Book 18: 《微子》 Wei Zi
《微子》 Passage 18.5
Legge Translation (1861)
The madman of Chu, Jieyu, passed by Confucius, singing and saying: "O FENG! O FENG! How is your virtue degenerated! As to the past, reproof is useless; but the future may still be provided against. Give up your vain pursuit. Give up your vain pursuit. Peril awaits those who now engage in affairs of government."Confucius alighted and wished to converse with him, but Jieyu hastened away, so that he could not talk with him.
Word by word
- 楚狂 chǔ kuáng
madman of Chu, eccentric of Chu
- 楚 Chu, an ancient feudal state
- 狂 mad, wild — a madman, eccentric person
Traditionally read as a recluse feigning madness as social protest, not literal insanity.
- 接輿 jiē yú
Jieyu, personal name of a Chu recluse
- 接 to meet, come into contact with
- 輿 carriage, chariot
Ames & Rosemont translate the name literally as 'Carriage Groom' rather than transliterating it.
- 歌 gē
to sing
- 而 ér
temporal conjunction: as, while
- 過 guò
to pass by
- 孔子 kǒng zǐ
Confucius, Master Kong
- 孔 surname Kong
- 子 master, honorific title suffix
- 曰 yuē
to say
Most translators substitute a colon before the quoted song for an explicit 'said'.
- 鳳 fèng
phoenix, mythical bird
Jieyu addresses Confucius as 'phoenix', the bird said to appear only in times of good government, implying he should withdraw from a corrupt age.
- 兮 xī
exclamatory particle: oh!
- 鳳 fèng
phoenix, mythical bird
- 兮 xī
exclamatory particle: oh!
- 何 hé
how! (exclamatory)
- 德 dé
virtue, moral power
Ames & Rosemont render de as 'Excellence', their standard translation of this term.
- 之 zhī
nominalizing particle marking 德衰 as a single phrase
- 衰 shuāi
to decline, wane, weaken
- 往 wǎng
gone, past, bygone
- 者 zhě
nominalizing particle: that which, what
- 不可 bù kě
cannot, no use in
- 不 not
- 可 can, be able to
- 諫 jiàn
to remonstrate, offer counsel
Translators split between the literal sense (remonstrate, advise) and a figurative reading (fix, undo the past).
- 來 lái
coming, yet to come, future
- 者 zhě
nominalizing particle: that which, what
- 猶 yóu
still, yet
- 可 kě
can, may
- 追 zhuī
to catch up to, pursue
Renderings range widely, from literally pursuing to metaphorically recovering what is to come; Lau inverts the polarity ('is not yet lost').
- 已而 yǐ ér
enough!, stop! (exclamation urging abandonment)
- 已 stop, cease — as exclamation, enough!
- 而 final particle completing the exclamation enough already
Roberts renders this idiomatically as 'The end has come' rather than as a command to stop.
- 已而 yǐ ér
enough!, stop! (exclamation urging abandonment)
- 已 stop, cease — as exclamation, enough!
- 而 final particle completing the exclamation enough already
- 今 jīn
now, today, these days
- 之 zhī
attributive particle linking 今 to the following phrase
- 從政 cóng zhèng
to engage in government, hold office
- 從 to engage in, take part in
- 政 government, political affairs
- 者 zhě
nominalizing particle: one who, those who
- 殆 dài
dangerous, in peril
- 而 ér
final particle of assertion
- 孔子 kǒng zǐ
Confucius, Master Kong
- 孔 surname Kong
- 子 master, honorific title suffix
- 下 xià
to descend, get down, alight
- 欲 yù
to wish, want, desire to
- 與 yǔ
with, together with
- 之 zhī
third-person pronoun: him, it
- 言 yán
to speak, talk
- 趨 qū
to hasten, hurry, scurry away
- 而 ér
coordinating conjunction: and
- 辟 bì
to avoid, keep out of the way of
Read bì, standing for 避, to avoid; 辟 also serves for pì and bì in other senses (law, ruler).
- 之 zhī
third-person pronoun: him, it
- 不得 bù dé
unable to, did not get to
- 不 not
- 得 to manage to, succeed in doing something
- 與 yǔ
with, together with
- 之 zhī
third-person pronoun: him, it
- 言 yán
to speak, talk
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