Book 16: 《季氏》 Ji Shi (The Ji Clan)
《季氏》 Passage 16.4
Legge Translation (1861)
Confucius said: "There are three friendships which are advantageous, and three which are injurious. Friendship with the upright; friendship with the sincere; and friendship with the man of much observation: — these are advantageous. Friendship with the man of specious airs; friendship with the insinuatingly soft; and friendship with the glib-tongued: — these are injurious."Word by word
- 孔子 kǒng zǐ
Confucius (Master Kong)
- 孔 Kong, a surname (here, Confucius's surname)
- 子 master, honorific title
- 曰 yuē
said, spoke
- 益 yì
beneficial, advantageous
- 者 zhě
nominalizing particle: that which, the kind that
- 三 sān
three
- 友 yǒu
friend, friendship
- 損 sǔn
harmful, injurious
- 者 zhě
nominalizing particle: that which, the kind that
- 三 sān
three
- 友 yǒu
friend, friendship
- 友 yǒu
to befriend, make friends with
- 直 zhí
upright, straightforward
- 友 yǒu
to befriend, make friends with
- 諒 liàng
trustworthy, true to one's word
Roberts renders this as 'considerate,' shifting the sense toward thoughtfulness rather than reliability
- 友 yǒu
to befriend, make friends with
- 多聞 duō wén
broadly learned, well-informed
- 多 much, extensive
- 聞 learning, what one has heard and studied
- 益 yì
beneficial
- 矣 yǐ
final particle of assertion
the particle's completive/assertive force is absorbed into the predication rather than worded.
- 友 yǒu
to befriend, make friends with
- 便辟 pián pì
flattering, ingratiating deference
- 便 practiced, ingratiating
- 辟 flattering deference, specious conduct
read pián bì, not biàn: 朱熹 marks 便 平聲 and glosses the binome as practised in outward bearing but not upright (習於威儀而不直), the counterpart of the upright friend; 楊伯峻 reads 辟 as pì, partial, fawning. Translators diverge widely, from Legge's 'specious airs' to Roberts's outlying 'eccentricity'.
- 友 yǒu
to befriend, make friends with
- 善柔 shàn róu
ingratiatingly compliant, feigning agreeableness
- 善 skilled at, adept at (being pliant and pleasing)
- 柔 soft, yielding, ingratiating
- 友 yǒu
to befriend, make friends with
- 便佞 pián nìng
glib-tongued, smooth-talking
- 便 practiced, glib
- 佞 glib-tongued, flattering in speech
read pián nìng: 朱熹 glosses 便佞 as practised in talk with no substance of learning behind it (習於口語而無聞見之實), the counterpart of the broadly learned friend.
- 損 sǔn
harmful
- 矣 yǐ
final particle of assertion
as with the first 矣 in this passage, English closes the clause with a plain predicate ('these are harmful') rather than a separate word.
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