GRAMMAR COMMENTARY
37.1. Direct Speech
Direct speech in ancient Chinese texts is most often introduced by the word 曰 yuē "to speak," which is the predicate: 孟子曰然 mèng zǐ yuē rán "Mencius said: 'Yes.'"
However, sometimes the text indicates not only who the statement belongs to, but also to whom it is addressed.
In this case, the construction ...謂...曰... wèi... yuē... is used, where the subject (the speaker) comes first, then the predicate 謂 wèi "to address...", followed by the indirect object (the person to whom the statement is addressed), and finally, the main predicate 曰 yuē "to speak", immediately preceding the direct speech: 孟子謂宋勾踐曰... mèng zǐ wèi sòng gōu jiàn yuē... "Mencius said to Song Goujian: “...”".
Instead of 謂 wèi in such a construction, some other predicatives can be used: 問 wèn "to ask", 語 yǔ "to explain", 告 gào "to report", etc.
However, after some predicatives of this series, in classical Chinese, objects denoting the addressee of the utterance are not used. Thus, there is never such an addition after the predicate 對 duì "to answer": 孟子對曰否 mèng zǐ duì yuē fǒu "Mencius answered: 'No'."
37.2. Functions of the Numeral in a Sentence (continued)
In addition to its primary function—being a predicate—a numeral can determine the predicate. As a general rule, in this case, it comes before the predicate and indicates how many times the action was performed: 吾日三省吾身 wú rì sān xǐng wú shēn "I check myself three times a day."
Later, starting in the post-classical period, this method of expressing the frequency of an action fell out of use. Its remnants in modern Chinese are set phrases like 百發百中 băi fā băi zhòng "Shoot a hundred times and hit the target a hundred times."
37.3. General Question
To express a general question in classical Chinese, it is sufficient to place an interrogative particle at the end of a sentence: 乎 hū, 與 yǔ, etc.
Another way to express a general question is to add a negative proposition to the original sentence: 否 fǒu "it is not so": 知此人否 zhī cǐ rén fǒu "Do you know this person?" (lit. "Do you know this person or not?").
Both methods can coexist in the same sentence: 如此則動心否乎 rú cǐ zé dòng xīn fǒu hū "[And if] this happens, will it touch [your] heart?" (lit. "...will it touch, or won't it?").
37.4. A Definition with Selective Meaning
In ancient Chinese, a definition always comes before the thing it defines. An exception is when the definition has selective meaning. Such a definition indicates that it covers only a subset of the objects or phenomena expressed by the definition.
A definition with selective meaning is most often a noun phrase formed by the function word 者 zhě. Sometimes such a definition is attached to the thing it defines using the function word 之 zhī: 人之見之者 rén zhī jiàn zhī zhě "Those people who saw it."
之 zhī can be omitted in this type of phrase.
This lesson contains a rather complex case of multiple modifiers with selective meanings. The core of the phrase here is the construction 子之民...者 zǐ zhī mín... zhě "Those people from among your people who..." The function word 者 zhě in this case nominalizes the expanded predicative phrases 老羸轉於溝壑 lǎo léi zhuǎn yú gōu hè "being old and infirm, to end up in a ditch or ravine" (i.e., to die) and 壯者散而之四方 zhuàng zhě sàn ér zhī sì fāng "being strong, to disperse and head in all four directions."
In general, this entire phrase can be translated as follows: "those people from among your people who, being old and infirm, end up in ditches or ravines, and being strong, run away wherever their eyes lead..."
37.5. The disjunctive conjunctions 若 ruò and 抑 yì
In Classical Old Chinese, there are disjunctive conjunctions 若 ruò and 抑 yì "or": 大夫没矣,則稱諡若字 dà fū mò yǐ, zé chēng shì ruò zì "[If] a dafu dies, he is called by his posthumous name or nickname."
仲子所居之室伯夷之所築與,抑亦盜蹠之所築與,所食之粟伯夷之所樹與,抑亦盜蹠之所樹與 zhòng zǐ suǒ jū zhī shì bó yí zhī suǒ zhù yǔ, yì yì dào zhì zhī suǒ zhù yǔ, suǒ shí zhī sù bó yí zhī suǒ shù yǔ, yì yì dào zhì zhī suǒ shù yǔ "Was the house where Zhongzi lives built by Bo Yi or built by the bandit Zhi? Was the millet that Zhongzi eats sown by Bo Yi or by the bandit Zhi?"
37.6. Nominal Predicate with the Particle 唯 wéi
In classical Chinese, nominal predicates are usually formed by the copula 也 yě. In some cases, however, the copula may be absent from the nominal predicate. This text contains a sentence with a nominal predicate formed by the restrictive particle 唯 wéi "only," "merely." This makes the presence of the copula optional:
知其罪者唯孔距心 zhī qí zuì zhě wéi kǒng jù xīn "Only Kong Juxin understands his guilt" (lit. "The one who understands his guilt is only Kong Juxin").
37.7. Preposition 為 wèi
The preposition 為 wèi means "for the sake of," "for," "in the name of," etc. It belongs to the same group as 以 yǐ and 與 yǔ. Prepositions of this group are characterized by the following: firstly, the noun included in the indirect object formed by them can be omitted (21.5; 24.3); secondly, such an indirect object usually comes before the predicate: 為王養鬥雞 wèi wáng yǎng dòu jī "to feed fighting cocks for the wang."
The preposition 為 wèi can also mean "because of" or "due to":
仕非為貧也 shì fēi wèi pín yě "They don't go into military service because of poverty."
Finally, the preposition 為 wèi has a meaning similar to 於 yú: it introduces the person to whom the action is addressed: 為王誦之 wèi wáng sòng zhī "to praise his wang."
37.8. The modal predicate 得 dé
We've already encountered the word 得 dé in its notional meaning of "to receive" or "to possess." It is also used as the modal predicate "to be able":
距心之得為 jù xīn zhī dé wéi "what Juxin can do."
In the negative form, this modal predicative is often found in the phrase 不得而... bù dé ér... followed by the main predicative: 不得而知 bù dé ér zhī "I can't know."
