Book 15: 《衛靈公》 Wei Ling Gong (Duke Ling of Wey)
《衛靈公》 Passage 15.29
Legge Translation (1861)
The Master said: "A man can enlarge the principles which he follows; those principles do not enlarge the man."Word by word
- 子曰 zǐ yuē
the Master said
- 子 master, honorific title for a teacher (here, Confucius)
- 曰 say, said
- 人 rén
people, human beings
Translators split between a generic singular ('a man', 'a person') and a plural ('human beings', 'men') for this indefinite generic noun.
- 能 néng
to be able to, can
- 弘 hóng
to broaden, enlarge
- 道 dào
the Way, dao
Legge paraphrases 道 as 'the principles' one follows rather than capitalizing it as 'the Way.'
- 非 fēi
not, it is not the case that
Watson and Chin fuse the negation into the modal 'cannot,' leaving no separable word for 非 alone.
- 道 dào
the Way, dao
Legge's 'those principles' refers back anaphorically to dao; Roberts adds a possessive 'our.'
- 弘 hóng
to broaden, enlarge
- 人 rén
people, human beings
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