at Analects 11.13.
- 然 rán
final particle, equivalent to 焉, closing the statement
王引之 and 楊伯峻 take this 然 as equivalent to 焉, a clause-closing particle with no separate English word; none of the eight translators words it.
- 禹 yǔ
Yu, legendary sage-king, founder of the Xia dynasty
- 稷 jì
Ji, or Hou Ji, legendary minister of agriculture
- 躬 gōng
personally, with one's own body, in person
- 稼 jià
to sow, plant, work the fields
- 而 ér
coordinating conjunction: and, and yet
- 有 yǒu
to have, gain, come into possession of
- 天下 tiān xià
all under heaven, the world, the realm
- 天 heaven, sky
- 下 below, under; here: the realm under heaven
- 夫子 fū zǐ
the Master, Confucius
- 夫 demonstrative/honorific element in 夫子, 'the Master'
- 子 honorific suffix: master, in 夫子, 'the Master'
- 不 bù
not
- 答 dá
to answer, reply
- 南宮适 nán gōng kuò
Nangong Kuo (Nan Rong), a disciple of Confucius
- 南 surname element: 'Nan-' in the compound surname Nangong
- 宮 surname element: '-gong' in the compound surname Nangong, lit. palace
- 适 given name Kuo, of the disciple Nangong Kuo
- 出 chū
to go out, leave, depart
- 子曰 zǐ yuē
the Master said
- 子 honorific title: the Master, Confucius, subject of 曰
- 曰 to say, speak, introduces direct speech
- 君子 jūn zǐ
exemplary person, gentleman
- 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
- 哉若人 zāi ruò rén
exclamatory frame: '...indeed, this person!', predicate fronted for emphasis
- 哉 exclamatory final particle: indeed!, how...!
- 若 demonstrative pronoun: this, such — usually read as a demonstrative here; Watson's phrasing suggests an alternate reading as 'like, similar to'
- 人 person, man
fronting the predicate throws emphasis onto it. Watson's 'should be like this' suggests reading 若 as 'like' rather than as a demonstrative.
- 尚德 shàng dé
to esteem, exalt virtue above all else
- 尚 to esteem, exalt, put above all else — commonly read 'still, yet'; here read as a verb
- 德 virtue, moral power
尚 is read as a verb, 'to esteem', by most translators; Chin instead takes it adjectivally as 'highest', modifying virtue.
- 哉若人 zāi ruò rén
exclamatory frame: '...indeed, this person!', predicate fronted for emphasis
- 哉 exclamatory final particle: indeed!, how...!
- 若 demonstrative pronoun: this, such — usually read as a demonstrative here; Watson's phrasing suggests an alternate reading as 'like, similar to'
- 人 person, man
A text file for Anki 2.1.55 or later: File → Import. The cards go to the deck “Analects”, tagged by passage, and importing again updates them instead of adding copies.
Discussion
No one has started on this passage yet.
Start the discussion in r/analects