Where it came from
What 然 first meant, how it became a function word, and where it stands today.
然 originally meant “to burn”. Fire sits at its base, and it burned so little as a particle that the flame had to be re-kindled in a new character, 燃. The borrowed 然 meant “so, thus, it is so”, and from that came everything on this page: the yes, the -ly suffix, the connectives. It’s the healthiest survivor of all the words on these pages: 當然, 自然, 忽然, 顯然, 然後, 雖然, 不然. Modern Mandarin can hardly build a paragraph without it.
Across the books
Densest in Book 14 (8 occurrences).
- 32
- 51
- 63
- 83
- 94
- 116
- 131
- 148
- 153
- 172
- 182
- 192
- 201
How it works
Every job 然 does, counted over its 38 occurrences in the Analects — commonest first. Tap a passage number to see the whole passage.
1Affirmative pro-verb14× · 37%
This 然 stands for a whole statement, the way the “so” in English “is that so?” does. Grammarians call it a pro-verb.
- Alone, as an answer: 然, “yes”
- As the whole predicate: 雍之言然, “Yong’s words are so”
- Negated: 不然, “not so”; also 否
- Inside a question: 不其然乎, “is it not so?”
Gloss so; it is so; yes
Look for standing alone as an answer, or negated as 不然.
Technical functions as a demonstrative adverb meaning so, thus, or in this way, affirming that a statement holds · gives a one-word affirmative reply meaning yes, that is so
5 examples
仲弓問子桑伯子，子曰：「可也簡。」仲弓曰：「居敬而行簡，以臨其民，不亦可乎？居簡而行簡，無乃大簡乎？」子曰：「雍之言然。」
Zhonggong asked about Zisang Bozi. The Master said: "He may pass. He does not mind small matters."
Zhonggong said: "If a man cherish in himself a reverential feeling of the necessity of attention to business, though he may be easy in small matters in his government of the people, that may be allowed. But if he cherish in himself that easy feeling, and also carry it out in his practice, is not such an easy mode of procedure excessive?"
The Master said: "Yong's words are right."
Legge 1861
然 as the whole predicate: 雍之言然, Yong’s words are so.
- “right”: Legge, Ni, Lau
- “correct”: Roberts, Watson
- Ames & Rosemont: “It is as you say”
The word stands for the entire statement it approves, which is what makes it a pro-verb rather than an adjective.
子曰：「賜也，女以予為多學而識之者與？」對曰：「然，非與？」曰：「非也，予一以貫之。」
The Master said: "Ci, you think, I suppose, that I am one who learns many things and keeps them in memory?"
Zigong replied: "Yes, — but perhaps it is not so?"
"No," was the answer; "I seek a unity all-pervading."
Legge 1861
A bare 然 as an answer. Zigong agrees that the Master is a man of wide learning, then hedges with 非與, is it not?, and is told no.
- “Yes”: six translators
- Ames & Rosemont: “I do indeed”
- Roberts folds the answer into the question that follows
子張曰：「《書》云：『高宗諒陰，三年不言。』何謂也？」子曰：「何必高宗，古之人皆然。君薨，百官總己以聽於冢宰，三年。」
Zizhang said: "What is meant when the Shu says that Gao Zong, while observing the usual imperial mourning, was for three years without speaking?"
The Master said: "Why must Gao Zong be referred to as an example of this? The ancients all did so. When the sovereign died, the officers all attended to their several duties, taking instructions from the prime minister for three years."
Legge 1861
皆然, “all were so”: 然 stands for the three years of silent mourning just described.
- Legge: “did so”; Lau: a bare “so”
- “did the same”: Ni, Ames & Rosemont; Slingerland “were the same”
- Watson: “did this”; Roberts: “did no less”
Confucius is answering Zizhang’s question about Gaozong: why single him out, when everyone did it?
王孫賈問曰：「與其媚於奧，寧媚於竈，何謂也？」子曰：「不然，獲罪於天，無所禱也。」
Wangsun Jia asked, saying: "What is the meaning of the saying, 'It is better to pay court to the furnace than to the south-west corner?'"
The Master said: "Not so. He who offends against Heaven has none to whom he can pray."
Legge 1861
The negative form, 不然, rejecting the proverb about the stove:
- “Not so”: Legge, Ni, Ames & Rosemont
- Watson: “Not true!”
- Lau and Chin: “The saying has got it wrong”
- Roberts turns it into a rebuke: “How could you?”
The 然 is the proverb itself, denied in one syllable.
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 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."
Legge 1861
不其然乎, “is it not so?”, wrapped round the old saying 才難. Legge, Roberts, Lau, Watson, and Chin write “true”; Slingerland, Ni, and Ames & Rosemont “the case”. The 其 inside the frame is the modal particle, the 乎 the question, and the 然 is the one word in there that means something.
2Adverbial suffix10× · 26%
Attached to a vivid or descriptive syllable, 然 makes a manner adverb, like the English suffix “-ly”. Modern Mandarin still does exactly this: 忽然, 突然, 顯然. English usually has to spell the manner out in a phrase.
- On a single syllable: 喟然, “with a deep sigh”, sigh-ingly
- On a doubled one: 循循然, “step by step”
- On a quality, where the 然 is the seeming: 儼然, “he seems stern”
Gloss -ly; in a ⋯ manner
Look for glued to the syllable before it: 喟然, 憮然, 循循然.
Technical attaches to a descriptive or onomatopoeic root to form a manner adverb or stative adjective
4 examples
子夏曰：「君子有三變：望之儼然，即之也溫，聽其言也厲。」
Zixia said: "The superior man undergoes three changes. Looked at from a distance, he appears stern; when approached, he is mild; when he is heard to speak, his language is firm and decided."
Legge 1861
儼然, the first of Zixia’s three aspects of the gentleman: 望之儼然, seen from afar he is so, dignified. The 儼 is the quality and the 然 is the seeming, and English gives the seeming its own verb:
- Legge: “he seems stern”
- “appears”: Slingerland, Ames & Rosemont, Lau
- “look”: Ni, Roberts
- A plain “is”: Watson, Chin
The same word describes the gentleman’s bearing at 20.2.
長沮、桀溺耦而耕，孔子過之，使子路問津焉。長沮曰：「夫執輿者為誰？」子路曰：「為孔丘。」曰：「是魯孔丘與？」曰：「是也。」曰：「是知津矣。」問於桀溺，桀溺曰：「子為誰？」曰：「為仲由。」曰：「是魯孔丘之徒與？」對曰：「然。」曰：「滔滔者天下皆是也，而誰以易之？且而與其從辟人之士也，豈若從辟世之士哉？」耰而不輟。子路行以告。夫子憮然曰：「鳥獸不可與同群，吾非斯人之徒與而誰與？天下有道，丘不與易也。」
Changju and Jieni were at work in the field together, when Confucius passed by them, and sent Zilu to inquire for the ford.
Changju said: "Who is he that holds the reins in the carriage there?" Zilu told him: "It is Kong Qiu." "Is it not Kong Qiu of Lu?" asked he. "Yes," was the reply, to which the other rejoined: "He knows the ford."
Zilu then inquired of Jieni, who said to him: "Who are you, sir?" He answered: "I am Zhongyou." "Are you not the disciple of Kong Qiu of Lu?" asked the other. "I am," replied he, and then Jieni said to him: "Disorder, like a swelling flood, spreads over the whole empire, and who is he that will change its state for you? Than follow one who merely withdraws from this one and that one, had you not better follow those who have withdrawn from the world altogether?"
With this he fell to covering up the seed, and proceeded with his work, without stopping. Zilu went and reported their remarks, when the Master observed with a sigh: "It is impossible to associate with birds and beasts, as if they were the same with us. If I associate not with these people — with mankind — with whom shall I associate? If right principles prevailed through the empire, there would be no use for me to change its state."
Legge 1861
憮然, an adverb of dismay, and the translators disagree about the feeling:
- Legge “with a sigh”; Ni and Watson “sighed”
- Slingerland, Lau, Chin: “lost in thought for a moment”
- Ames & Rosemont: “with some frustration”
What they agree on is the grammar. The 然 makes a manner of it, whatever the manner was.
子路、曾皙、冉有、公西華侍坐。子曰：「以吾一日長乎爾，毋吾以也。居則曰：『不吾知也！』如或知爾，則何以哉？」子路率爾而對曰：「千乘之國，攝乎大國之間，加之以師旅，因之以饑饉；由也為之，比及三年，可使有勇，且知方也。」夫子哂之。「求！爾何如？」對曰：「方六七十，如五六十，求也為之，比及三年，可使足民。如其禮樂，以俟君子。」「赤！爾何如？」對曰：「非曰能之，願學焉。宗廟之事，如會同，端章甫，願為小相焉。」「點！爾何如？」鼓瑟希，鏗爾，舍瑟而作。對曰：「異乎三子者之撰。」子曰：「何傷乎？亦各言其志也。」曰：「莫春者，春服既成。冠者五六人，童子六七人，浴乎沂，風乎舞雩，詠而歸。」夫子喟然歎曰：「吾與點也！」三子者出，曾皙後。曾皙曰：「夫三子者之言何如？」子曰：「亦各言其志也已矣。」曰：「夫子何哂由也？」曰：「為國以禮，其言不讓，是故哂之。」「唯求則非邦也與？」「安見方六七十如五六十而非邦也者？」「唯赤則非邦也與？」「宗廟會同，非諸侯而何？赤也為之小，孰能為之大？」
Zilu, Zeng Xi, Ran You, and Gongxi Hua were sitting by the Master. He said to them, "Though I am a day or so older than you, do not think of that. From day to day you are saying, 'We are not known.' If some ruler were to know you, what would you like to do?" Zilu hastily and lightly replied: "Suppose the case of a State of ten thousand chariots; let it be straitened between other large States; let it be suffering from invading armies; and to this let there be added a famine in corn and in all vegetables:— if I were entrusted with the government of it, in three years' time I could make the people to be bold, and to recognize the rules of righteous conduct." The Master smiled at him. Turning to Ran You, he said: "Qiu, what are your wishes?" Qiu replied: "Suppose a state of sixty or seventy li square, or one of fifty or sixty, and let me have the government of it;— in three years' time, I could make plenty to abound among the people. As to teaching them the principles of propriety, and music, I must wait for the rise of a superior man to do that." "What are your wishes, Chi," said the Master next to Gongxi Hua. Chi replied: "I do not say that my ability extends to these things, but I should wish to learn them. At the services of the ancestral temple, and at the audiences of the princes with the sovereign, I should like, dressed in the dark square-made robe and the black linen cap, to act as a small assistant." Last of all, the Master asked Zeng Xi, "Dian, what are your wishes?" Dian, pausing as he was playing on his lute, while it was yet twanging, laid the instrument aside, and rose. "My wishes," he said, "are different from the cherished purposes of these three gentlemen." "What harm is there in that?" said the Master; "do you also, as well as they, speak out your wishes." Dian then said: "In this, the last month of spring, with the dress of the season all complete, along with five or six young men who have assumed the cap, and six or seven boys, I would wash in the Yi, enjoy the breeze among the rain altars, and return home singing." The Master heaved a sigh and said: "I give my approval to Dian." The three others having gone out, Zeng Xi remained behind, and said: "What do you think of the words of these three friends?" The Master replied: "They simply told each one his wishes." Xi pursued, "Master, why did you smile at You?" He was answered: "The management of a State demands the rules of propriety. His words were not humble; therefore I smiled at him." Xi again said: "But was it not a State which Qiu proposed for himself?" The reply was, "Yes; did you ever see a territory of sixty or seventy li or one of fifty or sixty, which was not a State?" Once more, Xi inquired, "And was it not a State which Chi proposed for himself?" The Master again replied: "Yes; who but princes have to do with ancestral temples, and with audiences but the sovereign? If Chi were to be a small assistant in these services, who could be a great one?"
Legge 1861
喟然, “sigh-ingly”, right before the verb 歎, “to sigh”. The adverb and the verb say the same thing twice, and no translator keeps both.
- Legge: “heaved a sigh”
- Slingerland: “sighed deeply”; Watson: “gave a deep sigh”
- Lau and Chin: a plain “sighed”
The same 喟然歎 opens Yan Hui’s lament at 9.11.
顏淵喟然歎曰：「仰之彌高，鑽之彌堅；瞻之在前，忽焉在後。夫子循循然善誘人，博我以文，約我以禮。欲罷不能，既竭吾才，如有所立卓爾。雖欲從之，末由也已。」
Yan Yuan, in admiration of the Master's doctrines, sighed and said: "I looked up to them, and they seemed to become more high; I tried to penetrate them, and they seemed to become more firm; I looked at them before me, and suddenly they seemed to be behind.
The Master, by orderly method, skillfully leads men on. He enlarged my mind with learning, and taught me the restraints of propriety.
When I wish to give over the study of his doctrines, I cannot do so, and having exerted all my ability, there seems something to stand right up before me; but though I wish to follow and lay hold of it, I really find no way to do so."
Legge 1861
循循然, “in a following-along manner”:
- “step by step”: Slingerland, Ni, Roberts, Lau, Watson
- “a step at a time”: Ames & Rosemont, Chin
- Legge: “by orderly method”
The 然 turns the doubled root into an adverb, and English has to spell the manner out in a phrase.
3Connective 然後/然則13× · 34%
In both of these the 然 sums up everything just said.
- 然後 is literally “that being so, afterwards”, and modern Chinese still says it every day. In the classical language it usually has a temporal edge: “only after”, not a bare “and then”
- 然則 is its cousin: “that being so, then⋯”, “in that case”
- 然而 is the concessive one: “so, and yet”
Gloss after that; only then; in that case
Look for fused with 後 or 則 at the head of a clause.
Technical links clauses as a connective meaning then, after that, or however, that being so
5 examples
子曰：「質勝文則野，文勝質則史。文質彬彬，然後君子。」
The Master said: "Where the solid qualities are in excess of accomplishments, we have rusticity; where the accomplishments are in excess of the solid qualities, we have the manners of a clerk. When the accomplishments and solid qualities are equally blended, we then have the man of virtue."
Legge 1861
Refinement and substance in balance, 然後 a gentleman. The connective makes the balance a precondition. Legge and Watson write “then”; Slingerland, Ni, Ames & Rosemont, and Lau “only”. Modern Chinese still says 然後, though mostly as a bare “and then”.
子游曰：「吾友張也，為難能也。然而未仁。」
Ziyou said: "My friend Zhang can do things which are hard to be done, but yet he is not perfectly virtuous."
Legge 1861
然而, “so, and yet”, the concessive cousin of 然後. Ziyou grants that Zizhang does hard things, then turns on the 然而.
- Legge: “but yet”
- Slingerland, Ames & Rosemont: “but even so”
- Lau: “All the same”; Chin: “Still”; Roberts, Watson: “but”
子曰：「管仲之器小哉！」或曰：「管仲儉乎？」曰：「管氏有三歸，官事不攝，焉得儉？」「然則管仲知禮乎？」曰：「邦君樹塞門，管氏亦樹塞門；邦君為兩君之好，有反坫，管氏亦有反坫。管氏而知禮，孰不知禮？」
The Master said: "Small indeed was the capacity of Guan Zhong!"
Some one said: "Was Guan Zhong parsimonious?"
"Guan," was the reply, "had the San Gui, and his officers performed no double duties; how can he be considered parsimonious?"
"Then, did Guan Zhong know the rules of propriety?"
The Master said: "The princes of States have a screen intercepting the view at their gates. Guan had likewise a screen at his gate. The princes of States on any friendly meeting between two of them, had a stand on which to place their inverted cups. Guan had also such a stand. If Guan knew the rules of propriety, who does not know them?"
Legge 1861
然則, “that being so, then”. The questioner has just been told Guan Zhong was not frugal, and draws the next question from it:
- “then”: Legge, Slingerland, Ni, Roberts
- “in that case”: Lau, Chin
- Ames & Rosemont: “This being so”, the fullest rendering of what the two characters actually say
子曰：「歲寒，然後知松柏之後彫也。」
The Master said: "When the year becomes cold, then we know how the pine and the cypress are the last to lose their leaves."
Legge 1861
The most quoted 然後 in the book: 歲寒，然後知松柏之後彫也. Legge and Watson write “then”. Slingerland, Ni, Roberts, Ames & Rosemont, Lau, and Chin all reach for “only after” or “only when”, which is the temporal edge of 然後, “that being so, afterwards”, and not a bare “and then”.
宰我問：「三年之喪，期已久矣。君子三年不為禮，禮必壞；三年不為樂，樂必崩。舊穀既沒，新穀既升，鑽燧改火，期可已矣。」子曰：「食夫稻，衣夫錦，於女安乎？」曰：「安。」「女安則為之！夫君子之居喪，食旨不甘，聞樂不樂，居處不安，故不為也。今女安，則為之！」宰我出。子曰：「予之不仁也！子生三年，然後免於父母之懷。夫三年之喪，天下之通喪也。予也，有三年之愛於其父母乎？」
Zai Wo asked about the three years' mourning for parents, saying that one year was long enough.
"If the superior man," said he, "abstains for three years from the observances of propriety, those observances will be quite lost. If for three years he abstains from music, music will be ruined.
Within a year the old grain is exhausted, and the new grain has sprung up, and, in procuring fire by friction, we go through all the changes of wood for that purpose. After a complete year, the mourning may stop."
The Master said: "If you were, after a year, to eat good rice, and wear embroidered clothes, would you feel at ease?" "I should," replied Wo.
The Master said: "If you can feel at ease, do it. But a superior man, during the whole period of mourning, does not enjoy pleasant food which he may eat, nor derive pleasure from music which he may hear. He also does not feel at ease, if he is comfortably lodged. Therefore he does not do what you propose. But now you feel at ease and may do it."
Zai Wo then went out, and the Master said: "This shows Yu's want of virtue. It is not till a child is three years old that it is allowed to leave the arms of its parents. And the three years' mourning is universally observed throughout the empire. Did Yu enjoy the three years' love of his parents?"
Legge 1861
Confucius’s argument for three years of mourning: three years, 然後, and only then does a child leave its parents’ arms.
- Legge: “not till”
- Ames & Rosemont, Watson: “only after”; Lau: “only when”
- Ni, Roberts: “before”; Chin: “until”
Every rendering makes the three years a threshold, and none is a plain “then”.