Book 6: 《雍也》 Yong Ye (As for Yong)
《雍也》 Passage 6.7
Legge Translation (1861)
The Master said: "Such was Hui that for three months there would be nothing in his mind contrary to perfect virtue. The others may attain to this on some days or in some months, but nothing more."Word by word
- 子曰 zǐ yuē
the Master said
- 子 honorific title: the Master (Confucius)
- 曰 said, spoke
- 回 huí
Yan Hui, disciple of Confucius
- 也 yě
topic-marking particle: as for...
only Watson makes it explicit with 'As for'.
- 其 qí
his
- 心 xīn
heart, mind (seat of thought and feeling)
- 三月 sān yuè
three months
- 三 three
- 月 month
- 不 bù
not, negates the following verb
- 違 wéi
depart from, deviate from, violate
- 仁 rén
humaneness, benevolence
Slingerland capitalizes as Goodness and Ames & Rosemont renders as authoritative conduct, reflecting differing interpretive traditions around ren.
- 其 qí
their
All eight translators fold this possessive into the following noun phrase (the others, the rest) rather than wording it separately.
- 餘 yú
the rest, the others
- 則 zé
then, marks the following clause
- 日月 rì yuè
a day or a month, a short time
- 日 day
- 月 month
- 至 zhì
reach, attain
- 焉 yān
fused particle: to it, there
Stands in for 於之/於是, pointing back to humaneness.
- 而已矣 ér yǐ yǐ
only, merely, that is all
- 而 conjunctive particle: and, and yet, but
- 已 to stop, cease, here marking finality: that is all, only
- 矣 sentence-final particle marking assertion or exclamation
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