Book 8: 《泰伯》 Tai Bo
《泰伯》 Passage 8.18
Legge Translation (1861)
The Master said: "How majestic was the manner in which Shun and Yu held possession of the empire, as if it were nothing to them!"Word by word
- 子曰 zǐ yuē
the Master said
- 子 master; here refers to Confucius
- 曰 to say, speak
- 巍巍 wēi wēi
towering, majestic, lofty (reduplicated for intensity)
- 巍 towering, majestic, lofty
- 巍 towering, majestic, lofty
- 乎 hū
exclamatory final particle: how...!
- 舜禹 shùn yǔ
Shun and Yu, legendary sage-kings
- 舜 Shun, legendary sage-king
- 禹 Yu, legendary founder of the Xia dynasty
Ames & Rosemont's text reads 'Yao and Shun' at this point rather than 'Shun and Yu'.
- 之 zhī
subordinating particle marking the subject of a nominalized clause
- 有天下 yǒu tiān xià
held possession of the world, ruled the empire
- 有 to have, hold, possess
- 天 heaven, sky
- 下 under, below
- 也 yě
pause particle marking the end of a topicalized clause
- 而 ér
contrastive conjunction: yet, but
- 不 bù
not
- 與 yù
to take part in, share in
Read yù, to take part in. 何晏's 集解 takes 不與 as not having sought the throne (言己不與求天下而得之), which Peimin Ni and Chin's 'without seeking it' follow; 朱熹 takes it as being unconcerned with the position once held (不以位為樂), which Lau, Watson and Roberts follow; Slingerland and Ames & Rosemont read it as not actively governing.
- 焉 yān
final particle: in it, there (referring back to the empire)
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