Introduction to Classical Chinese

Patrick Hanan, David Lattimore, Judith Zeitlin, Margaret Baptist Wan,

Anthony George, Xiaofei Tian, Regina Llamas, Hu Hsiao-chen, Liu Lening,

Paul Rouzer, Shang Wei, Andrew Schonebaum, Mei Kong et. al., eds.

Biographies of Lian Po and Lin Xiangru, ca. 1095

Huang Tingjian (Chinese, 1045–1105)
Handscroll; ink on paper; 12 3/4 in. x 59 ft. 9 in. (32.5 x 1822.4 cm)
Bequest of John M. Crawford Jr., 1988 (1989.363.4)

Introduction to Classical Chinese is an openly licensed college level Classical Chinese

textbook compiled by Professor Patrick Hanan at Harvard University, and further developed by
many contributors at various universities over the span of forty years between 1984 and 2024.
All materials are freely available online under a Creative Commons license to any university or
individuals who wish to use or adapt them.

The contents of this website were developed under a Maryland Open Source Textbook Initiative
Grant, with the assistance from the Rebus Textbook Success Program.

PUBLICATION DATE
February 10, 2024

1
 Introduction to Classical Chinese

The texts in this book fall into three groups:

1. Sixteen Han and pre-Han pieces have been chosen to illustrate the main features of Classical
Chinese. With some ancillary materials, these occupy about the first five weeks of the term.

2. Readings from Shi Ji biographies including the whole of 77 and large parts of 79 and 81. At
this stage, which last about seven weeks, syntax is treated more systematically.

In all of the texts used, basic characters are distinguished from the rest by being unmarked. They
are the most frequently used 1028 characters in Classical Chinese, i.e., groups 99 through 18 in E.
Bruce Brooks and A. Taeko Brooks, Chinese Character Frequency lists. In the first year course,
students are required to know only the basic characters, about 640 of which are used during the
fall semester. Characters in grey come within the next 1250 in terms of frequency, i. e., groups
17 through 3. Characters below group 3 are grey and in a smaller font. Proper nouns are
underlined, as they often are in modern reprints of classical texts.

3. Further readings from Shi Ji . Students are not required to know the new characters that occur
in these readings.

Contents

Introductory Observation 4

Lessons 1-16 7
(Vocabularies)
(Commentaries)
(Grammar Notes)

Shi Ji 81 122
(Vocabularies)

Shi Ji 77 147
(Vocabularies)

Shi Ji 79 188
(Vocabularies)

Glossary of Grammar Terms 212

2
Preface:

This textbook was first compiled by Professor Patrick Hanan at Harvard University in 1984.
In the introduction, Professor Hanan acknowledged his appreciation to those who had contributed to
the completion and revision of the book. Since then many graduate teaching fellows from the
department of EALC at Harvard have provided invaluable suggestions for the revision of this
textbook: Margaret Baptist Wan, Anthony George, Xiaofei Tian, Regina Llamas and Hu Hisao-chen.
This revised version of textbook includes the grammar notes prepared by Professor David Lattimore
who taught at Harvard during the 1992 academic year and the glossary of grammar terms by
Professor Judith Zeitlin. Paul Rouzer’s commentary to the first 16 lessons have been included in this
edition. Some changes were made for the purpose of consistency and convenience by Shang Wei and
Le-ning Liu, and later by Andrew Schonebaum and Mei Kong. I thank all those listed above who
made this possible.

Andrew Schonebaum

3
 Introductory Observations of Classical Chinese

Classical Chinese is a written language based on Old Chinese, or Chinese as it was

spoken circa 500-200BCE. From that time to the early 20th century, Classical Chinese continued
as China's language of education, elite culture, and government. In this Classical Chinese
resembles some other “dead” languages, such as Latin, Old Church Slavonic, and Sanskrit,
which likewise have survived in a learned circle long after they stopped being the vernacular of
the people. But China's logogaphic script has caused Classical Chinese to survive in a peculiarly
lopsided way, favoring sense over sound. Chinese script, little changed from Han times (2nd
century BCE), has served the speech of every era and region by tying itself to the pronunciation
of none. The educated speaker of Mandarin, other dialects, or for that matter Japanese or Korean,
can read off or quote the classics, just as he can read any other texts, in his own accents, and
from this beginning the classics are especially accessible to him; but unless he is a specialist in
historical phonology, he cannot begin to pronounce them in the accents of Confucius. As a result,
classical vocabulary, idioms, and citations permeate the contemporary East Asian languages to
an unusual degree, but not classical sounds.
One thing we know, though, about Old Chinese, and also Middle Chinese, the language
of Tang poetry, is that they had sound systems much richer in distinctions than are those modern
dialects, especially Mandarin. With well over twice as many phonologically distinct syllables in
use, and thus far fewer homonyms, the older stages of Chinese managed to be far more strictly
monosyllabic without foundering in ambiguity. Mandarin Chinese is monosyllabic in the special
sense that most of its morphemes (smallest meaningful units) are monosyllables, while words are
commonly disyllables, compounds of two morphemes. But in Old Chinese, and this in Classical
Chinese at its beginnings, most every syllable made up a free-standing morpheme, a
monosyllabic word.
There are exceptions. To begin with, Classical Chinese contains s few hundred
onomatopoeic and other" descriptive" disyllables, which often cannot be split into separately
meaningful morphemes, although we can see how they were put together, namely by a full or
partial reduplication of sounds. For instance:

4
 Full duplication: xiāoxiāo 蕭蕭 (imitation of the wind’s whistling
or horses neighing)

Initial reduplication kāngkǎi 慷慨 displaying generosity, ardor, sincerity

(alliteration)

Final reduplication páihuái 徘徊 linger and waver, silly-shally

(rhyme)

Special caution is needed when a Classical Chinese compound is made up of the same
elements as a Mandarin compound. For example, qīzǐ 妻子, which in Mandarin means “wife”
(with meaningless noun suffix 子 zǐ) in Classical Chinese means “wife and children” – both
syllables retain full meaning. A complex example is 長短 chuángduǎn literally “long / short”.
In Classical Chinese this retains the full sense of both syllables: it applies especially to long-and-
short poems, poems including both longer and shorter lines. But in Mandarin長短 chuángduǎn
generalizes to mean “length”. In a figurative sense長短 chuángduǎn in Classical Chinese means
a person’s “strong points and shortcomings.” In Mandarin this again generalizes to mean
something like “human characteristics as a subject of conversation.”
The lesson, here, is that Classical Chinese is a very pithy language, a language of few
words, each with much meaning. To quote Judith Zeitlin:

"Every word counts in Classical Chinese. You may not always be able to translate
every word into English, but you must be able to account for its presence in the
sentence. This means that you must read very slowly and precisely, much more so
than in modem Chinese or English."

Classical Chinese is not only monosyllabic but uninflected. Again, there are exceptions:
there are a good many relics of a no-longer-active system of word formation (or word-family-
formation), as in 王 wáng “king”, wàng “to rule over”; 食 shí “food, to eat”, sì “to feed”. But in

5
general Classical Chinese does not inflect for such features as case, tense, person, number, voice
or mood.
This produced two interesting results. First, since words are unmarked for part of speech,
they slip readily from one part-of speech role to another: for example, dōng 東 “east” can also
mean “go east” or (as in Lesson 1) it can serve adverbially to mean, “eastwards”. Second, and
even more immediately needful of the student's attention, is the fact that, in the absence of
grammatical markers such as case endings, the role of relating word to each other in a
determinate manner falls, by default, to WORD ORDER. In Classical Chinese, then, word order
is supremely important and substantially fixed. In English, almost as uninflected as Classical
Chinese, word order is almost, but not quite, as important, and not quite so fixed.
In English the favored (but hardly universal) word orders are modifier-modified and
subject-verb-object. Chinese, rather more regularly than English, favors the modifier modified
word order, and subject-verb-object, too, is highly normal in Chinese, although we will see it as
but one variant of a universal topic-comment order. (The first three words in Lesson 1 perfectly
exemplify subject-verb-object word order in Chinese). Later we will talk about ellipsis, or the
omission of words- while you can not transpose words in Classical Chinese without changing
the construction and meaning, you can, very often, omit them. A hint for understanding Lesson 1:
when sentences are strung together without words to make explicit the relation between them,
the likeliest guess at that relationship is" If X then Y", or some elaboration of this pattern, such as
" If not then ... ".

Nothing else in Classical Chinese is so important as word order, except for particles (or
grammatical or function or “empty” words). Lesson I contains one of the most important
particles in the second occurrence of zhī 之 which subordinates that precedes it to what follows.

6
 Lesson 1

梟將東徙 (說苑)
xiāo jiāng dōng xǐ (shuō yuàn)

梟逢鳩， 鳩曰：“子將安之？” 梟曰：“我將東徙。” 鳩

曰：“何故？” 梟曰：“鄉人皆惡我鳴，以故東徙。” 鳩
曰：“子能更鳴，可矣。不能更鳴，東徙， 猶惡子之聲。”

7
 lesson 1 vocabulary

梟 (枭) xiāo owl

逢 (辵 ) féng come upon, meet

鳩 (鸠) jiū pigeon, dove

曰 yuē to say (direct speech)

子 zǐ You (respectful)

將 ( 将) jiāng to be about to … 將 often appears as a prefix before a verb; it

indicates future tense or an intention

安 ān where?

之 zhī to go

我 wǒ I

東 (东) dōng east

徙 xǐ to move (one's abode)

何 hé what

故 gù reason

鄉 (鄕) xiāng village, place

人 rén person

皆 jiē completely, all

惡 (恶) wù to hate, to dislike

8
鳴 (鸣) míng to cry, to screech

以 yǐ on account of (以 has many uses in CC, many will be clarified

later)

以故 yǐ gù for this reason

能 néng to be able

更 gēng to change

可 kě alright, feasible

矣 yǐ [a final particle] used to express declaration /

exclamation. 矣 emphasizes completion of an action.

不 bù not [ a negative adverb] [bú before 4th tone]

猶 (犹) yóu still

之 zhī [a particle]

聲 (声) shēng sound

說怨 shuō yuàn Garden of Discourses is a compilation of anecdotes taken from

various Han Dynasty texts. Parables were often used by
philosophers and political advisors during the Warring States
period n order to persuade others (in particular, rulers) to take a
certain course of action. Many of these parables have since
become folk stories / fables

9
Commentary to lesson 1:

1.2 Pronouns in Classical Chinese may be possessive; hence, 我鳴 means “my cry”

Classical often drops connectives and conjunctions that are necessary in English. Here,
“if…then” must be supplied. Note also that unstated subjects of the sentence can change in
mid-sentence. Read the last part of this section as follows: “If 子能更鳴, then 可矣. If you
不能更鳴, and you 東徙, then people 猶惡子之聲.”

之 is an important particle that indicates possession (often playing the role that s’
or ‘s does in English or 的 does in Mandarin.) 子之聲 thus means “your voice.”
Note that this particle will often be omitted if the context makes the meaning clear –
as in 我鳴. 之 also connects words or phrases in order to clarify attributions of
qualities; for example:

東之人 people of the East

徙之人 people who are moving
不能更鳴之人 people who cannot change their voices

10
 Lesson 2

守株待兔 (韓非子)
shǒu zhū dāi tù (Hán Fēizǐ )

宋人有耕者，田中有株，兔走觸株，折頸而死。因釋其耒而守

株，冀復得兔。兔不可復得，而身為宋國笑。

11
 lesson 2 vocabulary

宋 sòng (name of a state)

耕 gēng to plow

者 zhě (an abstract noun that requires a modifier)

耕者 gēng zhě plowman

田 tián field

中 zhōng middle

田中 tián zhōng in the fields

有 yǒu there is, to have

株 zhū tree stump

兔 tù rabbit

走 zǒu to run

觸 (触) chù to knock against

折 (拃) zhé to break

頸 (颈) jǐng neck

而 ér and, yet [a conjunction]

死 sǐ to die

12
因 yīn thereupon; therefore

釋 (释) shì to abandon

其 qí his, her, its, their, etc.

耒 lěi plow

守 shǒu to guard, to watch by

冀 jì to hope

可 kě possible

復 (复) fù again

得 dé to get

身 shēn oneself

為(为) wéi to be [marks the agent in a passive construction]

國(国) guó country

笑 xiào to laugh; laughter

待 dài to wait for

韓非子 Hán Fēizǐ Master Han Fei was a Warring States philosopher and the founder
of a philosophical school generally known as “Legalism,” which
stressed rigid control of a nation’s subjects through thoroughly
enforced laws and punishments.

13
Commentary to lesson 2:

1.1 宋人有耕者. This is a standard way of introducing characters in classical narrative.

Literally, “the people of Song had a plowman,” it is probably best to translate it as
“among the people of Song there was a plowman.”

者 is a particle that nominalizes verbs and verb phrases, often in the way “-er” does in
English (e.g. “farm-er”). In many cases 者 could stand for “…之人”. For example:
惡鳴者 “hate voice-er” (a person who hates [his] voice). However it is important to keep
in mind that 者 can also indicate a thing that performs an action (like “blend-er”). Thus,
耕者 could also be a plow (“thing that plows”) and 鳴者 could be anything that cries
(bird, person, door hinge).

而 is a general phrase connector, often translated as “and”. “But” is often an appropriate

translation, depending on context. IN two phrases connected by 而 the first phrase is
often subordinate to the second, and the second phrase describes the consequences of the
first. For example, the phrase 折頸而死 could be translated as “having broken its neck,
it died.”

Common sense and the death of the rabbit tell us that 因 introduces a change of
subject from rabbit to man.

1.2 不可復得: Passive readings of verbs in classical Chinese are fairly rare; however,
可 is a passive marker indicating that the verb will be passive; thus 不可得 “it
could not be gotten.”

為 has a plethora of uses in classical; here we see its use in a passive construction.
為 introduces the agent of the action. Literally: “[He] himself by the Song
country was laughed at” – i.e., he was the laughingstock of Song. Compare: 兔
為鄉人惡 “The rabbit was hated by the villagers.” 子之頸為耕者折“Your neck
was broken by the plowman.”

14
 Grammar Note 1: Empty Words in Lessons 1-2

將 jiāng adverb “about to” - indicates incipient action

安 ān interrogative adverb - “where to? where?”

何 hé interrogative adverb - “what?”

皆 jiē “in all cases, all”. Like the adverb 都 dōu in Mandarin (except that it can
modify any comment and not only a verbal one)

以 yǐ 以 yǐ was originally a verb, meaning “take, use”. It often works like 用

yòng or 拿 ná in Mandarin. But it functions more frequently as a coverb,
secondary to the verb that follows it:

COVERB MAIN VERB

不 以 城 予 趙
bù yǐ chéng yǔ zhào
(They will) not give Zhao the towns (they promised)

矣 yǐ 矣 yǐ concludes a verbal comment to indicate completion (perfective

aspect), whether in the past, present, or future time. Equivalent to
Mandarin sentence final le 了.

之 zhī 之 zhī, the most frequent character in Classical Chinese, stands for the
verb “to go” (as in line 1) and also for two important particles. The
particle here is a conjunction which joins a modifier to the following
nominal expression 子之聲 zǐ zhī shēng “you 之 sound” i.e., “your sound”.

15
 In this usage it resembles Mandarin de 的. It imposes a nominal sense on
what follows it: thus 子之徙 zǐ zhī xǐ would have to be “your moving”.

者 zhě attached as here to a verb (耕 gēng “to plow”) is like the English ending
–er “one who”: thus 耕者 gēng zhě “plower, one who plows, plowman”.

而 ér Classical Chinese has several words for “and”. 而 ér is an “and” that

joins verbs or verbal constructions, like bob and weave (NOT like
cabbages and kings). Sometimes it coordinates verbal expression: “X and
Y”. Sometimes it subordinates the first verbal expression to the second
“X and thus Y”; “Y by means of X”. Of the three constructions with而
ér in lesson 2, the first is subordinative, the others are coordinative. We
will also see 而 ér translatable as “but”.

其 qí “his, her, its, their”

16
 Lesson 3

攫金 (列子)
jué jīn (liè zǐ )

昔齊人有欲金者。清旦，衣冠而之市，適鬻金者之所。因攫其金

而去。 吏捕得之，問曰：“人皆在焉，子攫人之金何？”對

曰：“取金之時，不見人，徒見金。”

17
 lesson 3 vocabulary

昔 xí the past, in the past

齊 (齐) Qí (name of a state)

欲 yǜ to wish, to desire

清 qīng clear

旦 dàn dawn; morning;

清旦 qīng dàn early in the morning

衣 yī clothes

冠 guān cap

市 shì market

適 (适 ) shì to reach

鬻 yǜ to sell

所 suǒ place

攫 jüé to snatch, to grab

去 qǜ to leave [transitive]

吏 lì officer, magistrate

捕 bǔ to arrest

18
得 dé to catch, to arrest

之 zhī him, her, it, them [generalized pronoun object]

問 (问) wèn to ask

在 zài to be in or at

焉 yān there [fusion word 於 之]

何 hé why?

對 (对) duì to reply

取 qǚ to take

時 (时) shí time

見 (见) jiàn to see

徒 tú only

列子 liè zǐ Master Lie was a mythical Daoist sage and magician. A collection
of Daoist wisdom compiled in the Han is named for him.

19
Commentary to lesson 3:
1.1: Often nouns can be turned into verbs; in such cases, their tones often
change. Hence, 衣 yī (first tone) means “clothes” while 衣 yì (fourth tone) means
“to wear clothes,” “to put clothes on.”

其 is usually used as a general third-person possessive: “his, her, its, their.” It is

also a general demonstrative: “this, that.”

1.2: Note that the use of 之 here as a general third-person possessive (“him, her,
it, them”). You know the three meanings of 之: 1) as the verb “to go;” 2) as a
particle indicating possession; 3) as a pronoun. Meaning number one is the most
uncommon.

Since 曰 is almost always used to introduce a direct quote (remember classical

texts did not have punctuation), it can become monotonous. Classical writers
often modify 曰 with other verbs. Strictly speaking, 問曰 means “he asked,
saying,” but you may prefer to translate simply as “asked.”

焉 is often used as a “locative object pronoun,” i.e., a pronoun replacing a noun

indicating where an action occurred. “There” is usually the best translation.

20
 Grammar Note 2: More (but not all) about 者 zhě

In lesson 2 we have 耕者 gēng zhě “plow-er” and in lesson 3 鬻金者 yù jīn zhě “sell
gold-er”, i.e. “seller of gold”. It might strike you that these expressions seem interchangeable
with 耕之人 “person who plows” and 鬻金之人 “person who sells gold.” Moreover the sounds
of 之 zhī and 者 zhě seem close to one another . The logical conclusion is that 之 zhī and 者 zhě
are related words,者 zhě being short for之人 zhī rén . Actually, 者 zhě in this sort of usage is a
short form of之 zhī plus something, although that something need not be 人 rén. For instance,
觸株者 chù zhū zhě “the stump-bumper”, would not have to stand for 觸株之人 chù zhū zhī rén,
“the man who bumps into the stump” but could equally stand for 觸株之兔chù zhū zhī tù “the
rabbit that bumps into the stump”. But in any case 者 zhě stands for之 zhī [something], 之 zhī X.
A somewhat similar locution is common in Mandarin where 賣書的人 mài shū de rén “person
who sells books” shortens into 賣書的mài shū de “bookseller”. But here the de 的 is equivalent
to both 之 zhī and 者 zhě - to之 zhī in the longer form and to 者 zhě in the shorter.
All these expressions are built upon verbs, such as gēng 耕 “to plow” yù 鬻 (or 賣) “to
sell”, chù 觸 “to knock against”, the verb in some instances being followed by an object such as
金 jīn or 株 zhū. Adding a 之人 zhī rén or 之兔 zhī tù or者 zhě to these verbs or verb-object
expressions turns them into noun phrases: “to plow” becomes “plower”, “to sell gold” becomes
“gold-seller”. So conventionally we refer to the nominalizing function of之 zhī and 者 zhě, and
call 者 zhě a nominalizing pronoun.
(Eventually, though, you will come upon other uses of which do not nominalize and are
not pronouns).

ADDITIONAL NOTE on lesson 3: observe, in example吏捕得之 lì bǔ děi zhī, our first

instance of之 zhī is in its other main “empty” use, namely, as the third-person “him, her, it, them”.

We have already had the third-person attributive or possessive 其 qí “his, her, its, their”. Note
that THERE IS NO third-person subject pronoun “he, she, it, they.”

21
 Lesson 4

仁義 (列子)
rén yì (liè zǐ )

昔有昆弟三人。游齊魯之間。同師而學，盡仁義之道而歸。其父

曰： “仁義之道若何？” 伯曰： “仁義使我愛身而後名。” 仲曰：

“仁義使我殺身以成名。” 叔曰： “仁義使我身名並全。” 彼三術

相反，而同出於儒，孰是孰非邪？

22
 lesson 4 vocabulary

昆 kūn elder brother

弟 dì younger brother

昆弟 kūn dì brothers

游 yóu to travel

魯(鲁) Lǔ (name of a state)

間 (间) jiān between

同 tóng to share, similarly

師 (师) shī teacher

學 (学) xué to study

盡(尽) jìn to exhaust

仁 rén humaneness, benevolence, kindness

義 (义) yì right conduct, righteousness

道 dào way, doctrine, philosophy

歸 (归) guī to return home

父 fù father

23
若 ruò to be like

伯 bó eldest (son)

使 shǐ to cause

愛 (爱) ài to cherish

身 shēn body

後 (後) hòu behind; to put behind

名 míng name, reputation

仲 zhòng second (son)

殺 (杀) shā to kill

以 yǐ in order to

成 chéng to achieve

叔 shū youngest (son)

並 (并) bìng equally

全 quán to be preserved, to maintain

彼 bǐ that, those

相 xiāng mutually, each other

反 fǎn to oppose; contradictory

24
出 chū to come out, derive

於 yú in, at, from, to

出於 chū yú to derive from

儒 rú scholar, Confucian, Confucians

孰 shú who? which? what?

是 shì to be right

非 fēi is not; to be wrong

邪 yé [interrogative particle]

25
Commentary on lesson 4:

1.1. 昔有 is the Chinese equivalent of “once upon a time.”

昆弟: Classical Chinese often combines two opposites or related terms to indicate
totalities. Here the words for “older brother” and “younger brother” combine to form a
two-character compound meaning “brothers.” often the number of an entity follows it
along with a measure word. Literally, the sentence 昔有昆弟三人 reads “In the past
there were brothers – three men.” You can just translate it as “three brothers.”

The states of 齊 and 魯 were the cradle of Confucian studies (Confucius himself came
from 魯). Since Confucians emphasized the qualities of 仁 and 義, 仁義之道 is a term
for Confucianism.

1.3: 以 functions here as a connective meaning “in order to” or “for the purpose of.”

1.4: 於 is an extremely vague preposition that can stand in for “of,” “to,” “at” or (in this case)
“from”. It can also be used for comparisons; in such cases, be careful to translate the
adjective in the comparative degree. For example, 昆仁於弟 “the older brother is kinder
than the younger brother.”

是 hardly ever means “to be” as it does in modern Chinese. Rather it either means “this”
or “to be right,” “to be correct.” Its opposite is 非, which means “not this” or “to be
wrong.” Chinese exams still retain this usage on sections that are (是/非).

邪 is a question particle that ends a sentence. We will discuss question particles at

greater length below.

26
 Grammar Note 3

昆弟三人 kūn dì sān rén in English (as in Mandarin) we count things with cardinal
numbers used as modifier: 12 eggs. But in English (as in Mandarin) there exists an additional
pattern used for inventories: eggs, one dozen. Classical Chinese usually enumerates in this
“inventory” pattern.

相 xiāng When two or more members of a plural subject do something to each other,
it is said in Classical Chinese that they mutually do it, using adverb 相 xiāng “mutually”. A
plural object of the action (expressed in English as each other) is implied but unstated. However,
as we will see later, sometimes 相 xiāng has to be read as “together”.

而 ér and 以 yǐ In lesson 2 and attached grammar note we saw 而 ér as a conjunction that

joins two verbs or verbal constructions to each other, with the meaning “and” or “and thus”. The
empty word 以 yǐ can also serve as a conjunction joining verbs or verbal constructions, but with
the distinctive meaning "in order to". Where shì lěi ér shǒu zhū 釋耒而守株 meant “abandon
the plow and guard the stump”, 釋耒以守株 shì lěi yǐ shǒu zhū would have the slightly different
sense “abandon the plow in order to guard the stump.” In Mandarin, where one verbal
construction follows another the second may express the purpose of the action named in the first:
到城裡去買東西 dào chéng lǐ qù mǎi dōngxi “go downtown to buy things.” Classical Chinese
often inserts 以 yǐ between constructions thus related. Obviously this usage of 以 yǐ, which
precedes the second of two verbal constructions, differs from 以 yǐ used in lesson 1 as itself the
verb in the first of two verbal constructions.

是 shì, 非 fēi stative or adjective verbs. In Western languages nouns are modified by
adjectives, which are in themselves often noun-like. In some languages adjectives are inflected
like nouns and agree with them in number and gender. They form a predicate with the verb “to
be” just as nouns do. In Classical Chinese (and Mandarin) words which translate English
27
adjectives are not noun-like, but rather a kind of verb, that is the stative (or adjectival) verb.
Thus 黃 huáng (lesson 12) means “to be brown or yellow” and 正 zhèng (lesson 14) means “to
be upright, proper”. Since these monosyllabics are themselves verbs, including a sense element
which we would render “to be” no additional verb “to be” is required (or allowable) in order to
form a predicate. Thus, Analects 12. 17L 孰敢不正 shú gǎn bú zhèng “who would dare to be
not upright” (Note that 正 zhèng is modified by 不 bù. the adverb which negates verbs). In
lesson 4 是 shì means “to be right”, 非 fēi “to be wrong”. 全 quán can be either a stative verb
“to be [something] complete” or a transitive verb “to preserve completes”. In lesson 4 it can be
read either as the stative verb (predicate), or as the transitive verb without object and thus passive.

於 yú 焉 yān 於 yú as A.C. Graham defines it is a “pre-nominal preposition, variously

translatable: ‘to, in, from’ (according to direction implicit in the verb), ‘by’ (before agent), ‘than’
(in comparison).”1 In this use it introduces a noun complement following the verb: 徙於齊 xǐ
yú Qí “move to Qi”, 死於宋 sǐ yú Sòng, “die in Song” 梟大於鳩 xiāo dà yú jiū “the owl is
bigger than the dove.” 焉 yān at the end of a sentence (lesson 3) is a contraction of 於 yú
followed by some unknown word pronounced “ān” and meaning 之 zhī, "him, her it, them" -
thus "in it, there", or in other contexts "to her," "from him", "that it" etc. Note that this
expression completely supplants 於之 yú zhī, which never occurs.

1
"Being in Classical Chinese," in John W. M. Verhaar, ed., The verb 'Be' and its Synonyms: Philosophical and
Grammatical Studies, Vol. 1 (Dordrecht 1967), p.39.
28
 Lesson 5

楊布 (列子)
yáng bù (liè zǐ )

楊朱之弟曰布。衣素衣而出，天雨解素衣，衣緇衣而反。其狗不

知，迎而吠之。楊布怒將扑之，楊朱曰： “子無扑矣 ! 子亦猶是

也。嚮者，使汝狗白而往，黑而來，豈能無怪哉？”

29
 lesson 5 vocabulary

楊(杨)布 Yáng Bù

楊(杨)朱 Yáng Zhū 楊朱 was a hedonist philosopher of the warring states

period. No work by him survives, though some of his ideas
survive in the Daoist work Zhuangzi 莊子. He was
attacked and parodied by Mencius as well.

曰 yüē to be called

衣 yī to wear

素 sù plain, undyed silk

出 chū to go out

天 tiān sky, heaven

雨 yǔ rain

天雨 tiān yǔ to rain

解 jiě to remove

緇 (缁) zī black silk

反 fǎn to return

狗 gǒu dog

知 zhī to know

迎 yíng to go to meet

30
吠 fèi to bark at

怒 nù angry

扑 pū to beat

無(无) wú don’t [c.f. 毋; 勿]

亦 yì also

猶 (犹) yóu like

是 shì this

也 yě [a particle] often used at the end of a sentence,

expressing assertion , or equality (A = B).
嚮(向)者 xiàng zhě previously, a short time ago

使 shǐ supposing, if

汝 rǔ you

白 bái white

往 wǎng to go, to go to

黑 (黒) hēi black

來 (来) lái to come

豈 (岂) qǐ how? [rhetorical, surely not ]

無(无) wú not have [opposite of 有]

怪 guài strange; surprise

31
哉 zāi [a final particle, an emphatic]

Commentary on Lesson 5:

1.2 無 is normally used as a negative equivalent to 有 (it thus means “does not have” or
“there is not”). However, here it is being used as a replacement for another character, 毋
wú which is the negative imperative “do not”. The replacement of homophonic
characters for each other is fairly common in classical Chinese. The more typical
meaning of 無 can be seen in the last sentence of this selection.

The use of the particle 矣 here is not to emphasize he completion of an action, but rather
to give strength to the speaker’s command.

1.3: 也, like 矣, is a particle found most often at the end of sentences. It is often used in
arguments to emphasize a statement that is universally true independent of specific events
in time. 也 is also used to link two things in the manner of an “equals sign”; the only
difference is that it always comes after the two things. For example, 於金者, 耕者也
“the person who wanted gold was a plowman.”

豈 means “how,” though it generally has a rhetorical meaning that does not anticipate an
answer – as when we say to someone, for example, “how can you drive a truck if you’ve
never driven a car?” (i.e., you can’t do it). A sentence with 豈 often ends with the
sentence-ending particle 哉, which gives the force of an exclamation. Literally 豈能無
怪哉 reads, “how could you not have a surprise?!” i.e., “wouldn’t you be surprised?”

32
 Grammar Note 4

We have observed that Chinese word order resembles English word order. This makes Classical
Chinese easier to understand and translate, up to a point. But of course the sentence structures of
the two languages aren't identical, and to avoid mistakes it is especially important to keep aware
of the differences.
We say that English declarative sentences include (usually in that order) a subject and a
predicate; the predicate includes a verb and (where the verb is transitive) usually an object.

Intransitive: Dogs bark.

Transitive: Man bites dog.
VERB OBJECT
SUBJECT PREDICATE

Many Chinese sentences look very similar:

intransitive: 齊人 衣冠
Qí rén yì guan
The man of Qi dresses.

天 雨
tiān yù
The skies rained

transitive: 梟 逢 鳩
xiāo féng jiū
Owl meets dove

兔 折 頸
tù zhé jǐng
Hare breaks neck
33
Clearly in word order Classical Chinese and English are closer to each other than they are to other
languages with freer word order or languages that for example tend to put the verb last, like German and
Japanese. In spite of these similarities between Classical Chinese and English the languages do differ in
pervasive underlying ways which we discuss later, with more examples before us. Here we will limit
ourselves to some particularly troublesome differences.

1. Classical Chinese can omit subject (-subjects are supplied below in square brackets):

猶 惡 子 之 聲
yóu wù zǐ zhī shēng
[people] will still hate your sound.

取 金 之 時， 不 見 人， 徒 見 金
qǔ jīn zhī shí, bù jiàn rén, tú jiàn jīn
When [I] took the gold, [I] didn’t see the people, [I] just saw the gold.

From the viewpoint of Anglophone readers, this is hardly troublesome where (just as it can in
English) one subject serves for a sequence of predicates.

兔 走 觸 株， 折 頸 而 死
tù zǒu chù zhū, zhé jǐng ér sǐ

The hare ran, [he] bumped into stump, [he] broke neck, and [he] died.

Confusion arises where the unnamed subject of a later predicate differs from the named or
unnamed subject of an earlier predicate.

34
子 能 更 鳴 可 矣; 不 能 更 鳴，東 徙 猶 惡 子 之 聲
zǐ néng gēng míng, kě yǐ; bù néng gēng míng, dōng xǐ yóu wù zǐ zhī shēng

If you can change your cry that will be satisfactory, but if [you] can’t, [although you] move to
the east, [people] will still hate your sound.

折 頸 而 死, 因 釋 其 耒
zhé jǐng ér sǐ, yīn shì qí lěi

[The hare] broke his neck and died; thereupon [the plowman] abandoned his plow.

2. Thoughts which Classical Chinese expresses with a two-part pattern of subject and stative
verb, English expresses with subject, verb to be (copula), and predicate adjective, a tripartite
pattern similar to subject-verb-object.

Observe these contrasts:

S SV S V PA

孰 是 Which is right?
shú shì

心 喜 [His] heart is happy

xīn xǐ

35
3. The particle 也 yě, as in子亦猶是也 zǐ yì yóu shì yě (lesson 5), is an important marker of
sentence endings. (It can also set off with a pause certain pre-predicate elements.) For now it
will be enough to note the following observation of Harold Shadick:

The meanings expressed by constructions marked by也 yě are always concerned

with judgments, opinions and attitudes regarding facts, never with the succession
of events in time. In this it contrasts with the other common final particle 矣 yǐ
which is always concerned with the completion of an action or of a change in a
situation.2

The particle 耶 yé or 邪 yé at the end of lesson 4 is thought to represent a contraction of

也 yě with the question-particle 乎 hū. 耶 yé and 邪 yé tend to mark alternative questions
“which is right, which is wrong?” and also to mark rhetorical questions. This question is
presumably not only alternative in form, but also rhetorical, implying the typical answer to
rhetorical questions: “none of the above” or “who knows?”

2
Shadick, Harold. A First Course in Literary Chinese, Vol. 3. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1968. p. 846

36
 Lesson 6

畫蛇添足 (戰國策)
huà shé tiān zú (Zhàn guó cè )

楚有祠者，賜其舍人卮酒。舍人相謂曰： “數人飲之不足，一人

飲之有餘。請畫地為蛇，先成者飲酒。” 一人蛇先成。引酒且

飲。乃左手持卮，右手畫蛇曰： “吾能為之足！” 未成，一人之

蛇成，奪取卮曰： “蛇固無足。子安能為之足？” 遂飲其酒。為

蛇足者終亡其酒。

37
 lesson 6 vocabulary

楚 Chǔ (name of a state)

祠 cí to sacrifice

賜 (赐) cì to give

舍人 shè rén retainers

卮 zhī jar

酒 jiǔ wine, alcohol

謂 (谓) wèi to address (someone)

數 (数) shù several

飲 (饮) yǐn to drink

足 zú enough

餘 (馀) yú excess

請 (请) qǐng please, let’s…

畫 (画) huà to draw

地 dì the ground

為(为) wéi to make; to do

蛇 shé snake

38
先 xiān first

成 chéng to complete

一人…一人 yì rén…yì rén one man…another

引 yǐn to draw, to pull

且 qiě to be about to

乃 nǎi then; but

左 zuǒ left

手 shǒu hand

持 chí to hold, to take

右 yòu right

吾 wú I, we

足 zú foot

未 wèi not yet

奪(夺) duó to snatch

固 gù assuredly, in fact

安 ān how?

遂 suì then

39
終 (终) zhōng finally, to the end

亡 wáng to lose

添 tiān to add

戰國策(战国策) Zhàn guó cè Intrigues (or Schemes) of the Warring States was
another (Han Dynasty) compilation of political
anecdotes. The subject matter emphasizes the
ruthlessness a ruler must employ to maintain power.
Many of its fables (like this one and that of lesson 7
were employed by ministers to illustrate political
circumstances.

Commentary on lesson 6:

1.1: Aristocrats of early China had many servants and warriors in their employ. They are
usually called “retainers” in English translation.

Classical often indicates quantity and measure by preceding the noun of the substance
with a measuring noun. Hence, 卮酒 is a “jar of wine.”

1.2: Classical will often put two subjects before a verb for emphasis. Such constructs are
occasionally referred to as “topic-comment” sentences (if you know Japanese, this is
similar to isolating a noun with the particle “wa” は). In the sentence一人蛇先成, both
人 and 蛇 are subjects; the translation is something like “as for one person, his snake was
finished first.” Classical phrases it like this to put particular emphasis on the person, and
to contrast it with the next person mentioned.

1.3: 吾能為之足. Occasionally the verb 為 can take an indirect object indicating the person
or thing affected by the action. Literally, the sentence means, “I can make it feet” better
translated as “I can give it feet.”

40
 Grammar Note 5

There are a number of negative words in Classical Chinese. We have seen several so far in
lessons 1-6.

1. 不 bù, “not”, is a negative adverb and thus negates verbs or verbal constructions. Conversely,
what follows不 bù is defined by it as verbal:

不能更鳴 bù néng gēng míng

不可復得 bù kě fù dé
不見人bù jiàn rén
不知 bù zhī
Verbal expressions include stative verbs (“adjectives” or adjectival verbs): 夠不黑 “the dog is not black”;
不黑的狗, “a non-black dog”.

2. Another negative adverb, also common but with a more restricted use, is未wèi “not yet” as in

未足 wèi zú (lesson 6); compare Mandarin 沒 méi and 沒有 méiyǒu.

3. 無 wú is a negative verb, the negative opposite of 有yǒu “have, there is”; thus it means lack,
there is no.”

田中有株 tián zhōng yǒu zhū

田中無株 tián zhōng wú zhū

食有魚 shí yǒu yú

食無魚 shí wú yú

41
無 wú precedes and negates a noun or nominal construction. Conversely, what follows the verb
無 wú is in most cases nominal. For example, 食無魚 shí wú yú.

4. Prohibition: 毋 wù means “don’t” and modifies a verb negatively in the sense of pleading
against or forbidding an action. In pronunciation it was identical with 無 wú and therefore 無
sometimes stood for 毋 wù, as in 無撲 wùpū (lesson 5). A related words was 勿 wù. Negatives
could place the object of a verb in a position preceding the verb. Not that when 無 wú stands for
毋 wù or 勿 wù, it negates a verbal, not a nominal expression. Thus lesson 5 includes 無 wú in
both its nominal and verbal uses.

42
 Lesson 7

狐假虎威 (戰國策)
hú jiǎ hǔ wēi Zhàn guó cè

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。虎不知獸畏己而走也，以為畏狐也。

43
 lesson 7 vocabulary

虎 hǔ tiger

求 qiú to seek

百 bǎi hundred / all types of

獸(兽) shòu beast, animal

百獸(兽) bǎi shòu animals

食 shí to eat

狐 hú fox

敢 gǎn to dare

帝 dì emperor

天帝 tiān dì Emperor of Heaven

長(长) zhǎng to lead, to preside over [c.f. cháng, long]

今 jīn today, now

逆 nì to go against

命 mìng command, order

以為 (为) yǐ wéi to take as [or to take…as]

信 xìn trustworthy; to trust

44
為 (为) wéi on behalf of

行 xíng to go, to travel

隨(随) suí to follow

後 (後) hòu behind

觀(观) guān to observe

乎 hū [an interrogative particle]

然 rán thus

故 gù therefore

與(与) yǔ to accompany; with

畏 wèi to fear

己 jǐ oneself [pronoun object]

假 jiǎ to borrow, [cf. jià, false

威 wēi prestige

Commentary on lesson 7:

1.1: For the use of 無 as negative imperative, see note to 1.2 in lesson 5.

1.2: This is a typical use of 也 to state equivalence between two noun phrases. 是 is the first
phrase, meaning simply “this.”

45
 The phrase 以為 means “to take as,” and often means “to consider,” “to suppose.” It is
often implied that such assumptions are incorrect. The two characters can be separated
and give two objects, which represent what thing is being speculated about and what is
being speculated about it; thus, 以我為不信 “to consider me untrustworthy.”

吾為子先行: 為 wèi (fourth tone) is a preposition (sometimes called a “coverb”)

meaning “for the benefit of”; thus, “I will for your benefit go in front.” When 為 is used
in this way, it almost always comes before the verb; also note that when the object of the
preposition may be assumed, it will be left out. For example, 吾為子先行 “I went ahead
for his sake;” but in the context of a narrative, you might see 虎以我為不信, 吾為子行
“The tiger thought I was untrustworthy, so I went ahead for [his] sake.”

1.3 觀百獸之見我而敢不走乎. This is a typical classical construction used with verbs of

perception, thinking, etc. We use “that” to link such verbs to our observations, e.g., “I
see that you are wearing blue today.” Classical has no word of “that,” so it uses the
possessive 之. In such cases, the entire observation becomes a nominal phrase that
functions as an object of the verb of observation. In English, the equivalent would be “I
see your wearing of blue color today.” In the sentence under discussion, there are two
implied sentences: the first is 觀百獸 “[You] observe the various animals” (“observe”
here is imperative); the second sentence is 百獸見我而敢不走 “The various animals see
me and dare to not run” (in English, we would say “do not dare to run”). Since 乎 at the
end of a sentence indicates a question, the second sentence really means “Do the various
animals seem and do not dare to run?” Since all of this second sentence is basically the
object of the verb 觀, we have here an indirect question: “Observe whether the various
animals upon seeing me do not dare to run.” (Literally, “Observe the various animals’
seeing me and daring to not run or not”.) Other examples:

耕者觀我之殺其兔 The plowman saw me kill his rabbit.

(Lit. the plowman saw my killing his rabbit.)

無觀其人之先畫蛇乎 Do not observe whether that person drew the snake

first or not. (Lit. do not observe that person’s first
drawing the snake or not.)

Unfortunately, if the meaning is clear enough, the classical writer will often simply
drop the 之; so don’t depend on this construction for all cases of indirect statements
and questions.

與 is often used as a preposition (or coverb) meaning “with”; like : 為 wèi (fourth tone),
it almost always comes before the verb.

46
 Grammar Note 6

1. The character 為 has two readings and meanings, both of which occur in lesson 7.
a. wèi 為 “for, on behalf of” occurs in 為子 wèi zǐ “for you, on your behalf”.
Functionally equivalent in this usage to an English preposition, it might better be described as a
coverb, which, with its object 子 zǐ, forms a secondary verb phrase preceding and modifying the
primary verb phrase 先行 xiān xíng. Thus, “on behalf of X, do Y.”
b. wéi can be a transitive verb “do, make, regard as.” This usage we see in lesson 16: 乃
夜為狗nǎi yè wèi gǒu “then, in the night, acted like a dog.” From “do, make” the meaning of 為
wéi extends to senses such as “make like, serve as, play the role of”: 為君 wéi jūn, “serve as
ruler” 為臣 wéi chén “serve as a minister” which is close to saying “be a ruler, be a minister.”
Thus為 wéi approaches being a copular verb like English “to be”, although A.C. Graham, the
great philosopher and logican of Classical Chinese, denies that this or any other Classical
Chinese verb quite means “to be” (more on this later). 為 wéi in this sense often occurs with 以
yǐ “take” as in 以 X 為 Y “take X to be Y” or “take it to be [the case that]…” 以為然 yǐ wéi rán
means “take it to be thus” (然 rán “thus, so” appears to be a contraction of 如rú or 若 ruò “like”
plus an element meaning “it”, just as 焉 yān contracts 於 yú “in, at…” with an element 之 zhī,
“it”. Thus, 以為然 yǐ wéi rán “take it to be like that, take it to be so”)

2. Lesson 6 included several constructions that in sense resemble Indo-European passives,

such as 一人之蛇成 yī rén zhī shé chéng, “another man’s snake was completed.” The
corresponding “active” form would be 一人成其蛇 yī rén chéng qí shé. Shadick thus states the
rule for these constructions:

A transitive verb becomes intransitive when it is preceded by a form that was its
object in a previous sentence, or that, in the light of the context, might well have
been its object in a previous sentence. In such cases the verb is naturally
translated by an English passive voice construction (pp. 771-772).

47
Consider these pairs of constructions:

不能更鳴 bù néng gèng míng [if] you can not change your cry.

鳴不能更 míng bù néng gèng the cry can’t be changed.

兔折其頸 tù zhé qí gěng the hare breaks its neck.

兔頸折矣 tù gěng zhé yǐ the hare’s neck has been broken.

Lesson 2 contained a “passive” with the added idea of agency:

身為宋國笑 shēn wéi sòng guó xiào he himself was laughed at by the [whole] State of Song

48
 Lesson 8

兩頭蛇 (新序)
liǎng tóu shé (xīn xù)

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。

49
 lesson 8 vocabulary

孫(孙)叔敖 Sūn Shū áo [A prime minster of Chu during the

warring states period.]

為 (为) wéi to be

嬰 (婴) yīng baby, infant;

嬰兒 yīng ér child

遊 (游) yóu to play

兩 (两) liǎng two

頭 (头) tóu head

埋 mái to bury

泣 qì to weep

母 mǔ mother

聞 (闻) wén to hear

恐 kǒng to fear

去 qù to leave [transitive]

他 tuō other [c.f. modern pron. tā]

50
又 yòu again, also, too

陰 (阴) yīn secret, hidden

德 dé virtue

報(报) bào to repay

福 fú good fortune

及 jí when (the time came that)

長(长) zhǎng to grow up

令尹 ling yǐn Chief Minister

信 xìn to believe, to trust in

新 xīn new

新序 Xīn xū (a Han Dynasty collection of

historical anecdotes)

51
Commentary to lesson 8:

1.1 為 here has the meaning of “to be,” but is always used in cases of temporary
condition; thus, since 孫叔敖 was only a boy for a limited time, 為 is appropriate here.

1.2. 聞 often introduces sentences that indicate a general knowledge of rumor or folk-belief.
We can translate it as “I have heard that…”

1.4 By far the most common use of 以 is as a preposition (or coverb) meaning “by means
of.” Like 與 yǔ and 為 wèi (fourth tone), it almost always comes before the verb, unless
it is being emphasized. 天報以福 “Heaven repays with good fortune” is the more
common structure, but Sun’s mother is emphasizing what Heaven repays with. If the
object of以 is clear from the context, it will often be omitted. For example, 其人以株畫
蛇 “That person drew a snake with a tree stump” but observe: 其人特株, 以畫蛇 “That
person took a tree stump and drew a snake with it.” In such cases, 以 can be confused
with its other use as a connective meaning “for the purpose of” thus, this last sentence
could also mean, “That person took a tree stump in order to draw a snake.”

52
Grammar Note 7

In Grammar Note 4 we glanced at the question of sentences that end in 也 yě. The readings
through Lesson 7 contain five of these sentences, and there are three more in lesson 8. Let's review
the first five:

1. 子無敢食我也 You lack the daring to eat me. (lesson 7)

zǐ wú gǎn shí wǒ yě

2. 虎不知畏己而走也 The tiger didn’t understand that the animals ran away because they
hǔ bùzhī wèi jǐ ér zǒu yě feared [him]self. (lesson 7)

3. 以為畏狐也 He took it to be [the case that] they feared the fox (lesson 7)
yǐ wéi wèi hú yě

4. 子亦猶是也 You too are like this (lesson 5).

zǐ yì yóu shì yě

5. 今子食我，是逆天帝命也 Now if you were to eat me, this would be to defy the
jīn zǐ shí wǒ, shì nì tiān dì mìng yě command of Heaven’s emperor (not: this defies…)
(lesson 7).

A Chinese term for sentences that end in 也 yě is 判斷句 pàn duàn jù “judgmental (or
conclusion-drawing) sentence”. We may distinguish between such judgmental sentences and the
more numerous narrative sentences which cannot take a final也 yě (although, unlike judgmental
sentences, they can take a final 矣 yǐ ). As Shadick observed, what we are calling judgmental
sentences "are always concerned with judgments, opinions and attitudes regarding facts," in
contrast to narrative sentences, which concern the succession of events in time (cited in
Grammar Note 4). In the judgmental sentences above, numbers 1-4 seem to judge character or
motive while number 5 morally judges an act.
Another distinction can be drawn between verbal and nominal sentences. Verbal
sentences - most of the sentences we've seen so far in Classical Chinese, and all full English
sentences - have a nominal subject and verbal predicate, that is, a predicate with a verb as its

53
irreducible core. Nominal sentences have a nominal subject and nominal predicate; any
underlying verbal construction in the predicate is nominalized, either by an " empty word,” such
as 無 wú 其 qí 之 zhī 者 zhě, or implicitly.
All narrative and some judgmental sentences (such as 1-3 above) are verbal. Many
judgmental sentences state equations, either as an identity, like “Cilantro is coriander,” or a class
membership, like “Cilantro is an herb.” But while English sentences rely on the verb “to be” as a
link or "copula" between the noun subject and noun complement, the equational or nominal
sentences in Classical Chinese simply juxtapose two noun phrases, one subject and one predicate,
often (not always) followed by也 yě (but never by 矣 yǐ).
Sentences 4 and 5 are not the most obvious examples of nominal sentences, but we'll
have to work with them since they are our only examples so far, and sentence 5 belongs to an
important type. The nominal character of the predicates in sentences 4-5 is not obvious because
the verbs in them are not explicitly nominalized, but we can still demonstrate the nominal
character of these predicates and show how the nominalization of verbs in them could be made
explicit.
Verbal and nominal sentences differ not only in the declarative but also in the
interrogative particles which may terminate them, and in the verb for' like' which they may
contain, this in verbal sentences being 如 rú or 若 ruò and in nominal sentences 猶 yóu. Sentence
4 is nominal because it contains 猶 yóu. We can make its nominal character explicit by the
following expansion:

Subject Nominal Predicate

子 亦猶是也
zǐ yì yóu shì yě

You [are] also one who is like this

Sentence 5, or rather the latter part of it, identifies itself as nominal because it belongs to
a well-recognized type in which an initial element, which can be itself a verbal sentence, is
resumed by a word of nominal value meaning “this” (usually 是 shì or 此 cǐ), which stands as

54
subject taking a nominal predicate (compare “To be or not to be, that is a question”). Sentence 5
can be expanded thus to make clear the nominalization:

Subject Nominal Predicate

是 逆天帝命也
shì nì tiān dì mìng yě

this [would be] defiance of heaven’s emperor

A well known passage of parallel construction is:

知之為知之, 不知為不知, 是知也.

zhī zhī wéi zhī zhī, bùzhī wèi bùzhī, shì zhī yě

[When you] know it, to recognize that [you] know it [and] [when you] don’t know to recognize
that [you] don’t know, this is knowledge / wisdom. (Analects, 2.17)

Definitions and other identifications naturally take the form of an equational (nominal)
sentence, and will be much more in evidence when you take up philosophical texts or start
reading footnotes and dictionary entries in Classical Chinese. You’ll find that the subject in these
sentences often terminates in the particle 者 zhě followed by a pause less marked than the pause
between sentences.

55
Some examples:

南冥者天池也 The Southern Ocean [is] the pool of heaven (Zhuangzi)

Nán míng zhě tiān chí yě

齊協者, 志怪者也 The Jest of Qi is a record of wonders

Qí xié zhě, zhì guài zhě yě (a Borgesian fanciful learned reference) (Zhuangzi)

政者, 正也 To govern is to rectify (Analects)

zhèng zhě, zhèng yě

理娃, 長安昌女也 Li Wa was a courtesan of Chang-an

Lǐ Wá, Chángān chāng nǚ yě

56
 Lesson 9

燕人 （列子）
Yān rén liè zǐ

燕人生於燕，長於楚，及老而還本國。過晉國，同行者誑之，指

城曰： “此燕國之城。” 其人愀然變容。指社曰： “此若里之

社。” 乃謂然而嘆。指舍曰： “此若先人之廬。” 乃涓然而泣。指

壟曰： “此若先人之冢。” 其人哭不自禁。同行者啞然大笑曰：

“予昔給若。此晉國耳!” 其人大慚。及至燕，真見燕國之城社，

真見先人之廬冢，悲心更微。

57
 Lesson 9 vocabulary

燕 Yān (name of a state)

生 shēng to be born

老 lǎo old

還 (还) huán to return

本 běn original

過 (过) guò to pass through

晉 Jìn (name of a state)

誑 (诳) kuāng to deceive

指 zhǐ to point to

城 chéng city wall

此 cǐ this, these

愀然 qiǎo rán sad; sadly

變 (变) biàn to change

容 róng expression

社 shè alter to god of soil

若 ruò you

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里 lǐ village

喟然 kuì rán deeply (of sigh)

歎(叹) tàn to sigh

舍 shè house, dwelling

先人 xiān rén ancestors

廬 (庐) lú hut

涓染 juān rán in a stream

壠 lǒng grave mound

冢 zhǒng grave mound

哭 kū to wail, to sob

自 zì oneself

禁 jìn to stop (cannot) help

啞(哑)然 è rán loudly (of laughter); hoarse [c.f. yā mute ]

予 yú I

給(给) dài to cheat

耳 ěr simply, only [fusion of the following]

而已 ěr yǐ simply, only

大 dà great

59
慚 cán to be ashamed

至 zhì to arrive at, to reach

真 zhēn really

悲 bēi sad; sadness

心 xīn heart; feelings

更 gèng even more; comparatively; instead

微 wēi small, slight

Commentary on lesson 9:

It may be easier to understand this text if you keep in mind that revisiting one’s homeland –
especially the burial ground of one’s ancestors would be an extremely emotional event for a
traditional Chinese person.

1.2: 然 is often used as a suffix to an adjective and means “in an X-manner.”

1.5: 耳 is a “fusion word” – a word that replaces two words that appeared together so
frequently that they eventually fused in speech and formed a single syllable. Here, 耳 is
a fusion of 而已, which means “and that is all” or “and that’s that.” Translate as the
adverb “only.”

This text is a good example of how the subject of a verb may change without any explicit
indication. Pay careful attention to who says what.

60
Grammar Note 8

Some caveats (courtesy of Prof. Zeitlin)

1. To the Western student, what is most interesting about Chinese word formation is not so
much what there is of it, since there is so little, but instead what is not there. For example, unlike
nouns in English and other European languages, a Chinese noun is not required to carry an overt
mark to show whether it is singular or plural, or whether it is the subject or object of a verb. Nor
does a Chinese verb indicate person, tense, mood, etc. The meanings expressed by obligatory
endings on nouns and verbs in the extraordinary complicated morphological systems of such
languages as Latin and Greek are in Chinese optionally, indeed rarely, expressed by an
occasional pronoun, adjective, or an adverb. When it is said that Chinese has no grammar, what
is meant is that Chinese lacks this sort of noun or verb morphology. This lack of a developed
morphology is one of the reasons why the definition of parts of speech is difficult in
Chinese ... .Instead, Chinese grammar is easier to describe in terms of the meaning of words and
in terms of their syntax.3

2. [One might] assume that having first studied some textbooks and then having read
around in Ancient Chinese literature one has simply learned Classical Chinese just as one might
learn Classical Greek by studying standard Greek or Latin grammars, assuming that dictionaries
equip one quite adequately to read ordinary Greek or Latin texts. Anyone who, for example, is
constantly forced to look things up in cribs and commentaries when he reads De bello gallico
[Caesar's Gallic Wars] in Latin will be taken for a raw beginner. Likewise, it is not much of an
exaggeration to say that our knowledge of Ancient Chinese is in many respects still at the stage
that corresponds to that of the student of Latin who reads De bello gallico with a crib hidden
under his desk. It is not just that we do not have an adequate theory of Ancient Chinese grammar
(that we could live with). No, half of the time we do not really know for sure what exactly

3
H. Stimpson, 55 Tang Poems, p. 55
61
Ancient Chinese sentences mean .. , even when we feel sure what an Ancient Chinese sentences
mean, we are still often uncertain how it comes to mean what apparently it does mean ...4

3. [The fondness for brevity has remained one of the outstanding characteristics of
Classical Chinese.] Words that could presumably be supplied by a thoughtful reader on the basis
of context were often left unexpressed, so that the student of Classical Chinese is sometimes led
to conclude, despairingly, that even in the later centuries of the language, he is still dealing not
with a medium for communication of new ideas but a mnemonic device for calling to mind old
ones. Is it too much to ask that the writer indicate at least the subject of the sentence? he may ask.
In the case of Classical Chinese the answer is usually, yes.5

4
C Harbsmeier, Aspects of Classical Chinese Syntax, p. 6
5
B. Watson, Early Chinese Literature, p. 12

62
 Lesson 10

趙簡子舉兵而攻齊 （說苑）
Zhào Jiǎnzǐ jǔ bīng ér gōng jì

趙簡子舉兵而攻齊。令軍中有敢諫者罪至死。被甲之士名曰公

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，臣鄰家夫與妻俱之田。見桑中女，因往追之，不能得 ; 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。

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 lesson 10 vocabulary

趙(赵)簡(简)子 Zhào Jiǎnzǐ [Name of a person]

舉 (举) jǔ to raise, to mobilize

兵 bīng troops

攻 gōng to attack

令 lìng to command

軍 (军) jūn army

諫(谏) jiàn to remonstrate, to object

罪 zuì crime, guilt, punishment

被 pī to wear

甲 jiǎ armor

士 shì officer

公盧(卢) Gōng Lú (name of a person)

望 wàng to view, to gaze at from a distance

臣 chén I (your servant, first person pronoun, humble)

夙 sù old, of long standing

笑 xiào joke

64
有以 yǒu yǐ to have the capacity to

解 jiě to explain

則(则) zé [a conjunction]

當 (当) dāng at (time)

桑 sāng the mulberry tree; to harvest mulberry leaves

鄰 (邻) lín neighbor; neighboring

家 jiā family

夫 fū husband, man

婦(妇) fù wife, woman

俱 jù together

女 nǚ woman

追 zhuī to pursue

妻 qī wife

曠(旷) kuàng single (of man); to be desolate

伐 fá to attack

失 shī to lose

於是 yú shī thereupon

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罷 (罢) bà to disband; to stop; to give up

師 (师) shī army

Commentary to lesson 10:

1.1: 令 takes an indirect statement: “He commanded that…”

1.3: 有以 is best understood as “the means”; “if you have the means to explain it…” It is
negated by 無. The meaning of 無以 is: “if you do not have the means”

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 Grammar Note 9

1. More about 於 yú: 於 yú: is variably described as a “coverb” and as “to, in, from, than”,
and this is its common use as an empty word. (It can also be a full verb “to take a position”,
nominalized to mean “position”, as in 王之於國 wáng zhī yú guó “the king’s position toward his
country”).
As an empty word, followed by its noun object, 於 yú commonly forms a coverbal or
prepositional phrase which comes after the verb: 生於燕，長於楚 shēng yú Yān, zhǎng yú Chǔ
“born in Yan, grew up in Chu” (lesson 9). If you are familiar with Mandarin you may be
thinking of 於 yú as equivalent to Mandarin 在 zài “at, on, in”. When you are writing in
Classical Chinese you must remember that Classical Chinese 於 yú and Mandarin在 zài, while
similar in meaning, are used differently with respect to word order, for 於 yú phrases, as noted
follow the verb and do not generally precede it, while 在 zài phrases may do either: 他們在家裡
玩兒呢 tāmen zài jiā lǐ wánr ne “they are playing at home” (preceding the verb) 住在家裡 zhù
zài jiā lǐ (following the verb).
The rule in Classical Chinese that 於 yú phrases following the verb is not, however,
without exception. The exception you will most often see is the expression 於是 yúshì “at this,
thereupon”, which often begins a sentence, as in the last sentence of lesson 10.

2. Verb of manner. In lesson 9 he expression 愀然 qiǎo rán “sad(ly)”, 喟然 kuì rán

“deep(ly)”, 涓然 juān rán “streaming(ly), and 啞然 è rán “loud(ly)” are all verbs of manner
(Shadick, pp. 721-22), a set of verbs especially restricted in function – for example, they can’t be
negated. Often, as here, they modify another verb to which they may be joined by而 ér, as in 謂
然而嘆 “deeply sigh” etc. 然 rán is a common suffix of verbs of manner.

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3. As we have seen (Grammar Notes 1, 4), " 而 ér is a conjunction which joins verbs or
verb phrases, meaning “and, and thus, and therefore, but”. The most common conjunction “and”
which joins nouns or noun phrases is 與 yǔ as in 夫與婦 (Lesson 10).

4. Another contraction. A common sentence-final phrase in Classical Chinese is 而已 ér yǐ,

literally “and stop” meaning “and there’s the end of it, that’s all (there is to it), that’s it, that’s the
whole story.” The expression而已 ěr yǐ is sometimes contracted to 耳 ěr as in 此晉國耳 cǐ Jìn
guó ěr “This is the State of Jin and no other – this is only the State of Jin.” Compare the
Mandarin sentence-final phrases 罷了 bà le and 就是了 jiù shì le.

Both而已 ér yǐ and its contraction can be followed by 矣 yǐ (cf. the 了 le in the Mandarin
expressions just cited). Thus the Classical Chinese expression can take four forms:

而已 ér yǐ 耳 ěr

而已矣ér yǐ yǐ 耳矣ěr yǐ

The verb 已 yǐ “stop” which (in full or contracted form) occurs in all these variants, should
potentially be the main verb of the sentence, since it follows the (full or contracted) conjunction.
But in fact this phrase had been reduced to an idiomatic tag ending of sentence.

而已 ér yǐ / 耳 ěr is an interesting example of an expression which coexisted in

uncontracted and contracted forms (just like English will not, won’t). The other Classical
Chinese contractions we have seen had supplanted the contracted forms they derived from: 耶 yē
from 也呼, 焉 yān from 於 yú plus ?an (meaning 之 zhī), 然 rán from 如 rú or 若 ruò, plus the
same final; 耶 yē seldom occurs uncontracted, 焉 yān and 然 rán never.

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 Lesson 11

国有三不祥 (晏子春秋)
guóyǒu sānbù xiáng Yàn Zǐ chūnqiū

景公出獵，上山見虎，下澤見蛇 。 歸，召晏子而問之

曰：“今日 寡人出獵，上山則見虎，下澤則見蛇，殆所謂不祥

也?”晏子曰：“國有三不祥，是不與焉。夫有賢而不知，一不

祥；知而不用，二不祥；用而不任，三不祥也。 所謂不祥，乃

若此者。今山上見虎，虎之室也 ; 下澤見蛇，蛇之穴也。如虎

之室，如蛇之穴，而見之，曷為不祥也!”

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 lesson 11 vocabulary

齊(齐)景公 Qí Jǐng gōng Duke Jing of Qi (ruled 547 BC-490 BCE)

獵 (猎) liè to hunt

上 shàng to go up

山 shān mountain

下 xià to go down

澤 (泽) zé marsh

召 zhào to summon

晏子 Yàn Zǐ The Master Yan (Yan Ying 晏嬰)

日 rì day

今日 jin rì today

寡 guǎ few

寡人 guǎ rén I (of feudal lords)

殆 dài perhaps, probably, might (not)…

所 suō [a relative pronoun object]

謂 (谓) wèi to call

70
祥 xiáng lucky

與 (与) yǔ to participate; to be among

焉 yān [a generalized pronoun, indirect object]

夫 fú Now… [introducing general statement]

[c.f. fū]

賢 (贤) xián good; worthy ones

一 yī the first, No. 1

用 yòng to employ

任 rèn to give responsibility or trust to

乃 nǎi only, just

二 èr two; the second

室 shì chamber; house

穴 xuè cave

如 rú to go to

何為(为) hé wéi why?

晏子春秋 Yàn Zǐ chūnqiū 晏子 was a political advisor of early China; several

centuries after his death, a compilation of his
supposed deeds and sayings were collected into the 晏子春秋 (The Annals of Master Yan). 春秋
means “spring and autumn” and was used as a comprehensive term to mean “the whole year”
(much the same way that 昆弟 means “brothers”). By extension, it came to mean “annals,”
“historical record” (i.e., that which took place throughout the year).

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Commentary to lesson 11:

Often political philosophers, especially Confucians, attempted to persuade the rulers they
served that the world operated on rational principles and that there was no such thing as magic
or occult behavior. This passage is typical in showing Yanzi’s attempt to get his ruler focused on
matters of statecraft and virtuous administration.

1.1: 公 was one of five titles of feudal nobility used during the Zhou Dynasty it is
conventionally translated as “Duke.” The others are : 候 (marquis), 伯 (earl), 子 (viscount), and
男 (baron). However, most titled lords were called “duke” after their deaths as a term of respect.

1.2: 寡人 is a special first-person pronoun used only by rulers.

所 is an important grammatical particle that refers to an undefined object of the verb to

which it is attached; it is generally translated as “that which”, and the verb that follows it
is made passive. Thus, 所謂 means “that which is called”. (Other examples: 所畫 “that
which is drawn”, 所特 “that which is taken”. The 所 construction often occurs in an XY
也 sentence and is used to emphasize: i.e., 我畫蛇 “I drew a snake,” but 我所畫者, 蛇也.
“That which I drew was a snake.”

1.3 The negative 不 is often used as a prefix to an adjective and has the function of “un-”.
Thus, 不祥, “unlucky, inauspicious.” This can be nominalized, as occurs later in this
text: 三不祥 “three unlucky [things].”

We’ve already seen 焉 as a generalized place-word pronoun meaning “there” (lesson

three). It can also replace a general indirect object; in such situations it stands for 於之
and is generally translated as “with it (him, her, them).” Since 與 here is used as a verb,
“to be among,” leave the “with” out when translating.

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Grammar Note 10

1. Conditional sentences and 則 zé. In earlier lessons we saw a number of passages in

which one sentence or independent clause followed another, apparently with some connection in
meaning, although that connection was inexplicit, i.e. not specified by any conjunction: a typical
example of Classical Chinese laconism. Mostly these sentences had to be read as conditional in
expositive discourse, with the sense if X, then Y, and as temporal or conditional in narrative
discourse:

conditional consequence

子能更鳴， 可矣
zǐ néng gēng míng, kě yǐ

[IF] you can change your cry [THEN] it will be okay

數人飲之 不足
shù rén yǐn zhī bùzú

[IF] several people drink it [THEN] it won’t be enough

子以我為不信， 吾為子先行
zǐ yǐ wǒ wéi bú xìn, wú wèi zǐ xiān xíng

[IF] you take me for insincere [THEN] I’ll go first for you

軍中有敢諫者 罪至死
jūn zhōng yǒu gǎn jiàn zhě zuì zhì sǐ

[IF] any one in the army dares remonstrate [THEN] his punishment will go (as far as) death

73
 In Classical Chinese the conditional relationship isn’t necessarily inexplicit. It can, for
example, be specified by placing the conjunction 則 zé “then” at the beginning of the second
clause:

有以解之 則可
yǒu yǐ jiě zhī zé kě

[IF] you’ve got a way to explain it THEN it will do

無以解之 則死
wú yǐ jiě zhī zé sǐ

[IF] you haven’t got a way to explain it, THEN you die

It would be possible to specify the relationship even more strongly with a conjunction opening
the first clause, or both clauses:

使汝無以解之 則死
shǐ rǔ wú yǐ jiě zhī zé sǐ

IF (supposing) you haven’t got a way to explain it, THEN you die

Note that where paired conjunctions or like expressions can be used, with senses such as'
if ... then', ' when ... then', ' because ... therefore', ' not only ... but also', English rarely omits both
expressions except in aphorisms, or catch-phrase such as waste not. want not. If one of the
expressions is to be omitted in English it is normally the second: if at first you don't succeed, try.
try again (omitting then). In Classical Chinese one normally omits both, or at least the first; to
omit the second, or neither, is more unusual, and, therefore emphatic. Thus in 使汝狗白而往，
黑而來… shǐ rǔ gǒu bái ér wǎng, hēi ér lái… “IF your dog were white when it went, black when
it returned, [THEN]…” 使shǐ draws attention to this unusual condition.

74
 Note also that in narrative discourse, 則 zé is more likely meant temporal rather than
conditional:
上山 則見虎
shàng shān zé jiàn hǔ

[WHEN] I went up the mountain THEN I saw the tiger

2. The pronoun 所 suǒ. Classical Chinese has two pronouns used only as objects. These
are 之 zhī “him, her, it, them” and 所 suǒ “which, that, whom”. Of course, 之 zhī appears in
regular object position following the verb,6 but 所 suǒ always precedes the verbs to which it is
object. Thus, 謂之不詳 wèi zhī bù xiáng “call it unlucky” becomes 所謂不詳 suǒ wèi bù xiáng
“what is called unlucky”.

6
except where a negative, or an interrogative pronoun, shift it before the verb.

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 Lesson 12

吳王欲伐荊(說苑)
Wú Wáng yù fá jīng (shuō yuàn)

吳王欲伐荊，告其左右曰：“ 有敢諫者死。” 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，不知螳螂在其後也 ; 螳螂委身曲附取

蟬，而不知黃雀在其傍也 ; 黃雀延頸欲啄螳螂，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。

76
 lesson 12 vocabulary

吳 Wú (name of a state)

王 wáng King

荊 jīng (place, here stands for the state of Chu)

告 gào to tell

左右 zuǒ yòu courtiers; attendants

少 shào young [c.f. shao3, few]

孺子 rú zǐ boy

懷 (怀) huái bosom, to put in pocket

丸 wán pellet

操 cāo to take; to take in hand

彈(弹) dàn slingshot

園 (园) yuán garden; park

露 lù dew

沾 zhān to wet

如 rú to be like

77
何苦 hé kǔ Why bother, Why trouble?

樹 (树) shù tree

上 shàng top

蟬(蝉) chán cicada

高 gāo high

居 jū to live, to stay

螳螂 táng láng mantis

委 wěi to twist

曲附 qū fù to crouch

黃 huáng yellow

黃雀 huáng què sparrow

旁 páng side

延 yán to stretch

啄 zhuó to peck

下 xià below

務 (务) wù to concentrate on

前 qián front

利 lì profit, advantage
78
顧(顾) gù to look back at; to regard

患 huàn worry, trouble

善 shàn good

Commentary on lesson 12:

1.1: 左右, like 舍人, is a term for “retainer”; it gets its name from the idea that retainers were
stationed to the right and left of their lord. “Courtier” is another typical translation,
especially with kings or emperors.

者 is used often to emphasize or point out for singular consideration an action, thing, or
person. 舍人有少孺子者 translates as “among his retainers there was a certain boy”. In
the following line, 者 in the phrase 如是者三旦, serves to isolate the boy’s actions as
exceptional.

l.4-6: Note the use of 也 at the end of each of the boy’s sentences; this is a good example of 也
as an explanatory particle.

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Grammar Note 11
Topic (主題 zhǔ tí) and comment (解釋 jiě shì)

As the linguist (and philosopher) Christoph Harbsmeier observed (see Grammar Note 8),
we know a lot less about Classical Chinese grammar than we do, for example, about Latin
grammar; and our construing of Classical Chinese sentences is correspondingly shaky.
Traditionally, grammar is the study of language in units of a sentence or less. Some
obvious primary questions are: What are the main parts of a sentence? How do they work
together? What is it most informative to call them?
In Classical Chinese as in other languages we usually divide the sentence into a subject
(zhǔ yǔ) and predicate (wèi yǔ), and we will continue to use these terms. The trouble (for us) is
that Classical Chinese just does not seem to employ its subject and predicates as we do in
Western languages. First, as we've seen (Grammar Note 4) there's an astonishing freedom in
Classical Chinese to omit the subject altogether. Second, the subject (if any) and predicate, as
such, don't seem to mean what they do in Western languages.
In English we take “actor-action” as the grammatical meaning of subject-predicate (dog
bites man). Most sentences narrate an action by an actor; those that don't logically reduce to
actor-action are nevertheless phrased as if they did:

the man was bitten by the dog

the dog was a mutt

the mutt was rabid

- with the verb “to be”, in such sentences, giving a quasi actor-action form to the passive, to
expressions that categorize or equate, and to those that impute a quality by means of a
predicative adjective. In English, every sentence ( excepting those that provide casual answers to
questions, etc.) has a subject; if necessary, in the absence of a logical subject, a dummy subject is

80
provided, as in it's raining or it' s an odd fact. Grammatically if not logically, every subject acts,
i.e. is the source, not the receiver of an action. It is this grammatical, as distinct from logical or
psychological, uniformity that allows us in English to define subject-predicate as ' actor-action'.
In Classical Chinese it is of course possible too that a subject and predicate carry the
meaning , actor-action':

梟逢鳩 owl meet dove

xiāo féng jiū

虎求百獸 tiger seek all kinds of animals

hǔ qiú bǎi shòu

and in simple narratives such as we have been reading, many sentences are of this type. Others,
however, are not. Certainly sentences which aren't logically the narration of an action are under
constraint to appear as if they were, adopting the form of a merely " grammatical action";7 nor
does Classical Chinese possess a true copula (like English “to be” or Mandarin 是 shì) that
would help realize this. The subject may be either the actor or receiver of an action, if indeed it is
involved in an action at all. It may be the first term of an equation, stated by mere juxtaposition,
without a verb to be:

南冥者天池也 The Southern Ocean [is] the pool of heaven.

Nán míng zhě tiān chí yě

If not a noun or pronoun, the subject may be a verb, or an entire independent clause, equivalent
to a sentence, incorporating its own subject and predicate. As for predicates, they exhibit the
same variety of forms as do subjects. Subjects and predicates are nevertheless definable entities
in Classical Chinese. We define them as meaning, not actor and action, but TOPIC and
COMMENT. The topic (if any) supplies us, for orientation, with some bit of old information or

7
Chao, A Grammar of Spoken Chinese, p. 70

81
context; when this starting-point is unneeded it may be omitted. To this old information the
comment adds new information.
Let's look at some of variety of topics and comments we've seen so far:

SUBJECT PREDICATE
(semantically, the topic) (semantically, the comment)

actor-action:
其狗 吠之 (lesson 5)
qí gǒu fèi zhī

His dog barked [at] him

actor action (verb-object)

acted-upon-action:

杨朱之弟 曰布 (lesson 5)
Yáng Zhū zhī dì yuē Bù

Yang Zhu’s younger brother was called Bu

receiver of action action (verb-object)

equation:

子攫人之金 何 (lesson 3)
Zǐ jué rén zhī jīn hé

Your snatching people’s gold IS what (= why)

sentence interrogative pronoun

temporal subject:

清旦 衣冠而之市 (lesson 4)
Qīng dàn yì guàn ěr zhī shì

At dawn [he] clothed and capped himself and went to market

time expression

天雨， 解素衣 (lesson 4)

Tiān yù jiě sù yī
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 [When] sky rained [he] took off his plain silk clothes
time expression (sentence)

NOTE: in the above two sentences the predicate is itself a sentence including subject (unnamed)
and predicate.

We’ll look at more kinds of topic-comment relations in the next Grammar Note.

83
 Lesson 13

晏子 （晏子春秋）
Yàn Zǐ (Yàn Zǐ chūnqiū)

景公問太卜曰： “汝之道何能？” 對曰：“臣能動地。” 公

召晏子而告之曰：“寡人問太卜曰： ‘汝之道何能？’ 對曰： ‘能

動地’。 地可動乎？” 晏子默然不對，出，見太卜曰：“昔吾見鉤

星在四心之閒，地其動乎？” 太卜曰：“然。” 晏子曰：“吾言

之，恐子之死也；默然不對，恐君之惶也。子言，君臣俱得焉。

忠于君者，豈必傷人哉！” 晏子出，太卜走入見公，曰：“臣非

能動地，地固將動也。” 陳子陽聞之，曰：“晏子默而不對者，

不欲太卜之死也；往見太卜者，恐君之惑也。晏子，仁人也，可

謂忠上而惠下也。”

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 lesson 13

太卜 tài bǔ Grand Diviner

動(动) dòng to move, to shake

默 mò silent

默然 mò rán to be silent

昔 xí last night

鉤 (钩) gōu Sickle (star)

星 xīng star

四心 sì xīn Four Hearts (a constellation ) ancient belief

that confluence of stars causes earthquakes

其 qí [a modal particle]

然 rán to be thus; it is so, yes

言 yán to say

君 jūn lord, ruler

惑 huò to be deluded, confused

臣 chén official, minister

得 dé to be satisfied

85
忠 zhōng loyal

于 yú in, at, to [equivalent to 於]

必 bì must, necessarily, definitely

傷(伤) shāng to hurt, to harm

入 rù to enter

見 jiàn to have audience with, to give audience to

陳(陈)子陽(阳) Chén Zǐyáng

惠 huì to be kind, gracious to

上 shàng superiors; the ruler

下 xià inferiors

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Commentary to lesson 13:

This passage may seem confusing without some knowledge of the nature of Confucian
rationalism. In lesson 11, we saw that a minister was trying to persuade his lord to ignore folk-
beliefs and superstitions. Here again, Yanzi is concerned over the harm that may come to the
state through the ruler’s gullibility. Confucians attributed natural disasters – earthquakes,
floods, etc. – to the rational operations of the cosmos, in particular the influence of the
conjunction of stars and other astrological phenomena. Thought this may seem superstitious to
us, it was actually an attempt to find an explanation for the way the world works and to discount
the influence of personal agents (demons or sorcerers) over the natural order. The Diviner in
this passage knows from the stars that an earthquake will occur; he uses this knowledge to
persuade the ruler that he can cause the earthquake himself through his 道 (here, something like
“magical arts”).

1.4: This use of 其 here is hard to define; linguists differ in explaining it. Dawson translates it
simply as an auxiliary verb meaning “should” or “will”; Shadick explains it as follows:
“Giving an imperative or optative mood to the sentence: ‘May you…’; intensifying an
exclamatory sentence: ‘doubtless, in fact, indeed, simply, only, almost’; adding to the
rhetorical force of a question to which now answer is possible, and calling for an English
auxiliary verb ‘could’, ‘should’, etc. in the translation; giving a presumptive force to a
question that calls for a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answer.” As you can see, it can mean practically
anything. Most probably its use here falls in with Shadick’s last suggestion; 地其動乎
means something like “the earth will move, won’t it?”

1.6 Keep in mind that 人can often be translated as “others.”

1.7-8: Another use of 者. Here it is part of a construction: “…者…也”, in which the second
phrase explains the first. The translation is usually “the reason why…is because…”
There is a more explicit version of this pattern as well: “所以…者, 以…也.”

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Grammar Note 12

1. In Grammar Note 11 we look at some uses of subjects (semantically: topics) and

predicates (semantically: comments). These included topic-comment as actor-action. Note that
we're treating actor-action simply as one type, although a frequent type, of topic-comment, and
not as a category distinct from topic-comment. We also look at a sentence in which the topic and
comment formed two sides of an equation; and sentences in which the' old information' supplied
by the topic was simply a setting in time.
Another topic-comment use makes the topic condition, the comment a consequence of
the condition (' if-then'). We reviewed several such constructions in Grammar Note 10, for
example:

數人飲之 不足
shù rén yǐn zhī bùzú

[IF] several people drink it [THEN] it won’t be enough

One reason for grouping these various sentences together under the broad headings of'
topic' and' comment' is that if we think of all these uses we have encountered- actor and action,
condition and consequence, etc. -- as variants of major categories topic and comment, it should
help us to deal less stressfully with the ambiguities of Classical Chinese structure. What we need
to grasp is the character of actor-action, etc. as variably distinct, and sometimes instinct types of
topic and comment.
Take for instance the sentence:

有陰德者， 天報之以福 (lesson 8)

yǒu yīn dé zhě tiān bào zhī yǐ fú

which we can translate as:

[If] there is one of hidden virtue [then] heaven will reward him with good fortune.
88
but couldn’t we equally well have translated the conditional part of this sentence as a temporal
part? e.g.:

[When] there is one of hidden virtue..

In fact, our choice between the conditional and temporal interpretation of this sentence depends
on (a) our arbitrary choice of English translation-' if or' when'; or (b) upon our equally arbitrary
expansion of Chinese text:

若有陰德者 if there is one…

ruò yǒu yīn dé zhě

有陰德者之時 when there is one

yǒu yīn dé zhě zhī shí

In other words, the way we categorize Classical Chinese sentences may be an artifact of
the English-speaker’s translation process. Choices compulsory in English, such as between, “if”
and “when,” may not be compulsory in Classical Chinese; for while possible in Classical
Chinese, as in the expansions proposed above, to write an unambiguously conditional or an
unambiguously temporal topic (involving a choice between and 若 ruò and 之時 zhī shí), it is
also possible to write a sort of generic topic (as in the original sentence from Lesson 8) in which
the ambiguity remains perfectly happily unresolved. Learning Classical Chinese, like learning
about life, means learning to live with ambiguity, at least from time to time. All languages are
ambiguous in some degree. If it were not, communication would be hopelessly constricted. At
the end of the day and in the aggregate, Classical Chinese mayor may not be more ambiguous
than English. But it does possess something English (relatively speaking) lacks: the freedom of
variable ambiguity, seen also in the lack of compulsory singular or plural number, etc. Compared
to English, Classical Chinese is relatively at liberty to be only as unambiguous as the occasion
demands. Where it isn't logically necessary to choose between conditional and temporal
reference, Classical Chinese doesn't make it grammatically necessary. Often the relation between
topic and comment is extremely sketchy, as in:

89
 如是者 三旦
rú shì zhě sān dàn

[its being] like that [was for] three dawns (lesson 12)

An interesting case is presented by a kind of judgmental sentence in (see Grammar Note 7)

which as a whole is made a comment related often in an extremely loose way to preceding topic,
such as:

1. 今[公]上山見虎, 虎之室也
jīn [gōng] shàng shān jiàn hǔ, hǔ zhī shì yě

now [as for] your climbing the [that was a case of its being]
mountain and seeing a tiger, the tiger’s home

Lesson 13 presents two similar sentences:

2. 吾言之，恐子之死也
wú yán zhī, kǒng zǐ sǐ zhī yě

3. 默然不對，恐君之惶也
mè rán bú duì, kǒng jūn zhī huáng yě.

In sentences 1 and 3 the topic accords with fact, as the Duke did climb the mountain and 晏子
yànzǐ did keep silent. This suggests the English translations, “When you climb the mountain,”
and “When I kept silent”. In sentence 2, the topic states (in English terms) a contrary-to-fact
condition: “If I had spoken about it.” But the Classical Chinese wording in no way reflects this
distinction between “if” and “when”.
Some writers restrict the term" topic" to the relatively uncommon case of initial element
in the sentence which appear to be predicates, or parts of predicates, transposed to initial position
for emphasis. We'll deal with instances of such constructions as they come up, treating them as
just one among the several (more or less ill defined) kinds of topic.

90
 Note again that many topics, and many comments, are units (" independent clauses")
which could stand themselves as sentences. As such, each topic or comment is itself divisible
into a comment and, preceding it, an explicit or implicit topic.

2. Note that Lesson 13 contains, in its last two lines, four particularly clear instances of the
equational sentence, the first three using the most explicit form X 者 zhě Y 也 yě. Apparently
of the same kind is this sentence of Lesson 12:

此三者皆務欲得其利,而不顧其後之有患也
cǐ sān zhě jié wù yù dé qí lì, ér bú gù qí hòu zhī yǒu huàn yě

These three are all [instances of] concentrating upon the desire for a profit
immediately before one, and disregarding troubles [that are coming] after.

3. 其 qí in the construction 地其動乎 dì qí dòng hū is not the same word as the

homophonous其 qí “his, her, its their”. Rather, it is the so-called “modal” qí related to 豈 qǐ，
with which it is sometimes interchangeable. Modal qí gives a sentence some sense other than
declarative, exclamation, or (as here) makes a question rhetorical.

4. 非 fēi, as we have seen in lesson 4, can mean “wrong” as opposed to 是 shì “right”. The
most common use of 非 fēi is quite different, as a negative before nouns or noun phrases which
denies an equation (we haven’t seen examples of this yet). Here we have a third kind of 非 fēi
which comes before verbs and negates a verb phrase in a special sense: “it’s not that…” or “it
isn’t as if…”. 8

8
On this construction see Christoph Harbsmeier, Aspects of Classical Chinese Syntax (London and Malmo, 1981),
pp. 19-24.
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 Lesson 14

魏節乳母 (列女傳)
Wèi Jié rǔmǔ (liè nǚ zhuàn )

魏節乳母者，魏公子之乳母也。秦攻魏破之，殺魏王瑕，誅諸公

子，而一公子不得，令魏國曰：“得公子者，賜金千鎰，匿之者罪至

夷。” 節乳母與公子俱逃，魏之故臣見乳母而識之曰：“乳母無恙乎？”

乳母曰：“嗟乎，吾柰公子何!” 故臣 曰：“今公子安在？ 吾聞秦令曰：

有能得公子者賜金千鎰，匿之者罪至夷。乳母倘言之，則可以得千金，

知而不言，則昆弟無類矣。” 乳母曰：“吁！吾不 知公子之處。” 故臣

曰：“我聞公子與乳母俱逃。” 母曰：“吾雖知之，亦終不可以言。” 故

臣曰：“今魏國已破亡，族已滅，子匿之尚誰為乎？” 母吁而言曰： “夫

見利而反上者，逆也 ; 畏死而棄義者，亂也。今持逆亂而以求利，吾不

為也。且夫為人養子者，務生之，非為殺之也。豈可以賞而畏誅之故，

廢正義而行逆節哉！ 妾不能生而令公子禽也。” 遂抱公子逃於深澤之

中。故臣以告秦軍。秦軍追見，爭射之。乳母以身為公子蔽，矢著身者

數十，與公子俱死。秦王聞之，貴其守忠死義，乃以卿禮葬之，祠以太

牢。寵其兄為五大夫，賜金百鎰。

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 lesson 14 vocabulary

魏 Wèi (name of a state)

節 (节) jié virtuous

乳母 rǔ mǔ wet nurse

公子 gōng zǐ prince

秦 Qín (name of a state)

破 pò to defeat

魏王瑕 Wèi Wáng Xiá King Xia of Wei (r. BCE 227-225)

誅 zhū to execute

諸 zhū [a noun prefix indicating plural]

千 qiān thousand

鎰 yì (measure of weight for gold, 24 ounces)

匿 nì to conceal, to hide

夷 yí to eliminate; to put to death along with relatives

逃 táo to flee

故臣 gù chén former minister

識 shí to recognize

93
恙 yàng ill health

無恙乎 wú yang hū How are you?

嗟乎 jiē hū alas!

柰…何 nài… hé What to do about…

倘 tǎng if

類 (类) lèi kind, species

無類 wú lèi without kin

吁 xū alas! to sigh

處 chù place, whereabouts

雖 suī even if

雖亦 suī yì even if…still

已 yǐ already

終 zhōng [to the] end

終不 zhōng bù never

可以 ké yǐ possible [with active verb], can

亡 wáng to be destroyed, to destroy

族 zú clan

94
滅 miè to wipe out

尚 shàng still

誰 shuí who?

夫 fú this, that, these, those

[to introduce argument] [c.f. fū]

反 fǎn to turn against

上 shàng one’s superiors

子 zǐ child, son

逆 nì treasonous, rebellious, contrary

棄 (弃) qì to discard, to abandon

亂 luàn chaos, disorder

以 yǐ by means of

且夫 qiě fú moreover

養 yǎng to raise, to nourish

生 shēng to be alive, to keep alive, to live

為 wèi for the purpose of, for, on behalf of

利 lì benefit, advantage

賞(赏) shǎng reward, approval

95
以…之故 yǐ…zhī gù because of, for the sake of

廢 (废) fèi to neglect

正 zhèng upright, proper

行 xíng to practice

逆節 nì jié dishonorable conduct, perverse conduct

妾 qiè (concubine) I (humble, of women

擒 qín to capture

抱 bào to hold in arms

深 shēn deep

以 yǐ with

爭 (争) zhēng to compete

射 shè to shoot at

蔽 (芘) bì cover

矢 shǐ arrow

著 zhuó to hit; to pierce

十 shí ten

貴(贵) guì respected, honored; to respect, to honor

to consider something or someone honorable

96
守 shǒu to maintain

卿 qīng minister

禮 (礼) lǐ rites

葬 zàng to bury

太牢 tài láo Great Offering (pig, sheep and ox)

寵 (宠) chǒng to favor

兄 xiōng elder brother

五大夫 wǔ dà fū (rank)

列女傳 Liè nǚ zhuàn The 列女傳 (Biographies of Noted Women) is a

Han Dynasty collection of biographies of famous
women written in simple classical for the moral
instruction of young girls. Often girls of wealthy
families were allowed to read only insofar as they
could read works such as this. Needless to say, the
paragons of virtue upheld in these texts are not to
modern taste.

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Commentary on lesson 14:

1.1: 諸 is a noun prefix indicating a plural; sometimes it has the sense of “the various” as here,
“the various princes.”

1.4: 柰何 is an emotional phrase that generally is translated as “what to do about…” It

generally indicates a quandary, a sense of hopelessness, or an implied failure (i.e.,
“there’s noting that can be done about….”) You will have to fiddle a bit usually to come
up with a decent translation.

1.6 Earlier we noted that 可 as an auxiliary verb turned its verb into the passive and was
often the equivalent of the “-able” suffix in English. 可以 is active in meaning and is
equivalent to the English auxiliary verbs “may” or “can”. It can be contrasted with 能 ,
可以 means that the circumstances are such that a certain action is possible, 能 means
that a person is physically capable of performing an action. For example, you may be
able to (能) shoot a deer from a thousand paces; but if there are no deer in your forest,
you can’t (不可以). 可以 is somewhat different from its modern usage in that the
modern usage usually indicates permission – (i.e., if the gaming laws permit, you my 可
以 shoot deer).

1.7 雖…亦… is a sentence pattern meaning “Even if…indeed…” 亦 usually means “also”,
but is often a simple adverb of emphasis.

1.8: Occasionally classical Chinese inverts two characters for no good reason. Fortunately,
the characters almost always invert under the same circumstances. One is in the case of
question words. Here, 為誰 “for whose benefit” in inverted to 誰為. Another is the
standard question 何以 “why”, “how” which, technically speaking, ought to be 以何, “for
the purpose of what,” “by means of what”. In sentences with negatives you will also
occasionally see the direct object come before the verb – e.g., 不之殺 “I didn’t kill him.”

1.12: Verbs of telling take two objects: the thing told and the person to whom it was told. In
such cases, the thing told is often placed before the verb as an object of 以 – literally, “I
told him by means of this.” Naturally, if the thing told is already know, it will be omitted
leaving only the 以. Here we have a very typical phrase 以告秦軍 “he told it to the Qin
army.”

1.14: 死義 is a typical abbreviated way of saying “righteousness that she would defend to her
death.” A similar abbreviation occurs right after, 卿禮 means “rites (or ceremonies)
befitting a person of the rank of minister.” The classical reader must be ready to interpret
such abbreviated turns of phrase.

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 Grammar Note 13

More about 以 yǐ. In lesson 4 we saw以 yǐ as a conjunction “in order to” in the format X 以 Y,

X in order to Y:

殺身以成名 kill the self in order to achieve fame

shā shēn yǐ chéng míng

We have also seen以 yǐ as a coverb “with, using, by means of, because of.” Probably
most often the phrase introduced by this kind of 以 yǐ comes before the main verb, in what is
called the "adjunct" position:

COVERB MAIN VERB

以 故東 徙
yǐ gù dōng xǐ

because [of this] reason eastward moved

天 報 之 以 福
tiān bào zhī yǐ fú

heaven [will] reward [him] with good fortune

Although the coverb以 yǐ is basically transitive, if its object is 之zhī, the之zhī is

generally dropped. In lesson 14 we see two examples of this. In both cases the coverb phrase
precedes the main verb:

1. 而 以 [之] 求
ér yǐ zhī qiú

and by means of [them] seek…

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 2. 以 [之] 告
yǐ zhī gào

took [it] and reported [it to…]

As we have noted, since 之 zhī usually drops out of such constructions the combination 以之
yǐ zhī is rarely seen. Although understanding this particular kind of ellipsis of 之zhī is
important if we are to read Classical Chinese texts correctly, Shadick’s grammar apparently
makes no mention of it. Shadick’s work is often useful, but has Harbsmeier reminds us, in the
present state of the art there can be no thoroughly reliable work on Classical Chinese grammar.
As it happens, Y. R. Chao's book (A Grammar of Spoken Chinese, Berkeley, 1968), which
contains much on Classical Chinese as well as Mandarin, is more helpful here. He shows (pp.
333-335) that there are five Classical Chinese coverbs which often drop their objects. Besides 以
yǐ, these are, 為 wèi 因 yīn 從 cóng and 將 jiāng.

Other points about lesson 14:

吾柰公子何? wú nài gōngzǐ hé? Here 柰nài means “to do something about something”. It
commonly occurs, as here, in rhetorical questions which imply and answer that nothing very
effective can be done.

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 Lesson 15

漢高祖 (史記)
Hàn Gāozǔ shǐ jì

高祖以亭長，為縣送徒酈山，徒多道亡，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：“壯士行，何畏！” 乃前，拔劍擊斬蛇，蛇遂分為兩，徑

開。行數里，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。

101
漢高祖 Hàn Gāozǔ (LiuBang, the first Han Emperor,
r. BCE 206-195.
Gaozu is his posthumous title)

以 yǐ as, in the capacity of

亭 tíng (administrative unit of 10 square li, villages)

亭長 tíng zhǎng head of a ting

縣 xiàn district

送 sòng to escort

酈山 lì shān Mt. Li

多 duō many

道 dào road

亡 wáng to escape

度 dùo to calculate [c.f. dù, to measure]

比 bǐ by the time that; compare

到 dào to arrive at

豐 (丰) Fēng (name of a place)

西 xī west

止 zhǐ to stop
102
夜 yè night

解縱 jiě zòng to release

公 gōng you (polite)

等 děng [pronoun and noun suffix indicating plural]

從 (从) cóng from

從此 cóng cǐ from now on, at this point

逝 shì to depart

壯 (壮) zhuàng strong

壯士 zhuàng shì able-bodied men

願 (愿) yuàn to be willing to

從 (从) cóng to follow

被酒 bèi jiǔ under the influence of drink

徑 (径) jìng to take a short cut; footpath

前 qián ahead; to go ahead

報 (报) bào to report

當 (当) dāng to occupy

願 yuàn I suggest

103
醉 (酔) zuì drunk

拔 (抜) bá to draw out

劍 (剑) jiàn sword

擊 jī to strike

斬 (斩) zhǎn to behead

分 fēn to divide

為 wéi to become

開 (开) kāi open

里 (裡) lǐ (measure of distance)

臥 (卧) wò to lie down

嫗 (妪) yù old woman

見 (见) jiàn [verb prefix indicating passive]

化 huà to change, to transform

赤 chì red

誠 (诚) chéng honest, sincere

欲 yù to be about to

笞 chī to flog

忽 hū suddenly
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覺 (觉) jué to wake up

獨 (独) dú alone

喜 xǐ happy

負 (负) fù to rely on

自負 zì fù self-confident; self assured; self-possessed

從者 cóng zhě follower

日 rì daily, by the day

益 yì increasingly

史記 shǐ jì The 史記 Historical Records (aka Records of the

Grand Historian) is the first comprehensive history
of China, written during the second century BCE by
Sima Qian 司馬遷. This passage is taken from the
biography of the first emperor of the Han Dynasty;
at the time he was a lowly commoner serving in a
series of minor posts.

105
Commentary on lesson 15:

1.1 以 here means “acting as” and occurs often in giving a person’ s bureaucratic position.
The 為 in this sentence is fourth tone, “for the sake of.”

1.1 酈山 was a hill east of present-day Xian; it was the supposed site of the tomb of the first
Qin emperor. Convicts and peasants were frequently conscripted to work on the building
of the tomb long before the emperor died.

1.2 等 is a noun suffix indicating plural; it also occasionally has the meaning of “etc.” (as in
modern).

1.8: This 為is redundant because of the 故 of the next phrase: “Now because the son of the
red emperor has beheaded him, for that reason I cry.”

106
 Grammar Note 14

More but not all about 所 suǒ.

In lesson 3 occurred a noun meaning “place”:

鬻金者之所 the gold-seller’s place

yù jīn zhě zhī suǒ

Also in lesson 15 we have 後人 來至蛇所 hòu rén lái zhì shé suǒ in this sense (cf. Mandarin
usage in 廁所 cè suǒ, 研究所 yán jiū suǒ).

Quite different from this – and not identical to any Mandarin usage such as 所以 suǒ yǐ
“therefore” - is 所 suǒ in its more frequent and important function as relative pronoun object,
basically meaning “that which, what, (she/he) whom”.

This 所 suǒ was implied (but not used overtly) in lesson 2:

而身為宋國[所]笑 and he himself was [what] the State of Song laughed at

ér shēn wéi Sòng guó suǒ xiào

In lesson 11 we had:

殆所謂之不祥也 …perhaps are what are called unlucky and/or

dài suǒ wèi bù xiáng yě what are called unlucky are precisely things like these

We can regard each instance of this construction as a transformation of an underlying sentence:

1. 宋國笑之 the State of Song laughed at him

Sòng guó xiào zhī

(身為)宋國所笑 (he was) what the State of Song laughed at

shēn wéi Sòng guó suǒ xiào

107
 2. [子]謂之不祥 (you) call them unlucky
zǐ wèi zhī bù xiáng

From simple sentences we can easily fashion further examples of the same kind:

3. 梟 逢 鳩 owl meets dove

xiāo féng jiū

梟所逢 what the owl meets

jiū suǒ féng

4. 宋人釋其耒 the man of Song abandoned his plow

Sòng rén shì qí lěi

宋人所釋 what the man of Song abandoned

Sòng rén suǒ shì

5. 虎求百獸 the tiger sought the hundred beasts

hǔ qiú bǎi shòu

虎所求 what the tiger sought

hǔ suǒ qiú

If you have difficulty with 所 suǒ construction at first, that will be because所 suǒ DOES
SEVERAL THINGS AT ONCE to the sentences in which it appears, and this (for a while) may
be confusing:

1. 所 suǒ being itself a pronoun, REPLACES the noun or pronoun object. As in other
pronominalization, noun object, being replaced, lose their reference to a particular kind of thing:
owl meets dove becomes what the owl meets.

2. 所 suǒ as object-substitute DISPLACES the object from its nominal position after the verb to
an typical position before it.

108
 3. 所 suǒ NOM1NALIZES the sentence into which it has introduced, turning it from a sentence
into a noun phrase. Owl meets dove is a sentence. What the owl meets is a noun phrase, requiring
the addition of a subject or predicate to make it a sentence again.

For example, subjects or predicates can be added as follows:

1. predicate added:

梟所逢 鳩也 what the owl met was a dove

xiāo suǒ féng jiū yě

2. subject added:

虎食其所求之百獸 the tiger ate the hundred beasts he sought

hǔ shí qí suǒ qiú zhī bǎi shòu

109
 Lesson 16

雞鳴狗盗 (史記)
jī míng gǒu dào shǐ jì

齊湣王二十五年復卒使孟嘗君入秦，昭王即以孟嘗君為秦

相。 人或說秦昭王曰：“孟嘗君賢而又齊族也。今相秦，必先齊

而後秦，秦其危矣! ” 於是秦昭王乃止，囚孟嘗君，謀欲殺之。

孟嘗君使人抵昭王幸姬求解。幸姬曰： “妾願得君狐白裘。” 此

時孟嘗君有一狐白裘，直千金，天下無雙，入秦獻之昭王，更無

他裘。孟嘗君患之，遍問客，莫能對。最下坐有能為狗盜者，

曰：“臣能得 狐白裘。” 乃夜為狗以入秦宮臧中，取所獻狐白裘

至，以獻秦王幸姬。幸姬為言昭王，昭王釋孟嘗君。孟嘗君得

出，即馳去，更封傳，變名姓以出關。夜半至函谷 關。秦昭王後

悔出孟嘗君，求之已去，即使人馳傳逐之。孟嘗君至關。關法雞

鳴而出客，孟嘗君恐追至，客之居下坐者，有能為雞鳴，而雞盡

鳴，遂發傳出。出如食 頃，秦追果至關，已後孟嘗君出，乃還。

始孟嘗君列此二人於賓客，賓客盡羞之，及孟嘗君有秦難，卒此

二人拔之 ; 自是之後，客皆服。

110
 lesson 16 vocabulary

齊湣王 Qí Mǐnwáng King Min of Qi (r. BCE 313-284)

卒 zú finally

孟嘗君 Mèng Cháng Jūn Lord of Mengchang (Tian Wen)

入 rù to enter

昭王 Zhāo Wáng King Zhao of Qin (r. BCE 306-251)

即 jí immediately

相 xiàng minister [c.f. xiang: mutually, to each other]

或 huò someone

説 (说) shuì to persuade [c.f. shuō, theory, explanation]

必 bì certainly

危 wēi to be in danger

囚 qiú to imprison

謀 (谋) móu to plan

欲 yù to intend to

抵 dǐ to go to

幸 xìng favorite

111
姬 jī concubine

解 jiě to release

君 jūn you (respectful)

裘 qiú fur robe

願 yuàn to wish

直 zhí to be worth [c.f. zhi 之]

天下 tiān xià the world, China

雙 (双) shuāng a pair

獻 xiàn to present

更 gèng in addition; to change

患 huàn to worry, to be concerned

遍 (徧) biàn everywhere

客 kè traveler, retainer, protégé

莫 mò no one

坐 zuò seat

盜 dào thief; to steal

為 wéi to act as, to imitate

112
宮 gōng palace

臧 zàng treasury [c.f. cáng: to hide]

言 yán to speak to

釋 (释) shì to release

馳 (驰) chí to hasten

封 fēng seal

封傳 fēng zhuàn passport

姓 xìng surname

關 (关) guān customs barrier, pass

夜半 yè bàn midnight

函谷關 Hán Gǔ Guān Han Gu Pass

悔 huǐ to regret

後悔 hòu huǐ to regret

出 chū to get out; to let out

馳 chí to ride

傳 chuán post horse

逐 zhú to pursue

113
法 fǎ rule, law

雞 (鸡) jī rooster

客 kè traveler

居 jū to occupy

盡 jìn without exception, exhaustively

發 (发) fā to open

如 rú as it were

食頃 shí qǐng the duration of time it takes to eat a meal

果 guǒ indeed

始 shǐ previously

列 liè to rank

賓客 bīn kè retainer, protégé

羞 xiū to be ashamed; to humiliate

難 (难) nàn trouble, difficulty

拔 bá to pull out, to rescue

自 zì from [c.f. 從]

服 fú to submit, to accept

114
Commentary on lesson 16:

Younger sons of feudal rulers were often prominent ministers in their own right, often taking the
title of 君 “lord”. During the early third century BCE, a number of these lords were
particularly famous for their acts of daring-do and their generosity in rewarding their warrior-
retainers (the atmosphere was not unlike that found in Japanese samurai movies). The Lord of
Mengchang was one such lord; though the younger son of the king of 齊, he travelled through
other kingdoms, often hiring out his services. This excerpt comes from the lord’s biography in
the 史記

1.1: This is a standard way of indicating chronology of events in historical writing: “In the
twenty-fifth year of the reign of King Min…” The Lord of Mengchang had previously
visited Qin, hence the phrase “again finally.” Who sent him is unclear in the narrative.

The verb 以…為 can also refer to making somebody something, literally, “he took the
Lord of Mengchang and made him a minister.” Probably best translated as “he appointed the
Lord of Mengchang minister.”

1.3: Another “modal” use of 其’ see note to 1.4 in lesson 13 above.

This text is an excellent review of all of the various functions of 以; you might make a list of its
appearances and pay careful attention to how it is used in each case.

115
 Grammar Note 15

In Grammar Note 14 we saw, by inserting 所 suǒ we can turn a simple sentence, such as
梟逢 鳩 xiāo féng jiū “owl meets a dove,” into a noun parse梟所逢 xiāo suǒ féng “what owl
met.” In Grammar Note 15 we look a little more systematically at some ways of augmenting
such phrases and then making them components of new, more elaborate sentences.

1. First, let’s note that梟所逢 xiāo suǒ féng , 虎所求hǔ suǒ qiú etc. aren’t themselves
minimal noun phrases. The minimal noun phrase capable of functioning as such in the sentence
would be 所逢 suǒ féng “what was met,” 所求 suǒ qiú “what was sought.” These minimal
forms are always translatable as passive. An example we’ve seen was 所謂 suǒ wèi “what is
called” in Lesson 11 (twice). It follows that梟xiāo placed before 所逢 suǒ féng isn’t exactly the
actor of an action ( as in the underlying sentence梟逢 鳩 xiāo féng jiū, but something more like
the agent of a passive. In other words, we might better translate梟所逢 xiāo suǒ féng as “what
was met by the owl” and 虎所求 hǔ suǒ qiú as “what was sought by the tiger.”
What we need to catch, here, is a difference of form, not meaning. In meaning , what the
owl met' hardly differs from “what was met by the owl.” But the form - the syntax, the way
words combine with and replace each other - is different, and the same is true of as actor in the
sentence 梟逢 鳩 xiāo féng jiū compared to its use as agent of the passive in the phrase梟所逢
xiāo suǒ féng. For now you need to recognize and grasp two formal peculiarities of the agent
before所 suǒ:

1. It is frequently followed by 之 zhī. Thus:

梟之所逢 The owl’s that-which-was-met (= what was met by the owl)

xiāo zhī suǒ féng

虎之所求 The tiger’s that-which-was-sought (= what was sought by the tiger)

hǔ zhī suǒ qiú

116
In each case, the meaning is no different from that of the same phrase without the 之 zhī.

2. In each of the above sentences the agent (and, if present, the 之 zhī which follows it)
can be replaced by the possessive or attributive pronoun 其 qí “his, her its, their”:

其所逢 his that-which-was-met (= what was met by him)

qí suǒ féng

and likewise in 其所求 qí suǒ qiú, 其所釋 qí suǒ shì, etc.

Note that 其 qí can never stand by itself as actor but in these uses is always and only an
agent followed by 所 suǒ. The use of attributive其 qí as agent consists with the use of a noun as
agent followed by attributive之 zhī .
Note also that what precedes所 suǒ need not be an agent but may be some other sort of
subject (topic), for example setting the scene in time or place. Thus besides

秦軍所射之乳母 the wet-nurse who was shot by the Qin army

Qín jūn suǒ shè zhī rǔ mǔ

we may have

澤中所射之乳母 the wet-nurse who was shot in the marsh

zé zhōng suǒ shè zhī rǔ mǔ

2. Noun phrases of the kinds mentioned, followed by之 zhī , can in their entirety serve as
modifiers. The resulting construction, including the element modified, is still a noun phrase (as
it must be, because of the nominalizing 之 zhī ). Examples are:

117
 梟所逢之鳩 the dove that was met by the owl
xiāo suǒ féng zhī jiū

其所逢之鳩 the dove that was met by it

qí suǒ féng zhī jiū

虎所求之狐 the fox that was sought by the tiger

hǔ suǒ qiú zhī hú

其所求之狐 the fox that was sought by it

qí suǒ qiú zhī hú

As in any other case, construction like 之鳩zhī jiū are replaceable with 者 zhě. Thus:

虎所求之狐 becomes 虎所求者 and

其所求之狐 becomes 其所求者

(Note that there is no meaningful difference between 虎所求者 hǔ suǒ qiú zhě and 虎所求 hǔ
suǒ qiú.)

3. Noun phrases with 所 suǒ of the kinds we have considered, preceded or not by an agent
or other subject, and followed or not by an element which they modify, can as a whole enter
sentence as subject or predicate.

subject:

虎所求之獸, 狐也 the animal sought by the tiger was the fox

hǔ suǒ qiú zhī shòu, hú yě

118
 predicate:

虎食其所求之獸 the tiger ate the animals sought by him

hǔ shí qí suǒ qiú zhī shòu

The above are augmented forms; the minimal forms would be:

所求, 狐也 what was sought was the fox

suǒ qiú, hú yě

虎食所求 the tiger ate what was sought

hǔ shí suǒ qiú

119
 Grammar Note 16

1. 所以 suǒ yǐ

In modern Chinese所以 suǒ yǐ means “therefore”. This is not a classical usage and it
doesn’t appear until the Han dynasty or thereafter. The classical equivalents are 是以shì yǐ or
故 gù.
所以 suǒ yǐ as used in classical texts has quite a different sense, and is best thought of as
a variant of 所 suǒ. The meaning of 所suǒ is “that which”. The meaning of 所以 suǒ yǐ is “that
with which” (the way in which), or “that for which” (the reason why).
While 所 suǒ and所以 suǒ yǐ are related, they are not interchangeable, as can be seen
from the following pairs:

a. 王 之 所 王, 國 也 what the king rules is a state

wáng zhī suǒ wàng, guó yě

b. 王 之 所以 王, 道 也 what the king rules with is the Dao

wáng zhī suǒ yǐ wàng, dào yě

c. 臣所去, 親戚也 what we left was our relatives

chén suǒ qù, qīn qì yě

d. 臣所以去親戚而事君者, 徒慕君之高義也 the reason why we left

chén suǒ yǐ qù qīn qì ěr shì jūn zhě, tú mù jūn zhī gào yì yě our relatives and served you
was just that we admired
your exalted righteousness

120
2. 且 qiě

且庸人尚羞之,況於將相乎 Even a common person would find it

qiě yōng rén shàng xiū zhī, kuàng yú jiàng xiàng hū shameful; how much more [shameful it is]
in the case of a general and minister.

且 qiě here has the relatively uncommon meaning “even” (cf. modern Chinese 尚且 shàng qiě.)

A parallel sentence occurs in Mencius 2B.2:

管仲且不可召, 而況不為管仲者乎? Even Guan Zhong could not be

Guǎn Zhòng qiě bú kě zhāo, ěr kuàng bù wéi Guān Zhǒng zhě hū summoned; how much less someone
who is not a Guan Zhong?

121
 《廉頗藺相如列傳》

Shiji 81

1. 廉頗者，趙之良將也。趙惠文王十六年，廉頗為趙將伐齊，大破之，

取陽晉，拜為上卿，以勇氣聞於諸侯。 藺相如者，趙人也，為趙宦者

令繆賢舍人.

122
(81.1)

廉頗 Lián Pō (name of a person)

趙 Zhào (name of a state)

良 liáng good

將 jiāng general

惠文王 huì wén wáng King Hui Wen of Zhao (r. from BCE 268)

年 nián year

破 pò to defeat, to destroy

陽晉 yáng jìn (name of a place)

拜 bài to ceremoniously appoint

上卿 shàng qīng high minister

勇氣 (气) yǒng qì bravery, brave spirit

聞(闻) wén to hear of, to know by reputation

藺相如 Lìn Xiàngrú

宦 huàn eunuch

宦者令 huàn zhě ling Head of the Eunuchs

繆賢 Miào Xián

諸侯 zhū hóu the feudal lords

123
2. 趙惠文王時，得楚和氏璧。秦昭王聞之，使人遺趙王書，願以十五城

請易璧。趙王與大將軍廉頗諸大臣謀： 欲予秦，秦城恐不可得，徒見

欺；欲勿予，即患秦兵之來。計未定，求人可使報秦者，未得。宦者

令繆賢曰：“臣舍人藺相如可使。” 王問：“何以知之？” 對曰： “臣嘗

有罪，竊計欲亡走燕，臣舍人相如止臣，曰：‘君何以知燕王？’ 臣語

曰：‘臣嘗從大王與燕王會境上，燕王私握臣手，曰 “願結友”。以此知

之，故欲 往。’ 相如謂臣曰：‘夫趙彊而燕弱，而君幸於趙王，故燕王

欲結於君。今君乃亡趙走燕，燕畏趙，其勢必不敢留君，而束君歸趙

矣。君不如肉袒伏斧質請罪，則幸 得脫矣。’ 臣從其計，大王亦幸赦

臣。臣竊以為其人勇士，有智謀，宜可使。” 於是王召見，問藺相如

曰：“秦王以十五城請易寡人之璧，可予不？” 相如曰：“秦 彊而趙

弱，不可不許。” 王曰：“取吾璧，不予我城，柰何？” 相如曰：“秦以

城求璧而趙不許，曲在趙。趙予璧而秦不予趙城，曲在秦。均之二

策，寧許以負秦 曲。”王曰：“誰可使者？” 相如曰：“王必無人，臣願

奉璧往使。城入趙而璧留秦；城不入，臣請完璧歸趙。” 趙王於是遂

遣相如奉璧西入秦。

124
(81.2)

和氏 Hé Shì Master He (discoverer of the famous jade)

璧 bì jade disk

使 shǐ to send (someone) on a mission / To serve as a messenger

遺 wèi to present [c.f. yí, to lose]

書 shū letter

請 qǐng to beg leave

易 yì to exchange

大將軍 dà jiāng jūn supreme commander

大臣 dà chén senior minister

予 yǔ to give

欺 qī to cheat

勿 wù don’t; not

卽（即） jí then [equivalent of 則]

定 dìng to decide

報 (报) bào to reply, to respond, to repay

何以 hé yǐ how?
125
嘗 (尝) cháng once (in the past)

竊 qiè I (humble); personally, private

計 jì to plan

語 yǔ to tell; to speak

從 zòng to attend on [c.f. cóng: to follow]

會 huì to meet (by arrangement)

境 jìng border, frontier

私 sī secret; secretly

握 wò to grasp, to squeeze

結 jié to join, to tie

友 yóu friend (possibly a textual mistake for the following)

交 jiāo intercourse

彊 qiáng strong [alternative form of 強]

弱 ruò weak

幸 xìng to favor

乃 nǎi however

勢 shì circumstances

126
其勢 qí shì under these circumstances

留 liú to keep

束 shù to bind

不如 bù rú it is better to

肉袒 ròu tǎn with upper body stripped bare

伏斧質 fú fǔ zhì to submit to executioner’s axe

請罪 qǐng zuì to beg forgiveness for crime

幸 xìng with luck

脫 tuō to get off

赦 shè to pardon

從 cóng to follow, to carry out

亦 yì also, indeed [emphatic usage]

智 zhì wisdom, intelligence

(謀) 谋 móu resourcefulness

宜 yí suitable

不 fǒu or not [u.f. 否]

(許) 许 xǚ to agree, to permit

127
奈何 nài hé what to do about it?
[柰 nài is alt. form of 奈]

曲 qǖ wrongdoing; to blame

均 jūn to weigh

之 zhī these; this; it

策 cè plan

寧 （宁） níng rather

(負) 负 fù to bear; to cause to bear

必 bì if…really

奉 fèng to take up

完 wán complete; intact

(歸) 归 guī to restore

遣 qiǎn to send

128
3. 秦王坐章臺見相如，相如奉璧奏秦王。秦王大喜，傳以示美人及左

右，左右皆呼萬歲。相如視秦王無意償趙 城，乃前曰：“璧有瑕，請指

示王。”王授璧，相如因持璧卻立，倚柱，怒髪上衝冠，謂秦王曰：

“大王欲得璧，使人發書至趙王，趙王悉召群臣議，皆曰 ‘秦貪， 負其

彊，以空言求璧，償城恐不可得’。議不欲予秦璧。臣以為布衣之交尚

不相欺，況大國乎！且以一璧之故逆彊秦之驩，不可。於是趙王乃齋

戒五日，使臣奉璧， 拜送書於庭。何者？ 嚴大國之威以修敬也。今臣

至，大王見臣列觀，禮節甚倨；得璧，傳之美人，以戲弄臣。臣觀大

王無意償趙王城邑，故臣復取璧。大王必欲急 臣，臣頭今與璧俱碎於

柱矣！” 相如持其璧睨柱，欲以擊柱。秦王恐其破璧，乃辭謝固請，

召有司案圖，指從此以往十五都予趙。相如度秦王特以詐詳為予趙

城，實 不可得，乃謂秦王曰：“和氏璧，天下所共傳寶也，趙王恐，不

敢不獻。趙王送璧時，齋戒五日，今大王亦宜齋戒五日，設九賓於

廷，臣乃敢上璧。”秦王度之，終 不可彊奪，遂許齋五日，舍相如廣成

傳。相如度秦王雖齋，決負約不償城，乃使其從者衣褐，懷其璧，從

徑道亡，歸璧于趙。

129
(81.3)

章臺 Zhāng Tái (name of pleasure palace)

奏 zòu to offer to a superior

傳 chuán to pass on

示 shì to show

美 měi beautiful

美人 měi rén (title of royal concubine)

及 jí and [between nouns]

呼 hū to shout

萬 wàn ten thousand

歲 suì year of life; year

視 shì to see

意 yì intention

償 (偿) cháng to give something in exchange; to indemnify

瑕 xiá flaw

授 shòu to hand

卻 què to withdraw

立 lì to stand, to stop
130
倚 yǐ to lean against

柱 zhù pillar

髪 fǎ hair

衝 chōng to strike against

發書 fā shū to send a letter

悉 xī all

群 qún [noun prefix indicating number]

議 yì to deliberate

貪 tān greedy

負 fù to rely on

空 kōng empty

言 yán words

以為 yǐ wéi to take to be, to consider

布 bù cloth

布衣 bù yī commonder

況 kuàng how much the less (or more)

國 guó state

131
且 qiě moreover; to be about to; and

驩 huān goodwill, friendship [alt. form of 歡]

齋 zhāi to fast

戒 jiè to observe prohibitions

拜 bài to bow

送 sòng to offer; to see off

庭 tíng court

嚴 yán to solemnify

威 wēi dignity, majesty

修 xiū to cultivate, to enhance

敬 jìng respect

觀 guān palace

禮節 lǐ jié manners, ceremonial forms

甚 shèn very; extreme

倨 jù overbearing

戲 xì to play

戲弄 xì nòng to make fun of

城邑 chéng yì towns
132
急 jí to press

碎 suì to smash to bits

睨 nì to look sideways at

破 pò to break

辭謝 cí xiè to apologize

固 gù earnestly

有司 yǒu sī the responsible officers

案 àn desk; to consult

圖 tú map

以往 yǐ wǎng (from)…onward

都 dū city

特 tè only

詐 zhà to cheat

詐言 zhà yán false words

詳為 yáng wéi to pretend [c.f. yang with xiang details.

yang, to pretend, is also written 佯]

實 shí really

共 gòng together, commonly

133
傳 chuán to acknowledge

寶 bǎo jewel, treasure

九賓 jiǔ bīn (name of most solemn diplomatic ceremony)

上 shàng to offer to a superior

彊 qiáng by force

舍 shě to lodge

廣成 Guǎng chéng (name of a hostel)

傳舍 chuán shè (hostel for officials)

決 jué definitely

負 fù to repudiate

約 yuē agreement

褐 hé coarse clothing

徑道 jìng dào bypath

134
4. 秦王齋五日後，乃設九賓禮於廷，引趙使者藺相如。相如

至，謂秦王曰：“秦自繆公以來二十餘君，未嘗有 堅明約束者

也。臣誠恐見欺於王而負趙，故令人持璧歸，閒至趙矣。且秦彊

而趙弱，大王遣一介之使至趙，趙立奉璧來。今以秦之彊而先割

十五都予趙，趙豈敢留璧而得罪於大王乎？臣知欺大王之罪當

誅，臣請就湯鑊，唯大王與群臣孰計議之。” 秦王與群臣相視而

嘻。左右或欲引相如去，秦王因曰：“今殺相如，終不能得璧

也，而絕秦趙之驩，不如因而厚遇之，使歸趙，趙王豈以一璧之

故欺秦邪！” 卒廷見相如，畢禮而歸之。

135
(81.4)

後 hòu after

設 shè to set up

引 yǐn to bring up

繆公 Mù Gōng Duke Mu of Qin (r. BCE 659-621)

以來 yǐ lái (from)…up to the present

未嘗 wèi cháng never in the past, not once

堅 jiān firm

堅明 jiān míng to observe strictly

約束 yuē shù covenant

負 fù to let down, to betray

閒 jiàn secretly [c.f. xian, idle]

一介 yī jiè single

立 lì immediately

以…而 yǐ… ér in view of…; if

割 gē to cut off

得罪於 dé zuì yú to offend

136
當 dāng to deserve

就 jiù to go to

湯 tāng boiling water

鑊 huò pot, cauldron

唯 wéi (I) suggest, (I) wish

孰 shú maturely [u.f. 熱]

計議 jì yì to deliberate

嘻 xī to grimace (in annoyance or surprise)

絕 jué to sever

因 yīn to use (the occasion)

厚 hòu generously

遇 yù to treat

畢 bì to finish, to complete

137
5. 相如既歸，趙王以為賢大夫使不辱於諸侯，拜相如為上大夫。秦亦不

以城予趙，趙亦終不予秦璧。

(81.5)

既 jì after [conjunction]; already

辱 rǔ to disgrace, to shame

諸侯 zhū hóu the feudal lords

上大夫 shàng dà fu high officer

6. 其後秦伐趙，拔石城。明年，復攻趙，殺二萬人。

(81.6)

伐 bá to take by force

石城 shíchéng (name of a place)

明 míng next

明年 míng nián the following year

138
7. 秦王使使者告趙王，欲與王為好會於西河外澠池。趙王畏

秦，欲毋行。廉頗、藺相如計曰：“王不行，示趙 弱且怯也。”

趙王遂行，相如從。廉頗送至境，與王訣曰：“王行，度道里會

遇之禮畢，還，不過三十日。三十日不還，則請立太子為王。以

絕秦望。” 王許之，遂 與秦王會澠池。秦王飲酒酣，曰：“寡人

竊聞趙王好音，請奏瑟。” 趙王鼓瑟。秦御史前書曰 “某年月

日，秦王與趙王會飲，令趙王鼓瑟”。藺相如前曰：“趙王竊 聞秦

王善為秦聲，請奏盆缻秦王，以相娛樂。”秦王怒，不許。於是

相如前進缻，因跪請秦王。秦王不肯擊缻。相如曰：“五步之

內，相如請得以頸血濺大王矣！” 左右欲刃相如，相如張目叱

之，左右皆靡。於是秦王不懌，為一擊缻。相如顧召趙御史書曰

“某年月日，秦王為趙王擊缻”。 秦之群臣曰： “請以趙十五城為

秦王 壽”。 藺相如亦曰：“請以秦之咸陽為趙王壽。” 秦王竟

酒，終不能加勝於趙。趙亦盛設兵以待秦，秦不敢動。

139
(81.7)

使 shì emissary [c.f. shǐ]

為好 wéi hào to establish friendly relations

西河 Xī Hé West River, i.e. Yellow River

外 wài outside, beyond

澠池 Miǎn Chí (name of a place)

毋 wú don’t; not

且 qiě and [connecting adjectives]

怯 qiè cowardly

訣 jué to say farewell

道里 dào lǐ journey

會遇 huì yù to meet

過 guò to exceed

立 lì to set up, to establish

太子 tài zǐ Crown Prince

望 wàng hopes, ambitions

酣 hān flushed with wine

好 hào to like, to be fond of, good

140
音 yīn music

奏 zòu to play

瑟 sè (ancient stringed instrument)

鼓 gǔ to strum, to play

御史 yù shǐ official recorder

書 shū to write

某 mǒu such-and-such (omitting precise details)

月 yuè month

善 shàn to be good at; good

聲 shēng tunes

奏 zòu (read as 奉 fèng)

盆 pén basin, pot

缶 fǒu earthenware, wine pot

娛樂 yú lè divert, give pleasure

進 jìn to present

跪 guì to kneel

肯 kěn willing

擊 jī to strike, to play
141
步 bù pace

內 nèi inside

得 dé to be able

濺 jiàn to splash

刃 rèn to cut down

張 zhāng (to open wide)

目 mù eyes

張目 zhāng mù to glare

叱 chì to berate; to roar at

靡 mí to fall back

懌 yì pleased

一 yī once; one; the first

壽 shòu birthday gift; longevity

咸陽 Xián Yang (Qin Capital)

竟 jìng to finish

加 jiā to gain

勝 shèng victory

盛 shèng plentiful
142
8. 既罷歸國，以相如功大，拜為上卿，位在廉頗之右。廉頗

曰：“我為趙將，有攻城野戰之大功，而藺相如徒以口舌為勞，

而位居我上，且相如素賤人，吾羞，不忍為 之下。” 宣言曰：

“我見相如，必辱之。” 相如聞，不肯與會。相如每朝時，常稱

病，不欲與廉頗爭列。已而相如出，望見廉頗，相如引車避匿。

於是舍人相與諫 曰：“臣所以去親戚而事君者，徒慕君之高義

也。今君與廉頗同列，廉君宣惡言而君畏匿之，恐懼殊甚，且庸

人尚羞之，況於將相乎！臣等不肖，請辭去。” 藺相如固止之，

曰：“公之視廉將軍孰與秦王？” 曰：“不若也。” 相如曰：“夫以

秦王之威，而相如廷叱之，辱其群臣，相如雖駑，獨畏廉將軍

哉？ 顧吾念之，彊秦之所 以不敢加兵於趙者，徒以吾兩人在

也。今兩虎共鬬 ，其勢不俱生。吾所以為此者，以先國家之急而

後私讎也。” 廉頗聞之，肉袒負荊，因賓客至藺相如門謝罪。

曰： “鄙賤之人，不知將軍寬之至此也。” 卒相與驩，為刎頸之

交。

143
(81.8)

罷 bà to finish

功 gōng merit

位 wèi position

野 yě countryside

戰 zhàn to fight

口 kǒu mouth

舌 shé tongue

勞 láo achievement; labor

賤 jiàn base, low

忍 rěn to bear

宣 xuān to announce; to put out

每 měi each; each time

朝 cháo to go to court

常 cháng regularly, always

稱 chēng to claim, to declare

病 bìng sick

144
已而 yǐ ér before long

引 yǐn to withdraw

避 bì to avoid

親戚 qīn qi relatives

事 shì to serve; affairs

慕 mù to admire

惡 è evil [c.f. wù: to hate]

懼 jù to fear

殊 shū very, really; especially

殊甚 shū shèn extreme

庸 yōng common, ordinary

尚 shàng even

不肖 bù xiào unworthy, unfilial

lit: “unlike [one’s forefathers]

辭 cí to take leave of

孰與 shú yǔ how does (one) compare with?

不若 bù ruò not as good as

駑 nú weak, feeble

145
獨 dú how? (rhetorical) alone

顧 gù but, however

念 niàn to consider, to be concerned about

以 yǐ because, on account of

加 jiā to apply

鬬 dòu to fight

急 jí urgent; crisis

私 sī private

讎 chóu vengeance [c.f. 仇 chóu]

負荊 fù jīng to bear a thornwood rod on one’s back

(a symbol of contrition)

因 yīn to go through (by the introduction of)

謝 xiè to apologize

鄙 bǐ low, base

寬 kuān magnanimous

刎 wěn to cut (throat)

146
 魏公子列傳
(Shiji 77)

1. 魏公子無忌者，魏昭王子少子而魏安釐王異母弟也。昭王

薨，安釐王即位，封公子為信陵君。是時范睢亡魏 相秦，以怨魏

齊故，秦兵圍大梁，破魏華陽下軍，走芒卯。魏王及公子患之。

147
(77.1)

魏無忌 Wèi Wújì youngest son of King Zhao

and step-brother of King An Xi

昭王 Zhāo Wáng King Zhao (r. 296-277 BCE)

少 shào youngest
安釐王 Ān Xǐ Wáng King An Xi (r. 277-243 BCE)
異 yì different
薨 hōng to die (of feudal lords)

即位 jí wèi to ascend the throne

封 fēng to enfeoff
信陵君 Xìn Líng Jūn Lord of Xin Ling (in Wei)
范睢 Fàn Jǖ (see biography in Shiji 79)
相 xiāng to serve as minister
怨 yuàn to hold a grudge against, to hate
魏齊 Wèi Qí (minister of Wei. He suspected Fan Ju of spying for
Qi, and tortured him. Fan escaped to Qin).

圍 wéi to besiege
大梁 Dà Liáng (Capital of Wei. On site of modern Kaifeng. The
campaign was in 275 BCE. See Shiji 72 for details).

華陽 Huá Yáng name of a place

下 xià encamped
走 zǒu to run, to put to flight
芒卯 Máng Mǎo (commander of the Wei forces)

148
 2. 公子為人仁而下士，士無賢不肖皆謙而禮交之，不敢以其

富貴驕士。 士以此方數千里争往歸之，致食客三千人。當是時，

諸侯以公子賢，多客，不敢加兵謀魏十餘年。

(77.2)

為人 wéi rén as a man, in behavior

下 xià to humble oneself before
士 shì the shi
無 wú without (distinguishing between);
no matter whether

謙 qiān modest, humble

交 jiāo to deal with (people)

富 fù wealthy
貴 guì noble
驕 jiāo proud; to treat arrogantly
方 fāng square
歸 guī to give allegiance to
致 zhì to gather
食客 shí kè retainer

謀 móu to scheme against

149
3. 公子與魏王博，而北境傳舉烽，言 “趙寇至，且入界”。 魏

王釋博，欲召大臣謀。公子止王曰：“趙王田獵 耳，非為寇也。”

復博如故。王恐，心不在博。居頃，復從北方來傳言曰：“趙王

獵耳，非為寇也。” 魏王大驚，曰：“公子何以知之？” 公子曰：

“臣之客有能深 得趙王陰事者，趙王所為，客輒以報臣，臣以此

知之。” 是後魏王畏公子之賢能，不敢任公子以國政。

150
(77.3)

博 bó to play chess

北 běi north

傳 chuán to send word

烽 fēng beacon

寇 kòu raider; enemy; to raid

界 jiè border, frontier

田獵 tián liè to hunt

故 gù previously

居 jū after (lapse of time)

頃 qǐng short time

方 fāng direction

驚 jīng to be surprised

能 néng ability

輒 zhé invariably

政 zhèng administration

151
4. 魏有隱士曰侯嬴，年七十，家貧，為大梁夷門監者。公子

聞之，往請，欲厚遺之。不肯受，曰：“臣脩身絜 行數十年，終

不以監門困故而受公子財。” 公子於是乃置酒大會賓客。坐定，

公子從車騎，虛左，自迎夷門侯生。侯生攝敝衣冠，直上載公子

上坐，不讓，欲以觀公子。公子執轡愈恭。侯生又謂公子曰：

“臣有客在市屠中，願枉車騎過之。” 公子引車入市，侯生下見

其客朱亥，俾倪，故久立與其客語，微察公子。公子顏色愈 和。

當是時，魏將相宗室賓客滿堂，待公子舉酒。市人皆觀公子執

轡。從騎皆竊罵侯生。侯生視公子色終不變，乃謝客就車。至

家，公子引侯生坐上坐，遍贊賓客， 賓客皆驚。酒酣，公子起，

為壽侯生前。侯生因謂公子曰：“今日嬴之為公子亦足矣。嬴乃

夷門抱關者也，而公子親枉車騎，自迎嬴於眾人廣坐之中，不宜

有所過， 今公子故過之。 然嬴欲就公子之名，故久立公子車騎

市中，過客以觀公子，公子愈恭。市人皆以嬴為小人，而以公子

為長者能下士也。” 於是罷酒，侯生遂為上客。

152
(77.4)

隱 yǐn hidden

隱士 yǐnshì (shi without office, in retirement; recluse)

侯嬴 Hóu Yíng Duke Jing (577 BCE-537 BCE) son of

Duke Huan

貧 pín poor

夷門 Yí Mén Yi Gate

監 jiān to supervise

請 qǐng to visit

遺 wèi to make presents to

受 shòu to accept

脩 xiū to cultivate (alt. form of 修)

絜 jié to cleanse (u.f. 潔 jié)

行 xíng conduct

困 kùn poor

財 cái riches

置 zhì to arrange

會 huì to assemble

坐 zuò to sit

定 dìng settled

153
從 cóng to take along (as escort)

車 jū carriage (cf. Modern chē)

車騎 jū jì (escort of) horses and carriages

騎 jì horseman (cf. qí to ride)

虛 xū empty; to leave empty

生 shēng Master

攝 shè to straighten

敝 bì tattered

直 zhí direct; directly

載 zài to take (seat)

讓 ràng to demur

執 zhí to grasp, to hold

轡 pèi reins

愈 yù even more

恭 gōng respectful

屠 tú butcher

枉 wǎng to cause to deviate, take you out of your way

過 guò to visit, to stop by

引 yǐn to lead, to direct

朱亥 Zhū Hài

154
俾倪 bì nì to look sideways at, to look arrogantly

故 gù deliberately

久 jiǔ for a long time

語 yǔ to speak

微 wēi covertly

察 chá to inspect

顏 yán face

色 sè expression

和 hé amiable

宗 zōng (ancestor)

宗室 zōng shì royal house

滿 mǎn to fill, full

堂 táng hall

舉酒 jǔ jiǔ to begin the banquet

從騎 zòng jì mounted escorts

罵 mà to curse

謝 xiè to take leave

贊 zàn to praise (in introducing)

起 qǐ to arise

壽 shòu toast

155
為 wéi to embarrass, to trouble

關 guān bolt of gate

抱關者 bào guān zhě gatekeeper

親 qīn in person, parents, relatives

眾 zhòng numerous; multitude

廣 guǎng broad, large

故 gù indeed

然 rán but

就 jiù to complete, to enhance

立 lì to cause to stop, to keep waiting

小 xiǎo small

小人 xiǎorén the small-minded man

長者 zhǎngzhě magnanimous man

156
 5. 侯生謂公子曰：“臣所過屠者朱亥，此子賢者，世莫能知，故

隱屠閒耳。” 公子往數請之，朱亥故不復謝， 公子怪之。

(77.5)

世 shì generation; world

數 shuò often (cf shù: number; many times)

閒 jiān among (cf. jian: secretly)

謝 xiè to thank

怪 guài strange; to consider remarkable

157
6. 魏安釐王二十年，秦昭王已破趙長平軍，又進兵圍邯鄲。公子

姊為趙惠文王弟平原君夫人，數遺魏王及公子 書，請救於魏。魏

王使將軍晉鄙將十萬眾救趙。秦王使使者告魏王曰：“吾攻趙旦

暮且下，而諸侯敢救者，已拔趙，必移兵先擊之。” 魏王恐，使

人止晉鄙，留軍壁 鄴，名為救趙，實持兩端以觀望。平原君使者

冠蓋相屬於魏，讓魏公子曰：“勝所以自附為婚姻者，以公子之

高義，為能急人之困。今邯鄲旦暮降秦而魏救不至，安在公子能

急人之困也！ 且公子縱輕勝，棄之降秦，獨不憐公子姊邪？” 公

子患之，數請魏王，及賓客辯士說王萬端。魏王畏秦，終不聽公

子。公子自度終不能得之於王，計不獨生而令趙亡，乃請賓客，

約車騎百餘乘，欲以客往赴秦軍，與趙俱死。

158
(77.6)

二十年 èr shí nián i.e. 257 BCE

已 yǐ to finish; after having

長平 Cháng píng (name of a place)

進 jìn to advance; to cause to advance

邯鄲 Hán Dān (capital of Zhao)

姊 zǐ elder sister

平原君 Píng Yuán Jūn Lord of Ping Yuan (Zhao Sheng)

夫人 fū rén wife, lady

遺 wèi to send

請 qǐng to plead for

救 jiù to rescue

將軍 jiāng jūn general

晉鄙 Jìn Bǐ a general in the state of Wei

將 jiàng to command; general

眾 zhòng multitude

暮 mù evening

旦暮 dàn mù at any moment

而 ér if

移 yí to move, to transfer
159
壁 bì to encamp

鄴 Yè (a city in Wei near Zhao border, in modern-day Hebei)

實 shí real; really; in reality

端 duān head; end

蓋 gài canopy of a carriage

屬 zhǔ to join

相屬 xiāng zhǔ in continuous succession

讓 ràng to berate

勝 Shèng (personal name of Lord of Ping Yuan)

附 fù to attach to

婚姻 hūn yīn marriage; relative by marriage

為 wèi because

急 jí to be concerned about

困 kùn difficulty, distress

降 xiáng to surrender

縱 zòng even if

輕 qīng to look down on

弃 qì to abandon, to forsake [alt. form of 棄]

憐 lián to pity

邪 yē [interrogative particle] [alt. form of 耶]

160
請 qǐng to appeal to

辯 biàn to argue

辯士 biàn shì expert debater

端 duān reason; way

聽 tīng to heed; to obey (cf. ting, to listen)

計 jì to decide on a play

約 yuē to assemble

乘 shèng (measure for chariots, carriages, etc.)

以 yǐ (take as 與)

赴 fù to rush to or against

161
7. 行過夷門，見侯生，具告所以欲死秦軍狀。辭決而行，侯

生曰：“公子勉之矣，老臣不能從。” 公子行數里，心不快，

曰：“吾所以待侯生者備矣，天下莫不聞，今吾且死而侯生曾無

一言半辭送我，我豈有所失哉？” 復引車還，問侯生。侯生笑

曰：“臣固知公子之還 也。” 曰：“公子喜士，名聞天下。今有

難，無他端而欲赴秦軍，譬若以肉投餒虎，何功之有哉？尚安事

客？然公子遇臣厚，公子往而臣不送，以是知公子恨之復返

也。” 公子再拜，因問。侯生乃屏人閒語，曰：“嬴聞晉鄙之兵

符常在王臥內，而如姬最幸，出入王臥內，力能竊之。嬴聞如姬

父為人所殺，如姬資之三年，自王以 下欲求報其父仇，莫能得。

如姬為公子泣，公子使客斬其仇頭，敬進如姬。如姬之欲為公子

死，無所辭，顧未有路耳。公子誠一開口請如姬，如姬必許諾，

則得虎符奪晉鄙軍，北救趙而西卻秦，此五霸之伐也。” 公子從

其計，請如姬。如姬果盜晉鄙兵符與公子。

162
(77.7)

具 jù all, in detail

狀 zhuàng situation, circumstances

決 jué to say farewell to (u.f . 訣)
勉 miàn to do one’s best
待 dài to treat
快 kuài happy
備 bèi complete, thorough
曾 céng actually (to speaker’s surprise)
辭 cí words, phrase
送 sòng to see off; to say in parting
失 shī to make a mistake
固 gù all along
喜 xǐ to like, to cherish
譬 pì analogy
譬若 pì ruò it is as if
肉 ròu meat
投 tóu to throw
餒 něi to starve

尚 shàng still; any more

事 shì to use, to need
厚 hòu generous
恨 hèn to resent, to regret

163
之 zhī may be read as ( 而 )
返 fǎn to return
再 zài a second time, twice
屏 bǐng to send away
閒 jiàn privately, secretly
符 fú tally
兵符 bīng fú general’s warrant (part is held by the general, part
by the ruler, a change of orders must be
accompanied by the ruler’s part)

臥內 wò nèi bed chamber

如姬 Rú Jī (the King of Wei’s concubine)
幸 xìng favored
力 lì ability, to be able to
竊 qiè to steal
資 zī to offer a reward
以下 yǐ xià (from)…downward
報 bào to avenge
仇 chóu enemy
為 wèi with, in company of
辭 cí to refuse
顧 gù but
路 lù road; opportunity
誠 chéng if…really; sincerely

164
開 kāi to open
諾 nuò to assent; yes
虎符 hǔ fú (a bīng fú in the shape of a tiger)
奪 duó to seize
卻 què to force to retreat
五霸 Wǔ Bà the Five Hegemons (Dukes Huan of Qi, Wen of Qin, etc.)

伐 fá achievement; stroke
盜 dào to steal
與 yǔ to give ( = 予)

165
8. 公子行，侯生曰：“將在外，主令有所不受，以便國家。公

子即合符，而晉鄙不授公子兵而復請之，事必危 矣。臣客屠者朱

亥可與俱，此人力士。晉鄙聽，大善；不聽，可使擊之。” 於是

公子泣。侯生曰：“公子畏死邪？何泣也？” 公子曰：“晉鄙嚄唶

宿將，往恐不聽， 必當殺之，是以泣耳，豈畏死哉？” 於是公子

請朱亥。朱亥笑曰：“臣乃市井鼓刀屠者，而公子親數存之，所

以不報謝者，以為小禮無所用。今公子有急，此乃臣效 命之秋

也。” 遂與公子俱。公子過謝侯生。侯生曰：“臣宜從，老不

能。請數公子行日，以至晉鄙軍之日，北鄉自剄，以送公子。”

公子遂行。

166
(77.8)

外 wài away from the capital; in the field

主令 zhǔ 了 ìng the ruler’s orders

便 biàn to benefit
國家 guó jiā state
即 jí if
合 hé to fit together; to match
力士 lì shì man of great strength
俱 jù to go together
嚄唶 huò zè fiery; impressive
宿將 sù jiàng veteran commander
當 dāng must
是以 shì yǐ for this reason
迺 nǎi (alt. form of 乃)
市井 shì jǐng marketplace
鼓 gǔ to beat; to wield
刀 dāo knife
鼓刀 gǔ dāo to slaughter (animals)
存 cún to visit
效命 xiào mìng to risk one’s life
秋 qiū autumn; time
數 shǔ to count

167
以 yǐ on, at (a time)
鄉 xiàng to face (alt. form of 向, 嚮)
剄 jǐng to cut one’s throat
送 sòng to thank; to see off

168
9. 至鄴，矯魏王令代晉鄙。晉鄙合符，疑之，舉手視公子曰：“今吾擁十
萬之衆，屯於境上，國之重任，今單 車來代之，何如哉？” 欲無聽。朱亥袖
四十斤鐵椎，椎殺晉鄙，公子遂將晉鄙軍。勒兵下令軍中曰：“父子俱在軍
中，父歸；兄弟俱在軍中，兄歸；獨子無兄弟，歸 養。” 得選兵八萬人，進
兵擊秦軍。秦軍解去，遂救邯鄲，存趙。趙王及平原君自迎公子於界，平原
君負韊矢為公子先引。趙王再拜曰：“自古賢人未有及公子者 也。” 當此之
時，平原君不敢自比於人。公子與侯生決，至軍，侯生果北鄉自剄。

169
(77.9)

矯 jiǎo to forge, fake

代 dài to take the place of
疑 yí to be suspicious of
舉 jǔ to raise
擁 yōng to possess
屯 tún camp
重 zhòng important
任 rèn responsibility
單 dān single
何如 hé rú what about…? what’s going on?
無 wú not
袖 xiù sleeve; to hide in sleeve
斤 jīn catty
鐵 tiě iron
棰 chuí truncheon
勒 lè to take command of

下令 xià ling to issue order

子 zǐ son
獨 dú only [adj.]
養 yǎng to look after

170
選 xuǎn to select; selected
解 jiě to raise (siege)
存 cún to preserve
負 fù to carry on the back
韊 lán quiver (of arrows)
古 gǔ old; antiquity
及 jí to reach, to match
此 bǐ to compare
決 jué to part

171
10. 魏王怒公子之盜其兵符，矯殺晉鄙，公子亦自知也。已卻

秦存趙，使將將其軍歸魏，而公子獨與客留趙。趙 孝成王德公子

之矯奪晉鄙兵而存趙，乃與平原君計，以五城封公子。公子聞

之，意驕矜而有自功之色。客有說公子曰：“物有不可忘，或有

不可不忘。夫人有德於公 子，公子不可忘也；公子有德於人，願

公子忘之也。且矯魏王令，奪晉鄙兵以救趙，於趙則有功矣，於

魏則未為忠臣也。公子乃自驕而功之，竊為公子不取也。” 於 是

公子立自責，似若無所容者。趙王埽除自迎，執主人之禮，引公

子就西階。公子側行辭讓，從東階上。自言罪過，以負於魏，無

功於趙。趙王侍酒至暮，口不忍獻 五城，以公子退讓也。公子竟

留趙。趙王以鄗為公子湯沐邑，魏亦復以信陵奉公子。公子留

趙。

172
(77.10)

孝成王 Xiào Chéng Wáng King Xiao Cheng

德 dé to be grateful for; virtue; moral power

城 chéng walled town

意 yì thoughts

矜 jīn proud

功 gōng to consider meritorious

物 wù thing, matter

忘 wàng to forget

或 huò some; others; in some cases

德 dé kindness

取 qǔ to accept, to concur in opinion

責 zé to criticize

似 sì to seem

容 róng to contain; to hide

埽 sǎo to sweep (alt. form of sǎo 掃)

除 chú to get rid of

埽除 sǎo chú to sweep the roads (in welcome)

執 zhí to carry out

173
主 zhǔ ruler; host

主人 zhǔ rén host

階 jiē steps

側 cè inclined

側行 cè xìng to walk bent over (humbly)

辭讓 cí ràng to demur

辠 zuì (alt. form of 罪)

過 guò offense, sin

侍 shì to accompany, to attend to

退 tuì to withdraw, to decline

竟 jìng finally

鄗 Hào (a place in Zhao)

湯沐邑 tāng mù yì temporary fief (originally for ritual fasting and purification)

奉 fèng to offer

留 liú to stay

174
11. 公子聞趙有處士毛公藏於博徒，薛公藏於賣漿家，公子欲

見兩人，兩人自匿不肯見公子。公子聞所在，乃閒 步往從此兩人

游，甚歡。平原君聞之，謂其夫人曰：“始吾聞夫人弟公子天下

無雙，今吾聞之，乃妄從博徒賣漿者游，公子妄人耳。” 夫人以

告公子。公子乃謝夫人 去，曰：“始吾聞平原君賢，故負魏王而

救趙，以稱平原君。平原君之游，徒豪舉耳，不求士也。無忌自

在大梁時，常聞此兩人賢，至趙，恐不得見。以無忌從之 游，尚

恐其不我欲也，今平原君乃以為羞，其不足從游。” 乃裝為去。

夫人具以語平原君。平原君乃免冠謝，固留公子。平原君門下聞

之，半去平原君歸公子，天下士復往歸公子，公子傾平原君客。

175
(77.11)

處士 chǔ shì a shi out of office, in retirement, recluse

毛 Máo (a surname)

公 gōng Master

藏 cáng to hide

博徒 bó tú gambler

薛 Xuē (a surname)

賣 mài to sell

賣漿家 mài jiāng jiā wine seller

肯 bù to walk

乃 nǎi actually

從 cóng in company with

游 yóu to associate

歡 huān joyful

妄 wàng wild, reckless

稱 chèn to satisfy, to please

豪 háo (heroic)

豪舉 háo jǔ grand or heroic act; grand display

自 zì from the time that

羞 xiū shameful
176
其 qí [modal particle]

足 zú worthy of

裝 zhuāng to pack up

為 wéi to prepare

免 miǎn to take off

留 liú to press (someone) to stay; to retain

門下 mén xià retainers; door-keeper

傾 qīng to surpass; to exhaust

177
12. 公子留趙十年不歸。秦聞公子在趙，日夜出兵東伐魏。魏

王患之，使使往請公子。公子恐其怒之，乃誡門 下：“有敢為魏

王使通者，死。” 賓客皆背魏之趙，莫敢勸公子歸。毛公、薛公

兩人往見公子曰：“公子所以重於趙，名聞諸侯者，徒以有魏

也。今秦攻魏，魏急而 公子不恤，使秦破大梁而夷先王之宗廟，

公子當何面目立天下乎？” 語未及卒，公子立變色，告車趣駕歸

救魏。

178
(77.12)

誡 jiè to warn
通 tōng to transmit a message
背 bèi to turn back on
勸 quàn to urge
重 zhòng respected; heavy
急 jí state of crisis
恤 xù to care
使 shǐ to allow; if
夷 yí to level, to raze
先王 xiān wáng the former kings
宗廟 zōng miào ancestral temple
面目 miàn mù face
立 lì to exist
語 yǔ speech
卒 zú to finish
告 gào to ask for
車 jū carriage (men)
趣 qū to urge
駕 jià to harness up

179
13. 魏王見公子，相與泣，而以上將軍印授公子，公子遂將。

魏安釐王三十年，公子使使遍告諸侯。諸侯聞公子 將，各遣將將

兵救魏。公子率五國之兵破秦軍於河外，走蒙驁。遂乘勝逐秦軍

至函谷關，抑秦兵，秦兵不敢出。當是時，公子威振天下，諸侯

之客進兵法，公子皆名 之，故世俗稱《魏公子兵法》。

180
(77.13)

上將軍 shàng jiāng jūn commander in chief

印 yìn seal

遍 biàn everywhere

各 gè each

率 shuài to lead

河 Hé the Yellow River

河外 Hé Wài (area south of the Yellow River of that time)

蒙驁 Méng Áo (the Qin’s commander)

乘 chéng to take advantage of (c.f. shèng)

抑 yì to pin down

振 zhèn to shake

進 jìn to offer

法 fǎ strategy, plan

名 míng to name

俗 sú custom; vulgar

世俗 shì sú the ordinary people

稱 chēng to name

181
14. 秦王患之，乃行金萬斤於魏，求晉鄙客，令毀公子於魏王

曰：“公子亡在外十年矣，今為魏將，諸侯將皆屬，諸侯徒聞魏

公子，不聞魏王。公子亦欲因此時定南面而王，諸侯畏公子之

威，方欲共立之。” 秦數使反閒，偽賀公子得立為魏王未也。魏

王日聞其毀，不能不 信，後果使人代公子將。公子自知再以毀

廢，乃謝病不朝，與賓客為長夜飲，飲醇酒，多近婦女。日夜為

樂飲者四歲，竟病酒而卒。其歲，魏安釐王亦薨。

182
(77.14)

行 xíng to issue, to circulate

毀 huǐ slander
屬 shǔ to give allegiance to (cf. zhu)
因此時 yīn cǐ shí to take this opportunity
南 nán south
王 wàng to rule as king (cf. wáng: king)
南面而王 nán miàn ér wàng to be king (to face south and rule as king)
定 dìng definitely
方 fāng on the point of
反閒 fǎn jiàn agitator, instigator
偽 wěi false
賀 hè to congratulate
未也 wèi yě (take as 否耶)
否 fǒu or not (in questions)
廢 fèi to depose
謝病 xiè bìng to excuse oneself on account of illness
朝 cháo to go to court
長 cháng long
長夜 cháng yè nightlong
醇 chún strong (of wine)
近 jìn to be intimate with

183
樂 lè pleasure, merriment
病酒 bìng jiǔ to get ill from drinking
卒 zú to die

184
 15. 秦聞公子死，使蒙驁攻魏，拔二十城，初置東郡。其後秦

稍蠶食魏，十八歲而虜魏王，屠大梁。

初 chū at first, for the first time

置 zhì to set up
東郡 Dōng Jūn Eastern Commandery
稍 shāo little by little, gradually
蠶 cán silkworm
蠶食 cán shí to nibble away at
虜 lǔ to capture, to take prisoner
屠 tú to put to the sword

185
 16. 高祖始微少時，數聞公子賢。及即天子位，每過大梁，常

祠公子。高祖十二年，從擊黥布還，為公子置守冢 五家，世世歲

以四時奉祠公子。

始 shǐ at first

微少 wéi shào poor, obscure

每 měi each time

祠 cí to sacrifice; shrine

黥布 Qíng Bù (i.e. Yīng 英布, see Shiji 91. Qíng: branded)

世 shì generation

世世 shì shì every generation

四時 sì shí four seasons

冢 zhǒng tomb

186
 17. 太史公曰：吾過大梁之墟，求問其所謂夷門。夷門者，城

之東門也。天下諸公子亦有喜士者矣，然信陵君之 接巖穴隱者，

不恥下交，有以也。名冠諸侯，不虛耳。高祖每過之而令民奉祠

不絕也。

太史公 Tài Shǐ Gōng The Grand Historian (i.e. Sima Qian)

墟 xū ruins

接 jiē to befriend

嚴 yán mountain

嚴穴 yán xuè mountain cave

恥 chǐ to be ashamed

以 yǐ reason, principle, grounds

冠 guān to surpass, to excel

虛 xū empty, vain

民 mín the people

絕 jué to stop

187
 《范睢蔡澤列傳》

Shiji 79

1. 范睢者，魏人也，字叔。游說諸侯，欲事魏王，家貧無以

自資，乃先事魏中大夫須賈。

(79.1)

范睢 Fàn Jū

資 zī to provide expenses

中大夫 Zhong Dà Fū (rank)

須賈 Xū Gǔ

字 zì style, courtesy name

188
2. 須賈為魏昭王使於齊，范睢從。留數月，未得報。齊襄王聞睢

辯口，乃使人賜睢金十斤及牛酒，睢辭謝不敢受。須賈知之，

大怒，以為睢持魏國陰事告齊，故得此饋，令睢受其牛酒，還

其金。既歸，心怒睢，以告魏相。魏相，魏之諸公子，曰魏

齊。魏齊大怒，使舍人笞擊 睢，折脅摺齒。睢詳死，即卷以

簀，置廁中。賓客飲者醉，更溺睢，故僇辱以懲後，令無妄言

者。睢從簀中謂守者曰：“公能出我，我必厚謝公。” 守者乃

請出棄簀 中死人。魏齊醉，曰：“可矣。” 范睢得出。後魏齊

悔，復召求之。魏人鄭安平聞之，乃遂操范睢亡，伏匿，更名

姓曰張祿。

189
(79.2)

使 shì to go on a mission

報 bào response, reply; to repay

襄 Xiāng

牛 niú (cow, ox) beef

饋 kuì present

還 huán to give back

心 xīn heart

諸公子 zhū gōng zǐ the princes (“one” here is understood)

笞 chī rod, cane

脅 xié sides of chest, ribs

摺 zhé to break

齒 chǐ teeth

詳 yáng to pretend (佯)

卷 juǎn to roll up (u.f. 捲)

簀 zé sleeping mat

廁 cè toilet, restroom

更 kēng in turns
190
溺 niào to urinate (also pronounced nì)

僇 lù to disgrace

懲 chéng to warn, to be a warning to

鄭安平 Zhèng Ānpíng

操 cāo to hold in arms, to carry

伏 fú (to lie face down; to hide)

伏匿 fú nì to hide out

祿 Lù

191
 3. 當此時，秦昭王使謁者王稽於魏。鄭安平詐為卒，侍王

稽。王稽問：“魏有賢人可與俱西游者乎？” 鄭安平 曰：“臣里中

有張祿先生，欲見君，言天下事。其人有仇，不敢晝見。” 王稽

曰：“夜與俱來。” 鄭安平夜與張祿見王稽。語未究，王稽知范

睢賢，謂曰：“先生待 我於三亭之南。” 與私約而去。

(79.3)

謁者 yè zhě (title of office, in charge of access to ruler)

稽 Jī

卒 zú soldier

先生 xiān shēng Master

晝 zhòu daytime

究 jiù to end

三亭 Sān Tíng (place near Wei border)

約 yuē to make an arrangement

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4. 王稽辭魏去，過載范睢入秦。至湖，望見車騎從西來。范

睢曰：“彼來者為誰？” 王稽曰：“秦相穰侯東行 縣邑。” 范睢

曰：“吾聞穰侯專秦權，惡內諸侯客，此恐辱我，我寧且匿車

中。” 有頃，穰侯果至，勞王稽，因立車而語曰：“關東有何

變？” 曰：“無有。”又謂 王稽曰：“謁君得無與諸侯客子俱來

乎？無益，徒亂人國耳。” 王稽曰：“不敢。” 即別去。范睢

曰：“吾聞穰侯智士也，其見事遲，鄉者疑車中有人，忘索之。”

於是范睢下車走，曰：“此必悔之。” 行十餘里，果使騎還索車

中，無客，乃已。王稽遂與范睢入咸陽。

193
(79.4)

過 guò to pass by

載 zài to take in carriage

湖 Hú (name of a place)

穰 Ráng

侯 hóu marquis

行 xìng to make a tour of inspection of (cf. xíng)

專 zhuān to monopolize

權 quán authority

內 nà to take in, to bring in (u.f. 納) (c.f. nèi)

且 qiě for the time being

勞 lào to greet, to welcome (c.f. lao)

關東 Guān Dōng East of the Passes

變 biàn change; disaster

得無 dé wú I do not suppose, perhaps not (in questions)

客子 kè zǐ retainer, advisor

益 yì advantage

194
亂 luàn to throw into disaster

別 bié to part

智 zhì wise

遲 chí slow, tardy

鄉者 xiàng zhě just now, (u.f. 嚮者, 向者)

索 suǒ to search

騎 jì horseman (c.f. qí, to ride)

已 yǐ to stop

195
 4a. (5) 已報使，因言曰：“魏有張祿先生，天下辯士也。曰

‘秦王之國危於累卵，得臣則安。然不可以書傳也’。 臣故載

來。” 秦王弗信，使舍食草具。待命歲餘。

(79.4a)

累 lěi piled-up, stacked

卵 luǎn eggs

弗 fú fusion word 不 + 之

草具 cǎo jù rough provender (cf. 具 utensil)

196
5. (19) 范睢既相秦，秦號曰張祿，而魏不知，以為范睢已死

久矣。魏聞秦且東伐韓、魏，魏使須賈於秦。范睢聞 之，為微

行，敝衣閒步之邸，見須賈。須賈見之而驚曰：“范叔固無恙

乎！” 范睢曰：“然。” 須賈笑曰：“范叔有說於秦邪？” 曰：“不

也。睢前日得過於魏相， 故亡逃至此，安敢說乎！” 須賈曰：

“今叔何事？” 范睢曰： “臣為人庸賃。” 須賈意哀之，留與坐飲

食，曰：“范叔一寒如此哉！” 乃取其一綈袍以賜之。須賈因問

曰：“秦相張君，公知之乎？吾聞幸於王，天下之事皆決於相

君。今吾事之去留在張君。孺子豈有客習於相君者哉？” 范睢

曰：“主人翁習知之。唯睢亦得謁，睢請 為見君於張君。” 須賈

曰：“吾馬病，車軸折，非大車駟馬，吾固不出。” 范睢曰：“願

為君借大車駟馬於主人翁。”

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(79.5)

號 hào to name

韓 Hán (name of a state)

微行 wéi xíng private sortie (in disguise) (by emperor or high official)

邸 dǐ mansion, residence of foreign envoys

說 shuì advice

不 fǒu or not? (questions); it is not so (answer to such questions)

(u.f. 否)

得過 dé guò to offend, to incur offense

庸賃 yōng lìn to work for hire

哀 āi a pity

一 yī actually (to speaker’s surprise)

寒 hán (cold), poor

綈 tí (a thick, smooth cloth)

袍 páo gown

事 shì affair, business

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決 jué to decide

豈 qǐ [modal particle] (cf. qí 其)

孺子 rú zǐ boy, son

習 xí familiar

翁 wēng old man

主人翁 zhǔ rén wēng master

唯 wéi even (cf. suī 雖)

謁 yè to visit

軸 zhóu axle (also pronounced zhú)

駟 sì four-horse team

馬 mǎ horse

借 jiè to borrow

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6. (20) 范睢歸取大車駟馬，為須賈御之，入秦相府。府中望

見，有識者皆避匿。須賈怪之。至相舍門，謂須賈曰： “待我，

我為君先入通於相君。” 須賈待門下，持車良久，問門下曰：

“范叔不出，何也？” 門下曰：“無范叔。” 須賈曰：“鄉者與我載

而入者。” 門下曰：“乃 吾相張君也。” 須賈大驚，自知見賣，

乃肉袒厀行，因門下人謝罪。於是范睢盛帷帳，待者甚眾，見

之。須賈頓首言死罪，曰：“賈不意君能自致於青雲之上，賈不

敢復讀天下之書，不敢復與天下之事。賈有湯鑊之罪，請自屏於

胡貉之地，唯君死生之！” 范睢曰：“汝罪有幾？” 曰：“擢賈之

發以續賈之罪，尚未足。” 范睢 曰：“汝罪有三耳。昔者楚昭王

時而申包胥為楚卻吳軍，楚王封之以荊五千戶，包胥辭不受，為

丘墓之寄於荊也。今睢之先人丘墓亦在魏，公前以睢為有外心於

齊而 惡睢於魏齊，公之罪一也。當魏齊辱我於廁中，公不止，罪

二也。更醉而溺我，公其何忍乎？ 罪三矣。然公之所以得無死

者，以綈袍戀戀，有故人之意，故釋公。” 乃謝罷。入言之昭

王，罷歸須賈。

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(79.6)

御 yù to drive

府 fǔ official residence

良 liáng very

賣 mài to betray, to deceive

厀 xī knee (u.f. 膝)

盛 shèng numerous, plentiful

帷 wéi curtains

帳 zhàng curtains

頓 dùn to beat (head) on ground; to kowtow

首 shǒu head

意 yì to expect

致 zhì to bring

青 qīng green, blue, etc.

青雲 qīng yún (blue clouds, symbolizing) eminent position

讀 dú to read, to study

書 shū book

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與 yǔ to participate (equiv. 預) (c.f. yu)

屏 pǐng to withdraw

胡 Hú (Western tribes)

貉 Mò (Northern tribes)

唯 wéi only

幾 jǐ how many?

擢 zhuó to pull out

續 xù to continue (here used for 贖 shú, to redeem)

申包胥 Shēn Bāo Xù (who is not from 楚)

戶 hù household

丘 qiū mound, grave mound

丘墓 qiū mù ancestral mound

寄 jì to be located in, to relocate, to move

前 qián before (in time)

外心 wài xīn disloyal attachment

惡 wù to malign

戀 liàn fond

戀戀 liàn liàn affectionate, mindful

202
故人 gùrén old friend

歸 guī to send home

罷 bà to terminate (embassy)

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 7. (21) 須賈辭於范睢，范睢大供具，盡請諸侯使，與坐堂

上，食飲甚設。而坐須賈於堂下，置莝豆其前，令兩黥徒 夾而馬

食之。數曰：“為我告魏王，急持魏齊頭來！不然者，我且屠大

梁。” 須賈歸，以告魏齊。魏齊恐，亡走趙。匿平原君所。

(79.7)

供 gòng (to provide)

供具 gòng jù to hold a banquet

莝 cuò chopped grass, hay

豆 duò bean

黥 qíng branded (of convicts)

夾 jiá to flank (on both sides)

數 shǔ to berate, to accuse

急 jí urgently

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7a. (22) 范睢既相，王稽謂范睢曰：“事有不可知者三，有不

柰何者亦三。宮車一日晏駕，是事之不可知者一也。君 卒然捐館

舍，是事之不可知者二也。使臣卒然填溝壑，是事之不可知者三

也。宮車一日晏駕，君雖恨於臣，無可柰何。君卒然捐館舍，君

雖恨於臣，亦無可柰何。使 臣卒然填溝壑，君雖恨於臣，亦無可

柰何。” 范睢不懌，乃入言於王曰：“非王稽之忠，莫能內臣於

函谷關；非大王之賢圣，莫能貴臣。今臣官至於相，爵在列侯，

王稽之官尚止於謁者，非其內臣之意也。”昭王召王稽，拜為河

東守，三歲不上計。又任鄭安平，昭王以為將軍。范睢於是散家

財物，盡以報所嘗困戹者。一飯之德 必償，睚眥之怨必報。

205
(79.7a.1)

晏 yàn late

宮車晏駕 kōng jū yàn jià euphemism for an emperor’s death

卒然 zú rán hurriedly, urgently (read 卒 as 猝 or 促)

捐 juān to lose

捐館舍 juān guǎn shè euphemism for death

填 tián to fill

溝壑 gōu hè ravines and valleys

填溝壑 tián gōu hè euphemism for death

非 fēi introduces negative conditional (unless, if not)

守 shǒu governor

上計 shàng jì to present a report (on affairs under one’s jurisdiction)

任 rèn to recommend for office

散 sàn to scatter, to distribute

財物 cái wù riches; worldly possessions

戹 è also written 厄: adversity, difficulty

償 cháng to repay, reward

睚眥 yái cì to glare in anger

206
7a. (23) 范睢相秦二年，秦昭王之四十二年，東伐韓少曲、高平，拔之。

(79.7a.2)

韓 Hán (name of a state) In 403 BCE the state of Qi was divided into three
by its ruling ministerial families, Han, Zhao and Wei.

少曲 Shào Qǔ

高平 Gāo Píng

207
8. (24) 秦昭王聞魏齊在平原君所，欲為范睢必報其仇，乃詳

為好書遺平原君曰 : “寡人聞君之高義，願與君為布衣之友，君幸

過寡人，寡人願與君為十日之飲。” 平原君畏秦，且以為然，而

入秦見昭王。昭王與平原君飲數日，昭王謂平原君曰：“昔周文

王得呂尚以為太公，齊桓 公得管夷吾以為仲父，今范君亦寡人之

叔父也。范君之仇在君之家，願使人歸取其頭來；不然，吾不出

君於關。” 平原君曰：“貴而為交者，為賤也；富而為交者， 為

貧也。夫魏齊者，勝之友也，在，固不出也，今又不在臣所。”

昭王乃遺趙王書曰：“王之弟在秦，范君之仇魏齊在平原君之

家。王使人疾持其頭來；不然，吾舉 兵而伐趙，又不出王之弟於

關。” 趙孝成王乃發卒圍平原君家，急，魏齊夜亡出，見趙相虞

卿。虞卿度趙王終不可說，乃解其相印，與魏齊亡，閒行，念諸

侯莫可以 急抵者，乃復走大梁，欲因信陵君以走楚。信陵君聞

之，畏秦，猶豫未肯見，曰：“虞卿何如人也？” 時侯嬴在旁，

曰：“人固未易知，知人亦未易也。夫虞卿躡屩 檐簦，一見趙

王，賜白璧一雙，黃金百鎰；再見，拜為上卿；三見，卒受相

印，封萬戶侯。當此之時，天下爭知之。夫魏齊窮困過虞卿，虞

208
卿不敢重爵祿之尊，解相 印，捐萬戶侯而閒行。急士之窮而歸公

子，公子曰‘何如人’。人固不易知，知人亦未易也！” 信陵君大

慚，駕如野迎之。魏齊聞信陵君之初難見之，怒而自剄。趙王聞

之，卒取其頭予秦。秦昭王乃出平原君歸趙。

209
(79.8)

幸 Xìng I hope; favor

周文王 Zhōu Wén Wáng King Wen of Zhou

呂尚 Lǔ Shàng

太公 Tài Gōng (title usually applied to grandfathers, given to Lu Shang by

the Zhou founders)

桓 Huán

管夷吾 Guǎn Yíwú (i.e. Guàn Zhòng 管仲)

仲父 zhòng fù uncle

為 wèi for the purpose of

又 yòu furthermore, also

疾 jí quick

發 fā to send out

虞卿 Yú Qīng

因 yīn to enlist the help of

猶豫 yóu yù to hesitate

何如 hé rú what sort of…?

210
易 yì easy

躡 niè to tread, to wear on feet

屩 qué straw sandals

檐 dān read as 擔: to carry on shoulder

簦 dēng umbrella

窮 qióng in distress

重 zhòng to value

爵 jué high rank

祿 lù emolument

尊 zūn honor

捐 juān to abandon

慙 cán to be ashamed (alt. form of 慚)

駕 jià to go by carriage

野 yě countryside

難 nán difficult

211
 Glossary of Selected Grammatical Terms for Classical Chinese

Note that words in Classical Chinese are traditionally divided into two primary categories: 實詞
shí cí (“full” or “content” words) that are the main carriers of meaning in the discourse in
contrast to 虛詞 xū cí (“empty” or “function” words), whose role is purely grammatical:
specifying, modifying, joining, etc.

adversative - but, rather, however, instead - a conjunction that indicates that information is being
given that goes against what has just been said. 然 rán 而 ér etc.

adverb - precedes and modifies the verb. Note that words can be used more freely as adverbs in
Classical Chinese than English. When a noun precedes the verb, and if it does not
function as the subject, then it must be taken as an adverb. For example: 馬食之 mǎ sì
zhī (“fed him in the manner one would feed a horse") , 徒多道王 tú duō dào wáng
(“the convicts mostly escaped along the road”).

adverb of aspect - adverbs that indicate when actions take place - in the future, in the past
etc . One of main ways to indicate tense explicitly in Classical Chinese. 將 jiāng (about
to), 且 qiě (about to), 已 yǐ (already), 未 wèi (not yet), etc. For example: 子將安之 zǐ
jiāng ān zhī, (where are you going)?

adverb of scope - an adverb in that it precedes the verb, but rather than describing the verb it
gives the information about the quantity or number of scope of the subject or the object of
the verb depending on context. 皆 jié (all), 莫 mò (in no case or no one), 或 huò (in some
case or someone).

eg. zuǒ yòu jié xiào zhī 左右皆笑之 Those present all laughed at him
(refers to the subject)

hàn jié yǐ dé chǔ hū? 漢皆已得楚乎? Has Han already won over all of Chu’s army?
(refers to the object)

causative verb - an intransitive verb or some word belonging to another word class that is
used as a transitive verb and means" to cause the object to verb. Eg. 坐 zuò is an
intransitive verb, but in a sentence such as zuò Xū Gǔ yú tang xià 坐須賈於堂下 (to sit
Xu Gu somewhere below the hall) this intransitive verb takes a proper noun as its object
and has a clear causative reading.
212
clause - part of a complex sentence that has a verb (or an implied verb in the case of the
equational nominal usage of 也 yě) but can't stand independently on its own as a sentence.
Eg. in a 如…則 rú…zé construction, we can speak of an “if” clause and a “then” clause.

conjunction – words that serve to link two words or two clauses or two sentences together, such
as 則 zé, 而 ér, 及 jí, etc. These can be temporal (indicating a sequence in time) or
logical (indicating a sequence in reasoning).

coverb – basically the English prepositions. This category covers such words as 以 yǐ, 於 yú, 從
cóng, etc. Like regular verbs, coverbs take objects and thus are transitive. The 0S-iect of
a coverb usually drops out if it is the object pronoun 之 zhī. Eg. 以(之)告 yǐ (zhī) gào
(told about it). In fact, the combination 以之 yǐ zhī virtually never occurs in an actual
usage. The function of coverb phrase is to indicate in what manner, with what means, on
whose behalf, for what purpose an action is taken.

demonstrative - the equivalent of" this", " that" in English. 其 qí, 之 zhī, 此 cǐ, 彼 bǐ etc.

double negative- a double negative, of which Classical Chinese is inordinately fond, equals an
emphatic positive. Eg. 物有不可不忘 wù yǒu bù kě bú wàng (there are things which
must be forgotten).

equational nominal predicate - in the X, Y (X is Y) construction, it refers to the “is Y.” Eg. 雀,
鳥也 Què, niǎo yě. In general, we use this to describe the function of 也yě in such
sentences, which we call "equational sentences."

explicit particle or subordination- one of the map functions of 之 zhī is to show that one term is
modifying another. Eg. 廉頗者，趙之良將也 Lián Pō zhě, Zhāo zhī liáng jiàng yě.
Note that之 zhī can be used in this way to modify verbs as well as nouns: eg. 既患秦兵
之來 jì huàn Qín bīng zhī lái (fear the arrival of Qin’s army). IN this case之 zhī
functions like a nominalizer which changes a verb phrase or a clause into a nominal
element.

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fusion word- when two characters fuse together to form a new character that is a contraction of
the original two characters. They are rather limited in number, the main ones being: 耳 ěr
(而 + 以) 焉 yān (於 + 之) and 諸 zhū (之 + 於).

imperative- a verb that gives a command or order. " Do this!" In Classical Chinese positive
imperatives are structurally indistinguishable from other kinds of verbs. Only negative
imperatives make use of distinct characters.

interrogative - question words, such as 孰 shú, 何 hé, etc.

kernal sentence - the basic, minimal skeleton of a sentence which remains after you've gotten rid
of modifiers, time words, and other phrases - generally either topic/comment or subject-
verb-(object) construction.

locative - indicating location or place

measure word - a counter or classifier for nouns or verbs. Note that when nouns are counted with
a number the order is usually: Noun + Number + Measure word. Eg. 馬三匹 mǎ sān pí.

modal particles - 1) introduces a rhetorical question or 2) changes a declarative sentence into one
expressing desire, exhortation, doubt or 3) adds emotion by turning a sentence into an
exclamation. Eg. 豈 qǐ, 其 qí.

negative imperative- A negative command or order - "Don't!" Rather than using 不 bù, which
negates ordinary verbs, negative imperatives are formed with the characters 勿, 無, 毋 wù.
Eg. 無扑之 wù pū zhī (Don’t hit him!). In clauses following certain verbs such as 令
ling (to order), 使 shǐ (to cause), 欲 yù (to want), 恐 kǒng (to fear), a negative
imperative (i.e. any of the 3 possible characters for “wu”) will be used to negate the
second verb. Eg. 欲勿予 yù wù yǔ (if we want not to give it to them).

nominalizer- a word that turns a verb or a clause into a nominal (noun) phrase- such as 者 zhě for
verbs and 之 zhī for clauses.

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object pronoun- a pronoun that is the object of a verb, such as之 zhī (it, that, them, her, him, etc.),
己 jǐ (oneself), 我 wǒ (me), etc.

oblique object- used to describe the nouns or noun phrases following the coverb 於 yú. A
sentence can have a regular object and a oblique object. The order would be: [Subject] +
Verb + Object + yu + oblique object. Eg. 王殺臣於院 wáng shā chén yú yuàn (The
king killed the vassal in the courtyard). There are some linguists who consider oblique
object a type of complement rather than object.

particles - words without a real meaning of their own, but that playa rhythmic emphatic or
grammatical role in the sentence, such as final particles like 也 yě, 矣 yǐ, etc., and initial
particles like 夫 fú. Important in punctuation.

partitive - a construction that singles out or defines and individual or a sub-group out of
a larger group using 之 zhī and 者 zhě . “One of”, “those of,” “someone who”, etc. Eg.
事之不可知者一shì zhī bù kě zhī zhě yī (One of the (three) things that cannot be known).
Remember that 之 zhī frequently drops out in this construction. Eg. 求人可 使 報 秦者
(I seek someone who can be sent to report to Qin).

passive - a verb that is not active. Passive may be explicitly indicated as follows:
1) by inverting verb and its object Eg. 一人蛇先成 yī rén shé xiān chéng (one person’s
snake was completed first)
2) by explicit markers like 見 jiàn, 被 bèi, or 為 wéi. Eg. 殺 shā (to kill) vs. 見殺
jiàn shā (to be killed)
3) by the presence of a passive agent marker 於 yú (see below)
4) verbs coming after the following words are taken in the passive:可kě (be able to be
verbed), 易 yì (easy to be verbed) 難 nán (difficult to be verbed) 足 zú (worthy of being
verbed or sufficient to be verbed). An 以 yǐ can be inserted after any of these four words
to make the verb coming after it active. Eg. 可以救趙 kě yǐ jiù Zhào (be able to save
Zhao).

passive agent – indicated by: 1) following a 於 yú that follows a verb. Eg. 軍幸於趙王jūn xìng
yú Zhāo Wáng (you are favored by the kind of Zhao) where 趙王 is the passive agent. 2)
preceding 所 suǒ in the pattern X 為 Y 所 verb where Y is the passive agent. Eg. 父為人
所殺 fù wèi rén suǒ shā (her father was killed by someone). Note that the 所 can drop
out sometimes as in: 身為宋國笑 shēn wéi song guó xiào (he was laughed at by the
whole state of Song).

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phrase - a mini-unit or building block within a sentence that is incomplete on its own and does
not on its own add up' to a full independent sentence because it lacks a full pledged verb.
Eg. 天下之事 tiān xià zhī shì or 軍之來 jūn zhī lái (In the last example, the clause 軍來
jūn lái is turned into a noun phrase by the nominalizer 之 zhī.)

place word - indicates a place and may be a proper noun. It can come at the beginning of
the sentence after a time word (if there is one). Eg. 邯鄲 Hándān, 咸陽 Xiányáng or it
can come at the end of a sentence as a locative complement of 於 yú, 死於 關中sǐ yú
Guān Zhōng [(he) died in Guanzhong]. It can of course also be the complement of other
verbs such as 至 zhì (to reach).

predicate - the part of the sentence containing the verb or the verb-object that comes after the
subject. Note that while the subject frequently drops out in Classical Chinese, the
minimal sentence requires some sort of predicate.

pronoun - substitutes or stand in for some other noun or noun phrase, such as 者 zhě or 其 qí.
Remember that pronoun objects and verbs are usually inverted following a negative. Eg.
恐其不我於也kǒng qí bù wǒ yú yě (I was afraid that they would not want me!).

putative verb - works exactly like a causative verb, except that it means to treat or consider
something like the verb. Eg. 其夫美之 qí fū měi zhī (her husband considers her to be
beautiful).

rhetorical question - distinguished from a real question in which the questioner really wants to
know the answer. A rhetorical question is used for polemical, emphatic, oratorical, or
emotional reasons and need not always be translated as a question in English.
Interrogative words such as 安能 ān néng 豈能 qǐ néng 豈敢 qǐ gǎn are often
found in rhetorical questions.

stative verb - an adjective, but stative verb is preferable because in Chinese adjectives can
function as intransitive verbs if they come after a noun, and they can take aspect marker.
Eg 月明 yuè míng (the moon is bright). They act like English adjectives when they
precede and modify a noun – eg. 明月 míng yuè (the bright moon).

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time word – indicates a specific time such as 今 jīn (now) or 趙文王二十四年Zhāo
Wénwáng èrshísì nián (the 24th year of the reign of King Wen of Zhao). In a narrative
the time word will precedes the place word at the head of the sentence. To be
distinguished from "adverbs of aspects."

topic/comment - A topic is a subject of discussion that being introduced. A comment is some

statement or remark or information regarding the topic. Note that topic can be the object
as well as the subject of the verb in the comment- this is one of the advantages of the
topic/comment explanation over plain subject/predicate. Eg, 然而不王者，未之有也
rán ér bù wáng zhě, wèi zhī yǒu yě (it has never happened that in such circumstances true
kingship was not obtained). Here the topic 不王者 is actually the object of the verb 有in
the comment.

transitive verb - a verb that requires an object. Eg. 人殺吾子 rén shā wú zǐ (someone killed my
son)

word class - the grammatical function or" class" of a word, such as " verb," " adverb," " noun,"
etc. Note that Chinese shift class with much greater ease and frequency English, a
phenomenon that our grammar notes call" class spread" – shifting from one word class to
another.

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Map of the Warring States Period:
Chu (楚), Han (韓), Qi (齊), Qin (秦), Wei (魏), Yan (燕), Zhao (趙)

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