論語The Analects of Confucius

論語The Analects of Confucius

Book 19: 《子張》 Zi Zhang

《子張》 Passage 19.5

子夏曰:「日知其所亡,月無忘其所能,可謂好學也已矣。」

Legge Translation (1861)

Zixia said: "He, who from day to day recognizes what he has not yet, and from month to month does not forget what he has attained to, may be said indeed to love to learn."
Word by word 14 terms · glosses and Anki cards
  1. 子夏 zǐ xià

    Zixia, a disciple of Confucius

    • 子 prefix of a courtesy name, as in 子路 and 子貢; not the title Master
    • 夏 second syllable of Zixia, a disciple of Confucius

    Lau uses the Wade-Giles romanization Tzu-hsia for the same name

  2. 曰 yuē

    said, spoke

  3. 日 rì

    daily, day by day

  4. 知 zhī

    to know, be aware of, recognize

  5. 其 qí

    possessive/subject pronoun: he, his, one's

    Peimin Ni and Ames & Rosemont use a passive construction ('is yet to be learned') that drops the explicit pronoun

  6. 所亡 suǒ wú

    what one lacks, what is missing

    • 所 nominalizing particle: that which, what
    • 亡 to lack, be without — read wú, equivalent to 無, not the wáng reading 'to die, perish'
  7. 月 yuè

    monthly, month by month

  8. 無 wú

    negative particle: not, never

    Roberts and Chin recast the clause in positive terms ('is mindful of', 'remember'), absorbing the negation into the verb

  9. 忘 wàng

    to forget

  10. 其 qí

    possessive/subject pronoun: he, his, one's

    Peimin Ni and Ames & Rosemont use a passive construction ('has already been mastered') that drops the explicit pronoun

  11. 所能 suǒ néng

    what one is able to do, one's ability

    • 所 nominalizing particle: that which, what
    • 能 ability, what one is able to do
  12. 可謂 kě wèi

    can be said (to be), may be called

    • 可 can, may (modal of possibility)
    • 謂 to call, say, describe as
  13. 好學 hào xué

    to love learning, be devoted to study

    • 好 to love, be fond of — read hào, the verb 'to love'; not the adjective hǎo 'good'
    • 學 learning, study
  14. 也已矣 yě yǐ yǐ

    emphatic final particle cluster: indeed, truly, assuredly

    • 也 final particle of assertion or affirmation
    • 已 final particle of emphasis, 'that is all'
    • 矣 final particle marking completed or asserted state

    a stacked sentence-final particle cluster intensifying the assertion; English renders it, when at all, as an inserted adverb ('indeed', 'truly') or an appended tag ('I should say') rather than a discrete word

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