Book 19: 《子張》 Zi Zhang
《子張》 Passage 19.9
子夏曰：「君子有三變：望之儼然，即之也溫，聽其言也厲。」
Legge Translation (1861)
Zixia said: "The superior man undergoes three changes. Looked at from a distance, he appears stern; when approached, he is mild; when he is heard to speak, his language is firm and decided."Word by word
- 子夏 zǐ xià
Zixia, a disciple of Confucius (Bu Shang)
- 子 prefix of a courtesy name, as in 子路 and 子貢; not the title Master
- 夏 Xia, courtesy-name element in 子夏, the courtesy name of Bu Shang (卜商); his given name is 商
- 曰 yuē
said, spoke
- 君子 jūn zǐ
gentleman, exemplary person
- 君 lord, ruler; 君子 is literally a lord's son
- 子 son; 君子 is literally a lord's son, one of the ruling class, which the Analects makes a term of character
- 有 yǒu
to have, possess
- 三 sān
three
- 變 biàn
change, transformation
- 望 wàng
to look at, gaze upon from a distance
- 之 zhī
him, referring to the gentleman
- 儼然 yǎn rán
grave, dignified in bearing
- 儼 grave, dignified in appearance
- 然 descriptive suffix: appearing so, in a certain manner
- 即 jí
to approach, draw near
- 之 zhī
him, referring to the gentleman
- 也 yě
particle marking a pause after a topicalized clause
- 溫 wēn
warm, mild in manner
- 聽 tīng
to listen to
- 其 qí
possessive pronoun: his, their
- 言 yán
words, speech
- 也 yě
particle marking a pause after a topicalized clause
- 厲 lì
stern, severe
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