Book 2: 《為政》 Wei Zheng (Governance)
《為政》 Passage 2.4
Legge Translation (1861)
The Master said: "At fifteen, I had my mind bent on learning.At thirty, I stood firm.
At forty, I had no doubts.
At fifty, I knew the decrees of Heaven.
At sixty, my ear was an obedient organ for the reception of truth.
At seventy, I could follow what my heart desired, without transgressing what was right."
Word by word
- 子曰 zǐ yuē
the Master said
- 子 Master, honorific title for Confucius
- 曰 said, spoke
- 吾 wú
I, me (first-person pronoun)
- 十有五 shí yòu wǔ
fifteen (ten-and-five, archaic numeral formation)
- 十 ten
- 有 additive particle linking tens and units in a number: and (=又)
- 五 five
- 而志 ér zhì
to set one's mind or intent upon, to be resolved toward
- 而 conjunctive particle: and, and then
- 志 to set one's intent or will upon, to be determined toward
- 于 yú
preposition: on, upon, toward (marking the object of intent)
- 學 xué
learning, study
- 三十 sān shí
thirty
- 三 three
- 十 ten
- 而立 ér lì
to stand firm, become established, take one's place in society
- 而 conjunctive particle: and, and then
- 立 to stand firm, to become established
- 四十 sì shí
forty
- 四 four
- 十 ten
- 而不惑 ér bù huò
free from doubt, unperplexed
- 而 conjunctive particle: and, and then
- 不 not
- 惑 confused, doubtful, perplexed
- 五十 wǔ shí
fifty
- 五 five
- 十 ten
- 而知 ér zhī
to know, understand, come to realize
- 而 conjunctive particle: and, and then
- 知 to know, to understand
Roberts renders more freely as 'was resigned to,' implying acceptance rather than pure cognition.
- 天命 tiān mìng
heaven's mandate, the decree or will of heaven
- 天 heaven
- 命 mandate, decree, what is ordained
pivotal term for the fifties; most translators read a mandate/decree Heaven issues, while Ames & Rosemont's 'propensities of tian' construes it as Heaven's own inherent tendencies rather than a command.
- 六十 liù shí
sixty
- 六 six
- 十 ten
- 而耳順 ér ěr shùn
the ear became attuned, naturally receptive without resistance
- 而 conjunctive particle: and, and then
- 耳 ear
- 順 to comply with, be attuned to, follow smoothly
one of the passage's hard spots: most translators take 耳 as grammatical subject ('my ear was attuned'), while Watson recasts it as an active habit of listening to others.
- 七十而 qī shí ér
seventy; and at seventy
- 七 seven
- 十 ten
- 而 conjunctive particle: and, and then
- 從心所欲 cóng xīn suǒ yù
to follow whatever the heart-mind desires, to give free rein to one's wishes
- 從 to follow
- 心 heart-mind
- 所 nominalizing particle: that which
- 欲 to desire, want
source of the later four-character idiom 從心所欲, 'to do exactly as one pleases.'
- 不踰矩 bù yú jǔ
without overstepping the bounds, without transgressing the limit
- 不 not
- 踰 to overstep, transgress, cross over
- 矩 carpenter's square; standard, norm, boundary
another hard spot: 矩 (the carpenter's square) is read literally as a boundary or line (Peimin Ni, Ames & Rosemont, Lau, Watson, Chin), as ritual propriety (Slingerland, Roberts), or as moral rightness (Legge).
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