Book 2: 《為政》 Wei Zheng (Governance)
《為政》 Passage 2.24
Legge Translation (1861)
The Master said: "For a man to sacrifice to a spirit which does not belong to him is flattery. To see what is right and not to do it is want of courage."Word by word
- 子曰 zǐ yuē
the Master said
- 子 the Master, teacher (referring to Confucius)
- 曰 said, spoke
- 非 fēi
not, is not
- 其 qí
one's own (reflexive possessive)
- 鬼 guǐ
ancestral spirit, spirit of the dead
specifically the spirit of one's own ancestor here; several translators render it directly as 'ancestor(s)' rather than 'spirit'.
- 而祭之 ér jì zhī
to sacrifice to, make offering to
- 而 conjunctive particle: and, and yet
- 祭 to sacrifice to, make ritual offering to
- 之 it, him, her (object pronoun)
而 (concessive 'yet') and 之 (object pronoun 'it') are folded into the verb phrase by every translator; neither is rendered as a separate word.
- 諂 chǎn
flattery, obsequious currying of favor
Slingerland's 'presumptuous' and Roberts's 'debases the ritual' emphasize overstepping one's proper ritual station rather than mere flattery.
- 也 yě
declarative final particle: marks predication, is
- 見 jiàn
to see, perceive
Roberts, Lau, and Chin restructure 見 as 'faced with'/'in the presence of' rather than literal seeing.
- 義 yì
rightness, what is right
Ames & Rosemont reads yi as situational appropriateness rather than a fixed standard of right.
- 不為 bù wéi
to fail to do it, not act on it
- 不 not
- 為 to do, act on, carry out
- 無勇 wú yǒng
to lack courage, cowardice
- 無 to lack, be without
- 勇 courage, bravery
- 也 yě
declarative final particle: marks predication, is
English forms this judgment with an obligatory linking verb ('is'/'shows') rather than a dedicated word for 也.
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