《述而》 Passage 7.15

Ran You (Ran Qiu), a disciple of Confucius

• 冉 surname (proper name)
• 有 You, courtesy-name element in 冉有; Ran Qiu's (冉求) courtesy name is 子有, his given name 求

Translators use different romanizations of the same disciple's name (Ran You / Ran Qiu / Jan Yu).

to say, said

the Master, honorific title for Confucius

• 夫 first element of the title 夫子, the Master
• 子 master, teacher (honorific suffix)

to support, side with, take the part of

The question is whether Confucius backs the reigning ruler of Wey in his succession dispute with his father.

the ruler of the state of Wey

• 衛 Wey, name of a state
• 君 ruler, lord

Duke Chu of Wey (出公輒), grandson of Duke Ling, who held the throne against his exiled father Kuai Kui (蒯聵); the question is whether the Master sides with son against father.

interrogative final particle

Zigong, a disciple of Confucius

• 子 prefix of a courtesy name, as in 子路 and 子貢; not the title Master
• 貢 Gong, courtesy-name element in 子貢, the courtesy name of Duanmu Ci (端木賜); his given name is 賜

to say, said

yes, all right (expression of assent)

I, me (first-person pronoun)

future auxiliary: shall, will, about to

to ask, inquire of

him (third-person object pronoun, referring to Confucius)

to enter, go in

to say, said

Bo Yi, elder son of the lord of Guzhu who yielded the throne to his brother Shu Qi and later starved on Mount Shouyang rather than eat the grain of Zhou

• 伯 eldest, senior (rank term used in personal names)
• 夷 personal-name element

Shu Qi, Bo Yi's brother, who starved alongside him in protest

• 叔 younger, junior (rank term used in personal names)
• 齊 personal-name element

what, what sort of (interrogative)

person, man

final particle marking a question of identity

to say, said

ancient, of antiquity, of old

modifying particle: of

worthy, virtuous, of good character

person, man

final particle of assertion

to say, said

Only Roberts marks this dialogue tag explicitly; the rest leave the question 'did they harbor resentment?' unintroduced by a verb of speech.

resentment, grievance, rancor

interrogative final particle

to say, said

Five of eight translators leave the Master's answer unintroduced by a verb of speech.

to seek, pursue

benevolence, humaneness

Translators split into three clusters for 仁 here: benevolence/humaneness, capitalized 'Goodness', and Ames & Rosemont's process-oriented 'authoritative conduct'.

coordinating conjunction: and

to obtain, get, attain

benevolence, humaneness

Same three-way split as the first 仁 in this line; several translators (Legge, Peimin Ni, Watson) use an anaphoric 'so' or pronoun rather than repeating the word.

continuative particle: and so, then

Only Lau and Chin render 又 with an explicit connector; the other six let the rhetorical force of 何...怨 alone carry the sense.

what, why (interrogative)

resentment, grievance, rancor

to go out, exit, emerge

to say, said

the Master, honorific title for Confucius

• 夫 first element of the title 夫子, the Master
• 子 master, teacher (honorific suffix)

not (negates the following verb)

to support, side with, take the part of

Zigong infers the Master's answer indirectly: since Bo Yi and Shu Qi got what they sought and had no cause for resentment, Confucius would not back a ruler embroiled in the kind of succession dispute they refused to join.

final particle of assertion