| 子曰、不知也。知其說者之於天下也、其如示諸斯乎。指其掌。 |
[And the] Master saith, [I] know not.
He that knoweth [the] explanation thereof,
[his dealing] in [all] under Heaven:
it [is] as viewing upon this.
[And he] pointed at his palm. |
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不知也： [I] know not
As in 3.10, the text alone lacks a lot of context.
The commentaries explain that Confucius did actually know
the explanation of the Great-Sacrifice,
but said otherwise to avoid the taboo of airing criticism
of the government of Lu for not doing the Great-Sacrifice properly.
See
《論語注疏》 "Analects annotations [and] subcommentary"
for example:
| Source text |
Target text |
Notes |
| 注。孔曰、答以不知者、為魯諱。 |
Annotation.
Kʻung saith:
Answering with [I] know not,
[is a] speech-tabooing for [the state of] Lu. |
|
| 注。包曰、孔子謂或人、言知禘禮之說者於天下之事、如指示掌中之物、言其易了。 |
Annotation.
Pao saith:
Confucius speaketh unto [that] someone,
speaking [that] he that knoweth [the] explanation
of [the] Great-Sacrificial rites
[dealing] in [all] matters under Heaven,
[is] as pointing at [and] viewing [an] object amidst the palm;
[even he] speaketh of his easily comprehending. |
-
或人： someone; lit. some person
|
| 音義。易、以豉反。 |
Pronunciations [and] Meanings.
Easily, [is read] yee-shih back-[dissected]. |
-
反： back-[dissected]
Short for 反切, "back-dissection";
see Wikipedia.
This indicates that 易 under 'Pao saith'
is read in departing tone (Cantonese: yee6), "easily",
rather than entering tone (Cantonese: yik9), "changed".
The distinction is lost in modern Mandarin.
|
| 疏。正義曰、此章言諱國惡之禮也。 |
Subcommentary.
[The] Right Meaning saith: this section speaketh of
[the] propriety of speech-tabooing [the] nation's evil. |
|
| 或問禘之說者、或人問孔子禘祭之禮、其說如何。 |
Someone asked of [an] explanation of [the] Great-Sacrifice,
[is] some person asking Confucius of
[the] rites of [the] Great Sacrifice,
[even] how [the] explanation thereof [is]. |
|
| 子曰不知也者、孔子答言、不知禘禮之說。答以不知者、為魯諱。諱國惡、禮也。若其說之、當云禘之禮、序昭穆。時魯躋僖公、亂昭穆、說之則彰國之惡、故但言不知也。 |
[The] Master saith [I] know not,
[is the] speech of Confucius's answer,
[that he] knoweth not [the] explanation of [the] Great-Sacrificial rites.
Answering with [I] know not,
[is a] speech-tabooing for [the state of] Lu.
Speech-tabooing [the] nation's evil, [is] propriety.
If he [were to] explain it, [he] ought to [have] said
[that the] rites of [the] Great-Sacrifice,
[have] order [by] the Chao [and] the Muk.
[At the] time, Lord Tsee-hee of Lu,
[did] disorder the Chao [and] the Muk;
[to] explain it [would] then evince evil of [the] nation,
therefore [he] but spake [that he] knew not. |
|
| 知其說者之於天下也、其如示諸斯乎也者、諸、於也、斯、此也。 |
He that knoweth [the] explanation thereof,
[his dealing] in [all] under Heaven,
it [is] as viewing upon this:
chu, [meaneth] upon;
ssŭ, [meaneth] this. |
|
| 孔子既答或人以不知禘禮之說、若不更說、恐或人以為己實不知、無以明其諱國惡、且恐後世以為禘祭之禮、聖人不知而致廢絕、更為或人言此也。言知禘禮之說者於天下之事、其如指示於此掌中之物、言其易了也。 |
Confucius having answered [that] someone, with
[I] know not [the] explanation of [the] Great-Sacrificial rites,
if [he] explained not further,
[he would be] afraid [lest that] someone
think [that he] himself actually knew not,
[and he] have not [which] to clarify
his speech-tabooing of [the] nation's evil;
moreover afraid [lest] latter generations think [of the]
rites of [the] Great Sacrifice,
[that the] sagely men knew [them] not
and set [them] forth to abandonment cut off;
further [it] being [but a] someone [that] spake this.
Speaking [that]
he that knoweth [the] explanation of [the] Great-Sacrificial rites,
[his dealing] in [all] matters under Heaven,
it [is] as pointing at [and] viewing upon [an] object amidst this palm,
speaketh of his easily comprehending. |
|
| 指其掌者、此句弟子作論語時言也。當時孔子舉一手伸掌、以一手指之、以示或人曰、其如示諸斯乎。弟子等恐人不知示諸斯謂指示何等物、故著此一句、言是時夫子指其掌也。 |
[And he] pointed at his palm:
this phrase [be] words [from] when [the] disciples composed [the] Analects.
At [the] time, Confucius raised [the] one hand
[and] stretched out [his] palm,
[and] with [the] one [other] hand pointed at it,
to shew [that] someone, saying,
It [is] as viewing upon this.
[The] disciples [were] afraid [that] others [might] not know
what manner of object [that] viewing upon this
speaketh of pointing at [and] viewing;
therefore recorded [they] this one phrase,
[to] say [that at] this time [the] Master [did] point at his palm. |
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