Book 14: 《憲問》 Xian Wen (Xian Asked)
《憲問》 Passage 14.34
Legge Translation (1861)
Some one said: "What do you say concerning the principle that injury should be recompensed with kindness?"The Master said: "With what then will you recompense kindness?
Recompense injury with justice, and recompense kindness with kindness."
Word by word
- 或曰 huò yuē
someone said
- 或 someone, a certain person (indefinite pronoun)
- 曰 said, spoke
- 以 yǐ
with, by (coverb marking the means)
- 德 dé
kindness, a good turn, beneficence
The saying being quoted, 以德報怨 ('repay injury with kindness'), is elsewhere attributed to Laozi; Confucius is being asked to endorse it.
- 報 bào
to repay, requite, recompense, answer
- 怨 yuàn
ill will, resentment, grievance, injury received
- 何如 hé rú
what about it?, what do you think?
- 何 what, how (interrogative pronoun)
- 如 to be like, resemble; used interrogatively to ask one's opinion
- 子曰 zǐ yuē
the Master said
- 子 the Master, i.e. Confucius
- 曰 said, spoke
- 何 hé
what, how (interrogative)
- 以 yǐ
with, by (coverb marking the means)
Most translators fuse 何以 into a single English word 'how'; only Legge, Slingerland, and Lau keep a separate 'with' for this coverb.
- 報 bào
to repay, requite, recompense, answer
- 德 dé
kindness, a good turn, beneficence
- 以 yǐ
with, by (coverb marking the means)
- 直 zhí
uprightness, straightforwardness, integrity
This is Confucius's celebrated rejection of repaying injury with kindness (以德報怨): one meets a wrong with uprightness, reserving kindness for kindness.
- 報 bào
to repay, requite, recompense, answer
- 怨 yuàn
ill will, resentment, grievance, injury received
- 以 yǐ
with, by (coverb marking the means)
- 德 dé
kindness, a good turn, beneficence
Ames & Rosemont alone renders this occurrence as 'gratitude,' framing the second clause as returning thanks rather than an identical kindness.
- 報 bào
to repay, requite, recompense, answer
Slingerland and Roberts elide the second verb in English ('...and kindness with kindness'), leaving no word to quote for this occurrence.
- 德 dé
kindness, a good turn, beneficence
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