Book 16: 《季氏》 Ji Shi (The Ji Clan)
《季氏》 Passage 16.3
Legge Translation (1861)
Confucius said: "The revenue of the state has left the ducal House now for five generations. The government has been in the hands of the Great officers for four generations. On this account, the descendants of the three Huan are much reduced."Word by word
- 孔子 kǒng zǐ
Confucius, Master Kong (proper name)
- 孔 surname Kong, in 孔子 (Confucius)
- 子 honorific suffix: master, in 孔子 (Confucius)
- 曰 yuē
said, spoke, introduces a quotation
- 祿 lù
official revenue, emoluments, salary
- 之 zhī
clause-nominalizing particle: turns a subject-predicate clause into a noun phrase
- 去 qù
to leave, depart from, pass out of the control of
- 公室 gōng shì
ducal house, the ruling house of the state
- 公 ducal, of the duke
- 室 house, household
- 五世 wǔ shì
five generations
- 五 five
- 世 generation
朱熹 counts the five ducal generations as Xuan, Cheng, Xiang, Zhao and Ding, dating the loss of ducal power from the murder of the heir and enthronement of Duke Xuan in 608 BC, and the four generations of Ji ministers as Wuzi, Daozi, Pingzi and Huanzi, whose steward Yang Hu then seized the family's power.
- 矣 yǐ
final particle marking a completed or realized state
English realizes the completive sense through the perfect tense frame 'it has been ... since', not through a discrete word.
- 政 zhèng
government, governmental power, administrative authority
- 逮於 dài yú
to reach, extend to, devolve upon, fall into the hands of
- 逮 to reach, extend to, arrive at
- 於 oblique preposition marking the goal: to, into
- 大夫 dà fū
great officers, ministers, high officials
- 大 great, high, in 大夫 (high minister)
- 夫 adult man, officer, in 大夫 (high minister)
- 四世 sì shì
four generations
- 四 four
- 世 generation
- 矣 yǐ
final particle marking a completed or realized state
English realizes the completive sense through the perfect tense frame 'it has been ... since', not through a discrete word.
- 故夫 gù fú
therefore, for this reason, hence
- 故 therefore, for this reason
- 夫 initial particle introducing an observation or conclusion
故 (therefore) and the topic-introducing particle 夫 combine as a single discourse connector; translators render the pair as one English connective.
- 三桓 sān huán
Three Huan (the three powerful hereditary families of Lu descended from Duke Huan)
- 三 three
- 桓 Huan, proper name, in 三桓 (the Three Huan families)
the three houses Mengsun, Shusun and Jisun, all descended from Duke Huan of Lu (r. 711–694 BC); Ames & Rosemont and Chin render 'Three Families', Watson spells out the descent from Duke Huan, and Ames & Rosemont's 'came to prominence under Duke Xuan' dates their rise, not their eponym.
- 之 zhī
possessive particle: 's, of
- 子孫 zǐ sūn
descendants, offspring
- 子 son, offspring, in 子孫 (descendants)
- 孫 grandson, descendant, in 子孫 (descendants)
- 微 wēi
diminished, weakened, in decline
- 矣 yǐ
final particle marking a completed or realized state
English realizes the completive sense through the perfect tense frame 'it has been ... since', not through a discrete word.
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