Book 19: 《子張》 Zi Zhang
《子張》 Passage 19.1
Legge Translation (1861)
Zizhang said: "The scholar, trained for public duty, seeing threatening danger, is prepared to sacrifice his life. When the opportunity of gain is presented to him, he thinks of righteousness. In sacrificing, his thoughts are reverential. In mourning, his thoughts are about the grief which he should feel. Such a man commands our approbation indeed."Word by word
- 子張 zǐ zhāng
Zizhang, a disciple of Confucius (courtesy name of Zhuansun Shi 顓孫師)
- 子 prefix of a courtesy name, as in 子路 and 子貢; not the title Master
- 張 second element of the disciple's courtesy name
- 曰 yuē
to say, said (introduces reported speech)
- 士 shì
shi: a man of service, scholar-official
translators split between the shi as a social/official class (scholar-official) and as a general moral exemplar (Gentleman).
- 見 jiàn
to see, be confronted with
- 危 wēi
danger, peril
- 致命 zhì mìng
to give up one's life, be ready to die
- 致 to give up, deliver; here: sacrifice (one's life)
- 命 one's life (as in 授命, to give up one's life)
Slingerland reads 命 as 'fate' rather than 'life', giving 'submit to fate' instead of the majority 'give up one's life.'
- 見 jiàn
to see, catch sight of
- 得 dé
gain, profit
- 思 sī
to think of, turn one's thoughts to
- 義 yì
rightness, what is right
Roberts renders this as 'honor' and Ames & Rosemont use their characteristic 'appropriate'; both are outliers from the majority 'rightness/what is right.'
- 祭 jì
to perform a sacrifice
- 思 sī
to think of, turn one's thoughts to
- 敬 jìng
reverence, respectfulness
- 喪 sāng
mourning, funeral rites
- 思 sī
to think of, turn one's thoughts to
- 哀 āi
grief, sorrow
- 其 qí
backward-referring pronoun: he, such a person, these
其 resumes the fourfold description of conduct just given; Lau alone reads it as the tentative modal 'perhaps.'
- 可已矣 kě yǐ yǐ
may be considered acceptable, sufficient
- 可 can, may; acceptable, permissible
- 已 to stop, be finished; here: sufficient, that will do
- 矣 sentence-final particle marking assertion or completion
parallels the idiom in 17.21's 期可已矣 ('a year would be enough'): 可已 marks sufficiency, with 矣 as the assertive final particle.
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