古文入門 Introduction to Classical Chinese

目錄 Contents

1. 導言 Introduction
   1. 歷史背景 Historical Background
   2. 語言背景 Language Background
   3. 發音 Pronunciation
   4. 字 Characters
   5. 語法基本原則 Basic Grammatical Principles
2. 名詞與名詞性詞組 Nouns and Nominal Phrases
   1. 名詞性詞組 Nominal Phrases
   2. 困學（論語 16.9） Text: Analects 16.9
   3. 馬不進也（論語 6.13） Text: Analects 6.13
   4. 疑問 Questions
   5. 代詞與助詞 Pronouns and Particles
3. 動詞與動詞性詞組 Verbs and Verbal Phrases
   1. 動詞性詞組 Verbal Phrases
   2. 宋國富人（韓非子） Text: A Rich Person in the Song Kingdom (Han Feizi)
   3. Coordinate Verbs
   4. 守株待兔（韓非子）Text: Guarding a Tree Stump Waiting for a Rabbit (Han Feizi)
   5. Active and Passive Constructions
   6. Verbs of Motion and Location
   7. 修飾詞“所” The Modifier 所
   8. Nominalization of Verbs
   9. 刻舟求劍（呂氏春秋） Text: A notch on the Side of a Boat to Find a Dropped Sword
   10. Coverbs
   11. Negatives
   12. 矛盾（韓非子） Text: Spear and Shield (Han Feizi)
   13. Pivot Verbs
   14. Auxiliary Verbs
   15. 楊布（列子）Text: Yang Bu (Lie Zi)
   16. 狐假虎威（戰國策）Text: The Fox Borrows the Tiger's Prestige (Strategies of the Warring States)
4. Compound Sentences Compound Sentences
   1. Embedded Sentences
   2. 揠苗（孟子）Pulling up Seedlings (Mencius)
5. 劉向的故事 Stories by Liu Xiang
   1. 晉平公問於師曠（說苑） Duke Ping of Jin asks Shi Kuang (Garden of Stories)
   2. 兩頭蛇（新序） A Two Headed Snake (New Prefaces)
   3. 趙簡子問子貢（說苑） Zhao Jianzi Asks Zi Gong (Garden of Stories)
   4. 趙簡子舉兵功齊（說苑） Zhao Jianzi Raises an Army to Attack Qi (Garden of Stories)
   5. 吳王欲伐荊（說苑） The King of Wu Desires to Attack Chu
6. 戰國策 Stratagems of the Warring States
   1. 曾參殺人 Zeng Shen Kills a Person
7. 莊子 Zhuang Zi
   1. 鵷鶵 A Fabulous Bird
   2. 曳尾於塗中 Dragging One's Tail in the Mud
   3. 髑髏 The Skull
8. 史記 Records of the Historian
   1. 石奢 Shi She
   2. 晏子之御 Yan Zi's Charioteer
   3. 漢高祖 Han Gao Zu
   4. 淳于髠 Chunyu Kun
9. 韓非子 Han Feizi
   1. 和氏之壁 The He Clan's Jade Disk
10. 孟子 Mencius
    1. 施仁政 Benevolent Government
    2. 熊掌 Bear Claws
11. 詞彙 Vocabulary
12. 參考 References

導言 Introduction

When learning modern Chinese there is good motivation for studying some of the basics of classical Chinese. The similarities are surprising and the differences interesting as well. Native English speakers may wonder about the relevance of this when making an analogy of modern English to Old English or perhaps modern Italian to Latin. Perhaps because written Chinese can be read independently of pronunciation it has survived in such a recognizable form for so long and been used over a very broad geographic area, including all of East Asia. In fact, classical Chinese is far more commonly encountered in China than Old English or Latin is encountered in the West.

When studying Chinese history, literature, and philosophy it is common to study original texts, of which are many and, in contrast to Old English and Latin, have a continuous tradition from the beginning of writing in China until the transition from classical Chinese to modern Chinese. Idioms are much more commonly encountered in modern Chinese than modern English and these mostly have their roots in classical Chinese. The many calligraphic works decorating Chinese buildings are invariably classical poems. My main motivation in studying classical Chinese is to read Buddhist texts, whose original translations from Sanskrit are still in wide use today in the Chinese Buddhist community.

This series of web pages was written to be a gentle introduction for learners with minimal background in modern Chinese or even none at all. You can mouse over any of the Chinese text to find the English and Pinyin for the Chinese and follow a hyperlink to additional details. Where there are multiple definitions for a given word the mouseover and link will be for the right alternative for the given context, especially where the classical use differs from the modern use.

For more information on the development of Classical Chinese and its Grammar see Fuller [FUL] and Pulleyblank [PULL] and the additional references listed in the 參考 References section.

歷史背景 Historical Background

The first known forms of Chinese writings were written on animal bones in a style known as 甲骨文 oracle bone script in the 商 Shang Dynasty (1700 to 1045 BCE). In the 周 Zhou Dynasty (1045—221 BCE) there were inscriptions on bronze vessels. The very early Chinese classics 易經 The Book of Changes or I Ching, 書經 Book of History, and 詩經 Book of Songs also date from the Zhou Dynasty. These texts are in a very early style called preclassical.

The terms classical Chinese (古文) and literary Chinese (文言文 or 文言) are often used interchangably. Pulleyblank [PULL] characterizes the classical period is starting with the time of 孔子 Confucius (551—479 BCE), continues through 戰國時代 the Warring States Period (475—221 BCE) to the 秦 Qin Dynasty, when China was first unified in 221 BCE. I will call this the high classical period to differentiate it from later periods that differ in style This was the period of the great philosphers, including the founders of the schools of 儒家 Confucianism, 道家 Taoism, 法家 Legalism, and 墨家 Mohism. After unification of China there was also more convergence in the written language. However, as time went on the written form 文言 literary Chinese diverged from the spoken form. Literary Chinese refers to the style of written Chinese commonly used right through to the end of the 清 Qing Dynasty.

There is considerable regional differences between the styles of writing during the high classical period, including (1) the continuation of a more archaic style, including 左傳 Zuozhuan and 國語 Book of Historical Narrative; (2) a 魯 Lu style, including 論語 The Analects of Confucius and 孟子 Mencius; (3) a 楚 Chu style, including 離騷 Sorrow at Parting in 楚辭 Songs of Chu; and (4) a style found in 莊子 Zhuang Zi, 韓非子 Han Feizi, and 荀子 Xun Zi that leads towards a common standard.

Buddhist texts were brought to China from India and translated from Sanskrit and Pali over a period of many hundred years, starting in the 漢 Han (221 BCE—220 CE), continuing through to the 唐 Tang (618—907 CE). Thich Naht Hanh [HANH] notes that the origin of the Chinese version of 佛說八大人覺經 The Sutra on the Eight Realizations of the Great Beings is the the Buddhist monk 安世高 An Shi Gao, a Parthian prince who travelled to China and stayed in 洛陽 around 140—171 CE in the later Han. However, for many years during this early period the texts were incomplete and many inconsistent versions existed. This prompted the Chinese monk 玄奘 Xuanzang (602—664 CE)to travel to India on his legendary Journey to the West to collect the sutras in the Tang Dynasty. The version of 心經 The Heart Sutra used by Venerable Yifa [YIFA] was translated to Chinese by Xuanzang.

Given the great amount of time covered by literary Chinese I focus in this text on the high classical period since that has the greatest difference from modern Chinese. However, I make some comments on differences with later periods at some points in the text.

語言背景 Language Background

Classical Chinese has its origins in the spoken language of the Warring States Period (403—255 B.C.). Classical Chinese is uninflected. That is the verbs do not have forms that indicate past, present, and future tense. Whereas inflection is largely missing in modern Chinese it is largely missing in classical Chinese.

Modern Chinese is considered a polysyllabic language because most of the words in the language have two characters. Classical Chinese is considered basically a monosyllabic language. That is most words consist of a single character. There are a number of notable exceptions to this, however:

1. Bound compounds whose meanings cannot be deduced from either character alone. For example, 君子 nobleman
2. Pollysyllabic loan words from foreign languages, especially many Buddhist terms from Sanskrit, for example, 沙門 a Buddhist monk and 比丘尼 a Buddhist nun
3. Binomes, which are an intensifying expression that joins together two words with similar pronuncation. For example, 崢嶸, which describes the lofty nature of tall mountains was pronounced dzaeng-yuaeng in Middle Chinese.
4. Polar binomes, which are a form where writers use an opposite or similar pair of words to refer to a set or range. For example, 草木 (grasses and trees) refers to all vegetation.
5. Reduplication of certain words can expand the meaning of the word on its own. For example, 年 (year) when reduplicated 年年 means year after year. The word 人 (person / people) when reduplicated 人人 means everybody.

Modern Chinese has a number of affixes and particles, such as 了、過、者、們、得. However, compared with European languages it has relatively few affixes. Classical Chinese has even fewer affixes than modern Chinese. Two plural forms that were commonly used from the Warring States Period on are 諸 and 等.

發音 Pronunciation

Spoken Chinese has varied over its history and geographic areas and sounds used in previous times can only be reconstructed from fragmentary evidence. It is generally divided into three periods: Old Chinese ( 商 Shang and 周 Zhou to 西漢 Western Han), Middle Chinese (東漢 Eastern Han to 初唐 Early Tang), and Mandarin (唐 Tang to 清 Qing).

Much of the knowledge of Old Chinese comes from analysis of rhymes in 詩經 The Book of Songs and 爾雅 Erya, the first Chinese dictionary, dating to about the third century BCE. In addition, comparisons with other languages and loan words from Indo-European languages have been used to understand pronunciation of Old Chinese. In addition, many radicals are related to the pronunciation of characters. Also, the dictionary, 說文解字 Shuo Wen Jie Zi appeared in the Han Dynasty.

Knowledge of Middle Chinese is more complete than Old Chinese because Chinese scholars of the time compiled rhyming dictionaries, including 切韻 Qieyun compiled by 陸法言 in about 600 CE. The the 反切 fan qie system used in dictionaries, such as Qieyun, each entry consisted of two characters to represent the sound of a word. The first character had the same initial sound and the second character had the same final sound. Qieyun formed the basis of 廣韻 Guangyun dictionary in around 1011 CE after many revisions and additions. The fan qie system was also used in 康熙字典 the Kangxi Dictionary (1716) considered the first modern Chinese dictionary.

Middle Chinese had four tones but there were different from modern Chinese. The were 平 level, 上 rising, 去 falling, and 入 entering. Entering tones ended with a p, t, or k. The tones were first documented by 沈約 Shen Yue in the fifth century CE. In the Qieyun dictionaries the tones were represented by small circles at the four corners of the characters.

When we think about the diversity of the modern dialects of Chinese we can appreciate the difficulty of understanding pronunciation from the various regions of China thoughout the past 2400 years or so. Nevertheless, classical Chinese is commonly read aloud in modern Mandarin, for example in Buddhist chanting. There are eight major modern dialects that can be divided into three groups.

1. 宮話 Mandarin (divided into Northern Mandarin, Northwest Mandarin, Southern Mandarin, and Southwest Mandarin)
2. 吳 Wú
   贛 Gàn
   湘 Xiāng
3. 閩 Mǐn
   客家 Kèjiā (Hakka)
   粵 Yuè (Cantonese)
   徽州 Huīzhōu

字 Characters

說文解字 Shuo Wen Jie Zi was the first etymological dictionary, attributed to 許慎 Xu Shen in the second century CE. Shuowen Jiezi had six methods for forming Chinese characters (六書):

1. 指事 ideograms, indicating an idea — for example 上 up
2. 象形 pictograms, derived from a picture — for example, 月 moon
3. 形聲 phonogram, derived from a radical indicating meaning plus phonetic part — for example, 河 river that combines 水 water and 可 with the modern sound ke
4. 會意 combined ideogram that combines the meanings of existing elements — for example, 鳴 to chirp, that combines mouth (口) and bird (鳥)
5. 轉註 transfer character, with meanings influenced by other words — for example, 老 old to 考 to examine
6. 假借 loan character, acquiring meanings by phonetic association — for example, 安 peace to the same character for use as an interogative pronoun

語法基本原則 Basic Grammatical Principles

The general rules of word order are

1. subject precedes predicate
2. a modifier precedes the word it modifies
3. a verb precedes its object

Words can shift grammatical function in classical Chinese within certain patterns. Here are a few constant rules to help distinguish grammatical function.

1. Nouns are negated by 非，無.

   For example,

   雖寶非用。 Even jewels have no use. 左思《三部賦序》 (From Zuo Si, Three Part Poetic Essay)

   無衣無褐，何以來歲？ Without clothes or hemp, how will we pass the years? 《詩經》 (From the Book of Songs)

   Verbs are negated by 未，不，勿，某

   However, direct objects can be placed after a negating word and before the verb, which can make this rule less obvious to recognize.

   The topic is often omitted when it is understood.

2. A verbal construction must follow 所.
3. 之 is often used to mark subordination. Placing it between the subject and verb of a subject-predicate phrase turns it into a nominal phrase.
4. Most words that we think of as adjectives in English can act as static verbs. That is verbs that describe state.

There are five types of grammatical relationships: topic-comment, verb-object, coordination, subordination, and number complement.

1. Topic-Comment

   This is a variation of the subject-predicate relation but a little more broad. The topic is the focus of the phrase and most often is placed first. The comment is a statement about the topic. The simplest type of topic-comment phrase is a nominal sentence that identifies one noun with another. Nominal sentences with the pattern A B 也 most frequently mean A is a B or A is a type of B. A 猶 B 也 (A is like B) is another form of nominal sentence.

   Topicalization is the transfer of the usual order of a sentence to change the element that is being stressed. This is an important tool in classical Chinese rhetoric. For example, from 莊子 Zhuang Zi,

   臣之所好者道也
   What I, your servant, like is The Way.

   Topicalization is one type of a broader movement of sentence elements to the front called exposure. Exposure is often used for rhetorical emphasis or to mark a contrast.

2. Verb-Object

   The simplest case of a verb-object is a verb and a direct object. For example, 飲酒 (to drink wine). Sometimes the object of a verb is another verb. For example, 使歸 (to cause to return).

   Time and place information usually expressed through prepositional phrases in English and modern Chinese are expressed using verb-object relations in classical Chinese. The time and place words are locative objects of verbs. For example, 居山中 (to live in the mountains). Sometimes the locative particle 於 will be used. However, some references classify 於 as a preposition in the context of classical Chinese.

   Auxiliary verbs are used in a similar way to modern Chinese. Frequently used auxiliary verbs are 應， 能， 必， 肯， 須. For example, 應歸 (should return).

3. Coordinate Relationships

   In a coordinate relationship two terms of the same type are used together. The elements may be nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, or phrases. The conjunctions 與， 且， 而， 或， and 將 are frequently used to join terms in a coordinate relationship. For example, 我與爾 (you and I). However, conjunctions are also often omitted.

4. Subordinate Relations

   In a subordinate relation the first element modifies the second. The first element is the modifier and the second element is called the head. For example, 青草 green (modifier ) grass (head). The elements of a subordinate relation can be nouns, verbs, or phrases.

   之 is a marker for explicit subordination to a noun. It turns a verbal phrase into a nominal phrase. For example, 日出之陽 (the sun at sunrise, from 說苑 Garden of Stories).

5. Number Complements

   A number complement relation has the form (number) + (measure). Here the measure is a noun that is a measure of some kind of quantity. For example, 二人 (two people). Measure words, as found in modern Chinese, originated from this form.

Punctuation in classical Chinese has mostly been added at a later date to make reading easier. In particular, question marks, quotation marks, and semi-colons were not used at all in classical Chinese. Some classical Chinese text used no punctation at all, making it very difficult for modern readers. Some texts used periods in place of both periods and modern commas. This article uses basic periods and commas in order to make text a little more readable but avoids more modern additions like question marks, quotation marks, and semi-colons.

名詞與名詞性詞組 Nouns and Nominal Phrases

In a topic-comment sentence there are two types of comments: nominal and verbal. A nominal sentence has a nominal (noun-like) phrase as its comment. Usually this means that a nominal phrase forms the predicate of the sentence. In contrast, a verbal sentence has a verbal (verb-like) phrase as its comment.

名詞性詞組 Nominal Phrases

A nominal sentence has the form A B 也, which is a statement that A is a type of B. For example,

生而知之者，上也
Those who are born with the possession of knowledge are the highest class of men.

from 論語 The Analects of Confucius (see below). The topic of this sentence is 生而知之者.

In nominal sentences in classical Chinese, depending on the period and author, there is often no copula, like 'is' in Enlgish or 是 in modern Chinese. The copula is nearly entirely missing in early classical Chinese texts and more commonly encountered in later texts. In later texts 也 as a final particle also becomes less common.

The negative form for this type of sentence is usually A 非 B 也. For example,

非敢後也
I did not have the courage to lag behind

also from the Analects (see below). The unstated but implied subject in this example is I.

困學（論語 16.9） Text Analects 16.9

孔子曰：「
生而知之者，上也；
學而知之者，次也；
困而學之，又其次也。
困而不學，民斯為下矣！
」

Confucius said,
'Those who are born with the possession of knowledge are the highest class of men.
Those who learn, and so, readily, get possession of knowledge, are the next.
Those who are have difficulty and yet overcome that in learning, are another class next to these.
As to those who are dull and stupid and yet do not learn are the lowest of the people.'

The Analects are the sayings of Confucius recorded by his disciples (c. 479 BCE—221 BCE) and is a model of an early classical Chinese writing.

馬不進也（論語 6.13） Text Analects 6.13

子曰、
孟之反不伐、
奔而殿、將入門、策其馬、
曰、非敢後也、馬不進也。

The Master said,
'Meng Zhifan does not boast of his merit.
Being in the rear on an occasion of flight, when they were about to enter the gate, he whipped up his horse,
saying, "It is not that I dare to be last. My horse would not advance."'

疑問 Questions

In very early classical texts, such as 左傳 Zuozhuan the interrogative particle 乎 was added after 也 to form questions. Later, the combination 乎也 was replaced by 與 or 邪. For example,

夫非盡人之子 與
Are we not all somebody's son?

from 孟子 Mencius and

其正色邪
Is this its true color?

from 莊子 Zhuang Zi.

The final particle 夫 means is it not? and is used in a similar way to the modern particle 吧. For example,

然而至此極者，命也夫
Thus I have arrived at this eventuality. Is it not fate?

from 莊子 Zhuang Zi.

代詞與助詞 Pronouns and Particles

A pronoun can be substituted for a noun when using a nominal predicate. Commonly encountered pronouns are 此, 斯, and 是. For example,

此文王之勇也
This was King Wen's bravery.

是亦走也
This is also running away.

both from Mencius. In high classical Chinese 是 was a pronoun rather than a verb as it is in modern Chinese. It aquired this function in the Han Dynasty.

The pronoun 皆 is used when the subject is plural. For example,

五蘊皆空
all five skandhas are empty

from the Heart Sutra.

動詞與動詞性詞組 Verbs and Verbal Phrases

動詞性詞組 Verbal Phrases

In verbal sentences the comment has a verb. Verbs may be transitive or intransitive. Transitive verbs take an object. For example, 知其 (knew it). Intransitive do not take an object. For example, 盜亡 (the thief fled).

An adjective describes a quality or continuing state of an object and are sometimes classified as stative verbs because they can form predicates. For example, 山高 (The mountain is tall). However, adjectives are more commonly found in front of nouns as modifiers. For example, 富人 (a rich person).

Adjectives can also be made into transitive verbs by moving the subject to the object position. For example

王請大之
I plead with Your Majesty to make it large

宋國富人（韓非子） Text: A Rich Person in the Song Kingdom (Han Feizi)

宋有富人，天雨牆壞。
其子曰：不築，必將有盜。
其鄰人父亦云。
暮而果大亡其財。 此夕盜至故亡也。
其家什知其子，而疑鄰人父。

There was a rich person in the Song Kingdom whose wall broke after some rain.
The person said,"I will not rebuild it. There will inevitably be a thief."
His neighbor's father also agreed.
The sun set and, as a result, he lost a huge amount of his wealth. So that evening a thief plundered his home.
Other families who knew him suspected his neighbor's father.

The author, Han Feizi (c. 280-233 BC), was pre-Han dynasty philosopher.

This passage demonstrates a number of adjectives and verbs. In the first line the adjective 富 (rich) modifies the noun 人 (person). The very common transitive verb 有 (to have) indicates that the state of Song has a rich man. The object of 有 is 富人 (the rich man). The intransitve verb 亡 (to flee) is used in line 4. It was 盜 (the bandit) that fled.

Coordinate Verbs

Coordinate verbs can be used to form a sequence of actions. Verb coordination in classical Chinese usually implies that the first verb is an antecedent condition for the verb that follows. For example,

兔走觸株
A rabbit walked by and bumped into the tree stump.

If the rabbit was not walking (走) it would not have bumped (觸) into the tree stump. Here is another example,

兔折頸而死
The rabbit broke its neck and died.

The rabbit died (死) because it broke (折) its neck.

守株待兔（韓非子） Text: Guarding a Tree Stump Waiting for a Rabbit (Han Feizi)

宋人有耕者，田中有株，兔走觸株，折頸而死。
因檡其耒而守株，冀後得兔。
兔不可後得，而身為宋國笑。
今欲以先王之政治當世之民皆守株之類也。

A farmer plowing his field in the state of Song when a rabbit bumped into a tree stump and broke its neck and died.
He was reluctant to use his plow, preferring to guard the tree stump and wait for the next rabbit.
Of course, he did not catch a rabbit after that but did become the laughing stock of the state of Song.
Today, we desire to rule like the former kings did in their age but we still have many people who are watching the tree stump waiting for a rabbit.

This passage demonstrates the coverbs discussed above.

Active and Passive Constructions

In an active construction an agent of an action is in the subject position and followed by a transitive verb and another noun in the object position. For example, from the passage above

宋人得兔
The man from Song caught a rabbit.

In this example 宋人 (the man from Song) is the subject, 得 (to obtain) is the verb, and 兔 (rabbit) is the object. In a passive construction the object of the verb is placed before the verb. For example, from Mencius

師行而糧食
The host proceded and provisions were eaten.

Here the object 糧 (provisions) appears before the verb 食 (to eat). An active verb can be changed into a passive construction to change the emphasis of a sentence. For example, from the Han Feizi text above:

而身為宋國笑
and that person became the laughing stock of the state of Song

Here the term 為 is used to create the passive construction. It placed emphasis on that person (身) rather than simply saying that the people in the state of Song laughed at him. The verb in this sentence is 笑 (to laugh). The object 身 (person) appears before the subject 宋國 (the state of Song). 為 is called a copula, similar to is in English.

The use of 可 can also create a passive construction. In the construction

兔不可後得
Of course, he never caught another rabbit

可 is used to emphasize the fact that another rabbit could not possibly be caught that way rather than just saying that he the farmer did not catch any more rabbits. Here 兔 (rabbit) is the object for the verb 得 (to obtain). The coverb 於 can also be used in an analogous way to create a passive construction. For example, from Mencius,

勞力者治於人
Those who do manual labor are governed by other people.

In this example the verb is 治 (to govern), which acts on the object 勞力者 (those who do manual labor). The subject 人 (other people) appears last in the sentence.

Verbs of Motion and Location

Commonly encountered verbs to express motion are 來 (to come), 往 (to go), 行 (to walk or to travel), and 止 (to stop). These verbs do not need a destination. For example,

吳王曰，子來
The King of Wu said, “Sir, please come [here].” (劉向Liu Xiang, 79—8 BCE)

The location 'here' is implied but not stated. Some verbs describing movement are transitive and take a location as their object. The transitive verb 之 (to go) is used in this way. For example,

滕文公為世子，將之楚，過宋而見孟子。
When the prince, afterwards duke Wen of Teng, had to go to Chu, he went by way of Song, and visited Mencius. (Mencius)

In this example, 楚 (the state of Chu) is the object of the verb 之.

The particle 於 is often associated with verbs of motion to refer to a destination.

居 (to reside) and 在 (to be at) are commonly encountered verbs of location. The object of these transitive verbs indicates the location. For example

不知螳蜋在其也
... does not know that there is a praying mantis behind him

其後 (behind him) is the object of the verb 在.

修飾詞“所” The Modifier 所

The term 所 can be used as a tool to change the emphasis in sentence constructions. 所 allows the writer to refer to a set of objects selected for their role as objects of verbs. For example, in the phrase

從其所契者入水

所 represents the place where it fell into the water. Although Fuller [FUL] refers to this use of 所 as a modifier and the character can play a variety of grammatical functions other sources refer to this particular use of 所 as a pronoun.

Nominalization of Verbs

Nominalization of a verb allows a writer to refer to the action of a verb as an object in itself. The most direct way to nominalize a verb is to make it the topic of a sentence. Another way is to make it the object of another verb. A third way is to use the nominalizing function word 者. For example, in the phrase

有涉江者
there was a river crossing

者 is used to nominalize 涉江 (to cross the river) so that 涉江者 (a river crossing) becomes the object of the verb 有 (there was).

刻舟求劍 （呂氏春秋）
Text: A notch on the Side of a Boat to Find a Dropped Sword (Mr Lu's Annals)

楚人有涉江者，
其劍自舟中墜於水。
遽契其舟，曰是吾劍之所從墜。
舟止，從其所契者入水求之。
舟已行矣，而劍不行。
求劍若此，不亦惑乎。

There was a person from the state of Chu who crossed a river.
His sword fell out of the boat into the water.
He quickly made a mark in boat and said, 'This is where my sword fell.'
When the boat stopped moving, he went into the water to look for his sword at the place where he had marked the boat.
The boat had moved but the sword had not.
Is this not a very foolish way to look for a sword?

The passage was written by 呂不韋 Lu Buwei (-235 BC), a merchant and politician in the state of Qin. The title 刻舟求劍 has now become a modern idiom meaning an action made pointless by changed circumstances.

Coverbs

A coverb describes an antecedent condition. 與， 以，and 自 are common coverbs. For example,

自舟中墜
fell from the boat

自 (to come from) acts as the coverb and 墜 (to fall) is the main verb. The object of the coverb is 舟 (the boat).

Coverbs play the same role that prepositions do in modern Chinese and English. However, coverbs are different from prepositions. They are a kind of transitive verb. Coverbs take objects and can be modified by certain adverbs, such as 不. They describe an antecedent action, which is something to bring about the actions of the main verb. Some common coverbs are

1. 從 to follow
2. 為 to act as
3. 以 to grasp / to use

   A common pattern is 以 A 為 B [to take A to be B]

4. 因 to rely on

   因 can take an object but is sometimes used without an object at the beginning of a sentence. In this case the implication is that the situation described in the preceding text is relied upon.

5. 由 to follow along
6. 與 to give / to accompany
7. 自 to come from

所 can be used to change the location of the object of the coverb, as described above.

Negatives

There are a number of different terms for negation in classical Chinese:

1. 不 negates verbs. If a noun follows 不 it is modified to act as a verb. For example, in Han Feizi's story from below

   吾矛之利，於物無不陷也。
   My spears are so sharp that there is nothing they cannot pierce through.

2. 未 indicates that an action has not yet occurred, although it still may occur at some time in the future.
3. 無 is a verb that indicates something does not exist. 無 is the opposite of 有. For example,

   吾矛之利，於物無不陷也。
   My spears are so sharp that there is nothing they cannot pierce through.

   This example demonstrates that the different types of negation can come in handy with double negatives.

4. 非 negates the identity, i.e. A is not a B. 非 acts on nouns. For example, from the Analects 6.13 text above

   非敢後也
   Not having the courage to lag behind

5. 弗 is a fusion character that combines 不 and 之 For example,

   其人弗能應也。
   The person could not respond.

6. 勿 is a negative imperative — do not ...
7. 莫 is a negative distributive, similar to neither, nothing, or none. 莫 is the opposite of 或. For example, again from Han Feizi's story about the shield and spear below

   吾盾之堅，物莫能陷也。
   My shields are so hard that nothing can pierce through them.

矛盾（韓非子）
Text: Spear and Shield (Han Feizi)

楚人有鬻盾與矛者，譽之曰吾盾之堅，物莫能陷也。
又譽其矛曰吾矛之利，於物無不陷也。
或曰以子之矛陷子之盾，何如。
其人弗能應也。
夫不可陷之盾與無不陷之矛不可同世而立。

There was a man of the state of Chu who sold shields and spears. He bragged about his shields saying: “My shields are so hard that nothing can pierce through them.”
He also bragged about his spears saying: “My spears are so sharp that there is nothing they cannot pierce through.”
Someone said: “Sir, what would happen if people were to use your spears to pierce through your shields?’”
The person could not respond.
Obviously, shields that cannot be pierced by anything and spears that can pierce through anything cannot both exist at the same time.

Pivot Verbs

A pivotal construction is one where a pivot joins two verbs by being the object of the first verb and the subject responsible for the action of the second verb. Certain verbs, including 令 (to lead to), 使 (to cause), and 勸 (to urge) are often found in these constructions. For example,

嚮者使汝狗白而往，黑而來，豈能無怪哉。
Turning to face him caused the dog to go away from him with white and towards him with black. How could you not blame it?

Here 使 [to cause] is the pivot verb and 汝狗 [him, the dog] is the pivot.

Auxiliary Verbs

An auxiliary verb changes the sense of another verb, in particular, the possibility, probability, or desirability. For example,

豈能無怪哉。
How can you not blame it?

which uses the auxiliary verb 能 (can). The most frequenty encounterd auxiliary verbs are

1. 能 can / able to
2. 可 can
3. 可以 can
4. 必 must
5. 應 ought to
6. 肯 agree to
7. 敢 dare to
8. 難 hard to

An auxiliary verb accepts a main verb as its object. However, sometimes the main verb is omitted if it is obvious from the context.

楊布（列子） Text: Yang Bu (Lie Zi)

楊朱之弟曰布。 衣素衣而出。
[釋文云衣素衣之衣於旣切。 下衣緇衣同。 素衣之衣依字。]
天雨，解素衣。 衣緇衣而反。
其狗不知，應而吠之。
楊布怒將撲之。
楊朱曰子無撲矣。 子亦猶是也。
嚮者使汝狗白而往，黑而來，豈能無怪哉。

Yang Zhu's younger brother declared that he would go out wearing undyed white clothes.
[Interpretation of the Classics says that clothes in “wear white clothes” is used for the sound. In the text below “wear black clothes” is the same. The text “White clothes” relies on this character.]
A rain shower cuts through the plain white clothes. The clothes become black instead.
The dog does not know any better but to greet him by barking.
Yang Bu angrily beats the it the dog.
Yang Zhu says to the master please do not beat the dog. It appears that the master will listen.
Turning to face him caused the dog to go away from him with white and towards him with black. How could you not blame it?

狐假虎威（戰國策）
Text: The Fox Borrows the Tiger's Prestige (Strategies of the Warring States)

虎求百獸而食之，得狐。
狐曰子無敢食我也。
天帝使我長百獸，今子食我，是逆天帝命也。
子以我為不信，吾為子先行，子隨我後，觀百獸之見我而敢不走乎。
虎以為然，故遂與之行，獸見之皆走。
虎不知獸畏已而走也，以為畏狐也。

The tiger chases after all kinds of animals to eat and so happened to catch a fox.
The fox said, “Sir, you would not be so brave as to eat me.”
The Heavenly Emperor let me raise all types of animals. If Master eats me now you will be rebelling againts the order of the Emperor.
If you do not believe me, I will walk first and you follow behind. Observe how all animals see me and run away.
The tiger did as he said and walked with him. In each case, the animals fled.
The tiger di not know that the animals were afraid of himself but, instead thought that they were afraid of the fox.

The title of this section, 狐假虎威, has become a modern Chinese idiom meaning to use powerful connections to intimidate people.

Compound Sentences

Embedded Sentences

Embedded sentences are another way in classical Chinese to build complex sentences out of smaller building blocks. For example, consider the sentences in English

The sword fell in the water.
I saw it.
I saw the sword fall in the water.

The first sentence is embedded in the second sentence forming the third sentence. In classical Chinese a common pattern is

topic 之 comment

Here the modifier becomes the head new phrase and the topic is a modifier. For example, from 劉向 說苑 Garden of Stories by Liu Xiang,

譬渴者之飲江海 As an analogy, to quench one's thirst by drinking the water in all the rivers and seas

The verb 譬 (to use as a metaphor) takes the remainder of the text as the embedded sentence. In some cases the topic is well understood and topic 之 is replaced with 其.

揠苗（孟子） Pulling up Seedlings (Mencius)

敢問何謂浩然之氣。

曰難言也。 其為氣也，至大至剛。 以直養而無害，則塞於天地之間。 其為氣也，配義與道。 無是，餒矣。 是集義所生者，非義襲而取之也。 行有不慊於心，則餒矣。 我故曰：告子未嘗知義，以其外之也。 必有事焉而勿正，心勿忘，勿助長也。 無若宋人然。

宋人有閔其苗之不長而揠之者。 芒芒然歸，謂其人曰：今日病矣。 予助苗長矣。 其子趨而往視之。 苗則槁矣。 天下之不助苗長者寡矣。 以為無益而舍之者，不耘苗者也。 助之長者，揠苗者也。 非徒無益，而又害之。

What do you mean by vast qi?

He said, 'It is difficult to explain. Qi can be developed to great levels of quantity and stability. It can be used to norish without harm and block the space between heaven and earth. In developing qi, you will be connected with rightness and the way. If there was none you would be hungry for it. It is something that is produced by accumulating Rightness, and is not something that you can grab from superficial attempts at rightness. If you act without mental composure, you will become starved for it. Therefore, I would say that Gao Zi has not yet understood rightness, since he regards it as something external. You must be willing to work at it, understanding that you cannot have precise control over it. You can't forget about it, but you can't force it to grow, either. You do not want to be like the man from the state of Song.'

'There was a man from Song who was worried about the slow growth of his crops and so he went and yanked on them to accelerate their growth. Very tired, he returned home and announced, 'I am sick. I have been out helping the crops grow.' His son ran out to look at them. However, the seedlings had withered. Those in the world who do not help their crops by pulling them up are few indeed. There are also those who regard all effort as wasteful and don't even weed their crops. There are those who think they can hurry their growth along by pulling them up. They are not bring themselves benefit, but actually harm instead.'

劉向的故事 Stories by Liu Xiang

劉向 Liu Xiang also known as 劉更生 Liu Gengsheng and 子政 Zi Zheng was born in the city of 彭城 Peng Cheng, now known as 徐州 Xuzhou, located in present day Jiangsu province. He was a well know Confucian scholar and compiled 新序 New Prefaces, 說苑 Garden of Stories, and 戰國策 Stratagems of the Warring States.

晉平公問於師曠（說苑） Duke Ping of Jin asks Shi Kuang (Garden of Stories)

晉平公問於師曠曰吾年七十，欲學恐已暮矣。

師曠曰何不炳燭乎。

平公曰安有為人臣而戲其君乎。

臣聞之，
少而好學，如日出之陽。
壯而好學，如日中之光。
老而好學，如炳燭之明。

炳燭之明，熟與昧行乎。

平公曰善哉。

Duke Ping of Jin said to Teacher Kuang, 'I am already seventy, I am afraid that my desire to study is already gone.'

Teacher Kuang said, 'Why not light up the candle?'

Duke Ping said, 'Why does the behavior of a servant mock his master?'

The servant heard this:
Study is good when young, like the sun at sunrise.
Study is good in one's prime, like the light at noon.
Study is good in one's old age, like the light from a candle.

How would you not choose lighting a candle instead of walking in the darkness?

Duke Ping said, 'Very virtuous.'

說苑 The Garden of Stories was written by 劉向 Liu Xiang (79—8 BCE). This style of story is a persuasion. A persuasion is a story where the ruler asks a question and the advisor replies with a surprising answer. The explanation of the surprising answer delivers a message. 師曠 was a well know musician from the time in Shanxi in present day 洪洞 Hongdong. This section is from 卷三 建本 Scroll 3 Building a Foundation. See [LIU1].

兩頭蛇（新序） A Two Headed Snake (New Prefaces)

孫叔敖為嬰兒之時，出遊，見兩頭蛇，殺而埋之，歸而泣。

其母問其故。 叔敖對曰，聞見兩頭之蛇者死。 嚮者吾見之，恐去母而死也。

其母曰，蛇今安在。

曰，恐他人又見，殺而埋之矣。

其母曰，吾聞有陰德者天報以福，汝不死也。 及長為楚令尹，未治而國人信其仁也。

When Sun Shu ao was a young child he went out to play one time and saw a snake with two heads. He killed and buried it then returned home and cried.

His mother asked him what the reason was. Shu ao faced her and said, 'I saw a dead snake with two heads. I saw it facing me and was scared of dying so ran to mother.'

His mother asked, 'Where is the snake now?'

He said, 'I was afraid of other people seeing it, so I killed and buried it.'

I sense a hidden good deed that heaven will repay with good luck. You will not die. You will grow up to reach the level of chief minister of the State of Chu. You will rule the people of the country with a belief in their humanity.

趙簡子問子貢（說苑） Zhao Jianzi Asks Zi Gong (Garden of Stories)

趙簡子問子貢曰，孔子為人何如。 子貢曰，鞅不能識也。 簡子不說曰，子事孔子數十年終業而去之。 寡人問子，子曰不能識，何也。 子貢曰賜譬渴者之飲江海。 知足而已。 孔子猶江海也，賜則奚足以識之。 簡子曰善哉子貢之言也。

Zhao Jianzi asked Zi Gong, “How did Confucius conduct himself?” Zi Gong said, “I, Ci, cannot know.” Vexed, Jian Zi said, “I took you ten years to complete your training in the teachings of Confucius. The ruler asks and you reply that you cannot know. Why?” Zi Gong said, “Let me use a metaphor. It would be like drinking all the rivers and seas to quench one's thirst. It is only necessary to be content. Confucius is like all the rivers and seas. As for me, how could I be adequate to understand him?” Jian Zi said, “Your words are very virtuous.”

This section is from 卷十一 善說 Scroll 11 Kind Words. See [LIU1].

趙簡子舉兵功齊（說苑） Zhao Jianzi Raises an Army to Attack Qi (Garden of Stories)

趙簡子舉兵而攻齊，令軍中敢諫者罪至死。被甲士，名曰公盧，望見簡子大笑。簡子曰，子何笑。對曰，臣有宿笑。簡子曰有以解之則可，無以解之則死。對曰當桑之時，臣鄰家夫與俱之田。見桑中女，因往追之，不能得之。還反，其妻怒而去之。臣笑其曠也。簡子曰今吾伐國失國，是吾曠也。於是罷師而歸。

Zhao Jianzi raised an army to attack the State of Qi. He ordered complaining amongst the soldiers to be punished as a crime by execution. An officer wearing armour, named Gong Lu, looked at Jian Zi and laughed wildly. Jianzi asked, “Sir, why do you laugh?” Facing towards him he said, “You servant spent the whole night laughing.” Jian Zi said, “So there is an explanation for it. There is no other explanation but for you to die.” Facing towards him he said, “I was amongst the mulberry trees in the field near the house where my wife and I live. Amongst the mulberry trees I saw a woman but, because I was chasing her, I could not catch her. Going back, my wife was in a rage and left.” Jian Zi said, “Today I attack one state and loose another. It is pointless. Therefore, we will stop the campaign and return.”

This section of text is from Scroll 9 正諫 Handling Complaints.

吳王欲伐荊（說苑） The King of Wu Desired to Attack Chu (Garden of Stories)

吳王欲伐荊，告其左右曰，有敢諌者死。舍人有少孺子者，欲諫不敢，則懷丸操彈，遊於後園，露沾其衣。如是者三旦。吳王曰，子來。何苦沾衣如此。對曰，園中有樹，其上有蟬。蟬高居悲鳴飲露，不知螳蜋在其後也。螳蜋委身曲附欲取蟬，而不顧知黃雀在其旁也。黃雀延頸欲啄螳蜋，而不知彈丸在其下也。此三者皆務欲得其前利，而不顧其後之有患也。吳王曰善哉乃罷其兵。

The King of Wu desired to attack Chu and told his retainers and officials that anyone complaining would be executed. A palace attendant with a small child wanted to object but did not dare. Rather he held a slingshot with a pellet in on his body and walked to the back garden where his clothes got wet with due. So he spent three dawns. The King of Wu said, “Sir, please come here. What greivance wet your clothes in this way?” He said, “In there garden there are some trees with cicadas on them. The cicadas live up high and sadly weep, drinking due. There is a praying mantis back here as well. The praying mantis bends its body hoping to catch a cicada in spite of the small bird at its side. The small bird stretches its neck wanting to catch the praying mantis not knowing that there is a slingshot pellet below it. These three times I have been laboring to take the advantage but each time has ended in failure.” The King of Wu said, “Excellent!” He thus dismissed his troups.

戰國策 Stratagems of the Warring States

Stratagems of the Warring States 戰國策 [WAR1, WAR2, WAR3], also known in English as Intrigues of the Warring States, Chronicles of the Warring, or Records of the Warring States, is a well known historical work on the Warring States Period compiled between the third and first centuries BCE. It throws light on the political views of the period and also the social characteristics of the time. The original author(s) are not know but it was later discovered by Liu Xiang 劉向 (79—8 BCE) in the Imperial Library. He edited and compiled it into a single work from a number of fragments.

The 戰國七雄 Seven Warring States were 齊 Qi, 楚 Chu, 燕 Yan, 韓 Han, 趙 Zhao, and 秦 Qin.

曾參殺人 Zeng Shen Kills Someone

昔者曾子處費。［魯邑，屬東海。］費人有與曾子同名族[名字，族，姓。]者而殺人。 人告曾子母曰曾參殺人。 曾子之母曰吾者不殺人。 織自若。［若，如故也。］有頃焉，人又曰曾參殺人。其母尚織自若也。頃之，一人又告之曰曾參殺人。其母懼，投杼逾牆而走。［逾牆逃走也。］夫以曾參之賢與母之信也，而三人疑之，［使其母疑。］則慈母不能信也。［信，猶保也。］

Long ago the Zeng Zi lived in the city of Bi. [A city in the state of Lu, under the juristiction of the East China Sea.] There was a man from Bi with the same name and clan [name, clan, and surname] as Zeng Zi who killed someone. Someone told Zeng's mother “Zeng Shen has killed someone.” Zeng Zi's mother said, “My son would not kill anyone.” She continued to weave calmly. [Seemingly, as if it was in the past.] Shortly afterwards someone else said, “Zeng Shen has killed someone.” His mother still continued to calmly weave. Shortly afterwards another man told her, “Zeng Shen has killed someone.” His mother became afraid, threw away her shuttle, climbed over the wall and left. [Climbed over the wall and fled.] In spite of Zeng Shen's virtue and his mother's and his mother's faith in him when three men accuse him his mother, despite her love, his mother was unable to have faith.

This selection is from the Scroll 4, Qin Dynasty 2 卷四 秦二. 曾參 Zeng Shen was a disciple of Confucius. The sections in square brackets [] are annotations.

莊子 Zhuang Zi

莊子 Zhuang Zi (369-286 BCE) was an influential Taoist philosopher who lived during the Warring States Period (戰國時代). He was born in the city of Meng (蒙城) in the state of Song. He lived during the reign of 魏惠王 King Hui of Wei (reign 370—319 BCE).

道家 Taoist philosophy is a school of thought based primary on the books 道德經 Dao De Jing by 老子 Lao Zi and 莊子 Zhuang Zi. 道教 Taoism as a religion is connected with Taoist philosophy but also includes many Chinese folk traditions. Some modern writers do not identify Zhuang Zi with Taoism.

Zhuang Zi's writings are collected into a book of the same name [ZHU1]. The English translations here are based on The Writings of Chuang Tzu by James Legge [LEGG] made available online at Donald Sturgeon's web site [STUR].

鵷鶵 A Fabulous Bird

惠子相樑。莊子往見之。或謂惠子曰，莊子來代子相。於是惠子恐，搜於國中三日三夜恐。莊子往見之，曰，南方有鳥，其名為鵷鶵，子知之乎。夫鵷鶵發於南海，而飛於北海，非梧桐不止，非練實不食，［成玄英曰練實竹實也。武挺緒曰，練楝之借字。］非醴泉不飲。於是鴟得腐鼠，鵷鶵過之仰而視之曰嚇。今子欲以子之樑國而嚇我耶。［姚鼐曰，記此語者，莊徒之陋。］

Huizi was a minister in Liang. Zhuang Zi went to see him. Some one had told Huizi that Zhuangzi was come with a wish to supersede him in his office. Huizi became afraid, and instituted a search for the Zhuangzi thoughout the state for three days and three nights. Zhuangzi went to see him and said, “There is a fabulous bird in the south of China called a yuanchu. Do you know it?” Starting from the South China Sea the yuanchu flies to the Bohai Sea. Now, if it does not find Chinese parasol it will not rest. It will only eat bamboo seeds [Cheng Xuanying says that lianshi are bamboo seeds. Wu Tingxu says that lian is a loan character for practice.] and only drink from the purest springs. Once an owl caught a rotten rat. When the yuanchu went passing overhead the owl looked up to it and gave an angry scream. Today, do you also wish to use the kingdom of Liang to frighten me with a scream? Yao Nai says that this language shows the vulgar nature of Zhuang Zi's disciples.

This text selection is from the section 秋水 The Floods of Autumn in Zhuang Zi. Liang was the capital of the state of Wei.

曳尾於塗中 Dragging One's Tail in the Mud

莊子釣於濮水。楚王使大夫二人往先焉，曰，願以境內累矣。莊子持竿不顧，曰，吾聞楚有神龜，死已三千歲矣。王巾笥而藏之廟堂之上。此龜者寧其死為留骨而貴乎，寧其生而曳尾於塗中乎。二大夫曰，寧生而曳尾塗中。莊子曰，往矣，吾將曳尾於塗中。

Zhuang Zi was fishing in the Pu River. The king of Chu sent two second level ministers to him, with the message, “I wish to burden you with the charge of my territories.” Zhuangzi held his rod and, without looking around, said, “I have heard that in Chu there is a spirit-like tortoise-shell, the wearer of which died 3000 years ago. The king keeps it in his ancestral temple, in a bamboo box covered with cloth. Was it better for the tortoise to die, and leave its shell to be thus honoured? Or would it have been better for it to live, and keep on dragging its tail through the mud?” The two officers said, “It would have been better for it to live, and draw its tail through the mud.” Zhuang Zi said, “Go then. I will keep on drawing my tailthrough the mud.”

This text selection is also from the section 秋水 The Floods of Autumn.

髑髏 The Skull

莊子之楚，見空髑髏，髇然有形，撽以馬捶，因而問之曰，夫子貪生失理而為此乎。將子有亡國之事，斧鉞之誅，而為此乎。將子有不善之行，愧遺父母妻子之醜而為此乎？將子有凍餒之患而為此乎。將子之春秋故及此乎。於是語卒，援髑髏枕而臥。夜半髑髏見夢曰，子之談者似辯士。視子所言皆生人之累也，死則無此矣。子欲聞死之說乎。莊子曰然。髑髏曰，死，無君於上，無臣於下，亦無四時之事，從然以天地為春秋，雖南面王樂不能過也。莊子不信曰，吾使司命復生子形，為子骨肉肌膚，反子父母妻子，閭里知識，子欲之乎。髑髏深矉蹙頞曰，吾安能棄南面王樂而復為人間之勞乎。

When Zhuang Zi went to Chu, he saw an empty skull, bleached but still retaining its shape. Tapping it with his horse-switch, he asked it, saying, “Did you, Sir, in your greed of life, fail in the lessons of reason, and come to this? Or did you die, in the service of a perishing state, by execution? Or was it through your evil conduct, reflecting disgrace on your parents and on your wife and children? Or was it through your hard endurances of cold and hunger? Or was it that you had completed your term of life?” Having given expression to these questions, he took up the skull, and made a pillow of it when he went to sleep.

At midnight the skull appeared to him in a dream, and said, “What you said to me was after the fashion of an orator. All your words were about the entanglements of men in their lifetime. There are none of those things after death. Would you like to hear me, Sir, tell you about death?” “I would,” said Zhuang Zi. The skull resumed, “In death there are not (the distinctions of) ruler above and minister below. There are none of the phenomena of the four seasons. Tranquil and at ease, our years are those of heaven and earth. No king in his court has greater enjoyment than we have.” Zhuang Zi did not believe it and said, “If I could get the Ruler of our Destiny to restore your body to life with its bones and flesh and skin, and to give you back your father and mother, your wife and children, and all your village acquaintances, would you wish me to do so?” The skull stared fixedly at him, knitted its brows, and said, “How should I cast away the enjoyment of my royal court, and undertake again the toils of life among mankind?”

The text is from the 外篇 Outer Chapters 至樂 Perfect Enjoyment. 司命 The Overseer of Destiny is a Taoist immortal who kept ledgers of allotted life spans.

史記 Records of the Historian

史記 Records of the Historian (sometimes translated as Records of the Grand Historian) was written by 司馬遷 Sima Qian in the Han Dynasty. Sima Qian was considered the father of Chinese history for his compilation of this work, the first systematic Chinese historical text. The work was actually started by Sima Qian's father 司馬談 Sima Tan.

Records of the Historian is divided into 12 volumes of 本紀 Imperial Biographies, 10 volumes of 表 Tables containing timelines of events, 8 volumes of 書 Treatises, 30 volumes of 世家 Biographies of the Feudal Houses and Eminent Persons, and 70 volumes of 列傳 Biographies and Collective Biographies.

The complete Chinese text can be found online at the Chinese Text Project [SIMA].

石奢 Shi She

石奢者，楚昭王相也。堅直廉正，無所阿避。行縣，道有殺人者，相追之，乃其父也。縱其父而還，自系焉使人言之王曰，殺人者臣之父也。夫以父立政，不孝也。廢法縱罪，非忠也。臣罪當死。王曰追而不及，不當伏罪。子其治事矣。石奢曰不私其父，非孝子也，不奉主法，非忠臣也。王赦其罪上惠也，伏誅而死，臣職也。遂不受令，自刎而死。

Shi She was a minister to King Zhao of Chu. He was upright, honest, impartial, and did not flatter or avoid his duty. He was inspecting his county and assisted in pursuit of a murderer, which turned out to be his own father. He severed ties with his father. This caused him to say to the king, “The murderer is the father of an official. Now, according to established tradition I have have not been filial. Breaking the law and with this crime also shows disloyalty. The minister should die for this crime.” The king said, “Your pursuit shows otherwise. It would not be suitable to punish you. Please take care of the matter.” Shi She said, “He is not my own father. I am an unfilial son. I do not accept my host's course of action. The minister has been disloyal.” The kings pardon of my guilt is beyond a blessing. I should be executed.” Thereupon, without receiving any order, he cut his own throat.

This is the entire biography of Shi She from the chapter 循吏列傳 Biographies of Obedient Officials.

晏子之御 Yan Zi's Charioteer

晏子為齊相。出，其御之妻，從門閒而窺其夫。其夫為相御，擁大蓋，策駟馬，意氣揚揚什自得也。既而歸，其妻請去。夫問其故。妻曰，晏子長不滿六尺，身相齊國名顯諸侯。今者妾觀其出，志念深矣，常有以自下者。今子長八尺，乃為人僕御，然子之意自自以為足。妾是以求也。其後夫自損抑。晏子怪而問之，御以實對，晏子薦以為大夫。

Yan Zi was a minister for the state of Qi. On his way out the wife of his charioteer peeked at her husband through the gap in the door. This man acted as the charioteer for the minister, supported a large parasol, whipped a team of four horses, and was very satisfied with himself. On finishing and returning, his wife asked to go. The man asked her for what reason? His wife said, “Elder Yan Zi is nearly six feet tall, is a high minister for the state of Qi, and has the title of a feudal lord. This morning the concubine saw him leave with noble thoughts and a humble manner. Now Sir has grown to eight feet tall, behaving so graciously to his servant charioteer, as if he were the minister. The concubine pleads to go.” After this the man became dispirited. Yan Zi considered this strange and asked him, “Charioteer, what would you do if Yan Zi recommended you for minister?”

This text is from the section 列傳 Biographies.

漢高祖 Han Gao Zu

高祖以亭長為縣送徒酈山，多道亡，自度比至皆亡之。到豐西澤中，止飲。夜乃解縱所送徒曰，公等皆去吾亦從此逝矣。徒中壯士願從者十餘人。高祖被酒，夜徑澤中，令一人行前，行前者還報曰，前有大蛇當徑，願還。高祖醉曰，壯士，何畏，乃前。拔劍擊斬蛇，蛇遂分為兩，徑開。行數裡，醉因臥。後人來至蛇所，有一老嫗夜哭。人問何哭，嫗曰，人殺吾子故哭之。人曰嫗子何為見殺。嫗曰吾子白帝子也，化為蛇，當道，今為赤帝子斬之，故哭。人乃以嫗為不誠，欲笞之，嫗因忽不見。後人至，高祖覺，後人告高祖，高祖乃心獨喜自負。諸從者日益畏之。

Han Gao Zu was a Ting leader to lead people on foot to Mount Li from his county. Many of the people being led escaped on the way. From his own estimate by the time they reached their destination most of the people escaped. Arriving at the city of Feng on the western marshes they stopped for a drink. At night he unbound the people travelling on foot and said, “You are all free to go. In fact, I am going to leave as well.” Amongst the people travelling on foot were several stout men that were willing to follow and ten men remained behind. One night Han Gao Zu was drunk travelling through the marshes with a person leading the way in front. The person leading the way came back and reported, “There is a large snake in front blocking the way. I want to go back.” Gao Zu drunkenly said, “A strong man like you should not be scared. Continue ahead!” He took out his sword and chopped the snake in two opening the path. After walking a few li he was so drunk that he laid down. When the people following behind arrived at the place the snake was they saw an old woman crying in the night. The person asked the old lady why she was crying. The old lady said, “Someone killed my son. I am crying for my son.” The person asked， “Old lady, how was your son killed?” The old lady said, “My son is the son of the White Heavenly Emperor. He transformed into a snake to block the path but today the son of the Red Heavenly Emperor beheaded him, which is why I am crying.” Thus the man thought that the old lady was lying and wanted to whip her when suddenly the old lady disappeared. When the person following arrived Gao Zu woke up. The person told Gao Zu the story. Gao Zu alone felt happy and self-confident. All those following him became more fearful of him each day.

漢高祖 Han Gao Zu is the posthumous name for 劉邦 Liu Bang (c. 256—195 BCE), a bandit leader who became first Han emperor. He reigned from 202—195 BCE. A 亭 Ting was an Qin administrative unit of ten villages. 酈山 Mount Li is located east of Chang'an. This text is from the section 本紀 Imperial Biographies.

淳于髠 Chunyu Kun

孔子曰，六藝於治一也。禮以節人，樂以發和，書以道事，詩以達意，易以神化，春秋以義。太史公曰，天道恢恢，豈不大哉。談言微中，亦可以解紛。淳于髡者，齊之贅婿也，長不滿七尺，滑稽多辯，數使諸侯，未嘗屈辱。齊威王之時，喜隱，好為淫樂長夜之飲，沈湎不治，委政卿大夫。百官荒亂，諸侯並侵，國且危亡，在於旦暮，左右莫敢諫。淳于髡說之以隱曰，國中有大鳥，止王之庭，三年不蜚又不鳴，王不知此鳥何也。王曰，此鳥不飛則已，一飛衝天，不鳴則已，一鳴驚人。於是乃朝諸縣令長七十二人，賞一人，誅一人，奮兵而出。諸侯振驚，皆還齊侵地，威行三十六年。語在田完世家中。

Confucius said, “The six arts should be treated as one. Ritual restrains people, music sends out harmony, writing speaks of things, poetry conveys intentions, the cannon of change beings divine change. The Spring and Autumn Annals uses righteousness.” The Grand Scribe says, the path to heaven is very, very long. Subtle discussion is most appropriate and also resolves confusion. Chunyu Kun was from the state of Qi and adopted into his wife's family. He was just under seven [Chinese] feet tall. He was satirical and argumentative, being humiliated by the feudal lords on more than one occasion. King Wei of Qi liked riddles. After long nights of drinking for wanton pleasure, he was in a drunked stupor which he could not revive from and so delegated rule to his senior officials. From dawn to dusk the government was in chaos, feudal lords from surrounding regions invaded, the state was headed for collapse, and retainers and officials did not dare complain. Chunyu Kun persuaded the king to listen to a riddle: “In the capital there is a large bird that has stopped in the king's courtyard for three years without flying or chirping. What is it?” The king said, “This bird does not fly but if it did it would rush into the sky. It does not chirp but if it did it would startle people.” Thereupon he brought 72 people to court, including various leaders and chiefs. He showed appreciation for some, executed others, and gave direction to raise an army for an expedition. The feudal lords were alarmed and frightened. All of them returned the land they had taken from Qi before. King Wei ruled for thirty six years. This is discussed in the section Tian Wan in the Biographies of the Feudal Houses and Eminent Persons section.

威王八年，楚大發兵加齊。齊王使淳于髡之趙，請救兵，齎金百斤，車馬十駟。淳于髡仰天大笑，冠纓索絕。王曰，先生少之乎。髡曰，何敢。王曰，笑豈有說乎。髡曰，今者臣從東方來，見道傍有禳田者，操一豚蹄，酒一盂，祝曰，甌樓滿篝，汙邪滿車，五穀蕃熟，穰穰滿家。臣見其所持者狹，而所欲者奢，故笑之。於是齊威王乃益齎黃金千鎰，白璧十雙，車馬百駟。髡辭而行至趙。趙王與之精兵十萬，革車千乘。楚聞之，夜引兵而去。

In the eighth year of the rule of King Wei the state of Chu sent out a large number of troops to annex the state of Qi. The King of Qi used Chunyu Kun of Zhao to request that the state of Zhao rescue Qi's troops. Chunyu Kun presented the state of Zhao with 50 jin of gold and chariots and horses for ten teams of four horses each. Chunyu Kun looked up at the sky and laughed uproariously. The string connecting the tassel to his hat broke. The king said, “Sir, is that too few?” Chun said, “I would not dare.” The king said, “How could it be that you are laughing as you speak?” Chun said, “I was travelling to the east today and saw an offering on the roadside. It held a pig's trotter, a bowl of wine, and prayed ‘Shall the high ground be enough to fill a basket, shall the low ground be enough to fill a cart, shall the five grains flourish and ripen, shall they be abundant enough to satisfy our family.’ Your servant saw the narrow nature of this grasping and desire for extravagance and it caused me to laugh.” Consequently, King Wei of Qi thus increased the gift to one thousand yi of gold, ten pairs of white jade ceremonial disks, and a hundred chariots and teams of four horses each. Kun took his leave and travelled to the state of Zhao. The king of Zhao gave him one hundred thousand crack troops and one thousand leather covered chariots. The state of Chu heard about this and at night withdrew their troops.

威王大說，置酒後宮，召髡賜之酒。問曰，先生能飲幾何而醉。對曰，臣飲一鬥亦醉，一石亦醉。威王曰，先生飲一鬥而醉，惡能飲一石哉。其說可得聞乎。髡曰，賜酒大王之前，執法在傍御史在後，髡恐懼俯伏而飲，不過一鬥徑醉矣。若親嚴客，髡帣韝鞠跽，待酒於前，時賜餘瀝，奉觴上壽，數起，飲不過二鬥徑醉。若朋友交遊，久不相見，卒然相睹，歡然道故，私情相語，飲可五六鬥徑醉矣。若乃州閭之會，男女雜坐，行酒稽留，六博投壺，相引為曹，握手無罰，目眙不禁，前有墮珥，後有遺簪，髡竊樂此，飲可八鬥而醉二參。日暮酒闌，合尊促坐，男女同席，履舄交錯，杯盤狼藉，堂上燭滅，主人留髡而送客，羅襦襟解，微聞薌澤，當此之時，髡心最歡，能飲一石。故曰，酒極則亂，樂極則悲，萬事盡然，言不可極，極之而衰。以諷諫焉。齊王曰，善，乃罷長夜之飲。

King Wei was very delighted and put on a party in the rear of the palace and invited Kun. He asked, “How many drinks does it take you to get drunk?” Kun replied, “It might take one peck [two liters] for your servant to become drunk. With twenty pecks I would also be drunk.” King Wei said, “Sir, if you get drunk on one peck, how could you possibly drink ten? Please explain how that is possible?” Kun said, “Great king you invite me to drink with you but behind me is the censor who upholds the law. I am scared of falling over drunk because one peck might do it right away. If my parents had an important visitor, I would roll up my sleeves and kneel humbly, wait for there be only a few drops of the wine in front of me left, and only then take the goblet and toast the long life of the guest. So it would have only taken me two pecks to get drunk. If I had not seen a friend or companion for a long time and we suddenly met. We would happily talk about old times and personal feelings and it would I would drink five or six pecks and then be drunk. If three was a gathering of people from my village with a mix of men and women drinking wine and lingering around playing liu bo or pitch pot. If I found that I and a companion were mutually attracted to each other, holding hands without fear and not able to stop staring at each other. Maybe an earing or a hairpin would be dropped. Although I should not I would enjoy this and be able to drink eight pecks of wine and only be about two thirds drunk. At sunset when the wine is finished, with the wine from the bottles combined together, a man and a woman are sitting at the same seat after a lively party with cups and dishes in disorder, the candles in the hall out, the master leaving me to send off guests, my under-shirt unbuttoned, smelling a delicate fragrance. At that time I would be the most happy and able to drink ten pecks. This leads me to say that drinking too much causes chaos, to many parties causes unhappiness, ten thousand of anything can be not enough, discussion can also be too much, and too much of anything looses its value.” Thus criticizing through indirection. The king of Qi said, “Very good. So we will stop our long nights of drinking.”

“

This text is the biography of Chunyu Kun from the chapter 滑稽列傳 Biographies of Court Wits. Chunyu Kun was an advisor to 齊威王 King Wei of Qi (378 BCE—320 BCE) during the Warring States Period.

六藝 The Six Arts or Six Cannons are listed in the second sentence of the text. These are well known in Confucian philosophy.

A 令 Ling commands a region of 10 000 people or more and a 長 Zhang is the chief of a smaller area. In the Warring States period one jin was 256 grams (not 500 grams as it is today). An 鎰 is a measure of weight equal to 20 taels (liang) or two jin in the modern Chinese market system. A 鬥 peck at that time and place was 1.94 liters. These measures were all before the standardization under Qin Shi Huang and are not equal to the equivalents in the more recent Chinese market system.

In the 周 Zhou system a 閭 Zhou had 25 households and a 州 had 2 500 households.

The rear of the palace was the womens' quarters.

韓非子 Han Feizi

韓非子 Han Feizi or just 韓非 Han fei (c. 280—233 BCE) was pre-Han dynasty philosopher best known for being one of the developers of 法家 the Legalist school of philosophy. Han Feizi was born into the ruling aristocracy of the state of Han near the end of the Warring States Period.

Legalism was one of the four principle schools of thought in the Spring and Autumn and Warring States Periods. The other three schools were 儒家 Confusianism, 墨家 Mohism, and 道家 Daoism. In Legalism the ruler controls the state with the three principles of 勢 position of power, 術 certain techniques, and 法 laws. The philosophy distrusts human nature and focuses on methods to control people. Legalism was very influential to 秦始皇 Qin Shi Huang, the first emperor of the Qin Dynasty, known for his ruthless unification campaign and systematic regulation of writing, and weights and measures.

For a full English translation see the online text translated by Anne Kinney [HAN1].

和氏之壁 The He Clan's Jade Disk

楚人和氏得玉璞楚山中，奉而獻之厲王。厲王使玉人相之，玉人曰石也。王以和為誑而刖其左足。及厲王薨，武王即位，和又奉其璞而獻之武王。武王使玉人相之，又曰石也。王又以和為誑而刖其右足。武王薨，文王即位，和乃抱其璞而哭於楚山之下三日三夜，淚盡而繼之以血。王聞之使人問其故，曰天下之刖者多矣，子奚哭之悲也。和曰，吾非悲刖也，悲夫，寶玉而題之以石，貞士而名之以誑，此吾所以悲也。王乃使玉人理其璞而得寶焉，遂命曰和氏之璧。

A man from the state of Chu from the He clan, obtained a piece of uncut jade in the Chu Hills. He brought it back as an offering to present to King Li. King Li asked a jade carver to examine it. The jade carver said, “It is just an ordinary rock.” The king cut off He's left foot for decieving him. Upon the death of King Li King Wu ascended the throne and, once again, He presented his offering of the uncut piece jade, this time to King Wu. King Wu asked the jade carver to examine it. Once again the jade carver said, “It is just an ordinary rock.” The king cut off He's right foot for being deceitful again. When King Wu died and King Wen ascended the throne, He carried the uncut piece of jade to Chu Hills. He cried for three days and nights until his tears were exhausted and his tears turned to blood. The king sent men, who asked, “There are many people in the world with their feet cut off. Sir, why do you cry so bitterly?” He said, “I am not crying for the loss of my feet but for the false evaluation of this precious jade as an ordinary rock and for being branded as a liar. That is what I am upset about.” So the king had the jade carver work the uncut jade and thereupon called it the “Jade Tablet of the He Clan.”

This text is from 和氏第十三 Chapter 13 The He Clan.

孟子 Mencius

孟子 Mencius, also translated as Meng Zi, (c. 372-c. 289 BC) was a Confucian philosopher regarded by many as second only to Confucius himself. Mencius also refers to the book of the same name. Mencius was born in 鄒國 the state of Zou, located in present day Shandong province.

Mencius was a pupil of Confucius' grandson, 子思 Zi Si. He travelled throughout China and served as an official in the state of Qi. Mencius stressed the importance of the common people and a benevolent government. In this respect, Confusianism (儒家) was diametrically opposed to Legalist thought (法家).

The English text below is based on "The Works of Mencius" by James Legge [LEG1], which is available in a bilingual version online at [MENC].

施仁政 Benevolent Government

梁惠王曰，晉國，天下莫強焉，叟之所知也。及寡人之身，東敗於齊，長子死焉。西喪地於秦七百裡。南辱於楚。寡人恥之，比死者一灑之，如之何則可。孟子對曰，地方百裡而可以王。王如施仁政於民，省刑罰，薄稅斂，深耕易耨。壯者以暇日修其孝悌忠信，入以事其父兄，出以事長上，可使制梃以撻秦楚之堅甲利兵矣。彼奪其民時，使不得耕耨以養其父母，父母凍餓，兄弟妻子離散。彼陷溺其民，王往而徵，之，夫誰與王敵。故曰，仁者無敵。王請勿疑

King Hui of Liang said, “There was not in the nation a stronger State than Jin, as you, venerable Sir, know. However, after it descended to me, on the east we have been defeated by Qi, where my eldest son perished. On the west we have lost seven hundred li of territory to Qin. On the south we have sustained disgrace at the hands of Chu. I have brought shame on my departed predecessors and wish to wipe that away once for all. What course is to be pursued to accomplish this?”

Mencius replied, “With a territory which is only a hundred li square, it is still possible to attain royal dignity. If the king will indeed implement a benevolent government for the people, being sparing in the use of punishments and fines, and making the taxes and levies light, so causing that the fields shall be ploughed deep, and the weeding of them be carefully attended to. Thus the strong-bodied, during their days of leisure, will cultivate their filial piety, fraternal respectfulness, sincerity, and truthfulness, serving thereby, at home, their fathers and elder brothers, and, abroad, their elders and superiors, you will then have a people who can be employed, with sticks which they have prepared, to oppose the strong armor and sharp weapons of the troops of Qin and Chu. The rulers of those States rob their people of their time, so that they cannot plough and weed their fields, in order to support their parents. Their parents suffer from cold and hunger. Brothers, wives, and children are separated and scattered abroad. Those rulers, as it were, drive their people into pit-falls, or drown them. Your Majesty will go to punish them. In such a case, who will oppose your Majesty? In accordance with this is the saying, 'The benevolent has no enemy.' I beg your Majesty not to doubt what I say.”

This text is from 梁惠王上 King Hui of Liang Part I. The king is “of Liang” because the capital city of the state of Wei was 大梁 Da Liang.

熊掌 Bear Claws

孟子曰，魚，我所欲也。熊掌，亦我所欲也。二者不可得兼，舍魚而取熊掌者也。生亦我所欲也。義，亦我所欲也。二者不可得兼，舍生而取義者也。生亦我所欲，所欲有什於生者，故不為苟得也。死亦我所惡，所惡有什於死者，故患有所不闢也。如使人之所欲莫什於生，則凡可以得生者，何不用也。使人之所惡莫什於死者，則凡可以闢患者，何不為也。由是則生而有不用也，由是則可以闢患而有不為也。是故所欲有什於生者，所惡有什於死者，非獨賢者有是心也，人皆有之，賢者能勿喪耳。

一簞食，一豆羹，得之則生，弗得則死。嘑爾而與之，行道之人弗受。蹴爾而與之，乞人不屑也。萬鍾則不辨禮義而受之，萬鍾於我何加焉。為宮室之美，妻妾之奉，所識窮乏者得我與。鄉為身死而不受，今為宮室之美為之鄉為身死而不受，今為妻妾之奉為之，鄉為身死而不受，今為所識窮乏者得而為之，是亦不可以已乎。此之謂失其本心。

Mencius said, “I like fish. I also like bear claws. If I cannot have the two together, I will let the fish go, and take the bear's paws. I also like life. I also like right action. If I cannot keep the two together, I will let life go, and choose righteousness. I like life indeed, but there is that which I like more than life, and therefore, I will not seek to possess it by any improper ways. I dislike death indeed, but there is that which I dislike more than death, and therefore there are occasions when I will not avoid danger. If among the things which man likes there were nothing which he liked more than life, why should he not use every means by which he could preserve it? If among the things which man dislikes there were nothing which he disliked more than death, why should he not do everything by which he could avoid danger? There are cases when men by a certain course might preserve life, and they do not employ it; when by certain things they might avoid danger, and they will not do them. Therefore, men have that which they like more than life, and that which they dislike more than death. They are not men of distinguished talents and virtue only who have this mental nature. All men have it; what belongs to such men is simply that they do not lose it.”

“Here are a small basket of rice and a platter of soup, and the case is one in which the getting them will preserve life, and the want of them will be death. If they are offered with an insulting voice, even a tramper will not accept them. If you first tread upon them, even a beggar will not stoop to take them. Yet a man will accept of ten thousand zhong, without any consideration of propriety or righteousness. How can the ten thousand zhong benefit him? When he takes them, is it not that he may obtain beautiful mansions, that he may secure the services of wives and concubines, or that the poor and needy of his acquaintance may be helped by him? In the former case the offered bounty was not received, though it would have saved from death, and now the compensation is taken for the sake of beautiful mansions. The bounty that would have preserved from death was not received, and the compensation is taken to get the service of wives and concubines. The bounty that would have saved from death was not received, and the compensation is taken that one's poor and needy acquaintance may be helped by him. Was it then not possible likewise to decline this? This is a case of what is called ‘Losing the proper nature of one's mind.’”

This text is from the section 告子上 Gaozi I. Ten thousand zhong refers to a very large income granted by their ruler.

詞彙 Vocabulary

中國朝代 Chinese Dynasties

古文詞彙 Classical Chinese Vocabulary

歷史詞彙 Historic Terms

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