《子張》 Passage 19.12

Ziyou, disciple of Confucius

• 子 prefix of a courtesy name, as in 子路 and 子貢; not the title Master
• 游 You, courtesy-name element in 子游, the courtesy name of Yan Yan (言偃); his given name is 偃

to say, said

Zixia, disciple of Confucius

• 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

possessive particle: 's, of

disciples, students

• 門 gate, and by extension a master's school or household
• 人 person, here a member of a school of disciples

young ones, junior members

• 小 young, junior
• 子 child, young person, here a young disciple

when it comes to, in regard to

sprinkling and sweeping (household chores)

• 洒 to sprinkle water on the ground
• 掃 to sweep

洒 is read sǎ, 'to sprinkle' (= 灑), as 朱熹 marks (洒，色賣反); not xǐ 'to wash'.

responding to and receiving guests, answering

• 應 to respond, answer a summons
• 對 to reply, receive and converse with a guest

advancing and withdrawing (ceremonial deportment)

• 進 to advance, move forward
• 退 to withdraw, step back

consequential connective: then, in that case

English states the consequence directly, without a separate connective word.

acceptable, adequate, satisfactory

final particle of assertion

adversative conjunction: but, however

the branches, tips, minor or peripheral matters

Paired with 本 (the root, index 31) as the passage's central root-versus-branches contrast between fundamentals and superficial skills.

final particle of assertion

the root, the fundamentals; here verbal: to go to the root of, seek the fundamentals of

Continues the 本/末 contrast begun at 末 (index 28), the spine of this exchange.

'it' — the learning just described; 本 here is a verb, 'trace it to the root'

English folds the reference into the preceding noun phrase (e.g. 'the roots', 'the basics').

consequential connective: then, in that case

English states the consequence directly, without a separate connective word.

to lack, be without

what is to be done (about it)?, how can this be?

• 如 what, how, to be like (interrogative verb)
• 之 object pronoun: it, this
• 何 what, how (interrogative)

Zixia, disciple of Confucius

• 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

to hear, learn of

object pronoun: it, this (what was said)

to say, said

exclamation of dismay: alas, ah

Yan You, i.e. Ziyou — surname 言 (Yan); 游 from his courtesy name 子游; given name 偃

• 言 surname 'Yan', the disciple Ziyou's family name
• 游 You, courtesy-name element in 子游, the courtesy name of Yan Yan (言偃); his given name is 偃

to be mistaken, be in error

final particle of assertion

exemplary person, gentleman

• 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

First of two occurrences of 君子之道 in this passage (kept distinct from the one at index 80); Roberts alone reads 君子 in a political register, 'the true prince'.

possessive particle: 's, of

the Way, a teacher's method of instruction

which, what (interrogative pronoun)

first, earliest

to transmit, teach, pass on

Chin shifts agency from the teacher's act of transmitting to the student's readiness to understand ('who is ready to understand'), part of the sharp divergence across this difficult parallel pair (孰先傳焉／孰後倦焉).

closes the rhetorical question softly — the asking is done by 孰, 'which'

which, what (interrogative pronoun)

later, afterward

to grow weary, tire of

Only Legge, Slingerland, and Chin register a sense of weariness; the other five translators read 後...倦 simply as 'wait/put off until later,' dropping the fatigue sense — a real split in this difficult pair of clauses (as flagged).

closes the rhetorical question softly — the asking is done by 孰, 'which'

to compare to, be like, for example

• 譬 to use as an analogy, compare
• 諸 fusion of 之 (it) and 於 (to), meaning to it, with it

grass and trees

• 草 grass
• 木 tree, wood

to categorize and distinguish by kind

• 區 to divide into categories, classify
• 以 coverb: by means of, thereby
• 別 to distinguish, differentiate

Contested, as flagged: Ames & Rosemont reads 別 as differential care ('nurtured differently') rather than mere classification, and Watson generalizes it to 'different types of handling' rather than an act of sorting.

final particle of assertion

exemplary person, gentleman

• 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

Second of two occurrences of 君子之道 in this passage (kept distinct from the one at index 55).

possessive particle: 's, of

the Way, a teacher's method of instruction

interrogative adverb: how

can, is it permissible to

to misrepresent, slander, mishandle

Translators split between a reputational reading ('slandered', 'misunderstanding') and a pedagogical one ('handled incorrectly', 'mishandle'); Legge's 'make fools of any of them' is a further outlier.

final particle marking a rhetorical question

to carry through from beginning to end

• 有 to have
• 始 a beginning, start
• 有 to have
• 卒 an end, completion, finish

Contested, as flagged: Roberts makes 'the path' rather than 'the sage' the subject with a start and finish; Chin reads 'or' between beginning and end rather than 'and'; Watson recasts the clause as the question 'who understands it from beginning to end' rather than a description of the sage.

nominalizing particle: one who, that which

tentative/rhetorical assertion: surely..., is it not the case that...?

• 其 tentative pronoun: surely, perhaps
• 乎 exclamatory final particle

Only Legge, Slingerland, Peimin Ni, and Lau register this hedge explicitly; the rest state the claim about the sage directly.

only, alone

the sage

• 聖 holy, sage-like
• 人 person