《公冶長》 Passage 5.13

Zigong, a disciple of Confucius

• 子 prefix of a courtesy name, as in 子路 and 子貢; not the title Master
• 貢 second syllable of the disciple Zigong's name; literally tribute

to say, said (introduces reported speech)

the Master, honorific title for Confucius

• 夫 honorific particle preceding 子 in the title the Master
• 子 master, teacher; honorific title for Confucius

possessive/genitive particle: 's, of

cultural accomplishments, refinement made visible

• 文 culture, civility, refinement
• 章 patterned brilliance, visible accomplishment

Translators split between an abstract sense (culture, refinement) and a concrete one (writings, documents); Legge's paraphrase is idiosyncratic but points to the same visible display of culture.

can, to be able to (potential/resultative auxiliary construction)

• 可 can, may, it is possible to
• 得 to get to, manage to; resultative auxiliary
• 而 conjunctive particle linking auxiliary and verb: and, so as to

to hear, hear about

Roberts, Ames & Rosemont, and Chin render 聞 as learn rather than hear, treating it as absorbing knowledge rather than merely perceiving sound.

final particle of assertion

the Master, Confucius

• 夫 honorific particle preceding 子 in the title the Master
• 子 master, teacher; honorific title for Confucius

Slingerland alone repeats 'the Master'.

subordinating particle marking 夫子言性與天道 as a clause: the Master's discoursing on

This second 之 is absorbed into the possessive pronoun (his/him/he) that already carries the reference, so it is not worded separately in English.

to speak of, discourse on (a topic)

Some translators keep the verbal sense (discourse about, say) while others nominalize it as views or opinions.

human nature, inborn nature

性 is one of the most contested terms in early Chinese thought; Confucius's reticence here (as Zigong reports it) is often read as the seed of the later Mencius-Xunzi debate over whether human nature is basically good.

and, together with

Slingerland alone renders it disjunctively as 'or', framing the two topics as alternatives Confucius avoided rather than a single linked pair.

the Way of Heaven, heaven's way or mandate

• 天 heaven, the sky as a cosmic and moral power
• 道 way, course; the operating principle of Heaven

Ames & Rosemont leaves tian untranslated, signaling a naturalistic/cosmological reading rather than a personified 'Heaven'.

cannot, not able to

• 不 not; negates ability or possibility
• 可 can, may, it is possible to
• 得 to get to, manage to; resultative auxiliary
• 而 conjunctive particle linking auxiliary and verb: and, so as to

to hear, hear about

final particle of assertion