Book 7: 《述而》 Shu Er (Transmission)
《述而》 Passage 7.22
Legge Translation (1861)
The Master said: "When I walk along with two others, they may serve me as my teachers. I will select their good qualities and follow them, their bad qualities and avoid them."Word by word
- 子曰 zǐ yuē
the Master said
- 子 title of respect for Confucius: the Master
- 曰 said, spoke (introduces a quotation)
- 三人 sān rén
three people, the speaker and two companions
- 三 three
- 人 people, person
since the speaker is one of the three, most translators render this as 'two others' rather than stating the number itself.
- 行 xíng
to walk, travel
- 必 bì
surely, certainly, bound to
- 有 yǒu
to have, there is, to find
- 我 wǒ
possessive pronoun: my
- 師 shī
teacher
- 焉 yān
locative particle: there, among them
fuses 於 (in) and 之 (it/them): 'among them, there'.
- 擇 zé
to select, pick out, choose
- 其 qí
possessive pronoun: their
- 善者 shàn zhě
good qualities, good points, strengths
- 善 good, virtuous, meritorious
- 者 nominalizing particle: one who, that which
者 nominalizes 善: most translators read it as 'good qualities/points', but Slingerland reads it as 'those who are good' (persons).
- 而 ér
coordinating conjunction: and, and then
- 從 cóng
to follow, emulate, copy
- 之 zhī
object pronoun: it, them
- 其 qí
possessive pronoun: their
- 不善者 bù shàn zhě
bad qualities, bad points, weaknesses
- 不 not
- 善 good, virtuous, meritorious
- 者 nominalizing particle: one who, that which
parallels 善者: most translators read 'bad qualities/points', but Slingerland reads 'those who are bad' (persons).
- 而 ér
coordinating conjunction: and, and then
- 改 gǎi
to change, correct, amend
Legge renders this as 'avoid' rather than 'correct/amend', a notably looser reading than the other seven translators.
- 之 zhī
object pronoun: it, them (the bad qualities)
Ames & Rosemont reads this reflexively ('reform myself') rather than as an external object pointing back at the bad qualities.
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