Book 3: 《八佾》 Ba Yi (Eight Rows)
《八佾》 Passage 3.16
Legge Translation (1861)
The Master said: "In archery it is not going through the leather which is the principal thing; — because people's strength is not equal. This was the old way."Word by word
- 子曰 zǐ yuē
the Master said
- 子 honorific title: master (referring to Confucius)
- 曰 said, spoke (verb introducing a quotation)
- 射 shè
archery, the practice of shooting
Roberts shifts the reference from the activity of archery to the archers themselves ('Marksmen').
- 不 bù
not
- 主皮 zhǔ pí
to make hide-piercing the criterion, focus on penetrating the target's hide
- 主 to focus on, treat as the main point or standard
- 皮 hide, the leather covering of the archery target
a technical archery term (hide-piercing as the traditional mark of accuracy, as opposed to merely hitting); translators render it loosely as 'the principal thing/purpose/point'.
- 為 wèi
because, for the reason that
馬融 (in 何晏) instead takes 為力 as labour service, graded in three classes (力役之事，設三科), making this a second item of ancient practice; 朱熹 reads 為 as 'because', and all eight translators follow him.
- 力 lì
strength, physical power
- 不 bù
not
- 同科 tóng kē
equal, the same in ability or strength
- 同 same, equal, alike
- 科 category, grade, class (of skill or ability)
科 (grade, category of skill) is folded by most translators into a generic 'equal/vary/differ'; its technical sense of 'category' surfaces only loosely, e.g. Lau's 'from man to man'.
- 古 gǔ
the ancients, antiquity, olden times
- 之 zhī
possessive/genitive particle: of
- 道 dào
way, established practice or method
- 也 yě
sentence-final particle marking assertion or identity: is, was
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