Book 7: 《述而》 Shu Er (Transmission)
《述而》 Passage 7.36
Legge Translation (1861)
The Master said: "Extravagance leads to insubordination, and parsimony to meanness. It is better to be mean than to be insubordinate."Word by word
- 子曰 zǐ yuē
the Master said
- 子 honorific title: Master (referring to Confucius)
- 曰 said, spoke
- 奢 shē
extravagant, excessive in luxury
- 則 zé
then, leads to, results in
- 不孫 bù xùn
immodest, insubordinate
- 不 not
- 孫 modest, deferential, humble (loangraph for 遜)
孫 here is a loangraph for 遜 (xùn), 'modest, deferential'; 不孫 = lacking in modesty.
- 儉 jiǎn
frugal, thrifty
- 則 zé
then, leads to, results in
- 固 gù
shabby, unrefined, coarse
- 與其…也 yǔ qí … yě
comparison marker: rather than, compared with
- 與 comparative particle: compared with (paired with 其: rather than)
- 其 correlative particle: with 與, forms a rather than comparison
- 也 particle marking the compared clause of a rather than construction
- 不孫 bù xùn
immodest, insubordinate
- 不 not
- 孫 modest, deferential, humble (loangraph for 遜)
孫 here is a loangraph for 遜 (xùn), 'modest, deferential'; 不孫 = lacking in modesty.
- 寧 nìng
would rather, prefer to
read nìng (preference), not níng 'peace, repose'.
- 固 gù
shabby, unrefined, coarse
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