GRAMMAR COMMENTARY
33.1. Text Division Techniques: Dialogue
In the Mencius, almost every chapter begins with the words
孟子曰 mèng zǐ yuē "Mencius said: '...'" However, the text of this work is often structured not as a monologue, but as a dialogue.
Moreover, the names of the participants in the conversation are often omitted after their first mention. In some cases, parallelism of statements allows us to restore the original
division of the text. Let us consider from this point of view the beginning of the text of lesson 33:
孟子曰許子必種粟而後食乎(1),曰然(2) mèng zǐ
yuē xǔ zǐ bì zhòng sù ér hòu shí hū yuē rán 許子必織布而後衣乎(3),曰否(4) xǔ zǐ bì zhī bù ér hòu yī hū yuē fǒu
A comparison of these parts of the text clearly shows that the third
the passage, like the first, is a question, posed by Mencius.
33.2. Interrogative Final Particles
Interrogative final particles differ from neutral,
restrictive, and exclamatory particles in that, by indicating the end of a sentence, they call into question the statement contained within it.
The appearance of final interrogative particles in the classical language thus represents a significant shift in the system of grammatical means of the Old Chinese language (initially, as we recall, the general question was not grammatically
formed, and therefore, outwardly, an affirmative sentence was no different from an interrogative one).
The most commonly used interrogative final particles of the early classical language are 乎 hū and 與 yǔ.
Compare: a) 許子冠 xǔ zǐ guàn "Xu Zi wears a hat."
許子冠乎 xú zǐ guàn hū "Does Xu Zi wear a hat?"
b) 自為之 zì wéi zhī "He makes it himself."
自為之與 zì wéi zhī yǔ "He makes it himself?" The function word 與 yǔ is thus used in classical Old Chinese in the following three functions: a) a conjunction indicating a coordinating relationship between nouns; b) a preposition indicating jointness; c) a final interrogative particle.
Furthermore, 與 yǔ can also be used as a notional
word "to give" (a predicative requiring a double object), for example: 天子不能以天下與人 tiān zǐ bù néng yǐ tiān xià yǔ rén
"The Son of Heaven cannot hand over the Celestial Empire to [another]
person."
The function word 乎 hū is also ambiguous. Although relatively rare, it is used as a preposition synonymous with 於 yú
(in the Mencius, the preposition 於 yú is recorded 497 times, while 乎 hū with the same meaning is only 44 times): 出乎爾者反乎爾者也 chū hū ěr zhě fǎn hū ěr zhě yě "What comes from you will return to you."
33.3. The Place-Predicatives 然 rán and 否 fǒu
The word 然 rán in Classical Old Chinese
forms an adverbial modifier of manner (32.3); it also functions as a substitute word, duplicating the predicative. In English,
it can be translated as "to be thus," "to exist in such a form."
Like any word with a predicative function, 然 rán can be negated, hence 不然 bù rán "to be different," "to look
different." However, in classical Chinese, there is also a special negative predicate corresponding to 不然 bù rán. This word is
否 fǒu.
A special case of using 然 rán and 否 fǒu is their use to express a short answer to a general question.
In this case, 然 rán can be translated as "yes," and 否 fǒu as "no": 許子以釜甑爨乎 xǔ zǐ yǐ fǔ zèng cuàn hū "Does Xuzi cook food using a cauldron and a steamer?" 然 rán "Yes."
自為之與 zì wéi zhī yǔ "Does he make them himself?" 否 fǒu "No."
33.4. The phrases 然後 rán hòu and 而後 ér hòu
The place-predicate 然 rán is used in the phrase 然
後 rán hòu, which is placed between two predicates and indicates
the temporal and logical sequence of the actions expressed by them (the second action not only follows the first, but
is also its result):
權然後知輕重 quán rán hòu zhī qīng zhòng "They weigh
and then know, "An object is light or heavy."
人恒過然後能改 rén héng guò rán hòu néng gǎi "A person must make many mistakes, and only then will he
be able to correct [his mistake]."
The phrase 而後 ér hòu is used with a meaning close to the above: 或百步而後止 huò bǎi bù ér hòu zhǐ "Some [ran] a hundred steps and then stopped."
33.5. The phrase 然則 rán zé
The pronoun 然 rán can be a predicate and, therefore, function as a complete impersonal sentence.
It is in this function that it appears in the set phrase 然則 rán zé, which is a subordinate clause and a subordinating conjunction introducing the main clause:
然則廢釁鐘與 rán zé f èi xīn zhōng yǔ "[If this] is so,
then should the anointing of the bell with sacrificial
blood be abolished?" The phrase 然則 rán zé always begins a complex
sentence, and therefore it can be used as a criterion for dividing the text.
33.6. The interrogative word 奚 xī
The interrogative word 奚 xī is close in meaning to 何 hé (26.3). It can be: a) an attribute of a noun: 奚故 xī gù "what reason?" b) as a definition of a predicative: 子奚不為政 zǐ xī bù wéi zhèng "Why don't you attend to management matters?" c) as an object: 水奚自至 shǔi xī zì zhì "Where does the water flow?" Just like 何 hé, the interrogative word 奚 xī is not used
as a subject denoting an animate person
(in this case, the already well-known pronoun 誰 shúi is used, see 27.1).
Just like 何 hé, when replacing the indirect object with the prepositions 與 yǔ, 以 yǐ, 為 wèi, the question word 奚 xī always precedes the corresponding preposition:
奚為喜而不寐 xī wèi xǐ ér bù mèi "Why were you so happy
that you couldn't sleep?" If the interrogative 奚 xī replaces a direct object, it is inverted and placed before the predicate: 許子奚冠 xǔ zǐ xī guàn "What does Xu Zi wear as a headdress?"
33.7. The Functional Word 且 qiě
We encountered the word 且 qiě as a conjunction connecting
predicatives (25.3). It is also used as a function word indicating a connection between two clauses, the second
of which contains an additional argument in favor of the idea expressed in the first. In English, 且 qiě in this case can be translated as "besides," "not to mention..."
etc.: 周公之過不亦宜乎,且古之君子過則改之 zhōu
gōng zhī guò bù yì yí hū, qiě gǔ zhī jūn zǐ guò zé gǎi zhī "Wasn't Zhou Gong's mistake inevitable? Not to mention
that if noblemen of old made a mistake, they corrected it."
33.8. The function word 諸 zhū
The character 諸 zhū is used in classical Chinese to write not only a definitive pronoun (28.1), but also a word that is a contraction of two function words 之於 zhī yú.
In this case, 諸 zhū is used to indicate a direct object and a preposition before an indirect object:
據此心加諸彼而已 jù cǐ xīn jiā zhū bǐ ér yǐ "take this feeling and apply it to others, that's all" (加諸彼 jiā
zhū bǐ=加之於彼 jiā zhī yú bǐ).
33.9. The construction 何...之 hé... zhī
A sentence in which the interrogative word 何 hé refers to the predicate can be presented in a different form.
By introducing the function word 之 zhī (25.4), we can
transform the subject and predicate into a noun phrase that functions as a nominal predicate, and the subject becomes
the interrogative word 何 hé.
For example, the sentence 許子何不憚煩 xǔ zǐ hé bù dàn f án
"Why isn't Xuzi embarrassed by this circumstance?" can
be transformed into the sentence 何許子之不憚煩 hé xǔ zǐ zhī bù dàn f án, which has the same meaning.
33.10. Preposition 於 yú (continued)
In archaic and pre-classical languages, there were no special markers for the passive form. The active or passive
meaning of a predicative was determined solely by context, in particular the presence or absence of an object: 茲雨不唯我禍 zī yǔ bù wéi wǒ huò "Will this rain not harm us?" (active sentence)
雀其禍 què qí huò "Will Que be harmed?" (passive sentence)
In classical Chinese, the preposition 於 yú began to be used in passive clauses. In this case, the word denoting the subject of the action occupies the position of the complement:
勞力者治於人 láo lì zhě zhì yú rén "He who exerts
his strength is governed by people."
It should be emphasized that while in archaic and pre-classical languages the preposition 於 yú(于 yú) was optional, in a passive sentence of classical language this preposition cannot be omitted
without changing the meaning of the phrase: 我見於王 wǒ jiàn yú wáng "I am accepted by the king."
我見王 wǒ jiàn wáng “I accepted the wang.”
11/33. The definitive pronoun 或 huò
The word 或 huò means "some," "someone," etc. Like 各 gè "everyone," this definitive pronoun always comes after the noun it refers to, but can also be used independently: 或百步而後止 huò bǎi bù ér hòu zhǐ "Some ran a hundred steps and only then stopped."
