《述而》 Passage 7.31

Chen, a state in the Spring and Autumn period

Minister of Crime, an official title (also rendered Minister of Justice/Laws)

• 司 to be in charge of, administer (in an official title)
• 敗 wrongdoing, crime (in the official title "Minister of Crime")

Lau transliterates the title as part of a personal name rather than translating it

to ask

Duke Zhao, ruler of the state of Lu

• 昭 bright, illustrious (element of a posthumous title)
• 公 duke, a ruler's title

to know, understand

ritual propriety, the rites

interrogative final particle marking an embedded question

Confucius (Master Kong)

• 孔 Kong, the surname of Confucius
• 子 master, honorific title for a teacher

to say

to know, understand

ritual propriety, the rites

Confucius (Master Kong)

• 孔 Kong, the surname of Confucius
• 子 master, honorific title for a teacher

to withdraw, retire

to bow, salute with joined hands

Wuma Qi, a disciple of Confucius

• 巫 wizard, shaman (surname character)
• 馬 horse (surname character)
• 期 Qi, courtesy-name element in 巫馬期; Wuma Shi's (巫馬施) given name is 施

coordinating conjunction: and

to advance, come forward

him, third-person object pronoun

to say

I, me

to hear

exemplary person, gentleman

• 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

not

to be partisan, to favor one's own faction

exemplary person, gentleman

• 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

Ames & Rosemont reads this rhetorically as pointing at Confucius himself rather than at gentlemen in general

also, too — here with rhetorical force: the gentleman as well?

to be partisan, to favor one's own faction

interrogative final particle marking a rhetorical question

ruler, lord, referring to Duke Zhao

to take as a wife, to marry

from, marking the source

Wu, a state name

copula: to be, to have the status of

of the same surname, same clan

• 同 same, identical
• 姓 surname, clan name

Roberts reinterprets this as shared royal Zhou descent; the other seven translators read it as a shared surname

to call, refer to as

her, third-person object pronoun

Wu Mengzi, the euphemistic style-name given to Duke Zhao's wife

• 吳 Wu, indicating her origin in the state of Wu
• 孟 eldest (birth-order term used in a style-name)
• 子 Zi, the clan name (姓) of the house of Song, borrowed here to disguise her real surname Ji

Lu and Wu were both of the Ji (姬) surname, so by the naming rule she should have been called 吳姬; 孟子 presents her as an eldest daughter of the Song house, whose surname was 子 (朱熹), hiding a marriage the rites forbade (同姓不婚).

ruler, lord, referring to Duke Zhao

conditional particle: if

a classical usage of 而 as a conditional marker, distinct from its usual coordinating sense

to know, understand

ritual propriety, the rites

who, which one (interrogative pronoun)

not

to know, understand

ritual propriety, the rites

Wuma Qi, a disciple of Confucius

• 巫 wizard, shaman (surname character)
• 馬 horse (surname character)
• 期 Qi, courtesy-name element in 巫馬期; Wuma Shi's (巫馬施) given name is 施

coverb referring to the preceding matter: with this, regarding this

to report, inform

the Master said

• 子 master, honorific title for a teacher
• 曰 to say

Confucius's given name, used here in self-reference: I

referring to oneself by one's given name is a convention of speech marking humility

topic-marking pause particle after the subject

fortunate, lucky

if, supposing that

to err, be at fault, make a mistake

• 有 to have
• 過 a fault, error, transgression

people, others

surely, certainly

to know, notice, find out

it, third-person object pronoun, referring to the fault