《八佾》 Passage 3.8

Zixia (Zi Xia), a 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

asked, said (introducing the following quotation)

• 問 to ask, inquire
• 曰 said, spoke, introducing a quotation

artful, charming smile

• 巧 skillful, artful (of a smile)
• 笑 smile

dimpling, forming charming dimples in a smile

• 倩 dimpling, charming (the dimples of a smile)
• 兮 poetic exclamatory particle marking a verse-line's end

兮 is an untranslated poetic exclamatory particle marking the line's end.

beautiful eyes

• 美 beautiful
• 目 eyes

a clear, glancing look of the eyes

• 盼 the clear, glancing look of bright eyes
• 兮 poetic exclamatory particle marking a verse-line's end

兮 is an untranslated poetic exclamatory particle marking the line's end.

the plain, unadorned (white silk) ground

thereby becomes, is used to make into

• 以 by means of, thereby
• 為 becomes, is made into

以為 (yǐwéi) is a fixed classical instrumental-copula construction, not a clause of independently-glossable words; kept as one unit.

colorful, adorned, brilliantly patterned

• 絢 colorful, adorned, brilliantly patterned
• 兮 poetic exclamatory particle marking a verse-line's end

兮 is an untranslated poetic exclamatory particle marking the line's end. The first two lines are from Ode 57 碩人; this third line is absent from the received Odes, and 朱熹 calls it 逸詩.

interrogative frame: what does...mean?

• 何 what
• 也 declarative or interrogative final particle

to mean, signify

the Master said

• 子 the Master (Confucius), honorific title
• 曰 said, spoke, introducing a quotation

the work of painting, applying color

• 繪 to paint, apply color
• 事 the work, task, business (of an activity)

comes after, follows

繪事後素 is contested between the two main commentaries. 鄭玄 (in 何晏) takes 素 as white laid on last to set off the colours already painted (先布眾色，然後以素分布其間); 朱熹, citing the 考工記, takes it as the plain ground prepared before the colours (先以粉地為質，而後施五采). Chin follows 鄭玄, the other seven follow 朱熹; 劉寶楠 defends 鄭玄, 楊伯峻 follows 朱熹.

the plain, unadorned (white) ground

Most translators take this as the base ground applied before color; Chin reverses the order.

said, asked (unattributed here, understood as Zixia)

rhetorical question: does...also come after?, by analogy

1. 禮 lǐ

   ritual, the rites, ceremonial propriety

comes after, follows

the Master said

• 子 the Master (Confucius), honorific title
• 曰 said, spoke, introducing a quotation

arouses, inspires me, brings out my thinking

• 起 arouses, stimulates, brings out (understanding)
• 予 me

cleft frame: it is X who..., X is the one who...

• 者 nominalizing particle: the one who, that which
• 也 declarative final particle of affirmation

Shang, Zixia's given name

emphatic frame: only now...at last, marking completion and finality

已矣 are perfective/emphatic sentence-final particles.

1. 始 shǐ

   only now, for the first time

can, may, be able to

with

to speak of, discuss

the Odes, the Book of Songs, a classic poetry anthology