《雍也》 Passage 6.30

Zigong, disciple of Confucius

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

said, spoke

if there is, if there were (introduces a hypothetical case)

• 如 if, supposing (introduces a hypothetical case)
• 有 to have; there is/were (introduces a hypothetical person)

broadly, extensively, on a wide scale

to bestow, give, dispense benefits

to, on, among (oblique-object marker)

the people, the common folk

and (coordinating conjunction)

to be able to, can

to help, aid, relieve, rescue

the multitude, the masses, everyone

what about it?, what would you say/think? (idiom seeking an opinion)

• 何 what, why (introduces a question)
• 如 how, what (with 何, forms 'what about it?')

could this be called...?, rhetorical naming-question frame

• 可 may, could (modal marking possibility)
• 謂 to call, to name, to say of
• 乎 interrogative final particle

humaneness, benevolence, moral goodness

ren (仁) is Confucius's central ethical term; most translators render it as humaneness/benevolence/goodness, while Ames & Rosemont's 'authoritative conduct' reflects a role-based reading.

the Master said

• 子 the Master (honorific title for Confucius)
• 曰 said, spoke

why

to make an issue of, to be concerned with, to stop at

with regard to, in the matter of

humaneness, benevolence, virtue

surely, it must indeed be...! (emphatic assertion frame)

• 必 surely, necessarily, it must be
• 也 particle marking emphasis or pause after a topic
• 乎 exclamatory final particle

sage, sagehood, one of consummate wisdom and virtue

Yao and Shun, legendary sage-kings of high antiquity

• 堯 Yao, legendary sage-king of high antiquity
• 舜 Shun, legendary sage-king, successor to Yao

modal adverb reinforcing likelihood or concession

其 reinforces the concessive force already carried by 猶 ('even').

even, still (concessive adverb of degree)

to find difficult, to be troubled by, to regard as hard to attain

it, this (resumptive pronoun referring back to the preceding difficulty)

諸 fuses 之 (object pronoun) and 乎 (final particle); translators render it as 'it,' 'this,' or 'that,' or drop it entirely.

now, as for (topic-introducing discourse particle)

the human-hearted; one who possesses 仁

1. 仁 rén

   humaneness, benevolence, virtue, goodness

2. 者 zhě

   nominalizing particle: one who, the person who

oneself, himself

to wish, desire, want to

to stand, to be established, to gain standing

and, and so (coordinating/consequential conjunction)

to establish, to help take a stand (causative)

others, other people

oneself, himself

to wish, desire, want to

to reach, to attain, to succeed

and, and so (coordinating/consequential conjunction)

to help attain, to enable to succeed (causative)

others, other people

to be able to, to know how to

near, close at hand

to take, to draw, to select as a basis

an analogy, a comparison, an example

may be called, can be said to be

• 可 may, can (modal marking possibility)
• 謂 to call, to be called, to say of

humaneness, benevolence, virtue, goodness

of (possessive/modifying particle)

method, way, prescription for action

combined sentence-final particles marking emphatic assertion: that is all

• 也 final particle of assertion
• 已 final particle: that is all, and no more

English closes the sentence with a period alone.