Book 3: 《八佾》 Ba Yi (Eight Rows)
《八佾》 Passage 3.9
Legge Translation (1861)
The Master said: "I could describe the ceremonies of the Xia dynasty, but Qi cannot sufficiently attest my words. I could describe the ceremonies of the Yin dynasty, but Song cannot sufficiently attest my words. They cannot do so because of the insufficiency of their records and wise men. If those were sufficient, I could adduce them in support of my words."Word by word
- 子曰 zǐ yuē
the Master said
- 子 the Master, honorific title for Confucius
- 曰 said, spoke
- 夏 xià
Xia, the first (semi-legendary) Chinese dynasty
- 禮 lǐ
rites, ceremonial and ritual practice
- 吾 wú
I, me
- 能 néng
to be able to, can
- 言之 yán zhī
to speak of it, describe it
- 言 to speak of, describe
- 之 it, referring to the rites just mentioned
之 is the object pronoun for the rites.
- 杞 qǐ
Qi, minor state enfeoffed to descendants of the Xia royal house
Transliterations vary (Qi, Qii, Ch'i); Roberts's 'Ji' is his own romanisation of the same name, not an alternate name for the state.
- 不足徵也 bù zú zhēng yě
lacks sufficient documentary proof, cannot adequately attest to
- 不 not
- 足 enough, sufficient
- 徵 to prove, provide evidence for, attest
- 也 declarative final particle
- 殷 yīn
Yin (Shang), the dynasty that succeeded the Xia
- 禮 lǐ
rites, ceremonial and ritual practice
- 吾 wú
I, me
- 能 néng
to be able to, can
- 言之 yán zhī
to speak of it, describe it
- 言 to speak of, describe
- 之 it, referring to the rites just mentioned
- 宋 sòng
Song, minor state enfeoffed to descendants of the Yin/Shang royal house
- 不足徵也 bù zú zhēng yě
lacks sufficient documentary proof, cannot adequately attest to
- 不 not
- 足 enough, sufficient
- 徵 to prove, provide evidence for, attest
- 也 declarative final particle
- 文 wén
documents, written records
- 獻 xiàn
wise and worthy men, learned informants who preserve tradition
Traditionally paired with 文: written documents plus living authorities able to confirm them.
- 不足 bù zú
insufficient, not enough, lacking
- 不 not
- 足 enough, sufficient
- 故也 gù yě
this is the reason, that is why
- 故 reason, cause
- 也 declarative final particle
故 (reason) and the assertive final particle 也 together form the clause-final "is the reason" construction; nearly every translator renders them as one fused phrase.
- 足 zú
sufficient, enough
- 則 zé
then, in that case
- 吾 wú
I, me
- 能 néng
to be able to, would be able to
- 徵 zhēng
to prove, provide evidence for, substantiate
- 之矣 zhī yǐ
them, asserted as an accomplished fact
- 之 it, them, referring to the rites
- 矣 final particle marking an asserted or completed state
之 refers back to the rites; 矣 marks the statement as a settled, completed fact.
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