Book 4: 《里仁》 Li Ren (Dwelling in Ren)
《里仁》 Passage 4.6
Legge Translation (1861)
The Master said: "I have not seen a person who loved virtue, or one who hated what was not virtuous. He who loved virtue, would esteem nothing above it. He who hated what is not virtuous, would practice virtue in such a way that he would not allow anything that is not virtuous to approach his person.Is any one able for one day to apply his strength to virtue? I have not seen the case in which his strength would be insufficient.
Should there possibly be any such case, I have not seen it."
Word by word
- 子曰 zǐ yuē
the Master said
- 子 master, teacher; here refers to Confucius
- 曰 said, spoke
- 我 wǒ
I, me
- 未見 wèi jiàn
have not yet seen, have never met
- 未 not yet
- 見 to see, meet, encounter
- 好仁 hào rén
to love, be fond of humaneness (ren)
- 好 to love, be fond of
- 仁 ren, humaneness/benevolence, the cardinal Confucian virtue
ren is rendered variously as virtue, Goodness, human-heartedness, benevolence, or authoritative conduct across translators
- 者 zhě
nominalizing particle: one who, that which
- 惡不仁 wù bù rén
to hate, be repelled by the lack of humaneness (ren)
- 惡 to hate, detest, be repelled by — read wù 'to hate', not è 'evil, wicked'
- 不 not
- 仁 ren, humaneness/benevolence
- 者 zhě
nominalizing particle: one who, that which
- 好仁 hào rén
to love, be fond of humaneness (ren)
- 好 to love, be fond of
- 仁 ren, humaneness/benevolence
- 者 zhě
nominalizing particle: one who, that which
- 無以 wú yǐ
there is no way to, nothing can (do something)
- 無 there is not, nothing, without
- 以 instrumental particle: by which, with which
無以 is a fixed modal idiom: 'have no means by which to'
- 尚 shàng
to surpass, exceed, add above to
- 之 zhī
it, referring back to ren
- 惡不仁 wù bù rén
to hate, be repelled by the lack of humaneness (ren)
- 惡 to hate, detest, be repelled by
- 不 not
- 仁 ren, humaneness/benevolence
- 者 zhě
nominalizing particle: one who, that which
- 其…矣 qí … yǐ
he, himself (topic pronoun, with assertive final particle)
- 其 he, himself, referring to the person just described
- 矣 perfective/assertive final particle
- 為仁 wéi rén
to act with, practice ren
- 為 to act as, become, practice
- 仁 ren, humaneness — a person's benevolent conduct
translators split between an active 'practicing ren' reading and a resultative 'becoming/being reckoned ren' reading
- 不使 bù shǐ
to not let, not allow, not cause
- 不 not
- 使 to cause, let, allow (someone to do something)
- 不仁 bù rén
lacking humaneness, without ren
- 不 not
- 仁 ren, humaneness/benevolence
- 者 zhě
nominalizing particle: those who, that which
- 加 jiā
to add to, influence, affect
- 乎 hū
preposition: to, on
- 其 qí
his, referring to the person
- 身 shēn
person, himself
Watson and Chin read 身 as 'conduct/behavior' rather than the physical person
- 有…矣乎 yǒu … yǐ hū
is there...?, rhetorical/existential question frame
- 有 there is, exists
- 矣 perfective/assertive final particle
- 乎 interrogative final particle
they mark the existential 有 clause as a rhetorical question.
- 能 néng
to be able to, can
- 一日 yī rì
a single day, one day
- 一 one, a single
- 日 day
- 用 yòng
to use, apply, devote (effort)
- 其 qí
his, one's own
- 力 lì
strength, effort
- 於 yú
preposition marking the object: toward, in, at
- 仁 rén
ren, humaneness/benevolence
- 我 wǒ
I, me
- 未見 wèi jiàn
have not yet seen, have never met
- 未 not yet
- 見 to see, meet, encounter
- 力 lì
strength, effort
- 不足 bù zú
insufficient, lacking, not enough
- 不 not
- 足 sufficient, enough
- 者 zhě
nominalizing particle: one who, that which
- 蓋 gài
perhaps, presumably (expressing conjecture)
- 有…矣 yǒu … yǐ
there is, exists (asserted as fact)
- 有 there is, exists
- 矣 perfective/assertive final particle
- 之 zhī
such, such a person
- 我 wǒ
I, me
- 未…也 wèi … yě
have not yet..., final particle of assertion
- 未 not yet
- 也 final particle of assertion
- 之 zhī
it, him, them, such a person
之 stands before 見 because a pronoun object moves in front of the verb after the negative 未; 未之見 is 未見之, have not seen one
- 見 jiàn
to see, meet, encounter
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