而
Usages
4 distinct jobs 而 does in the Analects, each with examples from the text.
1Sequential (and, and then)
Connects actions in sequence or shows a natural progression.
子曰：「溫故而知新，可以為師矣。」
The Master said: "If a man keeps cherishing his old knowledge, so as continually to be acquiring new, he may be a teacher of others."
Legge 1861
溫故而知新
Two verbs, one action after the other.
子曰：「吾十有五而志于學，三十而立，四十而不惑，五十而知天命，六十而耳順，七十而從心所欲，不踰矩。」
The Master said: "At fifteen, I had my mind bent on learning. At thirty, I stood firm. At forty, I had no doubts. At fifty, I knew the decrees of Heaven. At sixty, my ear was an obedient organ for the reception of truth. At seventy, I could follow what my heart desired, without transgressing what was right."
Legge 1861
三十而立，四十而不惑
而 links stages of development
子曰：「學而時習之，不亦說乎？有朋自遠方來，不亦樂乎？人不知而不慍，不亦君子乎？」
The Master said: "Is it not pleasant to learn with a constant perseverance and application? Is it not delightful to have friends coming from distant quarters? Is he not a man of complete virtue, who feels no discomposure though men may take no note of him?"
Legge 1861
學而時習之
而 connects learning to practicing in sequence
子曰：「三人行，必有我師焉。擇其善者而從之，其不善者而改之。」
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."
Legge 1861
擇其善者而從之
而 carries straight on to the next verb.
2Contrastive (but, yet)
Introduces a contrast or unexpected result between two clauses.
子曰：「學而時習之，不亦說乎？有朋自遠方來，不亦樂乎？人不知而不慍，不亦君子乎？」
The Master said: "Is it not pleasant to learn with a constant perseverance and application? Is it not delightful to have friends coming from distant quarters? Is he not a man of complete virtue, who feels no discomposure though men may take no note of him?"
Legge 1861
人不知而不慍
而 marks the unexpected reaction
子曰：「學而不思則罔，思而不學則殆。」
The Master said: "Learning without thought is labor lost; thought without learning is perilous."
Legge 1861
學而不思則罔
而 sets learning against not thinking.
子曰：「學而不思則罔，思而不學則殆。」
The Master said: "Learning without thought is labor lost; thought without learning is perilous."
Legge 1861
思而不學則殆
The mirror image of the clause before.
3Conditional (if)
When 而 comes between subject and verb, it may imply a conditional "if."
子曰：「人而不仁，如禮何？人而不仁，如樂何？」
The Master said: "If a man be without the virtues proper to humanity, what has he to do with the rules of propriety? If a man be without the virtues proper to humanity, what has he to do with music?"
Legge 1861
人而不仁，如禮何
人而不仁 = if a person is without ren
子曰：「南人有言曰：『人而無恆，不可以作巫醫。』善夫！」「不恆其德，或承之羞。」子曰：「不占而已矣。」
The Master said: "The people of the south have a saying — 'A man without constancy cannot be either a wizard or a doctor.' Good! 'Inconstant in his virtue, he will be visited with disgrace.'" The Master said: "This arises simply from not prognosticating."
Legge 1861
人而無恆，不可以作巫醫
而 after a noun reads as "if".
子曰：「人而無信，不知其可也。大車無輗，小車無軏，其何以行之哉？」
The Master said: "I do not know how a man without truthfulness is to get on. How can a large carriage be made to go without the cross-bar for yoking the oxen to, or a small carriage without the arrangement for yoking the horses?"
Legge 1861
人而無信，不知其可也
而 creates a hypothetical condition
子曰：「好勇疾貧，亂也。人而不仁，疾之已甚，亂也。」
The Master said: "The man who is fond of daring and is dissatisfied with poverty, will proceed to insubordination. So will the man who is not virtuous, when you carry your dislike of him to an extreme."
Legge 1861
人而不仁，疾之已甚，亂也
The same 人而 shape.
4Limiting (而已 — and nothing more)
In the fixed pair 而已 it closes a statement by fencing it off: this and no more. Usually followed by 矣.
子曰：「辭達而已矣。」
The Master said, "Words should convey their point, and leave it at that."
Editor's translation
Read the commentary
辭達而已矣
而已 = and that is all. The 矣 then settles it.
子曰：「參乎！吾道一以貫之。」曾子曰：「唯。」子出。門人問曰：「何謂也？」曾子曰：「夫子之道，忠恕而已矣。」
The Master said: "Shen, my doctrine is that of an all-pervading unity." The disciple Zeng replied: "Yes." The Master went out, and the other disciples asked, saying: "What do his words mean?" Zeng said: "The doctrine of our master is to be true to the principles of our nature and the benevolent exercise of them to others, — this and nothing more."
Legge 1861
忠恕而已矣
Same frame, reducing a doctrine to two terms.
舜有臣五人而天下治。武王曰：「予有亂臣十人。」孔子曰：「才難，不其然乎？唐虞之際，於斯為盛。有婦人焉，九人而已。三分天下有其二，以服事殷。周之德，其可謂至德也已矣。」
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 the 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. To possess two-thirds of the empire, and therewith to serve the house of Yin; — the virtue of the house of Zhou may be said to have reached the highest point indeed."
Legge 1861
有婦人焉，九人而已
而已 caps a count.
子曰：「回也，其心三月不違仁，其餘則日月至焉而已矣。」
The Master said: "Such was Hui that for three months there would be nothing in his mind contrary to perfect virtue. The others may attain to this on some days or in some months, but nothing more."
Legge 1861
其餘則日月至焉而已矣
而已矣 stacks three closing particles.
Combos
4 fixed patterns built on 而, with the role each plays and where to read them.
"That's all" / "Only" / "Just"
15.41 子曰：「辭達而已矣。」
Limits or minimizes what was said. Often appears as 而已矣.
"That's all!" (emphatic)
15.41 子曰：「辭達而已矣。」
Triple emphasis: 而已 + sentence-final 矣.
"Yet not..." / "But not..."
7.27 子釣而不綱，弋不射宿。
Most common contrastive pattern in the Analects.
"Yet without..." / "But lacking..."
14.10 子曰：「貧而無怨難，富而無驕易。」
Contrastive with emphasis on absence.