Book 4: 《里仁》 Li Ren (Dwelling in Ren)
《里仁》 Passage 4.9
Legge Translation (1861)
The Master said: "A scholar, whose mind is set on truth, and who is ashamed of bad clothes and bad food, is not fit to be discoursed with."Word by word
- 子曰 zǐ yuē
the Master said
- 子 master, honorific title for a revered teacher (here, Confucius)
- 曰 said, spoke
- 士 shì
scholar-official, an educated man aspiring to public service
- 志 zhì
to set one's mind or heart on, resolve firmly upon
- 於 yú
preposition marking the object of a verb: on, upon, at
- 道 dào
the way, the Way, the proper moral or philosophical path
Legge's 'truth' and Roberts's 'our ideals' are loose interpretive renderings of the standard sense; six of eight translators render it directly as 'the Way'.
- 而 ér
contrastive conjunction: but, yet, while
- 恥 chǐ
to be ashamed of, regard as shameful
- 惡 è
bad, shabby, inferior in quality
- 衣 yī
clothing, dress
- 惡 è
bad, coarse, meager in quality
- 食 shí
food, provisions
- 者 zhě
nominalizing particle: the one who, that which (marks the preceding clause as its subject)
- 未足…也 wèi zú … yě
not worth, insufficient to merit
- 未 not, not yet
- 足 sufficient, enough, worth
- 也 sentence-final particle marking assertion or judgment
也 seals the clause as a firm assertion.
- 與 yǔ
preposition: with, together with
- 議 yì
to discuss, consult, talk over
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