Book 7: 《述而》 Shu Er (Transmission)
《述而》 Passage 7.3
Legge Translation (1861)
The Master said: "The leaving virtue without proper cultivation; the not thoroughly discussing what is learned; not being able to move towards righteousness of which a knowledge is gained; and not being able to change what is not good: — these are the things which occasion me solicitude."Word by word
- 子曰 zǐ yuē
the Master said
- 子 master, teacher — here refers to Confucius
- 曰 said, spoke
- 德 dé
virtue, moral character
- 之 zhī
subordinating particle between subject and predicate, nominalizing the clause 德不脩 as a topic
English nominalizes this clause with an infinitive or gerund ('to cultivate', 'not cultivating'), so the particle's grammatical work is done by that construction rather than by a separate word.
- 不 bù
not
- 脩 xiū
to cultivate, to improve through practice
- 學 xué
what one has learned, learning
- 之 zhī
subordinating particle between subject and predicate, nominalizing the clause 學不講 as a topic
English nominalizes this clause with an infinitive or gerund ('to cultivate', 'not cultivating'), so the particle's grammatical work is done by that construction rather than by a separate word.
- 不 bù
not
- 講 jiǎng
to go over thoroughly, review
- 聞 wén
to hear
- 義 yì
what is right, rightness, moral duty
- 不能 bù néng
unable to, cannot
- 不 not
- 能 to be able to, can
- 徙 xǐ
to move toward, to act on
- 不善 bù shàn
faults, shortcomings, what is not good
- 不 not
- 善 good
- 不能 bù néng
unable to, cannot
- 不 not
- 能 to be able to, can
- 改 gǎi
to change, correct, reform
- 是 shì
demonstrative pronoun: this, these
- 吾 wú
my
Several translators recast the clause with 吾 surfacing as subject 'I' or object 'me'; the underlying sense in the Chinese is possessive 'my'.
- 憂 yōu
worry, concern, anxiety
- 也 yě
final particle of assertion
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