Book 9: 《子罕》 Zi Han (Seldom Spoke)
《子罕》 Passage 9.10
Legge Translation (1861)
When the Master saw a person in a mourning dress, or any one with the cap and upper and lower garments of full dress, or a blind person, on observing them approaching, though they were younger than himself, he would rise up, and if he had to pass by them, he would do so hastily.Word by word
- 子 zǐ
the Master, i.e. Confucius
- 見 jiàn
to see, catch sight of, encounter
- 齊衰 zī cuī
mourning dress, mourning garments
- 齊 hemmed, evenly trimmed (edge of a mourning garment)
- 衰 mourning garment of coarse sackcloth
read zīcuī, not qí shuāi: 齊衰 is the hemmed-sackcloth grade of mourning dress worn for close kin; all eight translators render it generically as mourning dress.
- 者 zhě
nominalizing particle: one who, a person who
- 冕 miǎn
ceremonial cap, formal headdress
冕 denotes formal ceremonial headwear, not specifically mourning attire; Chin's 'mourning headdress' appears to extend the mourning sense of the first clause onto it.
- 衣裳 yī cháng
ceremonial robes, formal attire (upper and lower garments)
- 衣 upper garment, robe
- 裳 lower garment, skirt
- 者 zhě
nominalizing particle: one who, a person who
Most translators elide this repeated nominalizer in the three-item list, letting the English list structure (X, Y, or Z) carry its function.
- 與 yǔ
conjunction linking the last item in a list: and
與 literally coordinates with 'and,' but since the passage lists alternative categories of people rather than co-occurring traits, all eight translators render it as 'or.'
- 瞽 gǔ
blind
- 者 zhě
nominalizing particle: one who, a person who
- 見 jiàn
to see, catch sight of
- 之 zhī
third-person object pronoun: him, her, them
- 雖 suī
although, even if
- 少 shào
young, junior in age
- 必 bì
invariably, always, surely
- 作 zuò
to rise, stand up
- 過 guò
to pass by
- 之 zhī
third-person object pronoun: him, her, them
- 必 bì
invariably, always, surely
- 趨 qū
to hasten one's step, quicken one's pace
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