Book 8: 《泰伯》 Tai Bo
《泰伯》 Passage 8.20
Legge Translation (1861)
Shun had five ministers, and the empire was well-governed. King Wu said: "I have ten able ministers."Confucius said: "Is not the saying that talents are difficult to find, true? Only when the dynasties of Tang and Yu met, were they more abundant than in this of Zhou, yet there was a woman among them. The able ministers were no more than nine men.
King Wen possessed two of the three parts of the empire, and with those he served the dynasty of Yin. The virtue of the house of Zhou may be said to have reached the highest point indeed."
Word by word
- 舜 shùn
Shun, legendary sage-king
- 有 yǒu
had, possessed
- 臣 chén
minister, court official
- 五 wǔ
five
- 人 rén
plural classifier for persons, completing a head noun's count
- 而 ér
and, and so (coordinating conjunction)
- 天下 tiān xià
all under heaven, the world
- 天 heaven (in 天下, 'all under heaven')
- 下 under (in 天下, 'all under heaven')
- 治 zhì
well governed, in good order
- 武王 wǔ wáng
King Wu, founder of the Zhou dynasty
- 武 martial (in 武王, King Wu)
- 王 king (in 武王, King Wu)
- 曰 yuē
said
- 予 yú
I, me
- 有 yǒu
have, possess
- 亂臣 luàn chén
capable ministers, ministers who bring order
- 亂 bringing order, capable of governing (archaic sense, not 'chaos')
- 臣 minister, court official
亂 carries its archaic contranym sense 'to order, govern' here, not its usual sense 'chaos, disorder'.
- 十 shí
ten
- 人 rén
plural classifier for persons, completing a head noun's count
- 孔子 kǒng zǐ
Confucius, Master Kong
- 孔 Kong (surname, in 孔子, Confucius)
- 子 master (honorific, in 孔子, Confucius)
- 曰 yuē
said
- 才難 cái nán
talent is hard to find, capable people are scarce
- 才 talent, ability
- 難 difficult to find, hard to come by
- 不其…乎 bù qí … hū
is it not the case?, rhetorical negative-question frame
- 不 not, negating a rhetorical question
- 其 modal particle softening the rhetorical question: is it not so?
- 乎 interrogative final particle
- 然 rán
so, true, that it is the case
- 唐虞 táng yú
Tang and Yu, the eras of the sage-kings Yao and Shun
- 唐 Tang, Yao's dynastic name
- 虞 Yu, Shun's dynastic name
- 之 zhī
possessive/modifying particle: of, 's
- 際 jì
period, time, juncture
- 於 yú
at, in (marking a point of reference)
- 斯 sī
this, referring to the Zhou era
- 為 wéi
was, to be
- 盛 shèng
flourishing, abundant
- 有 yǒu
there was (existential)
- 婦人 fù rén
woman, wife
- 婦 woman, wife
- 人 person (in 婦人, 'woman')
- 焉 yān
final particle: among them, there
- 九人 jiǔ rén
nine men, nine people
- 九 nine
- 人 men, people (in 九人, 'nine men')
- 而已 ér yǐ
only, that's all (restrictive final particle)
- 而 part of 而已, 'and no more, that's all'
- 已 restrictive final particle: only, that's all
- 三分…其二 sān fēn … qí èr
two-thirds (lit. two of three parts)
- 三 three
- 分 part, division (in 三分, 'three parts')
- 其 of them, of it (referring to the three parts)
- 二 two (in 其二, 'two of the three parts')
- 天下 tiān xià
all under heaven, the world
- 天 heaven (in 天下, 'all under heaven')
- 下 under (in 天下, 'all under heaven')
- 有 yǒu
possess, hold
- 以 yǐ
coverb: with that, thereby (concessive in force: and yet)
包咸 paraphrases 而猶以服事殷, 'and yet still served Yin with it', so the link is concessive in force; Slingerland, Roberts and Watson render it 'yet', Peimin Ni 'still', Legge 'therewith'.
- 服事 fú shì
submit to and serve, be in submission to
- 服 submit to, be in submission to
- 事 serve
- 殷 yīn
Yin, the Shang dynasty
- 周 zhōu
Zhou, the Zhou dynasty
- 之 zhī
possessive particle: of, 's
- 德 dé
virtue
- 其 qí
modal particle: surely, certainly (rhetorical emphasis)
- 可 kě
can, may be
- 謂 wèi
called, said to be
- 至德 zhì dé
the utmost virtue, supreme virtue
- 至 utmost, supreme
- 德 virtue (in 至德, 'supreme virtue')
- 也已矣 yě yǐ yǐ
final particle cluster of strong assertion: indeed!
- 也 final particle of affirmation
- 已 final particle of emphasis
- 矣 final particle marking asserted completion
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