Where it came from
What 以 first meant, how it became a function word, and where it stands today.
The standard account traces 以 back to a verb, “to take, to use”, and The Analects still has it as a bare verb a few times. From there it turned into the preposition that names an instrument and the conjunction that names a purpose, which is most of this page. It never fell out of use. If anything it fossilized upward. Modern Chinese runs on its compounds: 可以 “can”, 以為 “to think (wrongly)”, 所以 “therefore”, 以前 and 以後 “before” and “after”, 以及 “as well as”. The bare instrumental, 道之以德, is the one use that now belongs to writing alone, replaced in speech by 用.
Across the books
Densest in Book 14 (24 occurrences).
- 14
- 217
- 311
- 412
- 59
- 68
- 710
- 88
- 93
- 105
- 1114
- 1213
- 1313
- 1424
- 1516
- 167
- 1712
- 187
- 1911
- 207
How it works
Every job 以 does, counted over its 211 occurrences in the Analects — commonest first. Tap a passage number to see the whole passage.
- Instrumental preposition 122× · 58%
- Purposive conjunction 33× · 16%
- The frame 以⋯為 19× · 9%
- The pair 可以 (can, may) 33× · 16%
- The verb "to use" 3× · 1%
1Instrumental preposition122× · 58%
This 以 names the tool or the method. Where modern Chinese says 用, the classical language says 以.
- A tool: 道之以德, “guide them using virtue”
- A reason: 不以言舉人, “don’t promote a man because of his words”. A cause is what an outcome was brought about with, and the corpus files the two together
- The thing used sometimes comes first: 以直報怨, “with uprightness repay injury”
Keep an eye out for the frame 以X Y之者, “those who Y with X”. In 4.23, 以約失之者, that came out very literally as “those who get lost with boundness”, and I ended up with “those who, staying in bounds, go astray”.
Gloss with, using, by means of
Look for 以 + the thing used — or the reason given; the thing sometimes jumps in front of it (仁以為己任).
Technical introduces the means, basis, or cause of an action, comparable to by means of, with, or because of
5 examples
或曰：「以德報怨，何如？」子曰：「何以報德？以直報怨，以德報德。」
Some one said: "What do you say concerning the principle that injury should be recompensed with kindness?"
The Master said: "With what then will you recompense kindness?
Recompense injury with justice, and recompense kindness with kindness."
Legge 1861
The instrument first, then the verb: 以直報怨, “with uprightness repay injury”. Seven translators write “with” for both halves, and Ames & Rosemont “by remaining true” for the first. The line has become a proverb in that shape. The questioner’s 以德報怨 a moment earlier is the same construction, and Confucius’s reply keeps the frame and changes one word inside it.
子曰：「君子不以言舉人，不以人廢言。」
The Master said: "The superior man does not promote a man simply on account of his words, nor does he put aside good words because of the man."
Legge 1861
The same preposition, naming a reason instead of a tool: 以言舉人 is to promote someone on the strength of his words.
- “because of”, “on account of”: Legge, Lau, Ni, Ames & Rosemont, Watson
- “based on”: Slingerland, Chin
- Roberts: a plain “for his words”
Instrument and cause are one word in Chinese, and the corpus files them together.
子曰：「為政以德，譬如北辰，居其所而眾星共之。」
The Master said: "He who exercises government by means of his virtue may be compared to the north polar star, which keeps its place and all the stars turn towards it."
Legge 1861
The instrument comes after the verb here, 為政以德 rather than 以德為政, and English has to put it back in front:
- Legge and Ni “by means of his virtue”; Chin “rule by virtue”
- Ames & Rosemont and Roberts “governing with excellence”; Slingerland “through”; Watson “in accordance with”
- Lau reduces it to an adjective, “the rule of virtue”
子曰：「君子博學於文，約之以禮，亦可以弗畔矣夫！」
The Master said: "The superior man, extensively studying all learning, and keeping himself under the restraint of the rules of propriety, may thus likewise not overstep what is right."
Legge 1861
約之以禮 is “restrain it with ritual”, the gentleman’s broad learning, or the gentleman himself:
- “by”: Lau “brought back to essentials by the rites”, Slingerland, Ni
- “through”: Roberts, Ames & Rosemont, Watson
- “with”: Chin
- Legge makes it a phrase: “under the restraint of the rules of propriety”
The line recurs word for word at 12.15.
子曰：「道之以政，齊之以刑，民免而無恥；道之以德，齊之以禮，有恥且格。」
The Master said: "If the people be led by laws, and uniformity sought to be given them by punishments, they will try to avoid the punishment, but have no sense of shame.
If they be led by virtue, and uniformity sought to be given them by the rules of propriety, they will have the sense of shame, and moreover will become good."
Legge 1861
Four instruments of rule in two matched clauses, and every translator words all four. Legge, Roberts, and Lau write “by”: “led by laws⋯ by punishments⋯ by virtue⋯ by the rules of propriety”. Slingerland, Ni, Ames & Rosemont, Watson, and Chin write “with”. The passage is the book’s clearest statement of the choice between law and virtue, and 以 is the word that names what each ruler governs with.
2Purposive conjunction33× · 16%
Here 以 joins two actions where the second is the point of the first, or flows from it: verb, 以, verb. English has to decide between purpose and result, and the Chinese doesn’t make that choice for you.
- Purpose: “in order to”, 學以致其道
- Result: “and so”, “and thereby”, 脩己以安人
- Worn down to a plain “and”: 行以告
Gloss in order to; and thereby
Look for verb ⋯ 以 verb — the second verb hangs on the first.
Technical links two verb phrases to express purpose or result, comparable to in order to or so as to
5 examples
子路問君子。子曰：「脩己以敬。」曰：「如斯而已乎？」曰：「脩己以安人。」曰：「如斯而已乎？」曰：「脩己以安百姓。脩己以安百姓，堯舜其猶病諸！」
Zilu asked what constituted the superior man. The Master said: "The cultivation of himself in reverential carefulness."
"And is this all?" said Zilu. "He cultivates himself so as to give rest to others," was the reply.
"And is this all?" again asked Zilu. The Master said: "He cultivates himself so as to give rest to all the people. He cultivates himself so as to give rest to all the people: — even Yao and Shun were still solicitous about this."
Legge 1861
Zilu asks three times what the gentleman is, and three times the answer is 脩己以⋯, cultivate yourself so as to:
- “so as to”: Legge, Ni
- “in order to”: Slingerland, Watson, Chin
- “and thereby”: Lau
- “by”: Ames & Rosemont, “cultivate themselves by bringing accord”
The purpose reading and the result reading are both on offer, and the Chinese doesn’t choose between them.
子路從而後，遇丈人，以杖荷蓧。子路問曰：「子見夫子乎？」丈人曰：「四體不勤，五穀不分。孰為夫子？」植其杖而芸。子路拱而立。止子路宿，殺雞為黍而食之，見其二子焉。明日，子路行以告。子曰：「隱者也。」使子路反見之。至則行矣。子路曰：「不仕無義。長幼之節，不可廢也；君臣之義，如之何其廢之？欲潔其身，而亂大倫。君子之仕也，行其義也。道之不行，已知之矣。」
Zilu, following the Master, happened to fall behind, when he met an old man, carrying across his shoulder on a staff a basket for weeds. Zilu said to him: "Have you seen my master, sir!"
The old man replied: "Your four limbs are unaccustomed to toil; you cannot distinguish the five kinds of grain: — who is your master?" With this, he planted his staff in the ground, and proceeded to weed.
Zilu joined his hands across his breast, and stood before him. The old man kept Zilu to pass the night in his house, killed a fowl, prepared millet, and feasted him. He also introduced to him his two sons. Next day, Zilu went on his way, and reported his adventure. The Master said: "He is a recluse," and sent Zilu back to see him again, but when he got to the place, the old man was gone.
Zilu then said to the family: "Not to take office is not righteous. If the relations between old and young may not be neglected, how is it that he sets aside the duties that should be observed between sovereign and minister? Wishing to maintain his personal purity, he allows that great relation to come to confusion. A superior man takes office, and performs the righteous duties belonging to it. As to the failure of right principles to make progress, he is aware of that."
Legge 1861
The loosest form of the usage: 行以告, “went and told”. All eight translators write “and”. The second action simply follows from the first, and 以 has thinned to a conjunction. The same shape at 2.20, 使民敬忠以勸, also draws eight “and”s.
子曰：「志士仁人，無求生以害仁，有殺身以成仁。」
The Master said: "The determined scholar and the man of virtue will not seek to live at the expense of injuring their virtue. They will even sacrifice their lives to preserve their virtue complete."
Legge 1861
Two 以 in parallel, and the translators read them differently. The construction is identical. Only the sense of the verbs tells English which word to use. 求生以害仁, a result nobody wants: “at the expense of” from Legge, Slingerland, Ni, Lau, and Chin, and 殺身以成仁, a purpose embraced: “to” or “in order to” from all eight.
孔子曰：「見善如不及，見不善如探湯。吾見其人矣，吾聞其語矣。隱居以求其志，行義以達其道。吾聞其語矣，未見其人也。」
Confucius said: "'Contemplating good, and pursuing it, as if they could not reach it; contemplating evil, and shrinking from it, as they would from thrusting the hand into boiling water;' — I have seen such men, as I have heard such words.
'Living in retirement to study their aims, and practicing righteousness to carry out their principles;' — I have heard these words, but I have not seen such men."
Legge 1861
A quoted maxim in two balanced halves, 隱居以求其志 and 行義以達其道, each with 以 in the middle. Slingerland, Lau, Watson, and Chin write “in order to”; Legge, Ni, and Ames & Rosemont a plain “to”. Confucius adds that he has heard the words but never met the man.
子夏曰：「百工居肆以成其事，君子學以致其道。」
Zixia said: "Mechanics have their shops to dwell in, in order to accomplish their works. The superior man learns, in order to reach to the utmost of his principles."
Legge 1861
Verb, 以, verb: dwelling in the shop is for finishing the work, learning is for reaching the Way. 居肆以成其事, 學以致其道:
- “in order to” both times: Legge, Slingerland, Watson, Chin
- A bare “to”: Ni, Roberts
- Lau turns the sentence round and makes the first verb the means: “masters his trade by staying in his workshop”
Lau’s is the other face of the same 以.
3The frame 以⋯為19× · 9%
The set frame 以A為B: “take A as B”, “treat A as B”, “consider A to be B”. Modern Chinese still says exactly this. 以⋯為 survives whole, as in 以他為榜樣, “take him as a model”.
- Literal: 以夫子為木鐸, “use your Master as a bell”
- Opinion: 以我為隱, “think that I am hiding something”. When A is a person and B is a judgment, English swallows the whole frame into a verb like “I thought”
- Object first: 仁以為己任 is 以仁為己任
Gloss take X as Y; regard X as Y
Look for 以 answered by 為 later in the clause; the object sometimes fronted (仁以為).
Technical functions as a verb meaning to regard, consider, or take something as something else
5 examples
曾子曰：「士不可以不弘毅，任重而道遠。仁以為己任，不亦重乎？死而後已，不亦遠乎？」
The philosopher Zeng said: "The officer may not be without breadth of mind and vigorous endurance. His burden is heavy and his course is long.
Perfect virtue is the burden which he considers it is his to sustain; — is it not heavy? Only with death does his course stop; — is it not long?"
Legge 1861
The object comes first: 仁以為己任 is 以仁為己任, “take 仁 as one’s own charge”.
- Lau: “takes benevolence as his burden”
- Slingerland: “takes up Goodness as his own personal burden”
- Legge: “the burden which he considers it is his to sustain”
Putting the object first throws the weight onto it, which is the point of Master Zeng’s line.
子畏於匡，顏淵後。子曰：「吾以女為死矣。」曰：「子在，回何敢死？」
The Master was put in fear in Kuang and Yan Yuan fell behind. The Master, on his rejoining him, said: "I thought you had died." Hui replied: "While you were alive, how should I presume to die?"
Legge 1861
The frame with its two halves apart: 以女為死, “take you to be dead”. All eight translators collapse it into a verb of believing, and the 以 and the 為 vanish into it together. Seven translators write “I thought you had died”, and Ames & Rosemont write “I had given you up for dead”.
Yan Hui, arriving late after the danger at Kuang, answers that he wouldn’t dare die while the Master lived.
季子然問：「仲由、冉求可謂大臣與？」子曰：「吾以子為異之問，曾由與求之問。所謂大臣者：以道事君，不可則止。今由與求也，可謂具臣矣。」曰：「然則從之者與？」子曰：「弒父與君，亦不從也。」
Ji Ziran asked whether Zhongyou and Ran Qiu could be called great ministers.
The Master said: "I thought you would ask about some extraordinary individuals, and you only ask about You and Qiu!
What is called a great minister, is one who serves his prince according to what is right, and when he finds he cannot do so, retires.
Now, as to You and Qiu, they may be called ordinary ministers."
Ziran said: "Then they will always follow their chief; — will they?"
The Master said: "In an act of parricide or regicide, they would not follow him."
Legge 1861
以子為異之問, “take you to be asking about the extraordinary”. The frame is split by its object 子, and all eight translators fold it into “I thought” or “I had expected”. Ji Ziran has asked whether Zilu and Ran Qiu are great ministers, and Confucius’s disappointment is in the 以⋯為. He had taken the question for a better one.
子曰：「二三子以我為隱乎？吾無隱乎爾。吾無行而不與二三子者，是丘也。」
The Master said: "Do you think, my disciples, that I have any concealments? I conceal nothing from you. There is nothing which I do that is not shown to you, my disciples; — that is my way."
Legge 1861
以我為隱, “take me to be hiding something”. Whenever 以A為B has a person as A and a judgment as B, English wants a verb of opinion, and the frame disappears into it. Seven of the eight write “do you think”, and Slingerland writes “do you imagine”.
儀封人請見。曰：「君子之至於斯也，吾未嘗不得見也。」從者見之。出曰：「二三子，何患於喪乎？天下之無道也久矣，天將以夫子為木鐸。」
The border warden at Yi requested to be introduced to the Master, saying: "When men of superior virtue have come to this, I have never been denied the privilege of seeing them."
The followers of the sage introduced him, and when he came out from the interview, he said: "My friends, why are you distressed by your master's loss of office? The kingdom has long been without the principles of truth and right; Heaven is going to use your master as a bell with its wooden tongue."
Legge 1861
Here the frame keeps its older, literal force, “use A as B”, and all eight translators keep the verb “use”. 以 hasn’t thinned to “consider” yet. The Master is to be a real instrument.
- “use your Master as”: six translators
- Slingerland: “use your Master like”
- Roberts: “use the Master to sound the alarm bell”
The border warden of Yi is the speaker, consoling the disciples for Confucius’s loss of office.
4The pair 可以 (can, may)33× · 16%
This is the compound that became modern 可以, “can”: 可 “possible” plus 以 “by means of it”. In The Analects the two are still faintly separate, and English already has one modal for the pair, so the 以 vanishes into it.
- “can”, “could”: 一言而可以興邦
- “may”: 可以終身行之
- “cannot”, in the negative 不可以
When I translated 12.15, 亦可以弗畔矣夫, I first wrote it out as literally as I could, “can thereby surely not transgress”, and that “thereby” is the 以 still showing through.
Gloss can, may (可 + 以)
Look for 可以 or 不可以 before a verb; the subject is the person or thing the action can be done WITH.
Technical combines with 可 to form the modal 可以, expressing ability or permission
4 examples
定公問：「一言而可以興邦，有諸？」孔子對曰：「言不可以若是其幾也。人之言曰：『為君難，為臣不易。』如知為君之難也，不幾乎一言而興邦乎？」曰：「一言而喪邦，有諸？」孔子對曰：「言不可以若是其幾也。人之言曰：『予無樂乎為君，唯其言而莫予違也。』如其善而莫之違也，不亦善乎？如不善而莫之違也，不幾乎一言而喪邦乎？」
The Duke Ding asked whether there was a single sentence which could make a country prosperous. Confucius replied: "Such an effect cannot be expected from one sentence. There is a saying, however, which people have — 'To be a prince is difficult; to be a minister is not easy.' If a ruler knows this — the difficulty of being a prince — may there not be expected from this one sentence the prosperity of his country?"
The duke then said: "Is there a single sentence which can ruin a country?" Confucius replied: "Such an effect as that cannot be expected from one sentence. There is, however, the saying which people have — 'I have no pleasure in being a prince, but only in that no one can offer any opposition to what I say!' If a ruler's words be good, is it not also good that no one oppose them? But if they are not good, and no one opposes them, may there not be expected from this one sentence the ruin of his country?"
Legge 1861
可以 is 可 “possible” plus 以 “by means of it”: a single sentence such that one could, by it, raise a state. This is the compound modern Chinese uses for “can” every day, and here it’s still two words. Legge writes “could”, and six of the others write “can”.
English has one modal for the pair, and the 以 disappears into it.
子曰：「不仁者不可以久處約，不可以長處樂。仁者安仁，知者利仁。」
The Master said: "Those who are without virtue cannot abide long either in a condition of poverty and hardship, or in a condition of enjoyment. The virtuous rest in virtue; the wise desire virtue."
Legge 1861
The negative, 不可以, twice.
- “cannot” for both: Slingerland
- Compressed into one: Legge, “cannot abide long either in⋯ or in⋯”
- Something of the 以 kept: Ames & Rosemont, “are neither able to”
曾子曰：「可以託六尺之孤，可以寄百里之命，臨大節而不可奪也。君子人與？君子人也。」
The philosopher Zeng said: "Suppose that there is an individual who can be entrusted with the charge of a young orphan prince, and can be commissioned with authority over a State of a hundred li, and whom no emergency, however great, can drive from his principles: — is such a man a superior man? He is a superior man indeed."
Legge 1861
Twice in parallel: 可以託⋯, 可以寄⋯. Seven translators write “can” for the first, and most let that one “can” govern the second clause too. Legge, Ni, and Roberts repeat it. The 以 still faintly points at the man, one can entrust the orphan to him, which is why the construction takes the person as its topic and not as its object.
子貢問曰：「有一言而可以終身行之者乎？」子曰：「其恕乎！己所不欲，勿施於人。」
Zigong asked, saying: "Is there one word which may serve as a rule of practice for all one's life?"
The Master said: "Is not RECIPROCITY such a word? What you do not want done to yourself, do not do to others."
Legge 1861
Zigong asks for one word to act by, and the answer is 恕. Legge, Ni, and Roberts write “may”; Slingerland, Ames & Rosemont, Lau, Watson, and Chin “can”. The 之 at the end of 可以終身行之 is the word itself, the thing one can act by, which is the object the 以 in 可以 originally carried.
5The verb "to use"3× · 1%
The verb the preposition was worn down from: “to use”, “to employ”. It’s rare in the book, three occurrences, and you can recognize it by what’s missing:
- No verb after it, and its object in front: 不吾以, “does not use me”
- No object at all, standing last in the clause: 怨乎不以
- Nominalized by 所: 所以, “that which he uses”, not yet the modern “therefore”
Gloss to use, to employ
Look for 以 with no verb after it: 不吾以, 不以, 所以.
Technical functions as the main verb meaning to use or to employ a person or thing
3 examples
冉子退朝。子曰：「何晏也？」對曰：「有政。」子曰：「其事也。如有政，雖不吾以，吾其與聞之。」
The disciple Ran returning from the court, the Master said to him: "How are you so late?" He replied: "We had government business."
The Master said: "It must have been family affairs. If there had been government business, though I am not now in office, I should have been consulted about it."
Legge 1861
The oldest sense, still a full verb: 不吾以 is “does not use me”, with the pronoun object 吾 before the verb, as objects are after a negative.
- “employed”: Slingerland, Chin
- “in office”: Legge, Ni, Ames & Rosemont; Roberts and Watson “hold office”
- Lau: “given any office”
Confucius means that if there had been real state business he would have been consulted, office or no office.
周公謂魯公曰：「君子不施其親，不使大臣怨乎不以。故舊無大故，則不棄也。無求備於一人。」
The Duke of Zhou addressed his son, the Duke of Lu, saying, "The virtuous prince does not neglect his relations. He does not cause the great ministers to repine at his not employing them. Without some great cause, he does not dismiss from their offices the members of old families. He does not seek in one man talents for every employment."
Legge 1861
The Duke of Zhou’s advice to his son: don’t give your great ministers cause to complain of 不以, of not being used.
- “not employing”: Legge; Slingerland “not being properly employed”; Chin “failed to employ”
- “ignored”: Ni, Ames & Rosemont
- “not heeded”: Lau, Watson
The verb stands last in its clause with no object at all, which no preposition could do.
子曰：「視其所以，觀其所由，察其所安。人焉廋哉？人焉廋哉？」
The Master said: "See what a man does.
Mark his motives.
Examine in what things he rests.
How can a man conceal his character? How can a man conceal his character?"
Legge 1861
所以 here is not yet the modern conjunction “therefore”. It’s 所 plus the verb, “that which he uses”: “the means a man employs”, as Slingerland and Lau render it, or, since to use is to do, “what he does” (Legge, Ni, Watson, Chin). No translator gives the 以 a word apart from the 所 that nominalizes it. The English is one noun phrase for the two characters together.