Book 5: 《公冶長》 Gong Ye Chang
《公冶長》 Passage 5.16
Legge Translation (1861)
The Master said of Zichan that he had four of the characteristics of a superior man: — in his conduct of himself, he was humble; in serving his superiors, he was respectful; in nourishing the people, he was kind; in ordering the people, he was just.Word by word
- 子 zǐ
Confucius, the Master
- 謂 wèi
said of, remarked about
- 子產 zǐ chǎn
Zichan (Gongsun Qiao), a statesman of the state of Zheng
- 子 prefix of a courtesy name, as in 子路 and 子貢; not the title Master
- 產 second syllable of the personal name Zichan
Confucius elsewhere praises Zichan's conduct as a minister; this passage lists four of his virtues in office.
- 有 yǒu
possess, have
- 君子 jūn zǐ
gentleman, exemplary person
- 君 lord, ruler; 君子 is literally a lord's son
- 子 son; 君子 is literally a lord's son, one of the ruling class, which the Analects makes a term of character
- 之 zhī
attributive/genitive particle: 's, of
Most translators supply this genitive link with 'of'; Roberts uses a possessive 's instead, and Chin drops the clause entirely.
- 道 dào
way, path (a defining practice)
Legge and Peimin Ni render this pragmatically as 'characteristics' rather than literally as 'way'.
- 四 sì
four
- 焉 yān
final particle marking the respect or domain referred to: in this regard
Ames & Rosemont and Watson render this as 'in four respects', Lau as 'on four counts'; the rest fold it silently into the general construction.
- 其 qí
his, referring to Zichan
Only Legge keeps an explicit possessive here.
- 行己 xíng jǐ
conduct oneself, comport oneself in one's personal life
- 行 to act, behave, conduct oneself
- 己 oneself, one's own person
- 也 yě
clause-medial particle marking a pause after the topic
- 恭 gōng
respectful, reverent in one's own conduct
Translators split between a self-effacing sense (Legge 'humble', Roberts 'unpresuming') and a dignified-reverence sense (most others).
- 其 qí
his, referring to Zichan
- 事上 shì shàng
serve one's superior, attend upon a ruler
- 事 to serve, attend upon
- 上 a superior, one in authority above oneself
- 也 yě
clause-medial particle marking a pause after the topic
- 敬 jìng
respectful, deferential, reverent toward a superior
- 其 qí
his, referring to Zichan
unlike 'his superiors', 'the people' does not idiomatically need one in English.
- 養民 yǎng mín
nourish, care for the people's welfare
- 養 to nourish, care for, support
- 民 the people, the common subjects
- 也 yě
clause-medial particle marking a pause after the topic
- 惠 huì
kind, generous, beneficent toward others
- 其 qí
his, referring to Zichan
- 使民 shǐ mín
employ, direct the people in labor service
- 使 to employ, direct in service
- 民 the people, the common subjects
- 也 yě
clause-medial particle marking a pause after the topic
- 義 yì
right, just, fitting in conduct
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