Introduction to Literary Chinese - Lesson 27, Text 3
Adapted from the 1927 book by J. Brandt
Grammatical Section
INDIVIDUAL PARTICLES.
The particle 之
The particle 之 is used in the following ways:
- As a personal pronoun: he, she, it, they. (ex. 1, 2, 3, 4).
- Indicating an adjectival form (ex. 5, 6).
- As a demonstrative pronoun: this, that, these, those (ex. 7, 8).
- As a sign of the possessive case (ex. 9, 10, 11, 12, 13).
- Indicating a participial form (ex. 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19).
- With the meaning “to go” (ex. 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25).
- Indicating a preceding object (ex. 26, 27, 28, 29, 30).
- Indicating a preceding subject (ex. 31, 32, 33).
- Used instead of 至 “till” (ex. 34).
- Used instead of 於 “in”, “at” (ex. 35).
- Used instead of 與 “to give” (ex. 36).
- Indicating a verbal noun (ex. 37).
- As an expletive giving only a rythmic force to a sentence:
- a) between the subject and the predicate (ex. 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44).
- b) between the object and the verb (ex. 45, 46).
- c) between the verb and the complement (ex. 47).
- d) joined to adverbs (ex. 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53).
- e) between the attribute and the noun (ex. 54).
- f) joined to a numeral (ex. 55).
- g) inserted into proper names (ex. 38).
Examples of using the particle 之
① 愛之如身。不止如子。
He loved him like himself, not merely as a son.
② 有能割肉者。妻之。
Whoever will cut off (a piece) of his flesh, I shall marry (my daughter) to him.
③ 知之者。不如好之者。
Those who know it (virtue) are not equal to those who love it.
④ 有能一日用其力於仁矣乎。我未見力不足者。蓋有之矣。我未之見也。
Is any one able for one day to apply his strength to virtue? I have not seen the case in which the strength would be insufficient. Should there possibly be any such case. I have not seen it.
⑤ 此爲天大之福。
This is extreme happiness.
⑥ 今之人。
The present men.
⑦ 此爲何人之子。
Those several men; that crowd.
⑧ 二蟲。又何知。
Those two creatures, what can they know?
⑨ 耕者生命之本也。
Agriculture is the foundation of life.
⑩ 天之明命。
The clear will of God.
⑪ 人皆有之。
A parent's heart, all people have it.
⑫ 此爲何人之子。
Whose son is this?
⑬ 不知其子之心。
A father does not know his son's heart.
⑭ 不知足之人。
A discontented man.
⑮ 王有愛民之心。
The king loves his people (lit. has a loving his people heart).
⑯ 有德之人。
A man of virtue.
⑰ 三年之小孩。
A child three years old.
⑱ 聽之之人。
The man who hears it (lit. hearing it).
⑲ 傷弓之鳥驚曲木。
A bird which has been wounded by a bow is afraid of bent wood.
⑳ 將何之。
Where are you going?
㉑ 曰東東之。曰北北之。
If he said east, they went east; if north, north.
㉒ 心之所之。
What the heart desires.
㉓ 他日君出。必命有司所之。
On other days, when you have gone out, you have given instructions to the officers as to where you were going.
㉔ 不知之之路。
He did not know the road there (lit. the road of going there).
㉕ 學者 須當知其所之。而之之也。
Learners should know the direction in which they ought to go, and go in it.
㉖ 子路日。願聞子之志。子曰。老者安之。朋友信之。少者懷之。
Tzu-lu said (to Confucius), “I should like to hear you wishes.” The Master said, “(In regard to) the aged give them rest; in regard to friends, show them sincerity; in regard to young, treat them tenderly.”
㉗ 此語我宜言之。
These words I must say.
㉘ 飲食之人。人皆賤之。
Drinkers and gluttons, all men despise them.
㉙ 恭敬之心。人皆有之。
The feeling of reverence, all men possess (it).
㉚ 貪愛財物。謂之愚人。
He who is greedy of wealth is called a fool.
㉛ 行而不至者。有之。
There are some who go and never arrive.
㉜ 異人何地無之。
In what place are there no wonderful men?
㉝ 臣弑其君者。有之。子弑其父者。有之。
There were instances of ministers who murdered their sovereigns, and of sons who murdered their fathers.
㉞ 之死。矢靡他。
(She) swore she never would have another (husband).
㉟ 人之其所親愛而辟焉。
Men are partial where they feel affection and love.
㊱ 皇父之二子死焉。
Huang-fu put his two sons to death.
㊲ 爲之難。言之得無訒乎。
Doing being difficult, can speaking be without difficulty?
㊳ 庾公之斯學射於尹公之他。尹公之他學射於我。
Yü-kung-ssu learned archery from Yin-kung-t'o, and Yin-kung-t'o learned it from me.
㊴ 仁之與義。敬之與和。相反而皆相成也。
Benevolence and righteousness, reverence and harmony being different from each other, at the same time mutually complete each other.
㊵ 鳥之將死其鳴也哀。人之將死其言也善。
When a bird is about to die, its notes are mournful; when a man is about to die, his words are good.
㊶ 民之歸射於我。猶水之就下。獸之走壙也。
The people turn to benevolence as water flows downwards, and as wild beasts fly to the wilderness.
㊷ 人之有是四端也。猶其有四體也。
Men have these four principles just as they have their four limbs.
㊸ 民惟恐王之不好勇也。
The people are only afraid that your Majesty does not love valor.
㊹ 舜既爲仁矣。敢問瞽瞍之非臣如何。
Since Shun had become emperor, I venture to ask, how it was that Ku-sou was not one of his ministers?
㊺ 古者。言之不出。恥躬之不逮也。
(The reason why) the ancients did not (readily) give utterance to their words, (was that) they feared lest their actions should not come up to them.
㊻ 吾斯之未能信。
I cannot believe it.
㊼ 鄭將覆亡之不暇。何干不懼。
The ruin of the state of Cheng is imminent,--how do you dare not to be afraid?
㊽ 臣事君如之何。
How should a minister serve his prince?
㊾ 何之不可。
What is there impossible in it?
㊿ 無如之何。
There is no help for it.
51 究之如何。
After all how will it turn out?
52 均之死。
In either case he will die.
53 疑信半之。
Half doubting, half believing.
54 物之未熟者。勿食。水之未沸者。勿飲。
Do not eat unripened things; do not drink unboiled water.
55 一之爲甚。
Once is enough (lit. much).