GRAMMAR COMMENTARY
15.1. Attributive Relationships between Nouns
In ancient Chinese, the attributive always precedes the attributive. However, it is not always clear whether there is an attributive relationship between adjacent nouns.
For example, predicatives meaning "giving" and "taking"
usually follow two objects. However, in contexts where the indirect object has already appeared, it may be omitted,
while the direct object may have an attributive. Therefore, it is often difficult to accurately determine the relationships between individual words in a sentence like the following: 王賜同馬 wáng cì tóng mă.
It is possible that the word 同 tóng, which is a proper name, acts as an indirect object here. In this case, we can translate this sentence as follows: "Wang gave [a man named] Tong horses."
But it is also possible that the word 同 tóng is an attribute of the following direct object: "Wang gave [someone] horses [from the area] Tong."
Archaic languages lack any grammatical means of formalizing attributive relationships between nouns, so in some cases, the possibility remains of different interpretations of the text.
Formal indicators of attributive relationships first appear in pre-classical languages. This undoubtedly contributes to a clearer and more unambiguous expression of thought and removes a number of misunderstandings in the interpretation of texts.
One of the indicators of the attributive relationship between
names is the already familiar personal pronoun 厥 jué.
Let's compare two phrases:
天子休 tiān zǐ xiū "gift from the Son of Heaven"
天子厥休 tiān zǐ jué xiū
王所 wáng suǒ "residence of the ruler"
王厥所 wáng jué suǒ
15.2. Function word 之 zhī
Along with 厥 jué, 之 zhī began to be used to express attributive relations in the pre-classical language—a completely new function word, never recorded in earlier texts.
Like 厥 jué it also stands between the definition and the defined:
伐玁狁于洛之陽 fá xiăn yǔn yú luò zhī yáng “attack
to the Xianyun tribes on the northern bank of the Loshui River" (yáng - "northern bank of the river");
圖于榮伯之所 tú yú róng bó zhī suǒ “to settle in the residence of Rong-bo.”
15.3. Direct Object Inversion
The continuity between archaic and pre-classical languages is manifested, in particular, in the fact that the latter retains the rule of mandatory inversion of the direct object expressed by a pronoun in a negative sentence:
毋汝又閑 wú rǔ yòu xián "You should not be released
[from these duties]."
15.4. Doubling of Notional Words (continued)
In pre-classical Chinese, not only nouns (see 11.3) but also predicatives could be doubled.
In the latter case, doubling expresses an intensive degree of a certain state or quality. Most often, such a doubled word is an attribute of a predicative, i.e., it functions as an adverbial modifier indicating a characteristic of an action or
state:
祖考穆穆克哲厥德 zǔ kăo mù mù kè zhè jué dé "The ancestors
were able to magnificently display their virtuous power."
It can also be used as an adjective to a name: 穆穆文王 mù mù wén wáng "Wen Wang, full of splendor."
LEXICAL COMMENTARY
15.A. Virtuous Power 德 dé
A necessary attribute of the supreme ruler—the Son of Heaven—was the possession of a special magical power, similar to the Polynesian mana. The Zhou people designated this power with the word 德 dé.
Thanks to it, the ruler could influence those around him.
"Your de," it says, for example, in the Shanshu, "manifests
as a radiance illuminating the upper and lower spheres; you diligently spread it to the four cardinal directions."
Possessing de allows one to keep hostile tribes in check and maintain order in the Celestial Empire. The virtuous
power of de connects the king with his ancestors, and through them, with Heaven, the arbiter of the destinies of the cosmos and human society as its integral part.
However, the ruler must not only rely on this innate power but also promote its outward manifestation in every possible way.
To this end, he must "enlighten" (明 míng) his heart—the center of the virtuous power of de. It should be noted that the ancient Chinese believed the heart to be endowed with the ability not only to feel but also to think.
The power of de was, of course, possessed not only by the Son of Heaven,
but also by his closest assistants—the dignitaries and zhuhou. They, for their part, could successfully assist the wang in his transformative work only if they succeeded in
ensuring that their de did not "remain hidden" (潛 qián)
and, thanks to their efforts, was given the opportunity to fully and comprehensively "manifest" (哲 zhé).
15.B. Hereditary Positions
The priority of "following examples" in the Zhou period was closely linked to the social reality in which the aristocrat's calling was to serve in one position or another at the ruler's court.
A position in that era was lifelong (see
in the text of Lesson 13: "I command you to govern the temple in Feng and the people of Feng until your death").
Furthermore, positions were hereditary. The explanation for this is found in the same text: once an ancestor had appointed someone to a position, the latter's descendants were also expected to follow their example. Since the eternal ideal of a virtuous subject is to follow the example of his deceased ancestors, he
"cannot even dream of the ancestors having [something that] needs to be corrected."
That's why, when assigning Tong to assist Wu Dafu and be responsible for
the fields, forests, hunting grounds, and pastures, the king warns him that this position will belong to him "for generations, during the lives of children and grandchildren."
15th Century. Capitals of Zhou
The entire Western
Zhou received its name because, after defeating
Yin, the Zhou returned to the west and founded their capital
in the area of modern-day Xi'an.
This city was called 宗周 zōng zhōu "Zhou, where the ancestral temples are located."
Besides this main capital, the Zhou king had several other residences, including 洛邑 luò yì "Luo City" (modern Luoyang), where the king's court moved after its defeat by nomads in 771 BC.
