Book 17: 《陽貨》 Yang Huo
《陽貨》 Passage 17.6
Legge Translation (1861)
Zizhang asked Confucius about perfect virtue. Confucius said: "To be able to practice five things everywhere under heaven constitutes perfect virtue."He begged to ask what they were, and was told: "Gravity, generosity of soul, sincerity, earnestness, and kindness. If you are grave, you will not be treated with disrespect. If you are generous, you will win all. If you are sincere, people will repose trust in you. If you are earnest, you will accomplish much. If you are kind, this will enable you to employ the services of others."
Word by word
- 子張 zǐ zhāng
Zizhang, courtesy name of the disciple Zhuansun Shi
- 子 prefix of a courtesy name, as in 子路 and 子貢; not the title Master
- 張 Zhang, courtesy-name element in 子張; the disciple's surname is 顓孫 (Zhuansun), not 張
- 問 wèn
to ask, inquire about
- 仁 rén
benevolence, humaneness, ren
Translators split sharply on ren: most use benevolence/humaneness, Slingerland capitalizes it as Goodness, Ames & Rosemont render it as authoritative conduct.
- 於 yú
coverb marking the person addressed: of, from
All eight translators restructure 'ask X about Y from Z' as 'ask Z about Y,' making Z the direct object of asked; the marker's work is absorbed into that construction rather than given a separate word.
- 孔子 kǒng zǐ
Confucius, Master Kong
- 孔 surname Kong
- 子 honorific title: master
- 孔子 kǒng zǐ
Confucius, Master Kong
- 孔 surname Kong
- 子 honorific title: master
- 曰 yuē
said
- 能 néng
to be able to, can
- 行 xíng
to practice, carry out, put into practice
- 五者 wǔ zhě
the five things, five practices
- 五 five
- 者 nominalizing particle: that which, those which
- 於 yú
coverb marking location: in, throughout, everywhere
- 天下 tiān xià
the world, all under heaven
- 天 heaven, the sky
- 下 under, below
- 為 wéi
to be, to constitute
- 仁 rén
benevolence, humaneness, ren
- 矣 yǐ
final particle of assertion
none of the eight translators render 矣.
- 請問 qǐng wèn
may I ask, to request permission to ask
- 請 to request permission to do something
- 問 to ask
- 之 zhī
pronoun referring to the five things just named: them, they
- 曰 yuē
said
- 恭 gōng
reverence, respectfulness
- 寬 kuān
tolerance, magnanimity, broad-mindedness
- 信 xìn
trustworthiness, being true to one's word
- 敏 mǐn
diligence, quickness and keenness in action
- 惠 huì
generosity, kindness, consideration for others
- 恭 gōng
reverent, deferential
- 則 zé
then, in that case (conditional consequence marker)
English realizes the conditional through 'if...will' mood rather than a lexical 'then'; none of the eight translators render 則 with a separate word.
- 不 bù
not
- 侮 wǔ
to insult; here passive: to be insulted, be treated with disrespect
- 寬 kuān
tolerant, magnanimous
- 則 zé
then, in that case (conditional consequence marker)
English realizes the conditional through 'if...will' mood rather than a lexical 'then'; none of the eight translators render 則 with a separate word.
- 得 dé
to win, gain
- 眾 zhòng
the multitude, the people
- 信 xìn
trustworthy, true to one's word
- 則 zé
then, in that case (conditional consequence marker)
English realizes the conditional through 'if...will' mood rather than a lexical 'then'; none of the eight translators render 則 with a separate word.
- 人 rén
other people, others
- 任 rèn
to trust, rely on, entrust with responsibility
- 焉 yān
fused particle combining preposition and pronoun: to him, in him
- 敏 mǐn
diligent, quick and keen in action
- 則 zé
then, in that case (conditional consequence marker)
English realizes the conditional through 'if...will' mood rather than a lexical 'then'; none of the eight translators render 則 with a separate word.
- 有功 yǒu gōng
to achieve results, accomplish
- 有 to have, possess
- 功 achievement, merit, good result
Every translator fuses 有 and 功 into a single verb phrase, so the two characters are glossed as one compound rather than split.
- 惠 huì
generous, kind
- 則 zé
then, in that case (conditional consequence marker)
English realizes the conditional through 'if...will' mood rather than a lexical 'then'; none of the eight translators render 則 with a separate word.
- 足以 zú yǐ
sufficient to, enough to
- 足 sufficient, enough
- 以 coverb: so as to, in order to
- 使 shǐ
to employ, direct, put to use
- 人 rén
other people, others
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