The particle ye 也 and related constructions in the Guodian manuscripts of IV century BCE

i

The particle ye 也 and related constructions

in the Guodian manuscripts of IV century BCE

Marco Caboara

A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of

Doctor of Philosophy

University of Washington

2010

Program Authorized to Offer Degree:

Department of Asian Languages and Linguistics

University of Washington

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Abstract



Marco Caboara

Chair of the Supervisory Committee:

Anne O Yue-Hashimoto

Department of Asian Languages & Literature

This dissertation examines the particle ye 也 in the IV century BCE Chinese

Guodian manuscripts by providing a synchronic analysis of its functions and a diachronic

hypothesis relating all functions to focus marking.

I have subdivided the around 600 occurrences of ye 也 into four main functions:

focus marker, topic marker, clause connection marker, predicate nominal marker.

Among these main functions the last three have long been recognized, even

though often with different labels, in the literature, while the first, the focus function, has

never been fully articulated as a separate category. Relying on systematic typological

analyses that recognize regular connections among focus and a series of semantic

operators and constructions, I have been able to find a significant degree of correlation

between the focus usage of ye 也 and the occurrence of negatives, sentences with

universal quantifiers and inversions.

While the usage of ye 也 as a topic marker has been widely recognized, and its

tendency to co-occur with zhi 之 and qi 其 noun phrases in topic position has been

equally noticed, my investigation is the first to provide a systematic analysis of the kind

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of elements occurring as topics marked by ye 也 and to analyze its presence vs. absence

of ye 也 as a topic marker in a given text, as well as to propose a diachronic path

connecting focus marking to topic marking. Focus and topic are connected by the

common feature of contrastiveness.

In the study of ye 也 as clause connector I make use of discourse analysis, and

especially of Schiffrin’s and Fraser’s studies, in conceptualizing the function of ye 也 as a

fully optional discourse marker, and more specifically as a relationship marker that

signals the relationship of the basic message being conveyed by the current utterance to

some prior message, encoding contrast, elaboration and inference. Furthermore, on the

basis of passages from the Guodian corpus I argue for the possibility of a diachronic

development from ye 也 marking contrast and adversativity (which are basic focus

features) to ye 也 as a clause connector marking temporal, conditional and causative

relationships, as it has been recently shown by typologists and cognitive linguists that

there is a tight connection between adversative, concessive, conditional, temporal and

causal meaning.

As for ye 也’s most frequent and prominent function, nominal predicate marker, I

have tested and validated on the GD corpus a recent typological hypothesis by Stassen,

the major expert on intransitive predication, concerning the existence of a category of

particle copulas, as well as his observation that particle copulas tend to alternate with

zero copula encoding, and it is through the interpretation of ye 也 as a particle copula

having its origin in a variety of markers such as topicalization, backgrounding, or

contrastive focus for subjects or predicates that it is related ultimately to focus marking.

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Marco Caboara



Table of Contents

Chapter 1 Introduction 1

Part I Literature review and nature of the texts studied 2

1.1. Literature review on ye 也 2

1.1.1 Traditional approach 2

1.1.2 First modern studies 3

1.1.3 Zhou Fagao’s structural approach 4

1.1.4 Recent western contributions 6

1.1.5. Recent contributions in Chinese 8

1.1.6 Analyses of major texts 9

1.2. Earliest datable examples 11

1.2.1 Bronze inscriptions 11

1.2.2 Bamboo manuscripts 15

1.2.2.1 包山竹簡 15

1.2.2.2 信陽竹簡 16

1.3. Etymology of ye 也 17

1.4. Significance and characteristics of the Guodian corpus and the Shanghai Museum

corpus

20

1.5. Characteristics of the reference edition and adopted emendations 21

Part II Proposed Research 31

1.6 Functions of ye 也 in the GD corpus 31

1.6.1. Ye 也 as a focus marker 31

1.6.2 Ye 也 as a topic marker 33

1.6.3 Clause connection marker 35

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1.6.4 Ye 也 as marker for Nominal Predicate 37

1.7 The absence vs. presence of ye 也 41

1.7.1 Optional and regular contexts for the presence of ye 也 41

1.7.2 The usage of ye 也 as a textual choice and the use of alternative devices 42

1.8 Evidence for the gradual proliferation of the usage of focus marker ye 也 49

Chapter 2 53

Ye 也 marking Focus 53

2.1. Focus constructions 53

2.1.1. Negatives 55

2.1.2. Sentences with universal quantifiers 59

2.1.3. Stative verbs with 如 (vivid usage) 61

2.1.4 Inversion 63

2.2 Complex nominalized object NPs 64

2.2.1 Complex nominalized object NPs governed by verbs of knowing and desiring 64

2.2.2 Nominalized VPs governed by 有 and 亡 70

2.2.3 Object VP governed by可 71

Chapter 3 73

Ye 也 marking topic 73

3.1 Types of topics marked by ye 也 74

3.1.1 Complex NPs 74

3.1.2 Complex nominalized NPs (S之VP, 其VP and S之於VP) 77

3.1.3 Bare nouns followed by 也者 79

3.1.4 Verbal clauses in topic position 80

3.2 Syntactic functions of NPs marked by ye 也 in topic position 81

3.2.1 Subject topics 82

3.2.2 Non-subject topics 84

3.3 Adverbial clauses marked by non-final ye 也 86

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3.3.1 Explicitly marked conditional clauses 87

3.3.2 Explicitly marked temporal clauses and phrases 88

3.3.3 Explicitly marked causal clauses and phrases 89

3.3.4 Adverbial clauses and phrases without explicit lexical markers 89

3.4 Ye 也 and definiteness 90

3.4.1 Nominalizing particles 91

3.4.2 Nominalizing zhe 者 92

3.4.3 Zhe 者marking definite reference 94

3.4.4 Complementary distribution of zhe 者 and ye 也 97

3.4.5 Co-occurrence of zhe 者 and ye 也 98

Chapter 4 101

Ye 也 marking clause connection 101

4.1 Discourse markers 101

4.2 Consequence (X, then Y and X therefore Y) 103

4.2.1 Conditional and temporal (If/then, whenever/then) 103

4.2.1.1 Conditional and temporal clauses with ze 則 104

4.2.1.2 Conditional and temporal clauses with 以至 , 然後 105

4.2.1.3 Conditional and temporal clauses without conjunctions 106

4.2.2 Causal-result (X, therefore Y) 110

4.2.2.1 Gu 故 and shigu 是故 112

4.2.2.2 Shi yi 是以 and ci yi 此以 113

4.2.2.3 Examples without connectives. 114

4.2.2.4 Ambiguous examples 114

4.3. Explanatory usage 114

4.3.1 Causal clauses (X is because of Y) 115

4.3.2. Exegetical clauses (‘X’ (a given portion of text) means Y) 118

4.3.2.1 Passages containing a question and answer: 118

4.3.2.1.1 Without subject. 118

4.3.2.1.1.1 With yan 言 . 119

4.3.2.1.1.2 With dao 道 . 119

4.3.2.1.2 With subject 119

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4.3.2.2 Passages without a question and answer. 120

4.3.2.2.1 Commentary-like passages 120

4.3.3 Definitions (‘X’ (a given term) means Y) 121

4.4 Diachronic connection to focus usage 122

Chapter 5 126

Ye 也 marking nominal predicates 126

5.1 A typological approach to Copulas 126

5.2 Types of nominal predicates 129

5.2.1 Bare NPs 129

5.2.2 Complex NPs 133

5.2.3 Noun phrases with zhi 之 and qi 其 134

5.2.3.1 N之所VP phrases 135

5.2.4 Nominalized sentences and VPs with 所 136

5.2.5 Verb phrases with 者 137

5.2.6 You 猶 ‘like’ 138

5.3 Functions of nominal predicates 140

5.3.1 Ascriptive and identificational predicates 140

5.3.2 Definitions 142

5.3.3 Special usage 145

5.4 Ye 也 as marker of assertion 145

5.4.1 Types of verbs 146

5.4.1.1 Existential verbs 146

5.4.1.1.1 You 有 146

5.4.1.1.2 Wu 無 146

5.4.1.2 The semicopular verb wei 為 147

5.4.1.3 Optative ke 可 149

5.4.1.4 Verbs of origin 153

5.4.1.4.1 You 由 153

5.4.1.4.2 Sheng 生 153

5.4.1.5 Stative verbs 154

5.4.2 Synchronic and diachronic connections with other functions 156

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Chapter 6 158

Other issues 158

6.1 The negator非 and the focus marker 唯 . 158

6.1.1 Wei 惟 /唯 158

6.1.2 Fei 非 160

6.1.2.1 Fei 非 preceding nominal predicates with final ye 也 161

6.1.2.2 Fei 非preceding nominal predicates with a long distance final ye 也 162

6.1.2.3 Fei 非 focusing NPs, not followed by 也 163

6.1.2.4 Fei 非 preceding verbal phrases and final clauses expressing aim or reason, with

final ye 也

164

6.1.2.5 Unclear cases, without final ye 也 166

6.2 Other final particles 167

6.2.1 The particle yi 矣 167

6.2.1.1 Main features of the usage of yi 167

6.2.1.1.1 Yi 矣 as marker of perfective and perfect aspect 167

6.2.1.1.2 Then-clauses 169

6.2.1.2 Contrast between ye 也 and yi 矣 171

6.2.2 The particle yan 焉 172

6.2.3 Constraints on the co-occurrence of ye 也 , yi 矣 and yan 焉 174

6.2.4 Ye 也 as an extrametrical particle 175

6.3 Usage of ye 也 in non-declarative sentences 177

6.3.1 Imperative sentences 178

6.3.2 Interrogative sentences 178

6.3.3 Exclamatory sentences. 179

6.4 Absence and presence of ye 也 179

6.4.1 Cases of unmarked nominal predication 179

6.4.1.1 Asymmetric gaps 180

6.4.1.2 Symmetrical omissions 181

6.4.1.3 Isolated instances 182

6.4.1.4 Concluding remarks 183

6.4.2 Complex nominalized NPs in topic position not followed by ye 也 184

6.4.2.1 Asymmetrical usage 184

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6.4.2.2 Symmetrical absence 185

6.4.2.3 Isolated instances 186

6.4.3 Ye 也 having scope on more than one clause 187

6.4.4 Discourse issues 188

6.4.4.1 Textual asymmetry 188

6.4.4.2 Listing 189

6.4.4.3 Textual alternatives to topic marking ye 也 191

6.5 Conclusion 192

6.5.1 Synchronic analysis based on typological categories (and hypothesized diachronic

paths connecting them to the focus usage)

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6.5.2.1 Ye 也 as a focus marker 193

6.5.2.2 Ye 也 as topic marker 193

6.5.2.3 Ye 也 as Clause connection marker 194

6.5.2.4 Ye 也 as Nominal Predicate marker 195

6.5.2.4.1 Ye 也 in simple clauses with stative verbs 196

6.5.2 Results, limitations and future developments 196

BIBLIOGRAPHY 198

APPENDIX 217

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Chapter 1

Introduction

The particle ye 也, with its extremely high textual frequency and its poorly understood

multiple functions, plays a central role in Classical Chinese Grammar (6th to 3rd century BCE).

It functions as marker of nominal predication and as a final particle, it is used in interrogative

sentences and certain other constructions; it is also a particle occurring in the middle of a

sentence and at the end of correlated clauses (Peyraube 2006: 277). This multiplicity of functions

has not encouraged scholarly investigation: the bibliography on ye 也 is very slim.

The original function of ye 也 cannot be recovered from its etymology, which is

unknown- it is one of the few function words which does not derive from any known full lexical

word; its historical development is also problematic: it is unattested in the Book of Documents

and completely absent from the epigraphic sources (Oracle Bones and Bronzes); while present in

the Book of Odes, its syntactic behavior stabilizes only in the Analects and later texts. The

manuscript texts from Guodian (around 300 BCE) contain the earliest datable usages of ye 也1

and are a philologically much more reliable source of data than the transmitted pre-Qin texts.2

In my study I will provide, on the synchronic side, a complete screening of the Guodian

texts based on a functional analysis of the usage of ye 也 in terms of four basic functions: marker

of focus, marker of topic, clause connector, marker of nominal predication; on the diachronic

side I will posit the focus marker particle as the original function and propose evolutionary paths

linking it to the other functions.

1 Beside the roughly contemporary Zhongshan bronzes, where there are seven occurrences of a graph which appears to be functionally similar to ye 也 (see section 1.2.1). 2 While the interpretation of single lexical items in the manuscripts is often object of debate among the scholars, in only an extremely limited number of occurrences this debate involves different interpretations of the usage of ye 也 (see section 1.5).

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In chapter 1 I will present the extant scholarly literature on ye 也 and the nature of the

texts studied (Part I) as well as introducing my proposed research (Part II); chapters 2 to 5 will be

devoted to the main functions of ye 也 (chapter 2: focus marker, chapter 3: marker of topic,

chapter 4: clause connector, chapter 5: marker of nominal predication); chapter 6 will address

some additional issues (the negative fei 非, the relationship between ye 也 and other sentence

final particles, and the analysis of some contexts where ye 也 is expected to occur and it does not)

as well as providing a conclusion.

Part I

Literature review and nature of the texts studied

In this part I will review the scholarly literature, which is mainly concerned with the

copular usage of the morpheme (1.1), analyze all the earliest occurrences of ye 也 in excavated

materials (1.2) and review what is known about the phonological reconstruction and the

etymology of ye 也 (1.3). Then I present the corpus on which I base my analysis (1.4) and the

characteristics and limitations of the reference edition I base my study on (1.5).

1.1. Literature review on ye 也

1.1.1 Traditional approach

The traditional treatment of particles in China follows two paths: handbooks of glosses

on the particles, and collection of textual glosses.

The handbooks analyze a given particle by establishing functional equivalences with

other particles in given contexts. The first great Qing treatise on particles, Liu Qi’s Zhuzi Bianlue

助字辨略 (‘Brief Distinctions between (the uses of) Particles’), defines ye 也 as a particle (zhu zi

助字)3 with similar value to yi 矣 (Liu 1974 juan 3, p. 27), and Wang Yinzhi’s Jingzhuan Shici

經傳釋詞 (‘Explanation of the Words in the Classics and their Commentaries’) defines it as

3 The term in this context is equivalent to the more common term xuci 虛詞, literally “empty words”, generally translated as “function words”.

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equivalent, in given contexts, to yi 矣, yan 焉, zhe 者, er 耳, xi 兮, ye 邪 (Wang 1967 juan 4 p.

59-62).

The collection of textual glosses are connected with rhetoric studies (修辭學) and

investigate the nature of particles in terms of textual functions; for example the Yu Pian 玉篇

(‘Jade Chapters’) says: “也，所以窮上成文也” “ye 也 is used to bring to end a preceding part,

and to make the passage complete” (Gu 1987: pian xia 71), and the Yanshi Jiaxun 顔氏家訓

(“The Family Instructions of the Yan Clan”) says “也, 是語已及助句之辭” “ye 也 is a word that

marks the completion of an expression and supports the sentence.” (Yan 1980: 398).

1.1.2 First modern studies

The two founding fathers of Classical Chinese grammar, Gabelentz in the West and Ma

Jianzhong in China, describe ye 也 mainly as a particle marking noun predication, while

devoting considerable space to its other two functions as nominal focus and verbal focus marker

(Gabelentz 1881: 314, 316-8, 434, 438-441; Ma 1904 [2000]: 538-562). While the description of

the environments in which these usages occur is very detailed (especially Ma Jianzhong’s) and

insightful (especially Gabelentz’, who was not only a sinologist but one of the foremost general

linguists of his times), there is no attempt to relate the three functions (topic marker, nominal

predication marker, final particle) to some core function. Furthermore, the notion of modality

and the notion of nominal predication, from the perspective of contemporary linguistics, do not

have a direct connection, and their association is bound to bring more confusion than clarity.

After Yang Shuda, who still devotes many pages to the different usages of ye 也 (Yang 1930

[1984]: 368-374), the treatment of ye 也 takes departure from a text-based approach reminiscent

of the traditional approach in dealing with function words (xuci 虛詞) to address more general

issues about the modal value of the particle ye 也. Later general treatments cover a more limited

range of usages and seldom try to integrate them.4

4 See Pulleyblank (1994: 314-323) for an overview of the treatment of noun predication (generally labeled panduan ju判斷句 “judgment sentence”) until the 90's. See also L.Wang (ed.) 1958 [1980] 443-446; Lü 1942 [1982] 59-62; Gao 1946 [1993]: 102-3.

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Wang Li, who was the first to investigate systematically the history of copulas in Chinese,

investigates the cases of ye 也 following nominal predicates and concludes that although it

fulfills many of the functions of a copula (Wang 1936 [2000]: 358), it cannot properly be

considered a copula as there are cases where nominal predicates are not followed by ye 也

(Wang 1937 [2000]: 379-380).

1.1.3 Zhou Fagao’s structural approach

The clearest treatment of ye 也 is given by Zhou Fagao in his Zhongguo Gudai Yufa,

Zaoju Pian 中國古代語法, 造句編 (Historical Grammar of Ancient Chinese, Syntax) where, on

the model of Bloomfield, he divides Classical Chinese sentences into two types, panduan ju 判

斷句 (determinative sentences, corresponding to Bloomfield’s equational sentences) and

shuoming ju 說明句 (narrative sentences, the same name as in Bloomfield) (Zhou 1961: 6-15).

According to Bloomfield narrative sentences consist of actor-action phrases, phrases

whose structure is that of the actor-action construction (Bloomfield 1933 [1984]: 172-3).5

Equational sentences belong to a sentence type present, for example, in Russian, but not in

English, where one component, which is spoken first, is a substantive; the other form is a

substantive to which the first is equated (a nominal predicate), or an adjective, or an adverbial

form. Bloomfield defines the two types syntactically, on the basis of the presence vs. absence of

the verb. Zhou Fagao relies instead on a semantic criterion, the relationship between the subject

and the predicate.

Zhou Fagao (1961: 6) defines panduan ju 判斷句 (determinative sentences) as sentences

in which the subject and the predicate are in an equational, A=B relationship. Determinative

sentences can be analyzed as A//B也, where A is the subject and B the nominal predicate

(Zhou’s own examples):

1) 女//器也. (Analects 5.3)

You are a utensil. (Legge) 5 Bloomfield (1933 [1984]: 172) gives the following examples: John ran away. Who ran away? Did John run away?

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2) 追我者//誰也? (Mencius 8.24)

Who is it that is pursuing me? (Legge)

The term copula is used by Zhou only to designate linking terms that occur between subject

and nominal predicate, and Zhou (1961: 10-11) treats ye 也 as a marker of equational sentences.6

Zhou notes that the subject might be present or absent; it is especially absent when the predicate

is negated by the negator for noun and noun phrases fei 非 (see section 6.1.2). The following

sentence can be analyzed (Zhou 1961: 6) as 非 (A)//B(也), where the parentheses indicate the

possibility of omitting the subject A and the particle ye 也:

3) 非其君不事, 非其民不使 (Mencius 10.1)

If (he) was not his [=a proper] prince he would not serve (him), if (they) were not his [=a proper] people,

(he) would not command them.

Zhou defines narratives sentences (sentences analyzable as A//B, with A=actor and B=action) by

contrasting them to the first type of sentences as “non-equational” (Zhou 1961: 11). Every

sentence without a nominal predicate is analyzable as A//B:

4) 孟子//見梁惠王.(Mencius 1.2)

Mencius saw king Hui of Liang. (Legge)

5) 王//立於沼上. (Mencius 1.2)

The king stood by a pond. (Legge)

While all of Zhou’s examples for this sentence type have verbal predicates, it must be

noted that he does not define narrative sentences on the basis of the presence vs. absence of a

copula, like Bloomfield, nor on the basis of the word class of their predicate, but on the basis of

the relationship between subject and predicate, which in this case is not of the equational type 6 Most Chinese grammarians, as for example Yang Bojun and He Leshi, reserve the term copula (繫詞) for words linking subject and predicate in determinative sentences (我們把判斷句中聯繫主謂的詞叫做繫詞) see Yang and He 2001: 708, n.1.

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but of the actor-action type. Such a definition allows him to treat as determinative also sentences

with verbal predicates followed by ye 也.

After Zhou’s description, no other notable general treatment of ye 也 has been published

in Chinese until the ‘90s.

1.1.4 Recent Western contributions

In the West, from the ‘50s until the ‘90s, Graham and Pulleyblank have published a series

of studies investigating ye 也. Their contributions can be discussed under three headings: a)

phonetic fusions; b) co-occurrences and omissions, c) syntactic and semantic functions.

a) The most valuable contribution is the study of fusions, a field where, since Karlgren,

Western scholars have often been at the vanguard. Graham demonstrated that the final particle

與 *la is a fusion of ye 也 *laʔ and hu 乎 *ɦâ, 7 as in the following example (Graham 1957: 108):

6) 男女授受不親，禮與？」孟子曰：「禮也。」(Mencius 7.17).

Is it the rule that males and females shall not allow their hands to touch in giving or receiving anything?

Mencius replied, It is the rule. (Legge)

Pulleyblank, in his 1959 article, claimed that fei 非 *pəi is a fusion of bu 不 *pəʔ and wei 唯 *wi,

and that fei 非, in the archaic language, is to be regarded as the negative of wei 唯, as in the

following example from Zuozhuan (Pulleyblank 1959: 183):

7) 諺曰：『非宅是卜，唯鄰是卜。』(左傳, Duke 昭, year 3)

There is the common saying, 'It is not about the house that the tortoise-shell is consulted, but about the

neighbours.'(Legge)

Finally, in his 1994 article, Pulleyblank shows that yi 已 *ləʔ might be a phonetic fusion

7 All the reconstructions of Old Chinese (see infra section 1.2.2.2 note 25) here given are based (unless otherwise noted) on Schuessler’s 2009 revision of Baxter’s system, whereby non-III (non-third division) words are indicated by a circumflex accent on the main vowel. The system, which Schuessler calls Old Chinese Modified (OCM) is described in Schuessler 2006: 121-125 and in the introduction to Schuessler 2009.

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of ye 也 *laʔ and yi 矣 *ləʔ (Pulleyblank 1994: 342-351).

b) A second field where Western scholars have made significant contributions is the

study of co-occurrences and omissions. Graham 1957 (pp. 113-7) showed that ye 也 often

follows ke 可, while keyi 可以 is generally not followed by ye 也. Pulleyblank 1994 shows that

ye 也 often follows not only ke 可，but also zu 足 ‘to be enough’, nan 難 ‘to be difficult’ and yi

易 ‘to be easy’. On the other hand, Pulleblank notes that ye 也 is often omitted after a noun

predicate preceded by wei 唯 (Pulleyblank 1995:132), after the sentence adverb bi 必

‘necessarily’ (Pulleyblank 1995: 19) and, especially in the Zuozhuan, after the resumptive

pronoun shi 實 ‘this’ and the particle to introduce nominal predicates ji 即 ‘then, thereupon’

(Pulleyblank 1960: 45-7 and 1995: 72).

c) Many of the above mentioned co-occurrences have been noticed by Chinese scholars like

Zhou Fagao, He Leshi and Li Zuofeng, but Pulleyblank correlates them with the syntactic

function of embedding: on one hand ke 可, zu 足, nan 難 and yi 易 are verbs that take VPs and

clauses as their complements, and Pulleyblank speculates that here ye 也 might mark embedding

(see section 2.2.1); on the other hand, the omission of ye 也 after wei 唯, 8 bi 必, shi 實 and ji 即

might be correlated with their function of marking exposure (by which he means their focusing

function) (Pulleyblank 1960: 46 and 1995: 72). Furthermore, while according to Pulleyblank the

basic function of ye 也 is marker of nominal predication, it can contrast with yi 矣 aspectually

(Pulleyblank 1994: 351), as in the following example:

8) 齊人曰: 所以為蚔蛙，則善矣；所以自為，則吾不知也。(Mencius 4.5)

The people of Qi said, “As for what he did about Qi Wa, it was good, as for what he did about himself, we

don’t know.”

Harbsmeier 1980 attempts a holistic approach to the multiple usages of ye 也, subsuming

them under the modal category of judgment, arguing that sentences ending in ye 也 typically

8 Wei 唯 and its relation with ye 也 will be treated in section 6.1.1.

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contain judgments between alternatives, considerations on events or states of affairs (rather than

a report or a description); and typically answer questions like: “why did it happen?”, “how are

we to judge this state of affairs?”, “how do we answer this question?”. Building on his previous

article, Harbsmeier 1983-5 argues that post-nominal, postverbal and postclausal ye 也 turn out to

admit one homogenous explanation – hey all mark the judgmental style of predication

(Harbsmeier 1983-5: 89). While Harbsmeier’s articles are data-rich and stimulating, his

conclusion that parts of speech in pre-Qin Chinese are undifferentiated, nouns being predicative

just like verbs, have been harshly contested.9

1.1.5 Recent contributions in Chinese

Yang and He 1992 [2001] provide an account of the different functions of ye 也, as a

nominal predicate marker (id.: 705-708), after nominalized verbal predicates (id.: 720-721),

expressing emphasis, cause and explanation after non-nominalized verbal predicates (id.: 852-

853) occurring after noun phrases in non-final position to express pause (id.: 854), in

interrogatives (id. 877), lists (id. 924-925), correlative clauses (id. 934-935), to express goal (id.

987-991), and result (id. 991-993).

More recently, Li Zuofeng 2004 has listed the following functions: nominal predication (id.

223-225), explanation (id. 224), condition and result when ye 也 follows the last clause of a

complex clause (id. 226), co-occurrence with NP之VP and 其VP phrases functioning as topic

and object clauses (id. 226-227), following time words and proper names, stative verbs followed

by ru 如 (‘to be like’) (id. 227), following he 何 (‘what’, ‘why’, ‘why’) and shei 誰 (‘who’) in

interrogative sentences (id. 228).

While both treatments are useful and insightful, they are ultimately lists of unconnected

functions and co-occurrences, without an attempt of a unified explanation.

The most recent treatment of ye 也 has been given by Liu Chenghui 2008, in her

comparison between the usage of ye 也 and yi 矣 in the Zuozhuan. Liu (2008: 47) adopts

Traugott’s notion of subjectivity (“an explicit marker of the speaker’s/writer’s attitude to what is

said, including epistemic attitude to the proposition”) to argue that both ye 也 and yi 矣 express

9 See especially Pulleyblank’s rebuttal in appendix to Harbsmeier 1983-5.

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subjectivity, while having different core meaning. The core meaning of ye 也 is “identification”

(zhiren 指認) while the core meaning of yi 矣 is “estimate”10 (pingduan 評斷) (see section

6.2.1.2). While Liu’s terminology is very vague and her search for a unique synchronic core

meaning is, in my view, simplistic, her attempts to relate core and derived meanings (Liu 2008:

63-65) in terms of discourse functions is valid, and I will here try to develop it in my approach to

the Guodian texts.

1.1.6 Analyses of major texts

One problem in approaching ye 也 from a textual point of view is its very high frequency

and its highly differentiated functions: the only two significant studies on ye 也 based on the

exhaustive analysis of major texts I am aware of are Gassmann 1980 and He 1986.

Gassmann 1980 studies the usage of ye 也 in Mencius and focuses on syntactic

transformations, trying to apply generative syntax to the analysis of Classical Chinese. The study

is more theoretical than factual, and while most of the examples come from Mencius, there is no

attempt to provide any quantitative description of the usage of the particle in the text. Gassmann

gives special emphasis to the function of ye 也 in complex clauses and complement clauses, as a

marker of embedding. His most influential contribution is his observation that ye 也 is regularly

found after complement clauses after verbs of knowing (zhi 知 ‘to know’) and causing (shi 使‘to

cause’) (Gassmann 1980: 117-121), an argument that Pulleyblank developed in his theory of ye

也 marking embedding, discussed above (see section 2.2.1).11

He 1986 [2004] focuses on structural patterns; she makes an extremely careful and complete

inventory of the usages of ye 也 in the Zuozhuan, dividing them into three main categories, as

they recur after a nominal predicate, a verbal predicate, or after other clause-internal phrases and

dependent clauses. While the analysis is very exhaustive, the best to date, she investigates ye 也

mostly in terms of its position, after different word types (He 1986 [2004]: 445, table 1) within

the clause and the sentence (ibid, table 2 and 4), and of its usage with traditionally defined

10 Liu’s own translations. 11 See Gassmann and Behr 2007, vol. 3 ch.5 for an updated treatment, where most of what we will analyze as final usage of ye 也 is treated as extensions of the nominal predicate marker function.

10

sentence types (ibid, table 3). Furthermore, she does not examines cases where ye 也 is regularly

used and therefore would be expected to appear (as after nominal predicates, see table 4) but

does not.

The analysis of the presence vs. absence of ye 也 is extremely important in evaluating its

grammatical function. Wang Li denies that ye 也 is a copula precisely because, while a copula

would have to be regularly present after nominal predicates, ye 也 is sometimes absent, giving

the two following examples from pre-Qin materials:

9) 前識者，道之華而愚之始(也)。(Dao de jing ch.38)

Foreknowledge is the flowery embellishment of the way and the beginning of folly. (Lau)

10) 有兩虎諍人而鬥者，卞莊子將刺之，管與止之曰：“虎者，戾蟲; 人者，甘餌(也).12

今兩虎諍人而鬥，小者必死，大者必傷.” (戰國策 juan 4, section 2, 上海古籍, 1978,

p. 141). Once two tigers quarreled over the corpse of a man. Bian Zhuangzi would have slain them but Guan Yu

stopped him. "Tigers are cruel beasts to whom man is a sweetmeat. Now two are fighting over a man the

smaller must die and the larger be wounded.” (Crump)

To evaluate Wang Li’s argument one needs to examine the distribution of ye 也 text by

text, and correlate it to language change. At the same time, his examples are sometimes textually

problematic, and I have put ye 也 within parenthesis after Wang Li’s examples because the

Mawangdui version of the Laozi and the Shanghai Guji edition of the Zhanguo Ce do have ye 也

there. This raises the issue of the reliability of the transmitted texts used by Wang Li and

confirms how important it is to deal with more reliable excavated texts. I will now present the

earliest datable examples of the usage of ye 也 in excavated texts.

12 Out of the three main editions of the Zhanguo Ce, only the Sibu Congkan edition lacks ye 也. The Shanghai Guji is the standard modern edition, providing extensive information on textual variants (see Tsien 1993: 9-10).

11

1.2. Earliest datable examples

Ye 也 is not attested in the oracle-bone language, and it is generally recognized only in

very late bronze inscriptions (around 300 BCE). It is not possible to say if this is due to the lack

of the word in the language of the time or just to the absence of its usage in the available texts.

The first datable examples can be divided into two groups: 1) bronze inscriptions; 2) bamboo

manuscripts. In both sources, the use of ye 也 as a copula is marginal.

1.2.1 Bronze inscriptions

Three inscriptions are earlier than the fourth century BCE.

The earliest inscription with ye 也 is, according to Huang Dekuan 黃德寬,13 the famous Early

Zhou inscription on the 大盂鼎 "Dayu Ding" (Tripod Caldron of the Great Yu), early Zhou,

(dated circa 1005-978 BCE):14

11) 我聞殷墜令，唯殷邊侯田與殷正百辟，率肆于酒，故喪師巳[也]。汝昧晨有大服,

余維即朕小學.

I have heard that the Yin loss of the mandate was due to the fact that its greater and lesser lords and the

many officials assisting the Yin, all sank into drunkenness and so were bereft of their city. You have helped

me from the hazy dawn of my youth: When I was engaged in my youthful studies, you never coerced me

but always helped me. (Eno)

Huang identifies as ye 也 the character that was formerly identified as si 巳. The

character has been variously interpreted, by the 殷周金文集成 editors (vol. 2: 1517) as 矣,15 by

Liu Xiang (1989: 81-82 n. 12) as si 祀 “sacrifices”16 and by the 金文今译类检 editors (2003:

461) as an interjection preceding the clause: “巳汝昧晨有大服” (“Oh, you have helped me from

the hazy dawn of my youth”). Even though the identification is accepted by Xu Bagui (2007) and

Zhao (2008), it is still a minority view, and suspiciously earlier than all the other data.

13See D. Huang 1997. 14See Liu Xiang (1989: 77), Shaughnessy (1991: 110), 金文今译类检编写组 2003: 458-462. The translation is Robert Eno’s, in his Inscriptional Records of the Western Zhou, available at http://www.indiana.edu/~g380/SZcont.html. 15巳*s-ləʔ is phonetically very close to 矣*ləʔ. 16 The two elements belong to the same xiesheng 諧聲 series and are therefore phonetically close.

12

Ye 也 occurs in other two documents datable around the fifth century BCE.

It occurs once in the Luan Shu fou 欒書缶 (Late Springs and Autumns to mid Warring States

period):17

12) 正月季春元日乙丑: 余蓄孫書巳[也], 擇其吉金以作鑄缶.

In the third month of spring, first month (of the year), first day of Yichou, I, the pious grandson, Shu

selected those solid metals to cast a fou-barrel.

Li Xueqin, who had already proposed the reading ye 也 in the ‘50s, in a 2005 article

confirms his reading and states that here ye 也 is not a copula but an emphatic marker for the

subject (Li 2005: 195).18

Ye 也 occurs about twenty times in the inscriptions on the bian zhong 編鐘 (sets of 12

bells) unearthed in 1978 at Leigudun 擂鼓墩, about two kilometers northwest of Suixian County

隨縣 in Hubei Province 湖北, from the Tomb of Marquis Yi (Zenghou Yi 曾侯乙), the so-called

曾侯乙墓編鐘 , dated to the Early Warring States period.19

It occurs in the following pattern (I here follow Huang’s description):

其律之在某國也為某律

As for the note X in such-and-such state, (it) is (in fact) the note Y (in our state).

One concrete example is:

13) 穆音之在楚也, 為穆鐘

As for the sound mu in Chu, it is (produced by) the bell mu (in our state).

17 See Liu Xiang 1989: 153, arguing for a late Springs and Autumns period dating and Jin provenance, and Lin 2002 arguing for a mid Warring States dating and Chu provenance. 18The inscription is variously dated; Li 2005 supports a Warring States period dating. 19 The examples are listed in the 殷周金文集成引得 by 張亞初 p. 1093, passages 2.287-2.328. See also Huang (1997: 825) and Zhao (2008: 3). The interpretation of the character as ye 也 has been first given by Qiu Xigui and Li Jiahao in 1989; see Zhao (2008: 3).

13

In example 11) ye 也 follows a final clause starting with gu 故 “therefore”, in example 12)

it follows an apposition to the subject, in 13) a topic, namely an element which the rest of the

sentence is in some sense about (Trask 1993: 279-80). None of these functions is copular.

Another source for the study of ye 也 are the Zhongshan bronzes (dated about 310 BCE),

excavated in the late 1970s at an archeological site in Pingshan, Hebei (Yang 2004, vol. 2: 263-

6). In the Zhongshan bronzes there is a graph, variously transcribed as 施 (*lhai/lhaih) or 旃

(*t(l)an), that stands for a word appearing in the same position and with the same function of the

nominal predication marker 也*laiʔ.20 There have been debates over the proper transcription of

the graph. Zhu Dexi and Qiu Xigui proposed shi 施 standing for ye 也; Takashima 1997 thought

that “although the graph is best transcribed as zhan 旃 rather than shi 施, the interpretation

[based on the word’s function in the texts] must be closer to the latter, and thus it is to be taken

as standing for the word ye 也.” 21

With this important caveat, and the further note that Zhu Dexi and Qiu Xigui later

thought that, while the transcription shi 施 was reliable, the sound values of shi 施 and ye 也

were too different to allow the ye 也 interpretation (Lin 2003: 193-4), I will here write the word

ye 也 for the character transcribed as 旃/施.

There are seven occurrences of the word in the 中山 inscriptions:22

14) 辭死罪之有諾, 知為人臣之義也.

20 See Zhu and Qiu 1979 [1995], Li Xueqin 1989: 192 n.22, Takashima 1997: 181-5 as well as Wu 2006: 264-6 for a summary and discussion of the most recent views. See section 1.3 for a more detailed discussion about the phonological value of ye 也. 21 Even though he recognizes the possibility of a morphological connection between the two (1997: 185, n.14), Takashima does not consider it probable, nor necessary. On the basis of the most recent stage of Baxter's system, the two forms could be reconstructed as ye 也 *lar and 旃 *t(l)ar, making a phonological connection quite easy. On the other hand, a growing amount of evidence (see Wu 2006: 266) suggests the possibility of a stage, in the late Spring and Autumns and early Warring States period, where there were a few concurring forms for the same grammatical function later subsumed by ye 也, leaving open the problem if these forms where phonological or morphological variants or rather unrelated forms. 22 I rely on Takashima 1997 for the text of the inscription and on Yue 2004 for the translation. See Lin 2003 for a fuller treatment.

14

That (Zhou) declined to accept (my offer of) exonerating any crime punishable by death (for three

generations of his family) is because he understands the principles of righteousness that should apply

between ruler and subject.

15) 余知其忠信也.

I know that he is loyal and trustworthy.

16) 外之[…] 則上逆於天, 下不順於人也.

Situating this (i.e. the switching of the positions of suzerain and subject) in the context of dealing with

foreign powers, the superior (Zi Kuai) is going against the will of Heaven and the inferior (Zi Zhi) is

offending other people

17) 將與吾君並立於世, 止長於會同; 則臣不忍見也.

(For Zi Zhi) to stand parallel in rank with my lord in this (Zhou) empire and to stand in a rank higher than

(other feudal lords) in the assemblies- this is something I, your subject, cannot bear to see

18) 此易言而難行也.

This is easier said than done.

19) 寡人聞之, 與其溺於人也, 寧溺於淵.

I have heard it said that it would be better to be drowned than to be drowned in (i.e. deceived by the words

of) men.

20) 克有功, 智也.

That (Zhou) had such a great achievement is due to his discernment.

Beside the last sentence, example 20), none of the examples above has the word ye 也 following

a nominal predicate. In fact, on the basis of the analysis of these examples, Yue 2004 has

proposed to identify ye 也 as a verbal focus marker, opposed to wei 維 as a nominal focus

marker.

15

1.2.2 Bamboo manuscripts

Beside the bronzes, around 300 BCE ye 也 appears also in the Chu bamboo strips, in the

Baoshan and Xinyang manuscripts. I rely here on Jiang 2002 for the analysis, even though I have

provided the location of the examples in the standard editions of the manuscripts.

1.2.2.1 包山竹簡23

The Baoshan manuscripts consist of 278 bamboo slips which have been found in the

Tomb 2 at Baoshan, which is northeast of present-day Jiangling, near the ancient Chu capital, in

modern day Jingmen, Hubei. Buried in it was Shao Tuo, a high-ranking Chu official who died in

316 B.C (the dating of the tomb is 323-292) (See Yang 2004, vol. 2: 193-196, Shaughnessy (ed)

1997: 225 and Liu Xinfang 2003).

There are three occurrences of ye 也 in the Baoshan manuscripts:

21) 是歲也, 恆思 (A place: Wang 2008: 265) 少司馬 (a title: Wang 2008: 264) 屈□ (name)

以足金(Wang 2008: 48). 六鈞聽命(Wang 2008: 77, 242).於柊,柊(宀+邑)大夫(Wang

2008: 279) 左司馬YY弗受(Liu 2003: 121-125). Strip 130

That year, the XX official of Hengsi went to take (someone) under his orders in Dong with a gift of six jun

of solid metal (=bronze?), the Dong local official and the official YY did not accept it.

22) 凡此篇也，既盡迻. Strip 204

All these sections have been completely removed.

23) 占之,恆貞吉, 少有悚也. Strip 231

If one divines about it, and it is always favorable, there is not much to be scared of.

In all the three occurrences, ye 也 does not follow nominal predicates.24 In examples 21

and 22 it follows the topic, and in 23 a verbal clause.

23 I follow the numbering given in 湖北省荊沙铁路考古队编1991 包山楚墓, 北京 : 文物出版社. 24 For the Baoshan and Xinyang data see Jiang 2002: 490.

16

1.2.2.2 信陽竹簡

The late Warring State tomb in Changtaiguan, Xinyang, Henan, excavated in 1957, has

around 150 bamboo strips in fragmentary condition, with around 950 characters and 6

occurrences of ye 也.25 Even though most fragments are too short and out of context to be

translated meaningfully (beside examples 24 and 25), all the examples are sentence final and

non-copular.

24) […] 聞之於先王之法也[…] 1-07

[…] we have heard about it in the regulations of the former kings […]

25) 吾哉, 不智也夫.26 1-014

Oh, I am not wise?

26) […] 其欲能有弃也, 能 […] 1-018

[…] could his desire be deserted? It is possible […]

27) […] 與是之也 […] 1-019

[…] together with that he goes […]

28) […] 聞之也, 武有[…] 1-030

[…] heard that, Wu has […]

29) […] 貳享就也[…] 1-039

[…] when the double sacrificial offering is completed […]

In conclusion, the analysis of the earlies datable occurrences of ye 也 suggests that the

usage of ye 也 after nominal predicates was marginal at the time. The number of occurrences,

though, is very limited, less than 20 (almost 40 if we consider all the structurally identical

examples in the bell inscriptions). It is difficult to draw a clear picture on the basis of these

25 Tsien 2004:101 and Pian and Duan (eds) 2006:388-9.The numbering comes from Liu 1986, the official shiwen. 26 The final particle fu is often used in rhetorical questions (see Pulleyblank 1995: 17, 145).

17

limited amount of data, but in the past 20 years a new source of early data has become available,

the Guodian (with around 600 occurrences) and the Shanghai Museum manuscript (with around

400). Before I turn to these new documents, though, it is worth examining what we know about

the etymology and Old Chinese (OC) sound reconstruction of ye 也.27

1.3. Etymology of ye 也

The explanation of the original meaning of the graph in the Shuo Wen 說文 is: “也=女陰,

象形” (“ye means vulva, it is a pictograph”). This explanation is not reliable, as it is most

probably just based on the graphic shape of the character in the seal form (most of the early

forms now available are quite different from Xu Shen’s seal form, derived from the Qin stone

inscriptions, and do not support his speculation) (Xu 2007: 231; Zhao 2009: 4), and no word with

such a meaning and with a Old Chinese (OC) pronunciation close enough to be related to ye 也

has been identified.

Based on the shape of the graph in the newly excavated sources, He Linyi analyzes the

graph ye 也 as consisting of two parts, a mouth (kou 口) at the top and a vertical line at the

bottom (He and Fang 2006: 174). On this basis, and more specifically on the basis of the graphic

shape of a character containing ye 也 as phonetic in the Lao Gui 老簋 inscription (where the

character writes a place name) (Li 2008: 246-7), Li Jiahao has recently proposed a new

etymology, according to which the primary graphic meaning (ben zi 本字) of ye 也 is ti 嘀 *dê

(to cry). This hypothesis is quite speculative and I just give it here as a reference.

As for other proposals, the hypothesis that ye 也 might have been originally a

demonstrative pronoun, mentioned by Egerod (1994:284), is not supported by a reconstructed

form, and therefore remains purely speculative. Pulleyblank’s 1994 hypothesis that ye 也 might

be related to the archaic verbal copula wei 唯 is also problematic, as the reconstruction of wei 唯

(Schuessler’s *wi) is quite uncertain and the syntax of wei 唯 and ye 也 is also very different,

one being always phrase initial, the other phrase final. 27 Old Chinese refers, in discussions of historical phonology, to the language of texts and documents from the beginning of writing (1250 BCE) to the Han period (200 BCE-200 CE) (see Schuessler 2007:1). When discussing historical syntax I will use it, unless otherwise stated, to refer to the language of texts from 500 to 200 BCE (a period formerly referred to as Late Archaic Chinese.

18

In terms of historical phonology, ye 也 is generally reconstructed as belonging to the

same xiesheng series as ta 它/他 (lhâi). There are two reasons for this: 1) words clearly

belonging to OC *–ai 歌 rime category like li 杝, shi 施, di 地 and chi 驰 are written with ye 也

phonetic; 2) the Middle Chinese reflex of 也 ye, jia,28 is commonly reconstructed as a reflex of

OC 歌 rime category.

1) The first point has recently received new light from the newly excavated sources. Xu

Fugui has clearly shown, based on epigraphic and manuscript sources, that before mid-Western

Han times (around 100 BCE) the characters li 杝, shi 施, di 地 and chi 驰 were written with a ta

它 phonetic and not with a ye 也 phonetic (Xu 2007: 232-245). According to Xu, the only

characters that are occasionally written with ye 也 phonetic in pre-Han times as well as in the

Shuihudi (late 3rd century BCE),29 Mawangdui (early 2nd century BCE)30 and Yinqueshan (mid

2nd century BCE)31 excavated texts, are yi 訑 and ye 吔 (Xu 2007: 251).

This means that the analysis of the xiesheng series GSR4 (the series including all

elements written with ta 它 and ye 也 phonetics, number 4 of Karlgren’s Grammatica Serica

Recensa) does not offer solid evidence to reconstruct ye 也 in the ge 歌 rime category before late

Western Han times, and that Zhu Dexi’s and Qiu Xigui’s later skepticism over their own

proposal to interpret shi 施 as standing for ye 也 (see Zhu and Qiu 1979 [1995]: 92) has been

confirmed by the new data.

2) As for the second point, the reconstruction of ye 也 on the basis of its MC reflex is

problematic. The regular development of the OC ge 歌 rime category pronunciation *laiʔ

(Baxter’s *ljAj) would be MC yeX and not the attested yaeX (Baxter 1992: 414),32 and this is the

28 I follow Schuessler’s Middle Chinese reconstruction, which follows Li Fangkuei. 29 Excavated in Hubei, Yunmeng district, in 1975; seeTsien 2004: 227 and Pian and Duan (eds) 2006: 418-422. 30 Excavated in Hunan, near Changsha, in 1973; see Tsien 2004: 134 and Pian and Duan (eds) 2006:404-412. 31 Excavated in Shandong, Linyi district, in 1972; see Tsien 2004: 104 and Pian and Duan (eds) 2006: 396-398. 32In this paragraph, and only in this paragraph, I will be using Baxter’s system, instead of Schuessler’s system, as the argument is based on Baxter’s treatment and could not be automatically translated into Schussler’s system, which is based on Baxter’s, but not identical to it, especially on controversial points like this.

19

reason for Baxter to use the vowel symbol *A in his reconstruction of ye 也 as *ljAj-- it signals

irregular development, a development Baxter refers to as *-jA(k) fronting (Baxter 1992: 571).

In a recent paper Liu Hongtao has proposed an alternative reconstruction, with ye 也

belonging to the zhi 支 rime category *–e, based on the fact that there are two graphs not ending

in *-ai in GSR4, namely shi (舌+也) *mle (more commonly used in its graphic variant 舐 GSR

867f, related to shi 咶*mleʔ GSR 1238e), which belongs to the OC zhi 支 rime category, and di

髢 *lêkh, which belongs to the OC xi 錫 rime category. Liu Hongtao proposes that shi 舐, di 髢

and ye 也 belong to the same xiesheng series, and that ye 也 should be reconstructed (in

Schuessler’s system) as *leʔ (Liu 2009: 121). Then around the first century we would have to

imagine a change like: *leʔ > jai (Han times) > jia (MC) (Baxter’s yaeX) (Baxter 1992: 414).

There was a partial merger of the OC ge 歌 rime category (*-jaj) and the OC zhi 支 rime

category (*-je) in the Later Han that resulted into MC –je, so it is not inconceivable to argue that

ye 也 started in the OC zhi 支 rime category, and that graphic confusion with ta 它 (belonging to

the OC ge 歌 rime category) was a result of the merger, but the merger is in the opposite

direction, from the OC ge 歌 rime category into the OC zhi 支 rime category; the only example

of *-e developing into MC ae is a Qieyun reading of 街 *kre> kae> jia, where the change is

likely due to the influence of *-r-. Of course, whenever we have a grammatical particle, irregular

development is more likely to occur, and whether it is placed in the OC ge 歌 rime category or in

the OC zhi 支 rime category, the Middle Chinese development of ye 也 appears to be irregular.33

Summarizing the state of our etymological knowledge on ye 也, it must be recognized

that any etymology for the particle is going to be problematic, as there is no clear connection

between ye 也 and other graphs in pre-Qin times, and as the phonological development of the

word is irregular. *laʔ is a better candidate to explain the phonological development, while *leʔ,

33Normally the development of *leʔ (which would be Baxter’s *lje) would be MC yeX, see Baxter 1992: 492.

20

as it could be easily connected with chi 啻*lhekh ‘only’, would offer a better (actually, the only)

etymological candidate,34 but a tentative one.

1.4. Significance and characteristics of the Guodian corpus and the Shanghai Museum corpus

The Guodian manuscripts were excavated in 1993 from Tomb 1 at present-day Guodian,

Jingmen city, 9 kilometers north of Ji’nancheng, the ancient Chu capital, 5 kilometers north of

Jingzhou, Hubei, not far from Baoshan (Yang 2004, vol. 2: 193-196 and Pian and Duan [eds.]

2006: 468-70). The corpus consists of more than 800 inscribed bamboo strips for a total of

12,092 characters, and eighteen texts, that can be roughly subdivided into three groups: 1) four

“Daoist” texts (three portions of textual material corresponding to parts of the Dao De jing and

one short cosmological piece on the role of the Tai yi 太一); 2) ten “Confucian” texts (one

corresponding to the “Zi yi” 緇衣 chapter of the Li ji) treating political and psychological issues

thematically close to Mencius and Xunzi; 3) four short collections of aphorisms.35 They are a

philologically much more reliable source of data than the transmitted pre-Qin texts, and a much

larger set of far longer texts than the epigraphic sources we described above. There are 615

occurrences of ye 也. As the nature and period of the archeological culture to which Guodian

Tomb 1 belong are clear, the corpus can be dated with precision as no later than 300 BCE (Li

1999: 107).

The Shanghai Museum corpus comes from another location, presumably quite close to

the former and belonging to the same era. The 1200 bamboo strips, of the same general nature as

the Guodian strips, were stolen and subsequently sold on the Hong Kong antique market in 1994,

where they were purchased by the Shanghai Museum (Shaughnessy 2006:11-12 and Pian and

Duan [eds] 2006: 470-471). According to the editors the corpus consists of approximately 36,000

34 Li Jiahao’s proposed etymon ti 嘀 *dê ‘to cry’ belongs to the same xiesheng series as chi 啻*lhekh ‘only’ and so it would be phonologically possible to connect ye 也 (which I argue was originally a focus particle), with the adverb of scope chi 啻 ‘only’, from which it might have originally grammaticalized. 35 See Allan and Williams 2000 for more details.

21

characters, and the publication is planned to comprise 12 volumes, of which 7 have been

published until now, for a total of 23,019 characters and 43 texts.36 There are 382 occurrences of

ye 也. As the exact provenance of the material is unclear the dating is speculative, but the

overwhelming scholarly consensus points to a dating very close to the one proposed for the

Guodian corpus, around 300 BCE.

Even if the Shanghai Museum corpus is more diverse than the Guodian corpus, overall

the nature of the two corpora is quite similar. But while scholarly research has reached a mature

and relatively stable stage for the Guodian corpus, which was published in its entirety in 1998,

the Shanghai Museum corpus is still in the process of publication and many of the most

interesting conclusions about it are not available in the form of book or journal publication, but

only as online materials, mainly in the following scholarly websites: www.jianbo.org,

www.bsm.org.cn, www.gwz.fudan.edu.cn, www.guwenzi.com. While this shows the vitality of

the field, it is also an obstacle to a study such as mine, which aims at a complete analysis of

reliable texts. After having translated and analyzed both corpora, I have therefore decided to

limit my study to the Guodian corpus (GD hereafter) and to use the Shanghai Museum corpus

(SHM hereafter) only as a supplementary source of data.

1.5. Characteristics of the reference edition and adopted emendations

The GD corpus is available in more than one edition. The first edition of the manuscript,

which is still the general reference edition, was published in 1998 in Beijing by the Wen wu 文物

publishing house, and consists of complete photographic reproductions, transcription and

annotations.37 After that three complete annotated editions (Li 1999 [2002], Tu and Liu 2001, Liu

2003) and many partial ones were published, differing not only on the interpretations of single

graphs, but sometimes on the ordering given to the whole sequence of the bamboo strips. One

has therefore to choose a reference edition both for the interpretation of the graphs and for the

ordering of the texts, and I have relied on Liu Zhao’s 2003 edition. I follow Liu Zhao’s

transcription of the Guodian material as the default both for his choice of characters and for his

36 Some texts have been published as separate by the editors but are now recognized as constituting a single unit- it is the case of 昭王毀室+ 昭王與龔之脽 in volume 4 and 競建內之+鮑叔牙與隰朋之諫 in volume 5. 37 I will refer to this edition and its choices as ‘GD editors’.

22

ordering of the strips,38 but in a certain amount of cases I supply one or more characters different

from the ones given by Liu Zhao, mostly based on phonological reasons;39 and I indicate with

square brackets [] the preferred reading and with parenthesis an alternative reading ().In certain

cases I provide only one or more characters in parenthesis, as supplementary candidates for a

reading given by Liu Zhao that I agree with. In each case I indicate the source of my choice by

means of abbreviations following the character within the parenthesis, as for example:

30) 13.138 門內之治，欲其掩 [婉SHR1: 197 n.13] (逸LL) 也. (性自命出 58-59)

In dealing with (affairs) inside the doors (=the family), you want (to keep them) discreet.

In this case, instead of the character 掩 given by Liu Zhao I adopt the character 婉

proposed by the first volume of the Shanghai Museum manuscript reader at page 197, n.13, and

give as a possible alternative candidate the character 逸 proposed by Li Ling. I give page and

note number only for the Shanghai Museum manuscript reader and (in the case of the Yucong

pieces) for Tu Zongliu; for the other texts, the location of the character is fairly straightforward

once the piece name and strip number are known.

The abbreviations I have adopted are the following:

Table 1 Abbreviations used in the GD database

BYL= Bai Yulan 白於藍, 《簡牘帛書通假字字典》2008.

CW= Chen Wei 陳偉,《郭店竹書別釋》, 2003.

DYZ=Ding Yuanzhi 丁原植,《郭店楚簡儒家佚籍四種釋析》，2000.

GDE=Guodian

Editors 荊门市博物馆, 《郭店楚墓竹简》, 1998.

LL= Li Ling 李零, 《郭店楚簡校讀記》(修訂本), 2002.

LMC=Liao Mingchun 廖名春《郭店楚簡老子校釋》, 2003

38 Liu 2003 follows a different strip order than the GD editors for the following manuscripts: 六德, 成之聞之, 尊德義, 語叢一, 語叢二, 語叢三. 39 Namely when Liu proposes graph on the basis of its phonological equivalence (jiajie 假借) with another graph, and such choice is widely at odd with the phonological reconstruction of Old Chinese given in Schuessler 2009.

23

LXF= Liu Xinfang 劉信芳,《簡帛五行解詁》, 2000

LZ= Liu Zhao 劉釗，《郭店楚簡校釋》，2003

MC=Marco Caboara Occasional emendations

QXG= Qiu Xigui Notes to the 1998 reference edition (GDE).

RH=Robert Henricks Robert Henricks, Lao Tzu's Tao te ching : a translation of the startling

new documents found at Guodian, 2000.

SHM=Shanghai

Museum manuscripts

(for matching

passages)

馬承源主編 , 《上海博物館藏戰國楚竹書》2001-2008

SHR1-4= Shanghai

Museum manuscripts

reader volumes 1-4

季旭昇，《上海博物館藏戰國楚竹書讀本1-4》, 2003-7.

TZL=Tu Zongliu 涂宗流, 劉祖信, 《郭店楚簡先秦儒家佚書校釋》, 2001

In some cases, Liu Zhao gives a transcription in the main text, but suggests a different

reading in the notes; when I find his suggestion in the notes preferable to his choice in the main

text I place it in square brackets with the abbreviation LZ. In a handful of cases, I propose a

reading of my own and indicate it by the initials MC=Marco Caboara. The sources listed above

are not always the ultimate source for the identification of the characters but always provide the

relevant data for the proposed identification.

The number 13.138 gives the source of the example, with the following conventions: text

13 of the Guodian corpus in the reference GDE edition, line 138 of my Appendix (Guodian texts

segmented).

Here is the list of Guodian Texts, according to their order in the GDE edition;

Table 2 List of GD Texts by number and by alphabetical reference

1. 《老子》甲本 LZA 7. 《窮達以時》 QDYS 13.《性自命出》 XZMC

24

2.《老子》乙本 LZB 8. 《五行》 WX 14.《六德》 LD

3.《老子》丙本 LZC 9. 《唐虞之道》 TYZD 15.《語叢一》 YC1

4.《太一生水》 TYSS 10. 《忠信之道》 ZXZD 16. 《語叢二》 YC2

5. 《緇衣》 ZY 11．《成之聞之》 CZWZ 17《語叢三》 YC3

6. 《魯穆公問於子思》 LMG 12．《尊德義》 ZDY 18. 《語叢四》 YC4

As for the line number, I have subdivided the text into smaller units, each roughly

corresponding to one sentence, and assigned to each a line number, for the purpose of entering

the numbered lines into a database. As there are no accepted parameters to segment Classical

Chinese texts into sentences, I have mainly used common sense, but I have tended to segment the

text in a way that facilitates the analysis of the features I am interested in (especially the particle

ye 也). I have accordingly broken the text into units in such a way that no one unit contains more

than one occurrence of ye 也 for each of its three main functions (topic marker, final particle,

nominal predicate marker). The following passage from the XZMC, for example, is segmented in

such a way that every occurrence of nominal predicate marker ye 也 occurs in a separate line

(13.25-31), while the symmetrical preceding sentence is given as a single line (13.24):

31) 13.24.凡性或動之，或逆之，或交之，或礪之，或出之，或養之，或長之。13.25.凡

動性者，物也；13.26.逆性者，悅也；13.27.交性者，故也；13.28.礪性者，義也；

13.29. 出性者，勢也；13.30. 養性者，習也；13.31. 長性者，道也。

(性自命出 10-11)

As with any source of data, Liu’s text has some problems that need to be addressed

before the data can be successfully entered into a database. I have explained in the Appendix

(Guodian texts segmented) the criteria I use to emend his text when needed. Sometimes the

problems are trivial, sometimes they concern issues connected with the nature of the original

material that require emendations about which no universal consensus is possible, and some

25

arbitrary decision is necessary. Very seldom this affects my analysis of the text from the point of

view of the function of 也

I will here discuss problematic passages containing ye 也, problematic either because the

exact function of ye 也 depends on different interpretations of the passage arising from textual

problems, or because the presence vs. absence of ye 也 is a matter of conjecture.

I will start with some relatively simple problems.

In the two following cases, Liu’s choices are either fully acceptable in his emendation of

the text, as in 1), or clearly not acceptable, as in 2), due to a fault of notation.

1) In examples 32) and 33), as the pattern 此之謂此 is unattested in OC (as far as I could

find) and instead the pattern 此之謂也 (or 是之謂也) is widely used, both in the Guodian

manuscripts and in pre-Qin texts in general, Liu Zhao has suggested to emend 此之謂此 into 此

之謂也, with the final 此 being an erroneous repetition by the copier.40

32) 10.11. 至忠亡詭，至信不倍，夫此之謂{此}<也>41。(忠信之道 4)

The utmost loyalty has no dishonesty the utmost trust does not cheat, now this is what we mean by these

(words).

33) 10.12. 大忠不說，大信不期。10.13. 不說而足養者，地也；10.14.不期而可要(=約)

者，天也。10.15. 範(似LL)天地也者，忠信之謂{此}<也> (忠信之道 4-5)

Great loyalty does not talk great trust has no stipulated time (to be fulfilled). Not talking and sufficing to

nourish the people, (that’s) the Earth. Having no stipulated time and (yet) being able to convene (with

others), (this is) Heaven. Taking as models the Heaven and Earth, this is what we mean by being loyal and

trustful.

40 The two passages occur in the same piece, at a short distance, which strengthens the likelihood of a scribal mistake. 41 The braces {} indicates a character that needs to be expunged from the text and, in this case, emended into another character within angled brackets <>.

26

This type of scribal mistake, consisting in the replacement of a target character with a

character taken over from the immediate context, is one of the most common mistakes in

Western manuscripts too, and I follow Liu Zhao in the emendation.

Similarly, it is quite uncontroversial to consider the presence of ye 也 after the second ma

馬 in 12.20 as a scribal mistake:

34) 12.18.聖人之治民，民之道也。12.19.禹之行水，水之道也。12.20.造父之御馬，馬

{也LZ}之道也。12.21. 后稷之藝地，地之道也。(尊德義6-7)

The sage ruling the people is the way of the people. Yu governing the waters is the way of the water. Zao

Fu managing horses is the way of the horses. Hou Ji tending the Earth is the way of the Earth.

In cases where there is a matching text, as for Wu xing 五行, which has a manuscript from

Mawangdui as counterpart, textual integrations like the following (symbolized by 〔〕) are also

fairly unproblematic:42

35) 8.56. 聖知 [智] 禮樂之所由生也。 8.57 五〔行之所和〕也。(五行 28-29)

Saintliness and wisdom are that from which ritual propriety and joy derive. This is how the five practices

are harmonized.

2) Sometimes Liu signals in the same way his conjectures about graphs that are missing

due to gaps in the bamboo strips, as in line 8.31 in example 36, and about graphs occurring in

strips without any gap, but that Liu assumes must have been dropped by the mistake of the scribe,

as in line 8.72 in example 37 (Liu 2003: 78 and 82).

36) 8.28. 金聲，善也; 8.29. 玉音，聖也; 8.30. 善，人道也； 8.31. 德，而[天LZ] 道

〔也〕。(五行 19-20)

The sound of the metal bell is the good; the tone of the jade stone is saintliness. Good is the way of man,

virtue is the way of heaven.

42 In these cases I provide the relevant information in a note.

27

37) 8.69.顏色容貌溫，勉也。8.70.以其中心與人交，悅也。8.71.中心悅播遷於兄弟，戚

也。8.72.戚而信之，親〔也〕。8.73.親而篤之，愛也。8.74.愛父，其繼愛人，仁

也。(五行 32-33)

Being mild in one’s appearance and deportment is [for] encouragement. Dealing with others with one’s

inner heart, is (the way to) happiness. The happiness of the inner heart applied to one’s own brothers, is

closeness. Being close to somebody and trusting him, is intimacy. Being intimate (with someone) and

treating him earnestly, is care. Caring for one’s father and consequently caring for others, is humanity.

Similarly, 〔也〕in line 4.12 is conjectural and occurs in a strip without any gap:

38) 4.9.故歲者，濕燥之所生也。10.濕澡者，凔熱[然GDE]之所生也。11.凔熱[然GDE]

者，〔四時之所生也〕。12.四時者，陰陽者之所生〔也〕。13.陰陽者，神明之所

生也。14. 神明者，天地之所生也。15. 天地者，大一之所生也。(太一生水4-5)

Therefore the year was what was produced by moisture and dryness; moisture and dryness were what was

produced by cold and hot. Cold and hot [were what was produced by the four seasons], the four seasons

were what was produced by Yin and Yang. Yin and Yang were what was produced by the “gods above and

below.” The “gods above and below” were what was produced by Heaven and Earth, and Heaven and earth

were what was produced by the Great One. (Henricks)

As Liu does not normally comment on the reason for this kind of emendation, nor does

he use different symbols to refer to them, a constant comparison with the bamboo strips is

necessary.

3) Other cases require decisions which are, to some degree, arbitrary, and that must be

ultimately decided on the basis of educated common sense, as in the cases below.

In the following passage, at lines 13.45 and 13.52 (XZMC, strips 18-21, Liu 2003: 95-96)

the nature of the elements preceding ye 也 is different depending on the choice between words

which are homophonous in OC and that are often used interchangeably in the manuscript texts,

as yi 宜 “to be favorable” and yi 義 “righteousness”:

28

39) 13.44.禮，作於情，或興(遷QXG之也，當事因方而制之。13.45.其先後之序則宜[義

DYZ]道也。13.46.或[有LL]序,為之節則文(度QXG)也。13.47.致容貌，所以文(度

QXG),節也。13.48.君子美其情，貴〔其義〕，善其節，好其容，樂其道，悅其

教，是以敬焉。13.49. 拜，所以〔為服也DYZ〕. 13.50. 其X [數(=禮)SHR1:173 n.18]

(諛DYZ)，文(度QXG)也。13.51. 幣帛，所以為信與徵也; 13.52. 其詞[貽SHR1: 174

n. 19]，宜[義DYZ] 道也。(性自命出 18-22)

The rites arise from the emotions, and sometimes (the rites) transform them (=the emotions) and regulate

them according to the (different) affairs and the (different) categories (=according to the circumstances).

The order of their sequence (of the emotions) is the way of righteousness. To have an order and give them

(=the emotions) restraint is (being) regulated. To bring forward a countenanced appearance with which to

adorn them (=the emotions), is restraint. The gentleman beautifies his emotions, ennobles [his

righteousness], perfects his restraint, makes lovable his appearance, makes enjoyable his way and

pleasurable his teachings, and thereby shows respect. Bowing ritually, is the means to [express submission].

Appropriate etiquette, is (being) regulated. Offering silk, is the expression of trust and reliability (lit. ‘being

supported by evidence’), its gift (i.e. gift of silk) is (an instance of) the way of righteousness.

In the first case 宜道 could be a VO phrase, meaning “in accordance with the way,”43 in

the second case 義道 would be a NP “the way of righteousness.” While Liu Zhao has chosen the

first option, I have followed Ding (2000: 59) and Ji (2003: 172 n.14), for two reasons: 1) the

meaning is more clear-cut, as noted by Ding (“此處作 ‘義道’文義比較明確”); 2) yi 宜 mostly

stands for yi 義 in the manuscript text under discussion, the Xing zi ming chu 性自命出, as noted

by Ji.

The two following cases have been raised, among others, by Liu Xinfang (Liu 2006) who

takes a stance against the common practice, among Guodian editors, of freely emending graph

from the bamboo manuscript (especially the two graphs heng 恒 and ji 極, and the three graphs

tian 天, fu 夫, and er 而, and whose written form is extremely close, to the point of confusion) to

bring the text in line with the received text (especially in the case of the Laozi).

43 It could also mean “the proper way”, in which case there would be no difference in interpretation with 義道.

29

Liu argues that the word heng 恒 (which Yang 2009 has shown to be both a noun and a verb

in OC) should not be emended to ji 極, in the received text (Liu 2006:70):

40) 1.54. 至虛，恒 (極) 也；1.55. 守中[沖LZ]，篤也。(老子甲本 24)

Extreme emptiness (is real) constancy; guarding the void (is real) firmness.

In this case, the difference would not be grammatically meaningful, as even a verb would

be interpreted as nominalized, like chong 沖.

In the following passage, also from the GD Laozi, the editors have emended tian 天 in line

1.40 as fu 夫 (Liu 2006: 67-8).

41) 1.38.是以聖人居亡為之事，行不言之教。1.39.萬物作而弗始也，為而弗恃也，成而

弗居。1.40. 天[夫LZ]唯弗居也，是以弗去也。(老子甲本 16-18)

By means of these (things mentioned above) the Sage abides in affairs that entail no action, and spreads the

wordless teaching. The ten thousand things arise, but he does not begin them. He does things for them, but

he does not make them dependent. He brings things to completion, but he does not dwell on his

achievements. But it is precisely because he [=the sage] does not dwell on them that they therefore do not

leave him. (Henricks modified)

In this case, while Liu’s stance of faithfulness to the text is, per se, perfectly shareable,

some of the examples he raises are problematic, and do not allow a simple solution in terms of

either faithfulness to the manuscript or faithfulness to the received text. While the meaning of 天

唯弗居也，是以弗去也 can be explained without problems “Heaven does not dwell on them,

therefore (they) do not leave him”, the context seem much more felicitous with 聖人, rather than

天, as the subject, and from a syntactic point of view, while 夫唯 is a common complex particle

that suits the syntactic context (and whose focusing function is fully compatible with 也), 天唯

弗居也 is quite odd (see Liao 2003: 178 and Henricks 2000:50-52).44

44 See infra section 6.1.1.

30

Furthermore, there is a very similar passage in the GD Laozi where 夫唯 is used, and where no

doubt has been raised about alternative readings of fu 夫 as er 而 or tian天):

42) 2.1.治人事天，莫若嗇。2.2.夫唯嗇，是以早{是以早}備[服LL]；2.3.是謂〔重積

德〕。(老子乙本 1)

For ruling humanity and serving heaven, there is nothing so good as keeping things in reserve. Only if you

keep things in reserve are you well prepared; this means [to repeatedly build up your virtue]. (Henricks

modified)

I have here discussed some problematic examples to give an idea of the reliability of the GD

texts as object of grammatical analysis. I believe the nature of the textual problems, as far as the

function of ye 也 is concerned, is not such as to cast the basic reliability of the text into doubt.

31

Part II

Proposed Research

In this part I will provide, in an overview, a brief analysis of the functions of ye 也 in the

corpus leading to the proposal of a core function from which all others can be derived (1.6), an

investigation of the reasons for the presence vs. absence of ye 也 (1.7), and a conclusion about

the gradual proliferation of the usage of focus marker ye 也 (1.8).

1.6 Functions of ye 也 in the GD corpus

I identified four main functions of ye 也 in the GD corpus: Focus marker, Topic marker,

Clause Connector and Nominal Predicate marker. My dissertation aims at giving a detailed

synchronic analysis of these four functions as well as at providing arguments, based on typology

and historical syntax, to relate diachronically the various functions to a core one, focus.

I will give here the main outline of my dissertation; a full description of the four functions

and their interrelation will be given in chapters 2-5 (chapter 6 will provide supplementary

arguments and treat related morphemes).

1.6.1. Ye 也 as a focus marker

A focus marker (from now on, function A) is a pragmatic marker signalling an element in the

sentence as semantically contrastive and either prosodically or syntactically prominent. Until

Yue 2004, even when focus was mentioned in relationship with ye 也, it was only on an ad hoc

basis and mostly just in connection with irregular word order and emphasis (namely prominence

given to an element of the proposition for expressive purposes). The study of languages where

focus is grammatically encoded in every sentence like Hungarian and Somali, or explicitely

encoded by means of specific morphology or particles, like Mizo and Hausa, has lead typologists

to draw a more comprehensive view of focus. Based on the most recent typological

investigations, I have been looking for correlations among the usage of ye 也 and a series of

32

focus operators and constructions, such as negatives (ex 43), quantifiers (ex 44), object

topicalization (ex 45), to name a few prominent examples:

43) 8.100. 君子集大成。能進之為君子，弗能進也，各止於其里。(五行 42)45

The gentleman accumulate great achievements. If one is able to make it (=virtue?) advance, one acts as a

gentleman; if one is not able to make it advance, then in every case he is stuck in his own place.

44) 15.80. 各以譫詞毀也。(語叢一 107-108)

Each can be destroyed by loose talk.

45) 8.37.未嘗聞君子道，謂之不聰。8.38.未嘗見賢人，謂之不明。8.39.聞君子道而不知

其君子道也，謂之不聖。8.40.見賢人而不知其有德也，謂之不智。8.41.見而知之,

智也。8.42.聞而知之，聖也。8.43.明明，智也。8.44.赫赫，聖也。8.45.“明明在下,

赫赫在上.” 8.46. 此之謂也。(五行 22-26)46

Never having heard about the way of the gentleman, this is called being unperceptive. Not yet having seen

worthy people, is called being unenlightened. Having heard about the way of the gentleman but not

knowing that it is the way of the gentleman, this is called not being saintly. Seeing worthy people but not

knowing that they have virtue, this is called be3ing unwise. Seeing (a worthy) and understanding it (=his

virtue), this is wisdom. Hearing about him and understanding it (his virtue), this is being a saint. Being very

bright, means wisdom. Being very majestic, means being a saint."Shedding brightness below, majestic on

high" It refers to this.

This does not amount to a full-fledged focus system, as in most contexts the presence of the

focus marker ye 也 is optional; nevertheless, these correlations (most of which cannot be

accounted for in a consistent way by any other account of the functions of ye 也) allow me to

postulate focus marking as one of the main synchronic function of ye 也. Chapter 2 of my

dissertation is the first attempt to describe this function systematically.

45 Here and in some following examples I doubly underline the focused segments and simply underline related segments. 46 Line 8.46 is doubly underlined to signal the presence of ye 也 after the predicate, in contrast with lines 8.37-8.40 where there is no object topicalization and no ye 也. Here and throughout the dissertation I will underline only the immediate context for the occurrences of ye 也 relevant for the analysis of the function under discussion.

33

1.6.2. Ye 也 as a topic marker

A topic marker (from now on, function B) is a pragmatic marker following an element

which the rest of the sentence is in some sense about, as in example 46:

46) 15.12. 人之道也，或由中出，或由外入。(語叢一 18-20)

As for the Way of man, in some cases it emerges from the inside, in other cases it enters from the outside

While the usage of ye 也 as a topic marker has been widely recognized, and its tendency

to co-occur with topic complex nominalized NPs (NP之VP and 其VP)47 has been equally noticed,

the third chapter of my dissertation is the first systematic analysis of the presence vs. absence of

ye 也 as a topic marker in a given text.

I will show that ye 也 occurs with around 80% of complex nominalized NPs, which are

items with definite reference (as they contain the determiners zhi 之 and qi 其), and this is only

part of a wider constraint against the usage of ye 也 with NPs not modified by determiners and

by the marker of definite reference zhe 者.48 No NP containing a bare noun occurs as topic

marked by ye 也 only; bare nouns can be followed by ye 也 only if they are followed by the

marker of definite reference zhe 者 as well, as in the following example:

47) 14.46. 信也者，婦德也。 14.47. 既生畜之, 又從而教誨之，14.48. 謂之聖。14.49. 聖

也者，父德也。14.50. 子也者，會最[屯DYZ]長材以事上，謂之義. (六德 20-22) 49

Trust is the virtue of the wives. Once they are born to nurture them and consequently to teach them and

instruct them, is referred to as saintliness. Saintliness is the virtue of fathers. As for sons, to unite and bring

together (their) best abilities to serve their superior (=their parents), is called righteousness.

47 Complex nominalized NP will be defined more precisely in section 3.1.2 48 This is consistent with the fact that ‘topics’ tend to have [+definite] feature – in other words, only [+definite] NP occurs as ‘topics’. In Modern Chinese [+generic] category behaves as [+definite]; for zhe 者 as marker of definite reference, see section 3.4.3. 49 Here and throughout the dissertation I will underline only the occurrences of ye 也 relevant for the analysis of the function under discussion.

34

Furthermore, it has not been previously noticed how in its combination with suo 所

nominalizations and zhi 之 and qi 其 noun phrases in topic (namely initial) position, zhe 者 is in

complementary distribution with ye 也.

As I will show, on one hand zhe 者 often follows suo 所 nominalizations in topic positions

(example 48) while ye 也 does not have this function in the GD corpus (see example 49 where

only the qi 其 noun phrase in topic position, and not the suo 所 nominalization, is marked by ye

也):50

48) 13.97. [所為道]者四，唯人道為可道也。(性自命出 14-15)

There are four things that can be considered as the way, but only the way of man is such that it can be walk

on.

49) 14.97. 凡君子所以立身大法三，其繹之也六，其貫十又二。(六德 44-45)

In general the great rules by means of which the gentleman can establish himself are three (=separation

between husband and wife, intimacy between father and son, righteousness between lord and minister), and

(his ways of) unfolding them (=their applications) are six (=the six virtues), and their threads are twelve

(=the six roles and the six functions).

On the other hand, ye 也 systematically follows zhi 之 and qi 其 noun phrases in topic

position, while zhe 者 does not (see table 4, section 1.7.1). 51 I will argue that this

complementarity is determined by the fact that suo 所 nominalizations are indefinite while zhi 之

and qi 其 noun phrases are definite.

50 This lead us to think that the former is [+def] and the latter [-def]. 51 It is possible that this constraint is connected with the known interaction of focus and definiteness (see Lyons 1999), but the issue will require further investigation. There is a strong co-occurrence of ye 也 with NP之VP and 其VP complex nominalized NPs, in any position and function (see section 5.2.3). While this co-occurrence still needs to be satisfactorily explained, it is tempting to assume that it is also diachronically or synchronically connected with focus. A preliminary screening of the diverse texts of the Shanghai Museum Collection, some containing ye 也, others lacking it completely, shows that there is a very strong correlation between the usage of ye 也 and the usage of complex nominalized NPs.

35

From the point of view of diachrony, while Focus and Topic are complementary

concepts,52 they have a point of contact, as focus is inherently contrastive53 and topics might also

be contrastive. What is certain is that diachronic paths from focus marker into topic marker are

widely attested, and fully compatible with the hypothesis of focus marker as the original

function of ye 也, first stated by Yue 2004 and strengthened by Stassen’s typological hypothesis

of focus as one of the origins of copula (see section 5.1). This account allows, for the first time,

to establish a convincing connection between the function of ye 也 as topic marker and its focus

function.

1.6.3. Clause connection marker

A clause connector (from now on, function C) is an element that establishes a relationship

between the final clause and the preceding ones. The relationships that ye 也 can encode in the

GD corpus are temporal, conditional, concessive, causal and explanatory. I treat them in the

fourth chapter and group them into two sets: 1) the first set encodes a “consequential” (X, then Y)

relationship among the utterance containing it (Y) and the preceding clauses (X), which can be

subdivided into “if X-then Y” (example 50) or “given X therefore Y” (example 51) relationship

(from now on, category C1); 2) the second set encodes an explanatory (X is because of Y)

relationship, indicating how the clause containing ye 也 (Y) gives an explanation for the

preceding portion of text (X), providing its meaning or its cause (example 52) (from now on,

category C2):

50) 1.7.1聖人之在民前也，以身後之；7.2其在上也，以言下之。1.8.1其在民上也，民

弗厚也；8.2 其在民前也，民弗害也。1.9. 天下樂進而弗厭。(老子甲本 3-4)

When the Sage is at the front of his people, he puts himself behind them; when he is above them, in his

words he is below them. (So) even if he is on top of his people, they do not regard him as heavy; and even

if he is in front of his people, they do not regard him as posing a threat. All under heaven delight in

advancing him while never tiring of him.

52 According to the functional approach of Halliday 1994 (he refers to them as theme and rheme). 53 See example 43.

36

51) 10.22. 君子其施也忠，故蠻親傅也; 10.23. 其言爾信，故轉而可受也. (忠信之道7-

8)54 As for the gentleman, his acts are loyal, so (even) the Man barbarians will come close and approach (him);

his words are trustworthy, so they will be transmitted and (they) could be accepted (by the people).

52) 7.5.舜耕於歷山，陶拍於河浦[滸LL]，立而為天子，遇堯也。7.6.皋陶衣枲褐，帽絰

蒙巾釋板築而佐天子，遇武丁也。7.7.呂望為臧棘津，守監門棘地，行年七十而屠

牛於朝歌，舉而為天子師，遇周文也。7.8.管夷吾拘囚梏縛，釋械柙，而為諸侯

相，遇齊桓也。7.9.百里轉鬻五羊，為伯牧牛，釋鞭箠而為朝卿，遇秦穆。7.10.孫

叔三謝期思少司馬，出而為令尹，遇楚莊也。(窮達以時 2-8)

Shun farmed at Mount Li, made pottery on the banks of the He. That he stood up and became Son of

Heaven, was (because) he met Yao. Gao Tao [but it should be Fu Yue] was wearing a coarse cloth made of

hemp and wearing a cap made of a band of hemp as covering kerchief [the attire of a convicted laborer],

that he was released from the construction planks and made to help the son of Heaven, was because he met

Wu Ding. Lü Wang was a slave in Ji Jin, serving guard as a door keeper in Ji, was seventy years old and

was slaughtering an ox in Chao Ge, when he rose and became instructor to the Son of Heaven, (that was

because of) meeting Lord Wen of Zhou. Guan Yiwu was detained as a prisoner in manacles and ropes, he

was released from his fetters and his cage and became the minister of a lord, because he met Duke Huan of

Qi. Bai Lixi was sold in exchange for five goats, and herded cattle for the Bo (family). That he gave up the

whip to become a minister at the court, was because he me Duke Mu of Qin. Sun Shu’ao renounced three

times to the position of minor horse official of Qi Si, then he went out and became Prime Minister, was

because he met Duke Zhuang of Chu.

Uncovering the exact nuances of the usage of discourse particles in written texts in a dead

language like Old Chinese is beyond my scope and possibly beyond anyone’s ability; rather than

uncovering new meanings for ye 也, I argue here for its treatment as a sentence final particle

whose exact interpretation is not determined by an inherent semantic content but rather by

contextual inferences. This means that there is no single underlying meaning of final particle ye

也; ye 也 can be interpreted, based on the context, as occurring with predicates encoding

temporal, conditional, concessive and causal relationships between the final clause and the

preceding ones. Furthermore, more than one interpretation can be applied to the same sentence

54 For an analysis of this example see section 2.1.3.

37

and context, and clauses marked by ye 也 might be understood as both conditional and causative,

adversative and concessive, adversative and causative, causal and temporal. On the basis of this

continuum of interpretations, especially when the final clause is not preceded by a connective, I

argue for the possibility of a diachronic development from ye 也 marking contrastive focus and

adversativity (a basic feature of contrast) to its marking temporal, conditional and causative

relationships. This tight connection between adversative, concessive, conditional, temporal and

causal clauses has been recently investigated across many languages, such as Chinese, English,

Spanish and Swedish, and the conclusions deriving from this investigation can be applied to

most Western languages, as well as to Sinitic languages (see section 4.4).

1.6.4. Ye 也 as marker for Nominal Predicate

A marker of nominal predication (from now on, function D) is an element occurring after

nominal elements serving as predicates, as in the following example:

53) 13.25.凡動性者，物也；26.逆性者，悅也；27.交性者，故也；28.礪性者，義也；

29. 出性者，勢也；30. 養性者，習也；31. 長性者，道也。(五行 10-12)

In general, what moves inborn nature, are external objects, what entices inborn nature, is pleasure, what

makes links with inborn nature, is intention, what polishes inborn nature, is righteousness, what brings out

inborn nature, is circumstance, what nurtures inborn nature, is practice, what causes inborn nature to grow,

is the way.

Chapter 5 of my dissertation is the first exhaustive analysis of marked and unmarked

nominal predication (also known as zero copula encoding) in an Old Chinese text, quantifying,

for the first time, the rate of occurrence of ye 也 after nominal predicates. It relies on recent

typological studies by Stassen to argue the adoption of the category of particle copulas to

describe this function of ye 也.

According to Stassen, copulas can be divided, in accordance with their origin, into three

groups: verbal copulas, pronominal copulas and particle copulas. Applying this framework to

Old Chinese provides a diachronic path leading from the focus marker function to the nominal

predicate marker function, as it is mostly topic and focus markers that can serve as particle

38

copulas, with the functional motivation that the nominal predicate sentence is a sentence type in

which marking of the discourse function of its predicate is more important than in sentences with

other types of predicates because otherwise there is only zero marking for the nominal predicate

while there are alternative markers for other types of predicates.

While Stassen’s description is based on Austronesian and South American languages, an

examination of the relevant literature shows that the strategy of using focus particles as particle

copulas is also well attested in the Tibeto-Burman family (Belhare, Karbi, Kham, Hani)55 to

which OC is most likely related,56 and an investigation of the usage of ye 也 in the GD corpus

shows that it is attested in OC too.

Furthermore, as Stassen also found that particle copula is often a complementary option

to zero copula, both being used in the same language, his framework allows to make sense of the

presence of a certain number of unmarked nominal predicates in the GD texts, which can be

interpreted as the residue of a change in progress whereby particle copula ye 也 takes over zero

copula encoding (which is the mode of encoding of the previous stage, represented by the Shu

Jing 書經 (Book of Documents) and the Yi Jing 易經 (Book of Changes).

Connected with this function is the usage of ye 也 as marker of assertion (from now on,

function D1), namely an element occurring in simple clauses that marks general statements and

time-stable truths, after semi-copular verbs and stative (non-dynamic) verbs, like existential

verbs (有, 無), the semi-copular verb wei 為, the optative verb ke 可, verbs denoting origin (you

由 ‘to come from’, sheng 生 ‘to originate’), as well as stative verbs, as in the following examples:

54) 9.42. 求乎大人之興, 微 [美GDE]也。(唐虞之道 17)

Searching into the rise of great men is beautiful.

55) 13.110. 凡人偽為可惡也。(性自命出 48) In general, man’s false behavior is despicable.

55 On Belhare see Bickel 1999, on Karbi see Konnerth 2010, on Kham see Watters 2004, on Hani see Li Yongsui

and Wang Ersong 1986 and Zhang Jun 2005. 56 I will not elaborate on the issue of whether this is an areal or an inherited feature.

39

The above mentioned verbs have the shared characteristic of being stative, in terms of the

three features given by Hopper and Thompson (1980: 294): non-agentive subject, non-affected

object, atelic verb. Their co-occurrence with ye 也 is in most cases (except for ke 可) not a

regular feature. What distinguishes these verbs from others in respect with ye 也 is that other

verbs in the GD corpus are generally not followed by ye 也 in simple clauses.

As noted by Hopper and Thompson (1984: 726) the more stative the inherent meaning of

a lexical item, the more noun-like it is. Adjectives, existential and nominal predicates are often

encoded with similar strategies; in English, for example, by requiring the usage of the verb “to

be”. Typological research has shown that languages are organized along the scale

NOMINALS>ADJECTIVALS>VERBALS. The three members of the scale are prototypes such

that the more to the left, the more time-stable an item is and the lower its valence (Pustet 2003:

185-195). Even languages that do not distinguish adjectives and verbs as parts of speech do

conform to this scale in a number of ways, including a higher tendency of co-occurrence of

certain adjectivals with copulas (Stassen 1997: 156-179).

The distribution of the particle copula ye 也 with verbs of high time-stability and low

transitivity is in accordance with this scale, and a diachronic path can be established leading from

the usage of ye 也 after nominal predicate to this less frequent usage.

In functions A and B, ye 也 follows both NPs and predicates and is never (for function B)

and only sometimes (in function A) sentence final. In the other functions ye 也 is mostly

sentence final and follows predicates. In the case of function C ye 也, while not having any

lexical meaning, signals a semantic relationship between the final clause and what precedes it,

corresponding to the pragmatic notion of discourse particle (see section 4.1). In function D and

D1 ye 也 follows low transitivity predicates57 that express identity and class belonging (nominal

predicates), existential verbs (you 有, wu 無), semi-copular verbs (為, 如, 若), the optative verb

可, verbs denoting origin (由, 生) and stative verbs.

Table 3 summarizes the distribution of the different functions in the 18 texts.

57 See section 5.4.2 for a precise definition of the term.

40

Table 3 Functions of ye 也 text by text.

Focus

marker

Topic

marker

Clause connector

Particle Copula Text information

Foc Top Cons Expl Nom

Pred

Assertions

text

n.

Text

name

chars.

N

A B C1 C2 D D1 Totals

1 LZA 1073 3 24 11 1 5 0 44

2 LZB 377 0 0 1 1 1 0 3

3 LZC 268 1 4 2 1 0 1 9

4 TYSS 284 0 7 0 0 8 0 15

5 ZY 1153 0 9 5 0 2 6 22

6 LMG 149 2 0 0 0 1 0 3

7 QDYS 287 0 0 0 8 1 3 12

8 WX 1240 5 12 0 4 61 3 85

9 TYZD 704 3 7 12 3 6 4 39

10 ZXZD 256 6 4 5 0 8 1 21

11 CZWZ 966 3 25 7 5 4 8 53

12 ZDY 914 0 9 7 5 12 14 47

13 XZMC 1551 19 17 10 2 50 11 109

14 LD 969 7 17 6 1 16 10 57

15 YC1 687 7 3 4 0 16 12 42

16 YC2 344 0 1 0 0 4 2 7

17 YC3 467 3 4 5 0 14 2 30

18 YC4 403 0 0 2 0 0 0 2

total 12092 58 137 68 31 209 76 600

The 18 texts in the GD corpus are all argumentative, non-narrative texts (with the partial

exception of the sixth brief text 魯穆公問於子思). Their format is not the same. Texts 1-3

41

correspond to parts of the received Laozi and consist of rather brief and often paradoxical

statements; text 4 is a brief, theoretical piece on cosmology, text 5 a collection of moral

statements supported by classical quotations; text 6 is a short anecdote relating the memorable

answer of a sage; 7-14 are pieces treating political, moral and psychological issues in a

philosophical, fairly systematic fashion; texts 15-17 are a congeries of short statements mostly

about logic and politics, and text 18 is a short treaty on the art of political persuasion. The

frequency of usage of the various functions of ye 也 as given in Table 3 is different text by text,

but overall every text has every function, with the exception of texts shorter than 500 graphs,

about which it is difficult to argue that such an absence is of any significance. It is therefore

necessary, if one wants to investigate differences within the corpus, to analyze not only the

distribution across texts of the main functions of ye 也, but also the ratio of occurrence of ye 也

in different texts, its presence and absence, and how this correlates with equivalent means to

express the same function.

1.7 The absence vs. presence of ye 也

The absence vs. presence of ye 也 can be investigated from two different points of view, one

considering the regularity of the presence of ye 也 after each function (1.7.1), the other

considering the usage of ye 也 as one textual choice among others (1.7.2).

1.7.1 Optional and regular contexts for the presence of ye 也

From the first point of view, there are two different patterns of usage of ye 也: a

syntactically motivated one which tends to require the presence of ye 也 (category D predicate

nominal marker in 95% of all cases), and a pragmatically motivated one where the presence of ye

也 is largely not predictable: discourse marker (category C), marker of assertion (category D1)

and focus marker (category A). With topics (category B) in certain specific syntactic contexts

(complex nominalized NPs or NPs modified by determiners in topic position)58 its co-occurrence

with ye 也 is so regular that it is predictable.

58 See section 3.1

42

While former scholars have mentioned the absence of ye 也 after nominal predicates, the

occurrence of such zero marked nominal predicates has never been analyzed systematically. I

have given hereunder the information in form of a table

Table 4 Presence of ye 也: optional and regular contexts

Presence of ye 也

Function Optional59 Regular

Focus (A)

Pragmatic

(Information

structure)

(B)

NP之NP, 其NP

Verbal clauses

(B)

S之VP , 其VP , S之於VP (80%)

Dem+NP (100%)

Consequence (C1)

Explanation (C2) Semantic

Syntactic Assertion (D1) Nominal predicates (D) (95%)

1.7.2 The usage of ye 也 as a textual choice and the use of alternative devices

From the point of view of textual choices, copulas encode statements of identity and class

belonging and pertain to the domain of definition and argumentative discourse. They state

relationship among entities and properties of entities, not events (Wang Li 1936 [2000]: 358),

and recur in passages providing definitions and explanations. The occurrence of ye 也 in

functions C and D has been connected with explanatory sentences (sentences commenting upon

entities and events), as opposed to narrative sentences (sentences merely reporting events) and

imperative sentences, but nobody has yet investigated from this perspective the occurrence of ye

也 in a given text, examining the passages without ye 也 in order to prove this dichotomy, as

well as finding which other lexical or syntactic means are available, beyond the usage of ye 也,

59 In Optional contexts, ye 也 appears generally in less than 10% of the cases. I do not give the values context by context, as they are difficult to quantify with precision.

43

to express the functions covered by ye 也. As for functions A and B, they are merely

backgrounding (B) and foregrounding (A) devices, they can occur in the domain of definition

and argumentative discourse just as they could in any discourse domain.

Analyzing the GD texts we see that it is not only narrative passages that do not usually

contain ye 也.

Passages consisting of sequences of commands and requests typically do not contain ye 也,

as in the following example:60

56) 13.145.凡憂患之事欲任，樂事欲後。13.146.身欲靜而毋撼，慮欲淵而毋偽，13.147

行欲勇而必至，貌欲莊而毋拔[伐LL]，13.148.〔心〕欲柔齊而泊，喜欲智而亡末，

13.149.樂欲繹[懌LL]而有志，憂欲儉而毋惛，13.150.怒欲盈[浧GDE]而毋掩[暴

SHBWGR2:64]，進欲遜而毋巧，13.151.退欲X[尋LL]而毋輕;欲皆文[度]而毋偽。

(性自命出 62-65)

In general, in sad and calamitous affairs (big crisis) one (should) seek to take responsibility, (while) in

joyous things one (should seek) to be last. In your own person you should seek (just) to be tranquil and not

excessive, in your thoughts you should seek to be deep and without violence, in your actions you should

seek to be courageous and extremely thorough, in your appearance you should seek to be dignified and not

to be self-conceited, [in your heart] you should seek to be soft, pure and still, in happiness you should seek

to be wise and not extreme, in joy you should seek to be mild and purposeful, in sadness you should seek to

be moderate and not confused, in anger you should be deep (=keep your grief to yourself) but not hidden;

in advancing, you should be yielding and not crafty, in retreating you should be solemn and not careless;

you should, in all these cases, be well patterned and not false.

Other passages not containing ye 也 consist of chains of semantically implied “if-then”

sentences without any explicit marking, as in the following example:

57) 8.32.唯有德者，然後能金聲而玉振之。8.33.不聰不明，不聖不智;不智不仁，不仁

不安，不安不樂，不樂亡德。8.34.不勉不悅，不悅不戚，不戚不親，不親不，不愛

60 See section 2.1.1 ex. 15 for a counterexample.

44

不仁。8.35.不直不肆[肄]，不肆[肄]不果，不果不簡，不簡不行，不行不義。 8.36.

不遠不敬，不敬不嚴，不嚴不尊，不尊不恭，不恭亡禮。(五行 20-22)

Only if one has virtue, thereafter there can be a metal bell sounding and a jade stone causing it to vibrate. If

one is not sharp-eared and clear-sighted, one will not be saint not wise; if one is not wise then one will not

be humane; if one is not humane one will not be at peace, if one is not at peace one will not be joyful, if one

is not joyful one will not have virtue. If one does not make an effort, one will not feel pleased, if one will

not feel pleased one will not feel close, if one will not feel close one will not be feel kinship, if you will not

feel kinship one will not feel care, if you will not feel care one will not be humane. If one is not upright one

will not toil, if one does not toil one will not be decisive, not being decisive one will not be resolute, not

being resolute one will not act, not acting one will not be righteous. If one is not far (=keeps some distance)

one will not be reverent, not being reverent one will not be in awe, not being in awe one will not be

respectful, not being respectful one will not be humble, not being humble there will be no ritual propriety.

More importantly, non-narrative passages might contain, together with or instead of ye 也,

functionally equivalent elements.

Sentences of type C1 might co-occur with connectives such as ze 則 “then”, gu 故, shiyi 是

以 and ciyi 此以 “so, thus, therefore” (example 58) or might not co-occur with them (example

59):

58) 10.22.君子其施也忠，故蠻親傅(附LL)也；10.23.其言爾信，故轉(亶GDE)而可受

也.10.24忠，仁之實也。10.25.信，義之期[基CW]也。10.26.是故古之所以行乎蠻

[啟ZG] (開TZL) 貊 [數MC] 者，如此也。(忠信之道 7-9)

As for the gentleman, when his acts are loyal, then (even) the Man barbarians will come close and approach

(him). When his words are trustworthy, then they will be transmitted and (they) could be accepted (by the

people). Loyalty is the realization of humanity, trust the foundation of righteousness. Therefore the way in

which the ancients acted in explaining these rules (?), is like this.

59) 1.24. 為之者敗之，執之者遠之。1.25. 是以聖人亡為，故亡敗；亡執，故亡失。 (老子甲本 10-11) Those who act on it ruin it, those who hold on to it lose it. Therefore the sage does nothing, and as a result

he has no disasters; he holds on to nothing, and as a result he loses nothing. (Henricks)

45

Sentences of type C2 might co-occur with verbs of saying such as wei 謂 and yan 言

(example 60), or might not co-occur with them (example 61):

60) 11.69. 《君奭》曰: 11.70. 「惟冒丕單稱德」11.71. 何？11.72. 言疾也。11.73. 君子

曰：11.74. 疾之，行之不疾，未有能深之者也。(成之聞之 22-23)

When the “Jun shi” says: “he looked at them and grandly and entirely displayed his virtue”, what does it

mean? It talks about urgency. Treat things with urgency, if you do not act on them with urgency, there is

nobody who can make them deep.”

61) 8.1.五行：仁形於內, 謂之德之行，不形於內謂之行。8.2.義形於內謂之德之行，不

形於內謂之行。8.3.禮形於內謂之德之行，不形於內謂之[行].8.4.[智形]於內謂之德

之行，不形於內謂之行。8.5.聖形於內謂之德之行，不形於內謂之 {德之LZ} 行。

(五行 3-4)

The five practices: (when) humanity takes shape in the inside, it is called "the practice of virtue", when it

does not take shape in the inside, it is called "practice". (When) righteousness takes shape in the inside, it is

called "the practice of virtue", when it does not take shape in the inside, it is called "practice". (When) ritual

propriety takes shape in the inside, it is called "the practice of virtue", when it does not take shape in the

inside, it is called "practice". (When) wisdom takes shape in the inside, it is called "the practice of virtue",

when it does not take shape in the inside, it is called "practice". (When) saintliness takes shape in the inside,

it is called "the practice of virtue", when it does not take shape in the inside, it is called "practice [of

virtue]".

Sentences of type D1 might co-occur with semi-copular verbs such as wei 為, ru 如, ruo 若

(example 62) or might not co-occur with them (example 63):

62) 12.2. 推忿懣，戒惎勝，為人上者之務也。(尊德義 1)

To eliminate anger and resentment, and to guard against hate and the will to overcome (others), is the task

of the people at the top.

63) 2.28.上德如谷，大白如辱，廣德如不足，建德如〔偷，質〕真如渝。(老子乙本 11)

The highest virtue seems to be [low like] a valley; the greatest purity seems to be soiled; vast virtue seems

insufficient. Steadfast virtue seems to be lax; genuine substance seems to be flawed. (Henricks)

46

These verbs and connectives not only co-occur with ye 也, but are used also without it, with

the same function. Moreover, many occurrences of ye 也 marking nominal predicates are also

functionally equivalent to verbs of saying, as both are used in definitions, as shown in the

following example:

64) 4.20. 下，土也，而謂之地. 21. 上，氣也，而謂之天. 22. 道亦其字也. (太一生水 10)

What is below is soil; yet we refer to it as the earth; what is above is air, yet we refer to it as Heaven. In the

same way, “the Way” is its designation. (Henricks)

The hypothesis that the usage of ye 也 is functionally equivalent to the usage of these verbs

and connectives is reinforced by a comparison of the Guodian Laozi with the Mawangdui (MWD)

manuscript and the Wang Bi (WB) received edition of the Laozi, where we see that the

connectives gu 故 and shiyi 是以 alternate with ye 也 in many examples. In Chart 1, line 3, a

GD line with ye 也 corresponds in MWDA (Mawangdui manuscript A) to a line with both shiyi

是以 and ye 也 and in WB to a line with shiyi 是以 and without ye 也. The same holds for line 5,

where instead of shiyi 是以 we have gu 故. At line 7, GD and MWDA are the same and only

WB has shiyi 是以 and no ye 也. In Chart 2, the same pattern can be observed in lines 2 and 3.

Chart 1.

Line GD1.2 MWDA 66 WB 66

1 江海所以為百谷王，

以其能為百谷下，

[江] 海之所以能為百谷王者，

以其善下之也，

江海之所以能為百谷王者，

以其善下之，

2 是以能為百谷王。是以能為百谷王。故能為百谷王。

3 聖人之在民前也，

以身後之；

是以聖人之欲上民也，

必以其言下之；

是以聖人欲上民，

必以言下之；

4 其在上也，

以言下之。

其欲先〔民也〕,

必以其身之。

欲先民，

必以身後之。

5 其在民上也，故居前是以聖人處上

47

民弗厚也；而民弗害也，而民不重，

6 在民前也，民弗害

也。

居上而民弗重也。處前而民不害。

7 天下樂進而弗厭,

以其不爭也 .

天下樂進而弗厭也 ,

非以其无爭與?

是以天下樂推而不厭,

以其不爭。

That which allows the rivers and seas to serve as kings of the small valley streams, is because of their ability to be

below the small valley streams. Therefore, they can serve as the kings of the small valley streams. The Sage's

presence at the front of his people, results from putting himself behind them. The reason he is above them is that in

his words he is below them. But although he is on top of his people, they do not regard him as heavy; and although

he is in front of his people, they do not regard him as posing a threat. All under heaven delight in advancing him

while never tiring of him, because he does not compete. (Henricks modified)

Chart 2.

Line GD1.10 MWDA 64 WB 64

1 為之者敗之，

執之者失之。

〔為之者敗之，

執之者失之。

為者敗之，

執者失之。

2 是以聖人亡為，

故亡敗；

是以聖人無為〕也，

〔故〕無敗 [也]；

是以聖人無為,

故無敗；

3 亡執，故亡失。無執也，故無失也。無執，故無失。

Those who act on it ruin it, Those who hold on to it lose it. Therefore the sage does nothing, and as a result he has

no disasters; he holds on to nothing, and as a result he loses nothing. (Henricks)

I investigated which kind of words co-occur, or alternate, with ye 也, sentence type by

sentence type, as a way to look at the internal variation within the GD corpus. I have correlated

the presence and absence of ye 也 with the presence of the aforementioned verbs and connectives,

as shown in table 5 (Sentences with and without ye 也 in functions C and D), where “SO” stands

for the connectives ze 則, gu 故, shiyi 是以 and ciyi 此以 (C1) , “SAY” for verbs of saying (C2)

48

and “BE” for the semicopular verbs 為, 如, 若 (D1), “NOM PRED” for sentences with nominal

predicate (D) and “FIN” stands for other final particles“(yi 矣 and yan 焉 and er 爾).

Table 5 Sentences with and without ye 也 in functions C and D61

Functions SO SAY BE NOM PRED FIN FIN C1 C2 D1 D

Text n.62 Graph n.

+ - + - + - + - + - 1 1073 0 17 0 11 0 15 5 1 1 7 2 377 1 10 2 4 0 23 1 0 0 4 3 268 5 12 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 4 284 1 11 0 2 0 0 8 4 0 0 5 1153 4 40 0 0 0 4 2 0 0 4 6 149 0 3 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 6 7 287 0 3 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 6 8 1240 0 45 6 10 2 2 61 1 0 2 9 704 4 6 0 1 4 1 6 0 0 4 10 256 7 0 2 0 1 3 8 0 0 2 11 966 10 19 6 6 2 3 4 0 0 18 12 914 5 24 0 0 1 1 12 3 0 8 13 1551 1 23 0 4 14 6 50 1 0 11 14 969 3 10 0 8 1 2 16 0 0 13 15 687 0 2 0 4 0 0 16 0 0 0 16 344 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 0 0 1 17 467 0 6 0 0 2 0 14 0 0 4 18 403 0 6 0 4 0 7 0 1 1 0

Total 12092 41 237 19 54 27 67 209 11 2 95

61 The sign ‘+’ signifies co-occurrence with ye 也, the sign ‘-’ lack of co-occurrence. 62 Here “n.” stands for “number”.

49

Table 5 shows that texts 6 and 7 do not have any co-occurrence of ye 也 with SO, SAY

and BE elements, and that in general texts 1-7 have almost no co-occurrence of ye 也 with BE

elements, and a quite limited co-occurrence with SO and SAY. Text 13 stands alone for its high

co-occurrence with BE elements, specifically with ru 如 after stative and intransitive verbs, as

seen in section 2.1.3 examples 23-26, a usage that only occurs in this text within the GD corpus.

Text 5 has an especially low rate of occurrence of both ye 也 and of any other marker, beside SO

elements, and this might point to an earlier stage of development of ye 也; on the other hand, the

text is so full of quotations from the Book of Odes and the Book of Documents that it might have

been influenced by their spare or null usage of ye 也.63 It is difficult to draw conclusions from

texts 6 and 7, because they are very short, and texts 1-5 are very different in discourse genre

from texts 6-14 (as for texts 15-18, they are made out of extremely short passages and therefore

very different from all the others). As for the presence of zero copula, which I have

systematically investigated, the texts with more occurrences of zero copula are precisely the texts

with the higher occurrences of nominal predicates marked by ye 也 (with the exception of the

fairly short text 18, with one occurrence of zero copula and no occurrence of nominal predicates

marked by ye 也).

While one can hypothesize that the Laozi and the ZY texts are older than the others based

on what we know about their history and on the lower rate of occurrences of ye 也, we have no

objective way to know the internal chronology of the texts, and the different distribution of ye 也

across the texts, which is correlated with their discourse genre and their length, is homogeneous

enough to warrant a treatment of the main functions of ye 也 across the whole corpus, and not

piece by piece. What is significant in the investigation of the presence and absence of ye 也 in

functions C and D is the perspective it allows us to draw on the diachronic evolution of the usage

of ye 也 in relationship with other connectives and constructions.

1.8 Evidence for the gradual proliferation of the usage of focus marker ye 也

63 Text 5 has a large number of citations from the Book of Odes and the Book of Documents- the numbers within brackets give the data only for the lines non consisting of citations.

50

If we tie together the two types of textual variation I examined in 1.7.1 (table 4) and 1.7.2

(table 5) and connect it with table 3 and with the earlier data we saw in section 1.2 which are

given here in table 6, we get a triangulation that allows us to envision a change in progress,

whereby the usage of ye 也 spreads from sporadic to wider usage, and from a restricted to a

wider range of environments.

Table 6 gives us the starting point (with ye 也 occurring in few functions), table 3 the

ending point (with ye 也 occurring in all functions, in different ratios), with table 4 giving the

approximate ratios of occurrence and table 5 providing the rationale for the different ratios of

occurrence.64

Table 6 Functions of ye 也 in other excavated texts

Functions

text n. A B C1 C2 D D1 ?65 Total

大盂鼎

Tripod Caldron of the Great Yu 1

1

欒書缶

Fou-barrel of Luan Shu 1

1

曾侯乙墓編鐘

Sets of bells of the

Tomb of Marquis Yi

20

20

中山王壺銘文66 Zhongshan bronze inscriptions

3 2 1 1 7

包山竹簡67

Baoshan manuscripts 2 1

3

64 The triangulation metaphor does not try to conceal the limits of our knowledge. The data given in table 6 are quantitatively limited and qualitatively different, to a degree we cannot ascertain, from the GD data. The data in table 5 are just suggestive. Nevertheless, getting these elements together in a quantitative form allows me to draw a more detailed hypothesis. 65 Cases of unclear interpretation. 66 Examples 14, 15 and 19 belong to category A, 18 to category C1, 20 to D, 17 to D1. 67 Examples 21 and 22 belong to category B, 23 to category C1.

51

信陽竹簡68

Xinyang manuscripts 1

5

(non copular)

6

Total 5 22 4 1 1 5 38

The picture that emerges is the following. Initially, as shown in table 6, ye 也 is mostly

limited to focus and topic position (functions A and B) and, to a more limited extent, to function

C1 (consequence). What we see in table 3 is the spread to functions C and D and the strong

preminence of function D. What table 3 gives in absolute terms, table 4 gives in relative terms:

nominal predicates are regularly marked by ye 也, and ye 也 marks almost as regularly topics

which are specific. Why has ye 也 spread to such a high degree only in these two environments?

Table 5 provides am answer: for the other functions (C1, C2 and D1) there were other

alternatives.

C1 (consequential connections between clauses) could be marked by means of the “SO”

connectives ze 則, gu 故, shiyi 是以 and ciyi 此以; C2 (explanatory connections), by means of

verbs of saying like wei 謂 and yan 言, and D1 (general statements and time-stable truths) by

means of “BE” semicopular verbs wei 為, ruo 如 and ruo 若.

Where ye 也 has taken over, there was either zero marking, as for nominal predicates, or

a complementary distribution with other markers, as with zhe 者 in topic position.

This process of functional specialization can be seen also by comparing some examples

of the same passage in different texts, where the earlier version is without ye 也 and the later

version, be it an explicit quotation or just a later rephrasing, has ye 也. This most typically

happens in the contexts where ye 也 has become a regular feature, like nominal predication and

wh-questions and answers:69

68 Example 25 belongs to category A (emphatic exclamative), the other examples are too fragmentary to be interpreted functionally, but they clearly not copular. 69 Cases like these, while very significative, are extremely rare. The first couple of sentences is given by Zhou Fagao (1961: 7), the second is mine.

52

65) 君子之德,風; 小人之德, 草. (Analects 12.19

The relation between superiors and inferiors is like that between the wind and the grass (Legge)

66) 君子之德,風也; 小人之德, 草也 (Mencius 5.2)

The relation between superiors and inferiors is like that between the wind and the grass. (Legge)

67) 王子問城公：“此何？”城公答曰：“疇。”王子曰：“疇何以為？” 曰：“以種麻。王

子曰：“何以麻為？”答曰：“以為衣.” (平王與王子木, SMH volume 6, strips 5+2)

The prince asked the duke of the city: “What is this?” The duke of the city answered: “a hemp field.” The

Prince asked: “What do you do with hemp fields?” He said: “To grow hemp.” “What do you do with

hemp?” He answered: “We make clothes with it.”

68) “王子建出守於城父，與成公乾遇於疇中，問曰： ‘是何也？ ’成公乾曰： ‘疇

也。’‘疇也者，何也？’曰：‘所以為麻也。’‘麻也者，何也？’曰：‘所以為衣

也。’‘ (說苑, 卷十八, 辨物, 盧元駿. (eds), 說苑今註今譯, Taiwan Shangwu edition

1977, pp. 648-9) Prince Jian went to assume the defense of Fu Cheng, met with the duke of the city of Qian in a hemp field,

and ask him: What is this?” The duke of the city Gan answered: “A hemp field.” “A hemp field, what is it ”?

“It is where you make (=grow) hemp.” “What is hemp?” “It is what you make clothes with.”

In sum, this is the first systematic investigation of ye 也 in excavated texts, and the only

one of any text to account for both its presence and absence. I provided a synchronic description

of the data by means of four functions and gave an analysis of the usage of ye 也 which is more

unified and typologically more consistent than previous ones. I have then used the outcome of

this analysis to test an original diachronic hypothesis about the connections among the functions.

The arguments for the connection are based partly on the GD data and on their relationship with

the previous usage of the particle, partly on recent findings in typology and historical syntax that

argue for the stronger probability of certain evolutionary paths over others.

53

Chapter 2

Ye 也 marking Focus

In this chapter I will present the case for considering focus marking as an independent

function of ye 也 (2.1) and then I will proceed to analyze the special issue of ye 也 following

nominalized object clauses as a case of focus marking (2.2). Section 2.1 will provide the

foundation for my claim of a diachronical connection among the various functions of ye 也.

2.1. Focus constructions

In most of the literature, until Yue 2004, even when focus was mentioned in relationship

with ye 也 what was meant was mainly emphasis, namely the prominence given to an element of

the proposition for expressive purposes (Lambrecht 1994: 239). Emphasis is a traditional notion

derived from rhetorical studies and has the problem that it is difficult to define in a precise way;

this is why some scholars have criticized it as unscientific.70 The problem is that emphasis is

often invoked generically, on an ad hoc basis, without providing a specific set of co-occurring

conditions. Instead of emphasis I will here talk about focus and focus constructions, meaning by

focus words or expressions that are either prosodically or syntactically prominent, generally

because they introduce “new”, or context-incrementing information, and by focus construction

“a type of sentence that serves to promote a specified constituent, its focus, to a position of

particular prominence by setting it off from the rest of the sentence in one way or another.”

(Drubig 2001: 1079).

The notion of focus, unlike the one of emphasis, is now relatively well understood since,

in the last 20-30 years, it has been systematically investigated in living languages that encode

focus in their syntactic structure by means of specific syntactic positions, particles, inflections,

like Somali (Saeed 1984), Hungarian (Kiss 2002), Hausa (a Chadic language, see Green 2007), 70 See for example Muraoka 1985, a study of particles in Classical Hebrew, where many particles have been traditionally analyzed as emphatic,

54

Mizo (or Lushai Chin, a Tibeto-Burman language, see Chhangte 1993 and Drubig and Schaffar

2001). While in Hungarian and Somali every sentence contains focus (marked by a dedicated

sentence slot in Hungarian and by obligatory particles in Somali), in other languages focus is

marked (optionally) by specific focus particles (Hausa and German) or verbal inflections (Mizo).

The investigation of focus constructions in these languages prompted scholars to

recognize a high degree of correlation among focus and a series of operators and constructions,

like negatives, scope adverbs, quantifiers, wh-questions, relative clauses, inversion, object

topicalization and contrastive topic, which are related to both syntax and semantics (see

Lambrecht 1994, Herburger 2000, Kiss 2001).

Based on this typological framework, I have found that there is a certain degree of

correlation between the focus marking usage of ye 也 and the occurrence of negatives (2.1.1) and

sentences with universal quantifiers (2.1.2) (both fall under the category of scope), stative verbs

with ru 如 (2.1.3) (which has to do with ‘emphasis’ in Lambrecht’s terms) and inversions (2.1.4)

(which has to do with marked word order). As the presence of the focus marker ye 也 is optional

(even more so than in the cases of Hausa and Mizo) and as ye 也 is not, in the GD corpus,

uniquely used as a focus marker, what I describe in this chapter does not amount to a full fledged

focus system. Nevertheless these correlations (most of which cannot be accounted for in a

consistent way by any other account of the functions of ye 也) suggest a core focus marking

function for ye 也.

While these mainly syntactic correlations are important because they can be measured

quantitatively and are the basis for a sinchronic analysis, one must not lose sight of the fact that

focus is primarily a discourse and semantic notion connected with information structure,

presupposition and contrastiveness (see Lambrecht 1994: 286-291), and as I will show in the

following chapters it is through these discourse and semantic features that it is possible to

establish diachronic connections among the original function of focus marking and the other

functions: topic marking, clause connector and nominal predicate marker.

55

2.1.1. Negatives There is a typologically widely attested correlation between focus and negatives

(Herburger 2000 and Kiss 2002), correlation that is very clear in Old Chinese syntax, where

object pronouns obligatorily move to preverbal position when the verb is negated, as in the

following example:71

1) 我無爾詐，爾無我虞。 (左傳 7.15, Yang Bojun ed. p. 761)

'We will not deceive you, and you will not play false with us.' (Legge)

Clauses with negatives in the GD corpus do not necessarily end in ye 也, but a

comparison of parallel passages with affirmative and negative verbs shows that often the negated

verb is followed by ye 也, while the affirmative verb is not. In the following example from the

Guodian Laozi A, if we compare lines 1.7.1/1.7.2 with lines 1.8.1/1.8.2 we see that the former do

not end in ye 也, while the latter do: the difference seems to lie in the presence of the negative fu

弗 in the latter: 72

2) 1.7.1聖人之在民前也，以身後之；7.2其在上也，以言下之。1.8.1其在民上也，民弗

厚也；8.2 其在民前也，民弗害也。(老子甲本 3-4)

The Sage's presence at the front of his people, results from putting himself behind them. The reason he is

above them is that in his words he is below them. But although he is on top of his people, they do not

regard him as heavy; and although he is in front of his people, they do not regard him as posing a threat.

This correlation is apparent also in the example below, where 能進之 is not followed by

ye 也 while 弗能進 is:

71 See Pulleyblank (1995: 84-85) and Xu and Li (1993: 89-90). Interrogative pronouns are also regularly preverbal in OC (see Pulleyblank 1995: 91-97 and Xu and Li 1993: 89-90). Across languages interrogative constructions are regularly focus structures, and they are often marked by ye 也 in OC , but this feature is not attested in the GD corpus, which has almost no interrogatives. Negatives carry focus in Mandarin too (see Xu and Li 1993: 83-86), and certain expressions are obligatorily moved to a preverbal position when the verb is negated. For example, time expressions indicating duration in an affirmative sentence occur in postverbal position whereas in a negative sentence they occur in preverbal position, as reflected in the following pair of sentences (not from Xu and Li): 他看電視看了兩天 vs. 他兩天沒看電視. 72 The negative fu 弗 *pət is a fusion of bu 不 *pə and zhi 之 *tə (see Pulleyblank 1995: 104-106).

56

3) 8.100. 君子集大成。能進之為君子，弗能進也，各止於其里。(五行 42)

The gentleman gathers the great achievements. If one is able to make it (=virtue?) advance, one acts as a

gentleman; if one is not able to make it advance, then in every case he is stuck in his own place.

The following examples are similar:

4) 12.37. 依惠則民材足，不時則亡勸也。(尊德義 32)

If one relies on kindness the wealth of the people will be enough, if one is untimely there will be no

(concerted) effort (from the people).

5) 8.88.有大罪而大誅之，簡也。8.89.有小罪而赦之，匿[暱MC]也。8.90.有大罪而弗大

誅也，不行也。8.91.有小罪而弗赦也，不察於道也。8.92.簡之為言猶練[見MC]

也，大而罕者也。(五行 38-40)

If someone has (committed) a great crime and one applies a heavy punishment to him, this is resoluteness.

If someone has (committed) a small crime and one pardons him, this is leniency. If someone has

(committed) a great crime and one does not to apply a heavy punishment to him, this is a case of not acting

(properly). If someone has (committed) a small crime and one does not pardon him, this is a matter of not

discerning the Way (properly). Resoluteness as a term is like "visible"; it is something that is great and rare.

One might think that the presence of ye 也 could be explained simply with prosody, as in lines

1.7.1-1.8.2 in example 3 and in line 12.37 in example 4 the underlined parts all have 4 syllables.

That this is not generally the case, is shown both by counterexamples like line 8.100 in example

2 and lines 8.88-8.92 in example 5, and by the fact that, as we would expect for a particle, ye 也

seems to have a different prosodic behavior than full words, namely to be extrametrical. I will

treat this issue in detail in section 6.2.4.

Even though the following examples do not show an opposition between lines with

affirmative and negative verbs, the presence of ye 也 still seems to be motivated primarily by the

presence of the negative.

57

6) 9.22.愛親忘賢，仁而未義也；9.23.尊賢遺親，義而未仁也。9.24.古者虞舜篤事瞽，

乃式其孝；9.25. 忠事帝堯，乃式其臣。(唐虞之道 8-9)

In one loves those who are close and forget the worthies, (then) he will be humane but not yet righteous. If

one respects the worthies and abandoning those who are close, he will be righteous and not yet humane. Of

old Shun of Yu served sincerely Gu Mo, thereby being a model of filial piety; he served loyally emperor

Yao, thereby being a model of (spirit of) service.

7) 14.78. 抒其志，求養親之志，蓋亡不以也。(六德 33)

In expressing one’s intent and trying to nourish the intent (=satisfy the desires) of one’s intimates, there is

nothing that cannot be used.

In the following examples we have both negatives and coreferential zhi 之:

8) 6.11.成孫弋曰：6.12.「噫，善哉，言乎！6.13.夫為其君之故殺其身者，嘗有之矣。

6.14. 恒稱其君之惡者未之有也. (魯穆公問於子思 4-6)

Cheng Sunyi said: “Ah, such beautiful words!” Now, in the past there have been people who have

sacrificed themselves because of their lord, but there has not yet been anyone who could constantly

mention what their lord dislikes.

9) 9.52. 不禪而能化民者，自生民未之有也。(唐虞之道 21)

(That one) did not relinquish one’s position and that he was able to transform the people, it never happened

since the people were first generated.

10) 10.4. 忠信積而民弗親信者，未之有也。(忠信之道 1-2)

That loyalty and trust are accumulated and the people do not feel intimacy and trust for him, has never yet

happened.

11) 11.54. 民不從上之命，不信其言，而能含德者，未之有也。(成之聞之 2-3)

That people do not follow the orders of those in power and do not trust their words, and are (still) able to

hold to virtue, this has never yet happened.

In the following example, the verb negated by wei 未 is de 得 “to get” and not you 有:

58

12) 6.8.子思曰：6.9.『恒稱其君之惡者可謂忠臣矣。』6.10.寡人惑焉，而未之得

也。」(魯穆公問於子思 3-4)

Zi Si said: ‘One who is always mentioning what his lord dislikes can be deemed a loyal minister.’ I was

puzzled by that, and have not yet got (understood) it.”

In the following example, the verb is negated by mo 莫 ‘no one’:

13) 14.21.作禮樂，制刑法，教此民爾[而]使之有向也，非聖智者,莫之能也。14.22.親

父子，和大臣，寢四鄰之殃禍，非仁義者, 莫之能也。14.23.聚人民，任土地，足

此民爾 (黎DYZ) 生死之用，非忠信者, 莫之能也。(六德 2-5)

Instituting rites and music, establishing punishments and laws and instructing the people so to cause them

to have direction, if not for saints and sages, nobody could (achieve) it. Causing fathers and sons to be

intimate and lord and minister to be harmonious and stopping calamities and disasters in the four corners

(of the world), if not for humane and righteous people, nobody could (achieve) it. Uniting the people and

taking charge of the land and fulfilling the assignments of the people in life and death, if not for loyal and

trustworthy people, nobody could (achieve) it.

In the two following examples the coreferential pronoun zhi 之 is fused with the negative

(fu 弗 in ex.14 and wu 勿 in ex. 15): 73

14) 10.16.口惠而實弗從，君子弗言爾。10.17.心〔疏而貌〕親，君子弗申爾。10.18.故

行而爭悅民，君子弗由也。10.19.三者，忠人弗作，信人弗為也。74 (忠信之道 5-6)

Being kind words and being unable to follow it up in reality, the gentleman does not say these (kind of

things) and that’s it, being estranged in one’s heart but intimate in one’s demeanor, the gentleman does not

exhibit this (kind of behavior) and that’s it. Acting cunningly to strive to please the people, the gentleman

does not follow this (path). These three (behaviors), a loyal man would not perform them, a trustworthy

man would not enact them.

73 The negative wu 勿*mət ‘do not’ is a fusion of the prohibitive negative wu 毋*mə and zhi 之 *tə (see Pulleyblank 1995: 108-109). 74 Here ye 也 has scope on both clauses with fu 弗 (see section 6.4.3)

59

15) 13.140.凡悅人勿吝也，身必從之，言及則明舉之而毋偽。13.141.凡交毋烈，必使

有末。13.142.凡於路(徵LL)毋思(愄GDE)，毋獨言。13.143.獨處則習父兄之所樂。

13.144. 苟無大害，少枉入之可也，已則勿復言也。(性自命出 59-61)

In general to make people happy you should not treat them with stinginess, you should do things personally.

(For your) words to reach (their target) you should clearly act upon them and not be false. In general in

social intercourse you should not be excessive, you should make it to have (a beginning and) an end

(=constant). In general on the road (=in public) you should not think (too much) (=bee too self-conscious),

(but) you should not talk alone (=be too self-reliant) (either). When living alone (reaching independence in

the world) then you should practice what your father and elder brothers enjoy. If there is no great damage,

it is acceptable to receive minor injustices, and when they are finished you should not talk about them again.

In the following example, ye 也 occurs at the end of the first two negated verbs, but not at

the end of the sentence:

16) 1.39. 萬物作而弗始也，為而弗恃也，成而弗居。(老子甲本 17)

The ten thousand things arise, but he does not begin them. He does things for them, but he does not make

them dependent. He brings things to completion, but he does not dwell on his achievements.

In the case of 1.39 the lack of 也 at the end of the last clause seems to be accidental,

either a scribal mistake or just a case of free variation.75 It is much more common to have 也 only

at the end, as in the MWDB version of this passage, with the last 也 having scope over the three

preceding clauses:

16a) 萬物作而弗始，為而弗恃，成而弗居也. (see Liao 2003:172)

The MWDA version has ye 也 after each of the three clauses:

16b) 萬物作而弗始也，為而弗恃也，成而弗居也. (Liao 2003:172).

2.1.2. Sentences with universal quantifiers

75 It could otherwise be interpreted as evidence of linguistic change.

60

There is a typologically widely attested correlation between focus and quantifiers (see

Herburger 2000 and Kiss 2002). Universal quantifiers correlate with focus because both define a

set of elements to which the predicate applies; while the function of focus is to identify a subset

of elements within a contextually given set for which the predicate phrase holds (Kiss 2002: 78),

the function of universal quantifiers is to distribute the content of the predicate over every

elements in its domain (Kiss 2002: 109).76 Most sentences with universal quantifiers are not

followed by ye 也, but in some cases (the six examples analyzed below) they do co-occur and the

quantifiers seem to be the main reason for the presence of ye 也. There are three quantifiers co-

occurring with ye 也: jie 皆, ge 各 and fan 凡. In example 19 fan 凡 and jie 皆 co-occur.

17) 9.19.孝，仁之冕也；9.20.禪，義之至也。9.21. 六帝興於古，皆由此也。

(唐虞之道 7-8)

Filial piety is the ceremonial cap (=distinguishing mark) of humanity; relinquishing, is the apex of

righteousness. When the six emperors rose in antiquity, they followed this (path) in all cases.

18) 14.84. 君子言信焉(言GDE)爾，言煬焉(言GDE)爾，設(=合)外內皆得也。

(六德 36-37)

As for the gentleman, his words are sincere and that’s it, his words are warm and that’s it, he brings

together internal and external (factors) so that in all cases there is gain.

19) 13.66. 凡至樂必悲，哭亦悲，皆至其情也。(性自命出 29)

In general extreme joy/music necessarily (results in) grief, wailing also is (one expression of) sorrow, in all

cases they bring emotions to the outmost.

20) 15.80. 各以譫詞毀也。(語叢一 107-108)

Each can be destroyed by loose talk.

21) 14.55.故夫夫，婦婦，父父，子子，君君，臣臣，六者各行其職而訕誇亡由作也。

(六德 23-24)

76 In Mandarin quantifiers are, like negatives, marked by focus, and the universal quantifier dou 都’all’ is an emphatic adverb (note also the lian dou 連…都 focus construction).

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Therefore if husbands behave as husbands, wives behave as wives, fathers behave as fathers, sons behave

as sons, lords behave as lords, ministers behave as ministers, the six of them each performing its role, then

slanders and boastings will not have from where to arise.

22) 14.83.故夫夫，婦婦，父父，子子，君君，臣臣，此六者各行其職而訕誇靡由作

也.(六德 35-36)

Therefore if husbands behave as husbands, wives as wives, fathers as fathers, sons as sons, lords as lords,

ministers as ministers, with the six of them each performing its role, then slanders and boastings do not

have from where to arise.

In all these cases (22 in total) the quantifiers seem to trigger the usage of ye 也.

2.1.3. Stative verbs with 如 (vivid usage)

This usage is connected to focus, as ye 也 acts as an intensifier after stative verbs (simple

or reduplicated) followed by ru 如. There are two patterns in the GD manuscripts (all of them

occurring in just one text, 性自命出).

The first pattern (with six occurrences) is: Subject-stative verb (simple or reduplicated)-

如也:77

23) 13.69.其烈戀戀如也，戚然以終。13.70.樂之動心也，濬深鬱陶，13.71.其烈則流如

也以悲，悠然以思。(性自命出 30-31)

Their intensity has such a deep longing, and they end in a feeling of grief. The motions of the heart due to

joy/music are so very deep and sad and anxious, their intensity is unrestrained and sad, pensive and

thoughtful.

77 This pattern is also attested in the received literature: 朝與下大夫言，侃侃如也；與上大夫言，誾誾如也；君在，踧踖如也，與與如也。 (論語·10·2/1) “At court, when exchanging views with dignitaries of lower rank he was outspoken; when speaking with Councellors of upper rank, he was very affable. When the ruler was present he was full of diffident respect, and he was very cooperative.” (Legge)

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24) 13.103.目之好色，耳之樂聲，鬱陶之氣也，人不難為之死。13.104.有其為人之節

節如也，不有夫簡簡之心, 則采。13.105.有其為人之簡簡如也，不有夫恒(=終)殆

[始LL](怡GDE)之志則縵。(性自命出 43-45)

The eye likes (beautiful) appearances, the ear enjoys (beautiful) sounds, (this is the origin of) the anxious

(pent up) qi, people easily die because of this. If there is restraint and reserve in one’s behavior (but) one

does not have a very moderate heart, then it is (merely) an adornment (=hypocrisy). if there is strong

moderation in one’s behavior, (but) one does not have beginning to end (=thorough) intention, then one is

indolent. If one’s talk is smart and his words are bright, but one does not have a very inept (=simple) heart,

then he is drifting (=dissolute).

25) 13.108.有其為人之快如也，弗養 (牧 LL)不可。 13.109.有其為人之淵 [原

SHR1:216n.12]如也, 弗輔不足。 (性自命出 47-48)

If there is joy in one’s behavior, (but) one does not nourishes it, it is not admissible. If there is sincerity in

one’s behavior, (but) one does not help it (to grow), it is not enough.

The second pattern (also with six occurrences) is the inversion of the former: Stative verb -如

也-斯Subject

26) 13.56.1聞笑聲，則鮮如也斯喜.13.56.2聞歌謠，則陶如也斯奮。13.57.聽琴瑟之聲則

悸如也斯歎。13.58.觀《賚》、《武》，則齋如也斯作。13.59.觀《韶》、

《夏》，則靦[勉LL]如也斯斂[儉QXG]。13.60.咏思而動心，喟如也。 (性自命出

24-26) Hearing the sound of laughter, then how fresh is that happiness. When you hear singing and chanting, then

how joyous is that excitement. When you hear the sounds of the lute and zither, then how agitated are these

sighs. When one watches the Lai and Wu dances, how reverent are these performances. When one

watches the Shao and Xia dances, then how vigorous is their moderation. When one intones his concerns

(this) thereby moves one’s heart, like a (deep) sigh.

In 13.60, the subject is omitted.

This second pattern could also be considered an example of inversion (see the following section,

2.1.4).

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The role of intensifier could be played by other elements, for example by the demonstrative fu 夫,

as seen in the following passage:78

27) 13.152.君子執志必有夫皇皇之心，出言必有夫簡簡之信，13.153.賓客之禮必有夫

齊齊之容，祭祀之禮必有夫齊齊之敬，居喪必有夫戀戀之哀。13.154.君子身以為主

心。(性自命出 65-67)

The gentleman in holding to his (original) intent necessarily has a truly magnificent heart, in speaking he

necessarily has a very magnanimous sincerity, in the rituals of host and guest he necessarily has a very

dignified demeanor, in the rituals of offering sacrifices he necessarily has a very dignified respect, in

mourning he necessarily has a very deeply felt grief. The gentleman uses his body to act as master of his

heart (=through .the control of his emotions he masters his mind/heart).

2.1.4. Inversion

One of the basic functions of focus is to mark irregular word order, and specifically

inversion (Lambrecht 1994: 225). Ye 也 is used in exclamative sentences with an inversion of the

normal order Subject-Predicate, in the following pattern:

Predicate (stative verb) – 乎(Exclamative particle) – Subject (其NP/ 其VP) – 也.

In this pattern, which is exemplified by the following two sentences from the Guodian

Laozi manuscript C, ye 也 seems to mark inversion:

28) 3.3. 猷乎，其貴言也。(老子丙本 2)

How hesitant their cautious use of words!

29) 3.11. 故道〔之出言〕，淡兮[呵GDE]其無味也。(老子丙本 4-5)

Consequently, when the Way [utters words]- Bland and insipid! Their lack of flavor. (Henricks)

Sometimes ye 也 is not used: 78 As noted by Kroon, strong deixis is also a focus device (Kroon 1995: 121).

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30) 1.18.豫乎〔其〕冬涉川，猶乎其如畏四鄰，1.19.儼乎其如客，渙乎其如釋，1.20.

敦乎其如樸，沌乎其如濁。(老子甲本 8-9)

Hesitant were they! Like someone crossing a river in winter. Cautious were they! Like someone wary of his

four neighbors. Deferential were they! Like guests. Accommodating were they! Like melting ice. Natural

and genuine were they! Like wood that hasn't been carved. Undifferentiated were they! Like muddy water.

As there is a very small number of examples of inversion in the GD corpus, it is difficult to draw

generalizations. Looking at other cases of the pattern: Adjective-乎(Exclamative particle) - (其

NP/ 其VP)- 也, it seems that the presence of ru 如 (or of the functionally equivalent ruo 若) is

quite regularly correlated with the presence vs. absence of ye 也, as in the following example

from Zhuangzi:79

31) 1.18.豫乎〔其〕冬涉川，淵淵乎其若海，魏魏乎其終則復始也. (莊子, Ch. 22 知北

游, Chen Guying ed. p. 569)

Deep, unfathomable, it is like the sea; tall and craggy, it ends only, to begin again. (Watson)

2.2 Complex nominalized object NPs

2.2.1 Complex nominalized object NPs governed by verbs of knowing and desiring

One more function of ye 也 needs to be discussed here, namely its usage after complex

nominalized object NPs with NP之VP or 其VP following verbs of knowing and desiring such as

zhi 知’to know’ and yu 欲 ‘to desire’, as in the following example:

32) 11.29.是故欲人之愛己也，則必先愛人；11.30.欲人之敬己也，則必先敬人。(成之

聞之 20)

Therefore if one wants others to love him, then he must first love others; if one wants other people to

respect him, he must first respect others.

33) 9.54.古者堯之與舜也，聞舜孝，知其能養天下之老也；9.55.聞舜悌，知其能事天

下之長也. (唐虞之道 22-23) 79 Namely, there is no ye 也 if there is ru 如.Many more examples could be cited.

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In antiquity as for Yao’s attitude towards Shun: he heard that Shun was filial, and he knew that he could

nourish old people all-under-Heaven; he heard that Shun was brotherly, and he knew that he could serve his

superiors all-under-Heaven.

The pattern can represented as follows:

NP V [=knowledge, perception, feeling] [NP之VP也/ 其VP也] Complex nominalized object NP

Verbs of perception, knowing and feeling are among the very few OC verbs that can have

complex nominalized objects. This feature is a very general one across languages, what is

peculiar to this pattern is that it regularly co-occurs with ye 也.

The first to notice the regular occurrence of ye 也 in this pattern has been Gassmann

(1980: 117-121), followed by Pulleyblank (1995: 164 n.20). I will first review the relevant GD

data by listing and discussing all the occurrences of ye 也 after what they called nominalized

object clauses governed by verbs of knowing and desiring, and show that the occurrence is both

regular and significant, namely that it cannot be satisfactorily explained by means of the other

usages of ye 也 and that it warrants the identification of a specific function or subfunction of ye

也. I will then discuss what this function might be.

34) 8.37.未嘗聞君子道，謂之不聰。8.38.未嘗見賢人，謂之不明。8.39.聞君子道而不

知其君子道也，謂之不聖。8.40.見賢人而不知其有德也，謂之不智。8.41.見而知

之，智也。8.42. 聞而知之，聖也。(五行 22-25)

Never having heard about the way of the gentleman, this is called being unperceptive. Not yet having seen

worthy people, is called being unenlightened. Having heard about the way of the gentleman and not

knowing that it is the way of the gentleman, this is called not being saintly. Seeing worthy people and not

knowing that they have virtue, this is called being unwise. Seeing (a worthy) and understanding it (=his

virtue), this is wisdom. Hearing about him and understanding it (his virtue), this is being a saint.

35) 11.23.故君子不貴庶物，而貴與民有同也。11.24.智而比次，則民欲其智之遂也。

11.25.富而分賤，則民欲其富之大也。11.26.貴而能讓，則民欲其貴之上也。11.27.

反此道也，民必因此重也以報之，可不慎乎？11.28.故君子所報之不多，所求之不

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遠，察反諸己而可以知人.11.29.是故欲人之愛己也，則必先愛人；11.30.欲人之敬

己也，則必先敬人。(成之聞之 16-20)

Therefore the gentleman does not value the abundance of objects, but values what he has in common with

the people. If one is knowledgeable but abides to a (proper) order, then the people will desire his

knowledge to increase. If one is rich but share with the poor, then the people will desire his wealth to

increase. If one is eminent but able to yield, then the people will desire his eminence to rise. If you go

against this way, the people will necessarily find it oppressive and repay it (by overthrowing you), is it

possible not to be cautious? Therefore the things to which the gentleman responds are not many, what he

searches for is not far, if one brings back the investigation to oneself one can understand others. Therefore

if one wants others to love him, then he must first love others; if one wants other people to respect him, he

must first respect others.

As is often the case with ye 也, often more than one explanation is possible. For example

34, ye 也 could be interpreted as marking the topic, so its scope would be the whole string 聞君

子道而不知其君子道 and not only 知其君子道 (or 其君子道). But if we consider the wider

passage, this looks unlikely, as no ye 也 marks the topic in lines 8.37 and 8.38, nor in lines 8.41

and 8.42, and this seems to have no justification in terms of discourse structure, but rather to

have to do with the fact that the verbs jian 見 and zhi 知 in these lines have no complex

nominalized object. A similar argument holds for lines 11.24-11.26 in example 35, where just

looking at the lines in isolation it is not clear if ye 也 marks the whole line 則民欲其智之遂 or

just the VP 欲其智之遂; but a look at the paragraph makes quite clear that here as above, the

presence of ye 也 has no compelling justification in terms of discourse function. If we analyze,

specifically, the presence of ye 也 after the complex nominalized object governed by yu 欲 in

lines 11.24-26 and in lines 11.29-30, we see that they are different in terms of discourse

organization (then-clauses in lines 11.24-16 and if-clauses in lines 11.29-30) but identical in

terms of syntactic pattern (namely, consisting of verbs of knowing and desiring followed by

complex nominalized objects). I therefore conclude that the usage of ye 也 here is not determined

by its functions as topic and discourse marker.

The following examples also conform to the same pattern. Furthermore, as shown by the

double underlining in examples 36, 37 and 41, if the object of the verb is not a complex

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nominalized object as described above but the object pronoun 之 zhi, a zero-nominalized verb

like shan 善‘good’ (ex. 37) or a verb like de 得 ‘to get’ (ex. 41), it is not followed by ye 也:

36) 5.24. 民以君為心，君以民為體，心好則體安之，君好則民欲之。(緇衣 8-9)

The people take the ruler as their heart and the ruler takes the people as his limbs. If the heart is good then

the limbs find rest in it, and if the ruler is good then the people desire him.

37) 1.35.天下皆知美之為美也，惡已[矣MC]；1.36.皆知善，此其不善已.(老子甲本 15)

When everyone in the world knows the beautiful as beautiful, there is ugliness. When everyone knows the

good, then there is the not-good.

38) 9.63. 此以知其弗利也。(唐虞之道 27)

By means of this you know that they do not consider it as a benefit (for themselves).

39) 14.27. 〔…〕賞慶焉，知其以有所歸也，裁此親戚遠近，唯其人所在。 (六德

11+48) [You should be giving] prizes to him, knowing (how) he uses his affiliations (=tendencies), judging of his

intimacy and distance (from others), (only) considering if the proper man is in place (=available).

40) 13.138.門內之治，欲其掩[婉SHR1:197n.13](逸LL)也。13.139.門外之治，欲其制也.

(性自命出 58-59)

In dealing with (affairs) inside the doors (=the family), you want (to keep them) discreet. In dealing with

(affairs) outside the doors (=public affairs), you want (to keep them strictly) regulated.

The only case where zhi 知 does not conform to the pattern is the following:

41) 1.11罪莫重於甚欲，咎莫險於欲得，禍莫大乎不知足。1.12.知足之為足，此恒足

矣.(老子甲本 5-6)

Of vices - none is more onerous than wanting too much. Of defects - none brings more sorrow than the

desire to gain. Of disasters - none is greater than not knowing when one has enough. The contentment one

has when he knows that he has enough - This is abiding contentment indeed.

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In the following passage, 也 might also be understood as interrogative:80

42) 1.74. 以正治邦，以奇用兵，以亡事取天下。1.75. 吾何以知其然也. (老子甲本 29-

30) By means of the upright, one orders the state; by means of irregular methods, one uses the troops; by not

having occupations one takes over the world. How do I know this is so?

In the following passage, we have yi 矣 and not ye 也：

43) 14.86. 君子不啻明乎民微而已，又以知其一矣。(六德 38-39)

The gentleman not only understands the smallest (pains) of the people, but also knows their oneness

(=entirety?).

It is a common phenomenon that the presence of the final particle yi 矣 is not compatible

with the presence of ye 也, as I will discuss in section 6.2.3.

To sum up the analysis above, ye 也 occurs regularly (in 16 instances out of 17) after

complex nominalized objects following verbs of knowing and desiring, it does not regularly

follows objects of such verbs when the objects are not complex nominalized NPs, and it is not

consistently explainable, in these passages, in terms of other discourse functions. But what is ye

也’s function here? According to Gassmann and Pulleyblank, ye 也 should be interpreted

syntactically as marking the object clause as a predicate (see Gassmann 1980: 117-121 and

Pulleyblank 1995: 164 n.20); however, this argument relies on two ad hoc claims: that

nominalized object clauses need to be marked as predicates, and that ye 也 can perform such

function.81

I hypothesize that its function is related to focus. In Somali a focus marker is used at the

end of object complement clauses (Lecarme 1984: 48-50), and in Mizo, a Tibeto-Burman

80 See section 6.3.2. 81 In a 1994 essay Pulleyblank hypothesizes that ye 也 might be a deictic whose function at the end of embedded noun clauses resembles the usage of ‘that’ in English (id. 1994: 329).

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language of the Kuki-Chin branch, the range of clauses marked by special verbal endings with

focus function (indicated as II, for ‘stem II’ in the glosses below)82 coincides with the ones

marked by ye 也 in OC: nominalizations (ex. 44), adverbial clauses (ex. 45), embedded clauses

(ex. 46)83 (see Chhangte 1993: 171-173, Drubig and Schaffar 2001: 1099-1100 and King 2009):

44) zir-tiir-tuu in le_-kha-buu a-lei na khuaa

teacher ERG book 3s-buy.II REL village

The village where the teacher bought the book

45) kan-zin chuu_in,

3P-travel.II while

While we traveled

46) i-zin ka-du_.

your-travel.II 1S-want

I want you to travel.

More in general, there is a strong co-occurrence of ye 也 with noun phrases with zhi 之

and qi 其, in any position and function (see section 5.2.3). While the explanation of this co-

occurrence still needs to be found, it is tempting to assume that, as in Mizo and other Kuki-Chin

languages, it is connected with focus.

As for the diachronic development of ye 也, we have seen the same usage with complex

nominalized objects following verbs of knowing and desiring in the Zhongshan bronzes (see

section 1.2.1, examples 14 and 15). An interesting fact is that this usage, which appears 17 times

82 The examples come from King 2009: 145-146. 83 In Tariana, a Brazilian language (NW Amazonia) complement clauses with perception verbs (‘to see’) and optatives (‘to be likely’) are marked with the subordinator -ka, which is also used to mark sequential clauses (when- and if-clauses) (Aikhenvald 2006: 184-188), but I have not been able to ascertain if the subordinator is connected with focus.

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in the GD corpus, occurs 4 times in the Rong Cheng shi 容成氏, a piece from the Shanghai

Museum collection. Here is one of the four occurrences:84

47) 紂不知其未有成政而得失行於民之辰也 (容成氏 strip 52)

Zhou was not aware that his government was defective, and that he had reached (to the point that he) lost

control over the time (-life) of the people.

The Rong Cheng shi 容成氏 is of special interest in the study of 也 because, although it

is very long compared with the GD texts (more than 2000 characters), it has only 18 instances of

也 (compared with more than one hundred for the 性自命出, the longer GD text, which is only

1500 characters long) and no instance of the usage of ye 也 after nominal predicates, nor any

explanatory usage (either causal and exegetical, see section 4.3). This suggests that this usage of

ye 也 focusing a complex nominalized object might be among the earliest.

2.2.2 Nominalized VPs governed by 有 and 亡

There is another kind of nominalized object marked by 也, nominalized VPs embedded

as objects of the existential verbs you 有 and wang 亡, in the following pattern:

有/亡{VP也}者.85

There are four occurrences of this pattern:

48) 11.15. 苟不從其由，不反其本，未有{可得也}者。(成之聞之 12)

If you do not follow its origin and do not revert to its root, there is nothing that can be obtained.

49) 13.32.凡見者之謂物，快於己者之謂悅，物之勢者之謂勢，有{為也}者之謂故。(性

自命出 12-13)

84 There are also three occurrences with the verb jian 見 (strips 12, 17 and 33-34) which is a verb of perception that can take complex nominalized objects, just like yu 欲 and zhi 知. 85 I use the braces to signal the fact that this pattern is completely different form the usual ‘VP也者’ “it is someone who VPs”.

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In general it is what is seen that one calls external objects, what brings happiness to oneself that one calls

pleasure, the disposition of things that one calls circumstances; and the existence of (intentional) activities,

that one calls intent.

50) 13.19. 凡物亡{不異也}者。(性自命出 8)

In general for things there is none that is not different (=they are all different from each other depending on

their inborn nature).

51) 17.65. 亡{亡由也}者。 (語叢三 66上)

There is nothing that does not have an origin.

Verbs such as “to have” and “to lack” are not typically verbs taking complement clauses,

and the pattern is not very frequent so it is not clear if here ye 也 acts as mark of embedding, or

simply as focusing on the nominalized object. What is clear is that in the GD texts when the

verbs you 有 and wang 亡 govern VPs, the VPs are regularly followed by ye 也 and by zhe 者,

an interesting pattern that has not been noticed until now and that might prove to be a unique

feature of the GD texts.

2.2.3 Object VP governed by可

Typologically, verbs such as “can” often take complement clauses (Dixon 2006: 30)86 and

we have seen above that Tariana uses the same particle to mark complement clauses with verbs

of perception and with optatives. At the same time, the typological data does not explain the

different behavior of ke 可 and keyi 可以, which can be better accounted for in the context of ye

也 as marker of assertion (see section 5.4.1.3).

In section 2.2 I have attempted to fit a set of still unexplained data into the framework of

focus usage I have developed in the previous section (2.1). Due to the limited amount of data and

the scarceness of the typological literature on the issue, this can only be considered a tentative

analysis that I propose here for future consideration and development. As for the framework

86 This is the case across most languages, including Mandarin and English.

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developed in section 2.1, I consider it instead a fairly solid foundation for the investigation of the

evolution of the usage of ye 也, that I will explore in the following chapters and in the conclusion.

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Chapter 3

Ye 也 marking topic

In this chapter I will deal with ye 也 as topic marker.87 While the function of ye 也 as a

topic marker has long been recognized, no attempt has been made to relate it to other functions

nor its usage has been systematically investigated. As we saw in section 1.6.2, focus and topic

are connected by the common feature of contrastiveness, so that the diachronic development

from focus marker into topic marker is in accord with our knowledge of typology.

This chapter will investigate the ratio of co-occurrence of ye 也 with different topic

elements, showing that such ratio depends on the nature of the topic, nominal topics having

much higher co-occurrence with ye 也 than verbal clauses, and that nominal topics marked by ye

也 have definiteness requirements that explain the previously unnoticed complementary

distribution with topics marked by zhe 者.

There are about 140 occurrences of ye 也 used in topic (namely, initial) position in the

GD corpus (with some cases of difficult interpretation). In section 1.6.2 I have defined topic as

an element which the rest of the sentence is in some sense about. Its discourse-semantic function

is to set an entity already present in the domain of discourse as the background for the following

predication. Topic NPs are given and definite elements, and they can be divided into two kinds

based on their discourse function: those whose topicality is predictable from the immediately

preceding discourse (expected, or aboutness topics) and those whose topicality is not (switch, or

contrastive topics) (Andrews 1985: 83). Topicalization constructions are frequently associated

87 Even though Old Chinese does not require explicit marking for topics; I will use hereafter the term “topic marker” for the sake of simplicity, to describe the usage of ye 也 following topic components, without implying that such a marking is grammatically required.

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with contrastive topic functions. 88 Beside NPs, whole clauses can be topics too, functioning as

adverbial clauses that provide a background for the whole sentence (Podlesskaya 2001: 1006-

1008).

In section 3.1 I will discuss the different types of elements in topic position marked by ye

也: noun phrases modified by deictics and other noun phrases with modifiers (hereafter complex

NPs), complex nominalized NP (S之VP, 其VP and S之於VP noun phrases) and full verbal

clauses. The different syntactic functions of NP topics and their relationship with subjects will be

discussed in section 3.2. Full verbal clauses in topic position marked by ye 也 function as

adverbial clauses and can be subdivided, on lexical and semantic basis, into conditional, time and

reason clauses (section 3.3). By analyzing the analogous functions of zhe 者 and ye 也 in certain

contexts, their complementary distribution in topic position and their joint usage with bare nouns,

I conclude that ye 也 co-occurs only with nominals which are both definite and modified by a

deictic, while zhe 者, which is a marker of definite reference,89 has no such constraint (section

3.4).

3.1 Types of topics marked by ye 也

These are four types of elements marked by the topic marker ye 也: 1) complex NPs; 2)

complex nominalized NPs; 3) bare nouns followed by both ye 也 and zhe 者; 4) verbal clauses.

The first three are nominal elements having deictic features that may be described as [+specific]

(namely, precisely identifiable).

3.1.1 Complex NPs

There are 13 occurrences of complex NPs, that is, NPs consisting of more than a bare

noun.

88 In the GD texts such topicalized elements are often marked by ye 也,as in the following example: 13.20. 剛之柱

[樹LL]也，剛取之也。13.21. 柔之約，柔取之也 (性自命出 8-9) The propping up of hard (objects), it is their

hardness that brings it about; the binding (together) of soft (objects), it is their softness that brings it about.

89 See infra section 3.4.3.

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3.1.1.1 [Dem + N]NP where dem(onstrative) =此

Three occurrences are of the kind ci 此+NP, with ci 此 “this” functioning as an adnominal to the

NP:

1)11.33.大禹曰：11.34.「余茲度(宅GDE)天心」何？11.35.此言也，言舍之此而度(宅

GDE)於天心。 (成之聞之 33)

In the “Great Yu” it is said: “I here estimate the mind of Heaven”, what does it mean? These words mean

that I settle here and I estimate the mind of Heaven.

2)11.59.《詔命》曰：11.60.「允師濟德.」11.61.何？11.62.此言也，言信於眾之可以濟

德也. (成之聞之 25)

The Zhao Ming says: “Being true to the multitude is to increase virtue” what does this mean? These words

mean that being trusted by the people you can increase virtue.

3)11.84.「不還大戛，文王作罰，刑茲亡赦」11.85.何？11.86.此言也，言不逆大常者，

文王之刑莫重焉。(成之聞之 38-39)

“For those who do not revert to the great rule, King Wen instituted punishments, to punish them without

pardon” what does it mean? These words say that if someone did not oppose the rules of Heaven, the

punishments of King Wen were not heavy towards him.

3.1.1.2 [N之N]NP

Four occurrences are of the kind N之N (a noun modifying another noun by means of the

attributive marker zhi 之), as the following:

4)8.18.仁之思也精，精則察，察則安，安則溫，溫則悅，悅則戚，戚則親，親則愛，

愛則玉色，玉色則形，形則仁。8.19.智之思也長，長則得，得則不忘，不忘則明，

明則見賢人，見賢人則玉色，玉色則形，形則智。8.20.聖之思也輕[徑MC]，輕[徑

MC]則形，形則不不忘則聰，聰則聞君子道，聞君子道則玉音，玉音則形，形則

聖。(五行 12-16)

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As for the thinking of the humane (man), it is subtle; being subtle then it discerns, discerning then it is at

peace, being at peace then it is gentle, being gentle then it is pleased, being pleased then it is close, being

close then it is affectionate, being affectionate then it loves, loving then it has an appearance like jade, with

an appearance like jade then it takes shape, when it takes shape then it is humane. As for the thinking of

the virtuous (man), it (should) last long, if it lasts long then it will be obtained, if obtained then it is not

forgotten, not being forgotten then one will be clear-sighted, being clear-sighted one will see talented men,

seeing talented men one will have the appearance of jade, with an appearance like jade then (a mental

image) will take shape, when it takes shape then one is wise. As for the thinking of the saintly (man), it

(should) be direct, if it is direct then (a mental image will) take shape, if it takes shape then it is not

forgotten, not being forgotten then one will be sharp-eared, being sharp-eared then one will listen to the

way of the gentleman, listening about the way of the gentleman then one will have the tone of jade, with a

tone of jade then (a mental image will) take shape, when it takes shape then there is saintliness.

In example 5) 思 might be a noun or a verb, so it is also possible to analyze this passage as an S

之VP phrase.

5)15.12. 人之道也，或由中出，或由外入。(語叢一 18-20)

As for the Way of man, in some cases it emerges from the inside, in other cases it enters from the outside.

3.1.1.3 [Pro + N]NP where Pro = 3rd pers. 其

Six occurrences are of the kind 其NP (a noun phrase modified by means of the genitive pronoun

qi 其): 90

6)11.57.1 形於中，發於色，其蕩(睟DYZ)也固矣，11.57. 2 民孰弗信? (成之聞之 24)

And if, taking shape in the middle (of the heart), being manifested in his appearance, his shaking (=his

emotional impetus) is strong; then, among the people, who would not trust him?

7)12.29.為故,率民向方者，唯德可。12.30. 德之流，速乎置郵而傳命. 12.31. 其載也亡

厚焉, 交矣而弗知也，亡。(尊德義 28-29)

Because of this, to lead the people towards the (true) direction, only with virtue it can be accomplished. The

flowing progress of virtue is more rapid than the transmission of royal orders by stages and couriers. If his

90 The genitive pronoun qi 其 is the general pronoun substitute for N+之 (Pulleyblank 1995: 62).

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load (of virtue) is not weighty (enough), he has relationships (with them) but does not understand them he

is lost (it will not do)

8)15.19. 其生也亡為乎﹖(語叢一 62)

Is its origin (a matter of) not acting on purpose (=unintentional)?

9)17.55. 春秋亡不以[已MC]，其生也亡耳。(語叢三 20-21) No span of life is without end (?), its life vanishes and that’s it.

Just as in the case of some examples discussed in 3.1.1.2, some cases discussed above could be

analyzed as 其VP.

3.1.2 Complex nominalized NPs (S之VP, 其VP and S之於VP)

Like the elements discussed in section 3.1.1, S之VP and 其VP elements are complex NPs,

but their internal structure is different, as their head is verbal, with the deictic elements zhi 之 or

qi 其.91 There are 65 occurrences of complex nominalized NPs. They can be subdivided

according to three patterns: S之VP (subject- attributive marker zhi 之- VP, 39 instances), 其VP

(genitive pronoun qi 其- VP, 26 instances), and S之於VP (subject- attributive marker zhi 之-

prepositional phrase with yu 於 and the VP as the prepositional object, 3 instances).

10)8.59. 文王之見也如此。(五行 29)

The manifestation of king Wen, was like this.

Complex nominalized NPs with S之VP and 其VP often co-occur in the same line:

11) 1.7.1聖人之在民前也，以身後之；7.2其在上也，以言下之。1.8.1其在民上也，民

弗厚也；8.2其在民前也, 民弗害也。 (老子甲本 3-4)

91 Even though in certain cases it might be difficult to differentiate between complex nominalized NPs and complex NPs containing zhi 之 or qi 其 (more about this below and in section 5.2.3), it is important to take this structural difference into account, as their rate of co-occurrence with ye 也 is significantly different.

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The Sage's presence at the front of his people, results from putting himself behind them. The reason of his

being above them results from putting his words below them (humbling his words to them). But despite his

being above the people, they do not regard him as burdensome; and despite his being in front of his people,

they do not regard him as posing a threat. (Henricks)

In some cases, topic marker ye 也 and nominal predicate marker ye 也 are in the same sentence:

12)11.75. 勉之遂也TOP，強之工也NOMPRED，陳之淹也TOP，辭之工也NOMPRED。(成之聞之

23) The achievement of efforts is the work of strength; the comprehensiveness of expression, is the work of

words.

There are 3 occurrences of the S之於VP pattern:92

13)11.13.不求諸其本而攻諸其末，弗得矣。11.14.是故君子之於言也，非從末流者之

貴，窮源反本者之貴。11.15.苟不從其由，不反其本，未有可得也者。11.16.君上享

成不唯本，功〔弗就矣〕。11.17.農夫務食不強耕，糧弗足矣。11.18. 士成言不

行，名弗得矣。11.19. 是故君子之於言也，非從末流者之貴，窮源反本者之貴。

(成之聞之 10-14)

If one does not seek for his root but attack (concentrate on) its tip, one will not obtain it. Therefore, as for

the gentleman’s relationship with words, it is not the case that he follows the value of the lower flow

(=details, consequences), (instead he follows) the value of exhausting (=examining) the source and

reverting to the root. If one does not follow its origin and does not revert to its root, there is nothing that

can be obtained. If the ruler enjoys what is already accomplished and does not think about the root, [no

achievement can be reached.] If peasants while working for food are not diligent in plowing, provisions

will not be enough for them. If scholars are accomplished in their words but do not act, fame cannot be

achieved. Therefore, as for the gentleman’s relationship with words, it is not the case that he follows the

value of the lower flow (=details, consequences), (instead he follows) the value of exhausting (=examining)

the source and reverting to the root.

14)11.1. 君子之於教也，其導民也不浸，則其淳也弗深矣. (成之聞之 4)

92 The structure is: [N 之[於 N]PP]NP, where Head = PP. Line 11.14 is analyzed again in section 6.1.2.4 example 18.

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The gentleman’s relationship with education, is such that if his leading of the people does not soak in

(=penetrate gradually), then his moisture (=influence) cannot make it (=education) deep.

3.1.3 Bare nouns followed by 也者

There are nine occurrences of bare nouns in topic position followed by 也者.

15)1.97. 返也者，道〔之〕動也; 1.98. 弱也者，道之用也。(老子甲本 37)

"Returning" is the way the Way moves; "weakness" is the way the Way works. (Henricks)

16)9.49. 禪也者，上德授賢之謂也。(唐虞之道 20)

Abdication means to exalt virtue and to give (one’s position) to a worthy.

17)13.33. 義也者，群善之蕝也。13.34. 習也者，有以習其性也。13.35. 道者，群物之

道。(性自命出 13-14)

Righteousness is the mark of distinction of the myriad good (things). Practice has (the aim to) exercise

one’s inborn nature. The Way is the Way of the myriad things.

18)14.41. 以智率人多。14.42. 智也者，夫德也。(六德 18-19)

To use wisdom to rule people is (his) superior (virtue).Wisdom is the virtue of the husband.

19)14.46. 信也者，婦德也。 14.47. 既生畜之, 又從而教誨之，14.48. 謂之聖。14.49. 聖

也者，父德也。 14.50. 子也者，會最[屯DYZ]長材以事上，謂之義. (六德 20-22)

Trust is the virtue of the wives. Once they are born to nurture them, and consequently to teach them and

instruct them, is referred to as saintliness. Saintliness is the virtue of fathers. As for sons, to unite and bring

together (their) best abilities to serve their superiors (=their parents), is called righteousness.

In only one case 也者 does not follow a bare noun, but a VP:

20)10.13.不說而足養者，地也；10.14.不期而可要(=約)者，天也。10.15.[範(似LL)天

地]VO也者，忠信之謂{此}<也> (忠信之道 5-6)

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Not talking and sufficing to nourish the people, (that’s) the Earth. Having no stipulated time and (yet) being

able to convene (with others), (this is) Heaven. Taking as models the Heaven and Earth, this is what we

mean by being loyal and trustful.

Finally, there is one case that could be analyzed as a simple NP in topic position marked by

ye 也, but its interpretation is very problematic, as here ye 也 comes from the fragmentary

miscellanea yucong 語叢二 and it could also be interpreted as a marker of nominal predication;

furthermore, the meaning of the whole sentence is uncertain (see Tu 2001: 310):93

21)16.23. 名數也, 由鼻[占TZL: 310] 鯀[昆=後TZL: 310]生. (語叢二 44)

Naming and counting, rely on divination and only after that are originated (?).

NPs in topic position are definite, so it is not unexpected to have them followed by the

marker of definite reference zhe 者; what is noticeable is that bare nouns followed by ye 也 are

always followed by zhe 者. I will discuss why in section 3.4.

3.1.4 Verbal clauses in topic position

There are 49 occurrences of verbal clauses marked as topics by ye 也,94 of which the

following are a sample (more examples will be discussed in the following section):

22)5.43. 上好此物也，下必有甚焉者矣。(緇衣 14-15)

If the superior loves this thing, among the inferiors there will certainly be those who are more extreme

about it.

23)12.56. 受不若也，可從也而不可及也。(尊德義 23)

When one receives unsuitable (orders), they can be followed, but not reached (=implemented).

24)1.29. 道恒亡為也，侯王能守之，而萬物將自化。 (老子甲本 13)

(It is because) the Way constantly takes no action (that) marquises and kings can maintain it, and the ten

thousand things transform on their own. (Henricks modified) 93 Liu 2003: 206 finds the passage inexplicable. 94 Some are full Subject-VP clauses (examples 22 and 24), some are subjectless (examples 23 and 25).

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25)8.90.有大罪而弗大誅也，不行也。8.91.有小罪而弗赦也，不察於道也。8.92.簡之為

言猶練[見MC]也，大而罕者也。 (五行 38-40)

If someone has (committed) a great crime and one does not to apply a heavy punishment to him, this is a

case of not acting (properly). If someone has (committed) a small crime and one does not pardon him, this

is a matter of not discerning the Way (properly). Resoluteness as a term is like "visible"; it is something

that is great and rare.

3.2 Syntactic functions of NPs marked by ye 也 in topic position

The terms topic and comment (what the rest of the sentence is about) correspond to what

Chao Yuen Ren, in his influential Grammar of Spoken Chinese, defines as subject (the subject

matter to talk about) and as predicate (what the speaker comments on when a subject is presented

to be talked about) (Chao 1968:70); for him the syntactic notions of subject and predicate and the

discourse functions of topic and comment match as two sides of one coin. Chao thought that

most Chinese sentences, Modern as well as Classical, cannot be analyzed in terms of narrative

(actor-action construction) sentences (nor, to expand Chao’s argument, in terms of equational

sentences).95 I find Bloomfield’s two categories sufficient to analyze most of the sentences in my

corpus, and I will adopt ‘topic” purely as a discourse notion (what the sentence is about)

following Andrews’s model (Andrews 1985).

I follow the typological approach by Andrews in attributing two main functions to noun

phrases: an internal one, where they function as subjects and objects (including those in

prepositional phrases) and have close associations with semantic roles, and an external one,

where they are outside of the basic clause structure, do not have association with semantic roles

and are instead associated with a pragmatic function (such as topic, see Andrews 1985: 80-82).

In the case of noun phrases in topic position marked by ye 也, the main internal function

is subject, the main external function is background setting, or aboutness topic. A noun phrase in

95 Bloomfield’s categories of narrative and equational sentences have been adopted, as we saw in section 1.1.3, by Zhou Fagao to describe Classical Chinese.

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topic position might be subject (internal topic)96 or it might be non-subject (I will call it ‘non-

subject topic’).97

I define subject as the grammatical relation associated with the agent of a transitive verb

and the single argument NP of a one-argument verb, including locational and existential

predicates (Stassen 1997: 15-21). The agent of a transitive verb is designated as A and the single

argument NP of a one-argument predicate as S in the current typological terminology initiated by

Dixon and Comrie (Andrews 1985: 68).

In this framework the so-called double-subject construction is analyzed as a non-subject

topic (external) followed by a non-topic subject (internal). There might also be cases when a

clause or sentence has no NP in topic position, and so there is neither subject nor topic.

3.2.1 Subject topics Subject-prominent languages such as English and most Indo-European languages encode

subjects with overt coding features and a variety of complex phenomena such as ‘subject ellipsis’

(Andrews 1985:104). This is not the case in Old Chinese, where subjects are not inflectionally

encoded and where many sentences do not have an expressed subject and more than one referent

might be construed as being the subject, as in the following example, where the subject of cong

從 ‘to follow’is not explict:98

26)5.41. 子曰：5.42. 下之事上也，不從其所以命，而從其所行。(緇衣 14)

The Master said: “As for the inferiors’ serving of their superior, they do not follow the principles by means

of which he commands them, but follow what he enacts. (Shaughnessy, modified)

96 Typologically subjects show a strong tendency to be topics (Andrews 1985: 78). 97 My analysis is compatible Andrews’ description, but the nomenclature is mine. In typology there is often a preference to label elements which are topical and subject (what I call ‘internal topic) simply as ‘subject’, as opposed to ‘topic’, which refers to elements which are topical and non-subject (what I call ‘non-subject topic’) (see Foley and Van Valin 1985: 300, as well as Kiss 2001: 1442 for an opposite view). As I analyze ye 也 as a topic marker, I prefer to emphasize in my labels the topical nature of both elements. 98 Otherwise it could be interpreted as: “the inferiors’ serving of superiors does not follow what is commanded to them but follows what is enacted.”

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Among the elements examined in section 3.1, all the elements listed in 3.1.1 as complex

NPs are both topics and subjects, and the same holds for the 也者 examples in 3.1.3. Even

example 20 should be interpreted as both topic and subject: 10.15.範(似LL)天地也者，忠信之

謂{此}<也> “Modeling after Heaven and Earth, this is what we mean by being loyal and

trustful.” According to Pulleyblank’s analysis, a line such as 10.15 can be analyzed as a

transformation of 範天地也者謂忠信 “Modeling after Heaven and Earth is what is called loyalty

and trust”, obtained by moving the object 忠信 in front of 謂 and repeating it by using the

anaphoric pronoun zhi 之 (Pulleyblank 1995: 71).

As for verbal clauses marked by ye 也, there are only 2 cases out of 49 when they might

function as subject and could therefore be interpreted as having undergone nominalization with

zero marker (the remaining are dependent clauses functioning as topics and will be discussed in

section 3.2.2):

27)9.1.唐虞之道，禪而不傳；9.2.堯舜之王，利天下而弗利也。9.3.禪而不傳，聖之盛

也。9.4. 利天下而弗利也，仁之至也。9.5. 古昔賢仁聖者如此。(唐虞之道 1-2)

The way of Tang and Yu is to relinquish (the throne) and not to transmit (in heredity). Yao and Shun as

kings would benefit all-under-Heaven but not benefit from it. To relinquish (the throne) and not to transmit

(in heredity), is the fullness of saintliness; to benefit all-under-Heaven and not benefit from it is the apex of

humanity. In antiquity those worthy, humane and saintly were like this.

28)14.103. 故曰，民之父母親民易，使民相親也難。(六德 49)

Therefore it is said: “For the mother and father of the people (=the lord) to be intimate with the people is

easy, but causing them to be intimate among themselves is difficult.

It is for complex nominalized NPs that there is a certain amount of ambiguity in deciding

between the subject and non-subject interpretation, as in example 26 above (that I will further

discuss below as example 34). While aware that no optimal solution is available, here I will

consider subjects the topics whose head is coreferential with the subject of the main predicate.

Complex nominalized NPs serve as subjects in about half of the cases. Here are some examples:

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29)8.25.〔君〕子之為善也，有與始，有與終也。8.26.君子之為德也，〔有與始，無

與〕終。(五行 18-19)

The gentleman's doing good has something with which he begins and something with which he finishes.

The gentleman's practice of virtue, [has something with which he begins but nothing] with which he

finishes.

30)11.10.上苟倡之，則民鮮不從矣。11.11.雖然，其存也不厚，其重也弗多矣。11.12.

是故君子之求諸己也深。(成之聞之 9-10)

If those above lead them, then few of the people will not follow. Nevertheless, if his keeping (=reserve) of

virtue is not ample, his weight is not much. Therefore the gentleman’s demands upon himself should be

deep.

31)11.38.小人不逞人於忍，君子不逞人於禮。11.39.津梁爭舟，其先也不若其後也。

11.40. 言語較之，其勝也不若其已也。(成之聞之 34-36)

Common people does not fully display compassion towards others and the gentleman does not fully display

ritual propriety to others (in both cases, they should be yielding and not show off their good qualities).

Fording a dam or vying to get on a boat, being first is not as good as being last. Competing about

something by means of words, winning is not as good as ending.

32)14.89. 是故先王之教民也，始於孝弟。(六德 39-40)

This is the reason why the teaching of the people by the former kings started from filial piety and brotherly

affection.

3.2.2 Non-subject topics

About 35 complex nominalized NP topics do not serve as subjects, but as clause external

topics. In such function they do not play a syntactic role, but merely provide the background for

the clause. In the following examples, the subject of the following clause is different from the

head of the complex nominalized NP and is therefore treated as non-subject topic:

33)4.25. 聖人之從事也，亦托其名，故功成而身不傷。4.26. 天地名字並立，4.27. 故過

(訛LL)其方，不思相當. (太一生水 11-12)

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As for the sage working at his tasks, he also relies on its name; as a results his deeds are achieved and he

himself suffer no harm. With Heaven and Earth “name” and “designation” both stand together. But when

we move beyond these domains, we can think of nothing that would fit (as a name). (Henricks, modified)

34)5.41. 子曰：5.42. 下之事上也，不從其所以命，而從其所行。(緇衣 14)


of which he commands them, but follow what he enacts. (Shaughnessy, modified)

35)10.20.忠之為道也，百工不苦，而人養皆足。10.21.信之為道也，群物皆成，而百善

皆立。(忠信之道 6-7)

As for loyalty serving as the Way, the skilled laborers will not suffer, and yet the nourishment of the people

will in all cases be enough. As for trust serving as the way, all creatures will reach completion (=maturity)

and all good things will be established (=available).

In the following examples, the topic is co-referential with the object pronoun zhi 之 in the

following clause; the object has been topicalized:

36)13.20. 剛之柱[樹LL]也，剛取之也。13.21. 柔之約，柔取之也。(性自命出 8-9)

The propping up of hard (objects), it is their hardness that brings it about; the binding (together) of soft

(objects), it is their softness that brings it about.

37)14.21. 作禮樂，制刑法，教此民爾使之有向也，非聖智者, 莫之能也。(六德 2-3)

Instituting rites and music, establishing punishments and laws and instructing the people so to cause them

to have direction, if not for saints and sages, nobody could (achieve) it.

S之於VP phrases (given in examples 13 and 14 above) also function as non-subject

topics.

While most cases are fairly clear, some are not. In the following passage from the GD Laozi,

the underlined part could be construed as either subjects or external topic:

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38)1.58.其安也，易持也；1.59.其未兆也，易謀也；1.60.其脆也，易判(泮LL)也；1.61.

其幾也，易散也。1.62. 為之於其亡有也, 1.63. 治之於其未亂。(老子甲本 25-26)

Its restfulness is easy to hold; its pre-foreboding is easy to plan for; its fragileness is easily broken, its

minuteness is easily scattered. [If you] act on its pre-existence [you will] control it in its pre-chaotic

condition.99

The first interpretation, with the underlined parts as subjects, is reflected in Henricks’

translation: “What is at rest is easy to hold, what has not yet given a sign is easy to plan for, what

is fragile is easily broken, what is minute is easily scattered.” (Henricks 2000: 63)

The second interpretation is reflected in Lau’s translation: “It is easy to maintain a

situation while it is still secure, it is easy to deal with a situation before symptoms develop; it is

easy to break a thing when it is yet brittle, it is easy to disperse a thing when it is yet minute.”

(Lau 2001: 93).

Both interpretations are possible

3.3 Adverbial clauses marked by non-final ye 也

It is typologically extremely common for adverbial clauses to function as topics

(Thompson, Longacre and Wang 2007: 292). Haiman convincingly showed how across

languages conditionals tend to be encoded as topics (Haiman 1978).

The adverbial clauses in the GD corpus have three functions: conditional, temporal and

causal. These three functions are often interconnected across languages; English then just like

OC ze 則 “then” can express both temporal and conditional relationships; in Classical Greek hos

evolved from marking temporal relations to marking causal relations as well (Cristofaro 2003:

161-2), in modern Mandarin jiu 就 can mark the temporal, the conditional, the causal or the

99 Here I translate literally to reflect the nature of the topic as a complex nominalized subject (the transitive verbs chi 持, mou 謀, pan 判, san 散 being turned into intransitives by the preceding verb yi 易 ‘to be easy’ (see Pulleyblank 1995: 42-43 and infra section 5.4.1.3 on ke 可 which has the same syntactic fucntion). Later (section 4.2.1.3 ex 17, section 4.4 ex. 75) I will give a freer translation to reflect its temporal/conditional function.

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concessional and German wenn is also ambiguous between habitual conditional and temporal

meanings.

In all these functions, these sentence-initial dependent clauses serve as scene scetting,

backgrounding elements, delimiting the interpretation of the main clause.

In some cases there are explicit lexical clues about the nature of the clause: I will treat

these cases first (sections 3.3.1-3). Then I will discuss the cases where the exact semantic nature

of the clause is open to interpretation (section 3.3.4).

3.3.1 Explicitly marked conditional clauses

As noted by Herforth (1994: 285), it is rare for conditional sentences to be explicitly

marked in Chinese, be it on the if-clause (with ru 如, ruo 若 or gou 茍) or on the then-clause

(with ze 則 or si 斯), and the marking on the if-clause is rarer than the marking on the then-

clause.

There is just one example of explicit conditional marking, with gou 苟 “if” at the

beginning of the clause, and ye 也 at the end:

39)14.36 苟濟夫人之善也，勞其臟腑之力弗敢憚也，危其死弗敢愛也，14.37.謂之

〔臣〕. (六德 16-17)

If he increases the welfare of this man (=the ruler), if he spends the energy of his viscera (=guts) without

shivering about it, if he risks his death and does not grudge about it, we call him [a minister].

Clauses with explicit conditional marking such as gou 苟, on the other hand generally do not

have ye 也 (13 instances out of 14):

40)11.10. 上苟倡之，則民鮮不從矣。(成之聞之 9)

If those above lead them, then few of the people will not follow.

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3.3.2 Explicitly marked temporal clauses and phrases

The following are time clauses explicitly marked by ji 及 “when” (three instances), ji 既

“already” (one instance) and heng 恒 “always” (one instance):

41)11.66.及其博長而厚大也, 則聖人不可猶豫憚之。(成之聞之 27-28)

Until its broadening and deepening, the sage cannot be hesitant or feel fear towards it (the right way).

42)14.12.既有夫六位也，以任此〔六職〕也. (六德 9-10)

Thus there are these six roles to take charge of these six functions

43)3.27. 人之敗也，恒於其且成也敗之。(老子丙本 12)

As for people’s failing, it is always when they are on the verge of their success that they fail in it.

When there is no explicit clue, the clauses could be conditional as well as temporal, as the

connective ze 則 “then” is compatible with both kinds of clauses:

44)5.75. 子曰：5.76. 政之不行，教之不成也，則刑罰不足恥，而爵不足勸也。

(緇衣 27-28)

The Master said: “If/when the government is not enacted and the instruction is not perfected, then

punishments and fines will not suffice to shame and entitlements will not suffice to encourage.

45)5.58. 子曰：5.59. 大臣之不親也，則忠敬不足，而富貴已過也。5.60. 邦家之不寧

也，則大臣不治，而褻臣託也。(緇衣 19-21)

The Master said: “With the non-intimacy of the high ministers, then their loyalty and respect will not be

sufficient while their wealth and honor will already be in excess. With the instability of the state and the

family, then the great ministers will not rule while the sycophantic ministers will be entrusted.

In fact, there is no necessity of making any choice between the two readings. In many

languages there is no distinction between conditional and temporal meanings, especially when

the sentence expresses generic (also called habitual) conditionals (Podlesskaya 2001: 1000).

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3.3.3 Explicitly marked causal clauses and phrases

Some clauses are marked as causal by either yi 以 “because” (see Pulleyblank 1995: 161 and

Herforth 1994: 20-22) or by the construction 夫唯…是以 “it is precisely because of that

therefore” (see section 6.1):100

46)1.10. 以其不爭也，故天下莫能與之爭。(老子甲本 5) 101

Because of its non-competitiveness, no one in the world can compete with him. (Henricks modified)

47)1.39.萬物作而弗始也，為而弗恃也，成而弗居。1.40. 天[夫LZ]唯弗居也，是以弗

去也. (老子甲本 17-18)


them dependent. He brings things to completion, but he does not dwell on his achievements. But it is

precisely because he does not dwell on them that they therefore do not leave him. (Henricks)

3.3.4 Adverbial clauses and phrases without explicit lexical markers

In all the sentences without specific lexical cues, the meaning has to be decided case by case,

or just left undetermined between a conditional and a temporal reading (examples 48 and 49) or

between a temporal and a causal reading (example 50): 102

48)8.90. 有大罪而弗大誅也，不行也。8.91. 有小罪而弗赦也，不察於道也。(五行 38-

39) When/if (people) commit a grave crime and (one) does not punish them severely, (this) is a case of not

acting (properly). When/if (they) commit a petty crime and (one) does not pardon them, (this) is a case of

not discerning the Way (properly).


Receiving unsuitable (orders), they can be followed, but not reached (=implemented).

100 There is just one instance of each construction marked by ye 也. 101 See section 4.3.1 ex. 52. 102 As noted by Thompson, Longacre and Hwang (2007: 245) protasis and reason clauses both act as modifiers, expressing a reason or condition, for the main clause event).

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50)1.29. 道恒亡為也，侯王能守之，而萬物將自化。(老子甲本 13)

As for the Way constantly taking no action, marquises and kings can maintain it, and the ten thousand

things transform on their own. (Henricks modified)

Example 50 shows that lexical cues are not always unambiguous, as the presence of the

adverb of time heng 恒 does not preclude a causal reading of clause.

Some examples, on the other hand, are more clearly conditional (example 51) or causal (example

52):

51)11.29. 是故欲人之愛己也，則必先愛人；11.30. 欲人之敬己也，則必先敬人。(成之

聞之 20)

Therefore if one wants others to love him, then he must first love others; if one wants other people to

respect him, he must first respect others.

52)13.67. 哀、樂，其性相近也，是故其心不遠。(性自命出 29-30)

Sorrow and joy/music, their nature is close to each other, therefore their (outcome in the) heart is not far.

3.4 Ye 也 and definiteness

Out of 137 occurrences of ye 也 in topic position in the GD corpus, there are 65

occurrences marking complex nominalized NPs, 16 occurrences marking complex NPs, of which

3 are of the kind 此NP, 4 of the kind NP之NP, 7 of the kind 其NP, and there are 9 bare nouns in

topic position marked by 也者. That is, 90 occurrences out of 137 have elements containing

demonstratives (zhi 之, qi 其 and ci 此) or the the marker of definite reference zhe 者;103 I will

refer to them as specific NPs. The remaining 49 topics are non-nominalized verb phrases.

103 Aldridge 2009 has argued, from a generative syntactic perspective, that zhe 者 functions as a determiner, but as determiners in Chinese precede the NP they determine, it is better just to treat zhe 者 as a marker of definite reference. According to Pulleyblank zhe 者 is originally a demonstrative related to zhi 之, zhi 之 *tə being the unstressed clitic and zhe 者*taʔ a prosodically more independent word (Pulleyblank 1999: 10). For Pulleyblank, this is just an instance of a wider opposition between forms with *a vowel and forms with *ə vowel.

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I hypothesize that the reason for this strong co-occurrence of topic marking ye 也 with

expressions containing demonstratives or the marker of definite reference zhe 者 (all deictic

elements or elements derived from deictics) is that in the GD corpus ye 也 marks as topics only

NPs modified by a deictic,104 and this is the reason why we have no bare nouns marked only by

non-final ye 也 and why bare nouns modified by non-final ye 也 are followed as well by zhe 者,

as we will see in section 3.4.3. Conversely, NPs modified by a deictic are generally followed by

ye 也, but this is a tendency, rather than a rule.

To test this hypothesis, I will examine the function of zhe 者 and its relationship with ye

也. Zhe 者 has two functions. One, the most frequent, is connected with nominalization; the

other is connected with definite reference, and it presents a certain overlap with the function of

ye 也. I will first treat the nominalizing function of zhe 者.

3.4.1 Nominalizing particles

I adopt the following definition of nominalization, by Dixon (2006: 36): “nominalization

refers to the process (and its result) by which something with the properties of a nominal can be

derived from a verb or adjective, or from a complete clause.” In his standard 1985 account,

Lexical Nominalization, Comrie (1985: 349-358) gives a typological framework to describe

nominalization devices; based on his account, I will here provide a framework to describe

nominalization in OC:

1) Action/state nominalization, deriving from stative verbs and adjectives, meaning the act,

the fact, the quality or occurrence of that verb and adjective, as English create/creation,

quiet/quietness.

2) Agentive nominalization, whereby action verbs can be made into nouns meaning ‘one

which “verbs”’, as sing/singer, hear/hearer.

3) Locative nominalization, whereby action verbs can be made into nouns meaning ‘a place

where “verb” happens’, like Hungarian mulat ‘to have fun’/mulato ‘place for having

fun=bar’.

104 This includes complex nominalized NPs; the zhi 之 inside S之VP nominalizations is a demonstrative, as shown by Yue 1998, and qi 其 is the genitive pronoun, and therefore a deictic element.

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Here is an example for Classical Chinese:

冀之北土，馬之所生，無興國焉。

(Zuozhuan Duke Zhao year 4, Yang Bojun ed. p. 1247.3) The northern region of Ji is where horses are born, but no (distinguished) State has there arisen. (Legge)

4) Objective nominalization, whereby action verbs can be made into nouns designating the

result, or the typical or ‘cognate’ object of an action, like Sundanese (East Java) inum ‘to

drink’/inuman ‘drink/alcohol’.

Here is an example for Classical Chinese:

今令尹之不信，諸侯之所聞也。

(Zuozhuan Duke Zhao year 1, Yang Bojun ed. p. 1201.7) The want of faith of the present chief-minister is what all the states have heard of.

In Old Chinese, zhi 之 and qi 其 serve for 1), zhe 者 serves for 1) and 2), 105 and suo 所

serves for 3) and 4). There are reasons to restrict the term “nominalization” for 1) and to use

other labels, like “pronominalization” for 2)-4), as they not only turn the verb into a nominal but

incorporate a direct or indirect object. I will here refer to zhi 之, qi 其, zhe 者 and suo 所 as

nominalizing particles (and not as pronouns), because the verbal clauses modified by these

elements are nominal, and their presence is connected with nominalization, without implying that

it is necessarily the particle that nominalizes the verbal clause.106 While zhi 之, qi 其 and zhe 者

are all deictics or derived from deictics, suo 所 (OC *sraʔ) is not etymologically a deictic but a

grammaticalization of the noun meaning “place”; it is still used in this sense and has a clear

Proto-Tibeto-Burman cognate, *sra “place” (Schuessler 2006: 486). This difference accounts, in

my view, for the fact that suo 所 clauses are not necessarily definite, as shown in section 3.4.4.107

3.4.2 Nominalizing zhe 者

105 “Zhe 者 may also stand for the verb phrase as a whole: ‘the doing X, the thing of doing X’ rather than ‘the one who does X’” (Pulleyblank 1995: 67). 106 Nominalizations of verbal clauses can also be unmarked, as noted in paragraph 3.2.1, examples 27 and 28. 107 See also Aldridge 2009: 48-49.

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In the GD texts zhe 者 typically serves as agentive nominalizer (related to Comrie’s

nominalization type 2), with VP者= “one which VP” (example 53), or as action nominalizer

related to Comrie’s nominalization type 1) with VP者= “the act or state of VP” (example 54):108

53)1.13. [以道佐人主]VP者，不欲以兵強於天下。1.14. [善]VP者果而已，不以取強。(老

子甲本 6-7)

One who uses the Way to assist the ruler of men does not desire to use weapons to force his way through

the land. One who is good at such things achieves his result and that's all. He does not use the occasion to

make himself stronger still. (Henricks)

54)14.54. [仁]VP者，子德也。 (六德 22)

Humanity is the virtue of sons.

These two functions have been analyzed by Zhu Dexi, which calls Comrie’s type 2 ‘self-

reference’ (zizhi 自指) and Comrie’s type 1 ‘transferred reference’ (zhuanzhi 轉指) (Zhu 1983).

In such functions zhe 者 often occurs in topic position, as in the following example:

55) 4.24.以道從事者必托其名，故事成而身長。4.25.聖人之從事也，亦托其名，故功

成而身不傷。(太一生水 10-12)

One who uses the way to work at its tasks certainly relies on its name; for this reasons his tasks are

completed and he himself grows. When the sage works at his tasks, he also relies on its name; as a results

his deeds are achieved and he himself suffers no harm. (Henricks)

Even when zhe 者 occurs in topic position (as in example 55), parallel to a complex

nominalized NP marked by ye 也 in line 4.25, there is no compelling reason to treat it as a topic

marker, as its primary function is to nominalize the preceding clause. But zhe 者 also has a

function which is distinct from its nominalizing function.

108 See Pulleyblank 1995: 66-67 for a short description, and Zhu 1983 for an in-depth analysis.

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3.4.3 Zhe 者 marking definite reference

As noticed by Pulleyblank (1995: 74), in addition to its role in nominalization, zhe 者 occurs

after proper names in topic position, as in the following examples:

56)夫明堂者﹐王者之堂也 (Mencius 2.5)

The hall of light is a hall belonging to a king. (Pulleyblank)

57)有顏回者﹐好學 (Lunyu 6.3)

There was Yan Hui. He loved learning. (Pulleyblank)

Pulleyblank interprets this usage of zhe 者 as marking contrastive exposure and/or emphasis,

a role that he assigns also to ye 也 in clause initial position, as ye 也 is also found after proper

names, as in the following example:

58) 鯉也死, 有棺而無槨. (Lunyu 11.8)

When Li died, he had a coffin but no coffin case. (Pulleyblank)

According to Pulleyblank, this function of marking proper names in topic position is not the

only one shared by zhe 者 and ye 也, as they both also mark time words in sentence initial

position, in common time expressions like 今也 and 今者 (‘nowaydays’), 昔也 and 昔者 (‘in the

past’), as in the following examples:109

59)於我乎夏屋渠渠，今也每食無餘。于嗟乎, 不承權輿。

(Book of Odes, 135, strophe 1) Alas for us! The great house was very grand; but now, at every meal there is nothing left over; alas, (the

sequel) does not correspond to the beginning. (Karlgren)

60) 今者不樂，逝者其耋。 (Book of Odes, 126 strophe 2)

If we do not enjoy ourselves now, as time passes we shall grow old. (Karlgren)

109 The examples are mine, not Pulleyblank’s.

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61) 何以知賢者之必賞善罰暴也？吾以昔者三代之聖王知之。故昔也三代之聖王堯舜

禹湯文武之兼愛之天下也，從而利之. (墨子,第七卷, 第二十八篇天志下)

How do we know the virtuous (Heaven) certainly rewards the good and punishes the evil? I know this from

the (examples of) the sage-kings of the Three Dynasties. Anciently, the sage-kings of the Three Dynasties,

Yao, Shun, Yu, Tang, Wen, and Wu, loved the world universally and proceeded to benefit them. (W. P.

Mei)

Pulleyblank’s ‘exposure’ refers to cases where an element is given special prominence by

being taken out of its normal position and placed in front, as well as when an element is given

contrastive emphasis without becoming the topic (Pulleyblank 1995: 69); we refer to such cases

as instances of contrastive focus instead.

This function had been already hinted by Zhu Dexi, who briefly discussed cases where zhe

者 follows NPs (1983: 26), as the two following:

62)厚從州吁如陳。石碏使告于陳曰：「衛國褊小，老夫耄矣，無能為也。此二人者，

實弒寡君，敢即圖之。」(Zuozhuan Duke Yin year 4, Yang Bojun ed. p. 37)

On this Hou went with Zhoyu to Chen; but Shizi sent information to Chen, saying, "The State of Wei is

narrow and small, and I am aged and can do nothing. These two men are the real murderers of my prince,

and I venture to ask that you will instantly take the proper measures with them." (Legge)

63)「莫春者，春服既成，冠者五六人，童子六七人，浴乎沂，風乎舞雩，詠而歸。」

(Analects 11.26) In this, the last month of spring, with the dress of the season all complete, along with five or six young men

who have assumed the cap, and six or seven boys, I would wash in the Yi, enjoy the breeze among the rain

altars, and return home singing (Legge)

For Zhu in the phrases 此二人者 and 莫春者 zhe 者 has deictic function (指示作用) and

expresses contrast, a function he relates to the ‘self reference’ usage of zhe 者.

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In the GD corpus zhe 者 occurs (twice) after time expressions (examples 64-65) as well as

(frequently) after bare nouns (examples 66-69):110

64) 6.7. 嚮者吾問忠臣於子思. (魯穆公問於子思 3)

Just now I asked Zi Si about what is a loyal minister.

65) 9.24. 古者虞舜篤事瞽瞙, 乃式其孝. (唐虞之道 9)

Of old Shun of Yu served sincerely Gu Mo, thereby being a model of filial piety

66) 4.9.故歲者，濕燥之所生也。4.10.濕澡者，凔熱[然GDE]之所生也。4.11.凔熱[然

GDE]者，〔四時之所生也〕。4.12.四時者，陰陽之所生〔也LZ〕。4.13.陰陽者，

神明之所生也。 4.14.神明者，天地之所生也。4.15. 天地者，大一之所生也。(太一

生水 4-6)

Therefore that which is (called) the year was produced by moisture and dryness; the moisture and dryness

were produced by cold and heat. The cold and heat [were produced by the four seasons], The four seasons

were produced by Yin and Yang. Yin and Yang were produced by the “gods above and below”, the “gods

above and below” were produced by Heaven and earth, and the Heaven and the earth were produced by the

Great One. (Henricks)

67) 3.14. 兵者，〔不祥之器也. 〕(老子丙本, 6)

Weapons [are instruments of ill omen]. (Henricks)

68)10.19. 三者，忠人弗作，信人弗為也。(忠信之道 6)

These three (behaviors), a loyal man would not perform them, a trustworthy man would not enact them. As

for (expanding) virtue, nothing is greater than rites and music.

69)13.38. 其三術者，道之而已。(性自命出 15)

As for the other three techniques, they can be talked about and that’s all.

110 The usage of zhe 者 and ye 也 after proper names, as well as of ye 也 after time expressions, is instead not attested in the GD corpus.

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In example 66 the whole passage consists of sentences giving as topics entities introduced in

the preceding lines, marking them with zhe 者, and then commenting upon them by means of a

series of nominal predicates. As the elements followed by zhe 者 in examples 66-69 are

unambiguously nominal, it is not possible to analyze zhe 者 in these patterns as a nominalizer.

In these examples zhe 者 functions as a deictic marker, pointing out what is to be discussed,

not necessarily contrastive: I will refer to its function as marker of definite reference.111

3.4.4 Complementary distribution of zhe 者 and ye 也

In its combination with 所VP and NP之VP in topic position, zhe 者 is in complementary

distribution with ye 也. On one hand, zhe 者 often follows (indefinite) suo 所 nominalizations in

topic positions (examples 70 and 71) while ye 也 does not have this function in the GD corpus112

(see example 72 where only the 其VP topic, and not the suo 所 nominalization is marked by ye

也):

70)13.97. (所為道)者四，唯人道為可道也。(性自命出 14-15)

Those (things) that are considered the way are four, but only the way of man is such that it can be treaded

upon.

71)2.19. 吾(所以有大患)者，為吾有身。(老子乙本 7)

The reason we have great distress is that we have bodies. (Henricks)

72)14.97. 凡君子(所以立身大法)三，其繹之也六，其貫十又二。(六德 44-45)




(=the six roles and the six functions).

111 See Lyons (1999: 57-60) for an account of the relationship between definiteness and specificity. 112 And neither, from a cursory exam, it does in the contemporary transmitted texts.

98

On the other hand, ye 也 follows complex nominalized NPs (as we have seen in section

3.1.2), while zhe 者 does not.

There are only two cases in the GD corpus where zhe 者 follows complex nominalized

NPs.113

73)13.98.凡用心之躁者，思為甚。13.99.用智之疾者，患為甚。13.100.用情之至者，哀

樂為甚。13.101. 用身之便者，悅為甚。13.102. 用力之盡者，利為甚。(性自命出

42-43) In general, as for those (things) which are swift in using the heart/mind, thought is the most intense. As for

those (things) which are violent in using wisdom, (the one deriving from) exhaustion is the most intense.

As for those (things) which are extreme in using the emotions, sadness and joy are the most intense. As for

those (things) which are comfortable in using the body, pleasure is the most intense. As for those (things)

which are the ultimate in using strength, profit is the most prominent.

74)13.106.人之巧言利詞者，不有夫詘詘之心則流。13.107.人之悅然可與和安者，不有

夫奮作之情則瞀[侮LL]。(性自命出 45-47)

As for those among people whose talk is smart and whose words are bright, if they do not have a very inept

(=simple) heart, they are drifting (=dissolute). As for people who are happy and can be approached (by

others) in harmony and peace, if they do not have some emotions which are stirring and arousing, they are

despised.

3.4.5 Co-occurrence of zhe 者 and ye 也

While their similar function in marking NPs in topic position and the hints of a wider

similarity of functions in their original usage might explain why ye 也 and zhe 者 co-occur, it

does not explain the fact that they co-occur in a very specific environment, after bare nouns in

topic position, where ye 也 does not otherwise appear. The reason for this is that bare nouns do

113 See also the following passage from the Shanghai Museum manuscript Kongzi shi lun 孔子詩論, strip 4: 民之有戚患也，上下之不和者，其用心也將何如？ “When the people are worried and troubled, and among those above and below there is no harmony, the way they deploy their feelings, how can one deal with it?” It is possible (though speculative) to analyze the structure of the clauses as NP之[VP者] and not [NP之VP]者, with the NP preceding 之 functioning as a distributive “among NP” (as reflected in my translation).

99

not co-occur with ye 也 without being modified by a deictic or by the marker of definite

reference zhe 者.

This means that topics followed by ye 也 do not simply require specificity,114 but have the

stronger specificity requirement of being modified by deictics or by the marker of definite

reference zhe 者 (which derives from a deictic).115

Specific NPs which are not modified by a deictic are not marked by ye 也 in the GD corpus,

as can be seen in the following example, where the NP 三言 has a specific (identifiable)

reference, but is not followed by ye 也:

75)絕智棄辯，民利百倍。1.2. 絕巧棄利，盜賊亡有。1.3.絕偽棄慮 (詐LL), 民復季(孝

LL)子。1.4. 三言以為使不足，或[又MC]令之有[又MC] 呼屬。(老子甲本 1-2)

Eliminate knowledge, get rid of distinctions, and the people will benefit one hundredfold. Eliminate

craftiness, get rid of profit, and there will be no robbers and thieves. Eliminate hypocrisy, get rid of

deliberations and the people will return to (the condition of) infants. If one regards these three sayings as

insufficient to command (the people), then one should (also) give them orders, summon and command

(them).

Quite interestingly, by comparing this passage with the Mawangdui and Wang Bi

versions of the same line, we find that the MWDA text (manuscript A of the Mawangdui text)

has 此三言也 (“these three sayings”), namely it adds both a deictic and ye 也, while the Wang

Bi text has 此三者, namely it adds ci 此 and zhe 者 (omitting yan 言).

GD 1.1 MWD 19 WB 19

1 絕聖棄辯，民利百倍。絕聖棄智，民利百倍；絕聖棄智，民利百倍；

2 絕巧棄利，盜賊亡有。絕民棄義，民復孝慈；絕仁棄義，民復孝慈；

3 絕偽棄詐，民復季子。絕巧棄利，盜賊褀有。絕巧棄利，盜賊無有。

114 Topics are always specific (Chafe 1976: 461). 115 See Lyons (1999: 172-78) for the treatment of different degree of specificity, based on different assumptions between speaker and listener as well as on the different textual status of the specific items (more or less familiar, more or less prominent in the context).

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4 三言以為文不足，此三言也，以為文未足，此三者，以為文不足，

5 又令之又呼屬。故令之有所屬. 故令有所屬.

The discussion of section 3.4 about the complementarity of distribution of ye 也 and zhe

者 in topic position can be summarized in the following table:

Table 7 Complementary distribution of ye 也 and zhe 者 in topic position

Type of topics ye 也 ye zhe 也者 zhe 者

Dem+ NP + - -

S之VP + - -

所VP - - +

Bare NPs - + +

This complementary distribution has not been noticed before. It would be important to

conduct a similar survey of other texts and establish if it holds and, in case there are significant

differences, if the difference can be interpreted as evidence of linguistic change.

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Chapter 4

Ye 也 marking clause connection

In this chapter I will deal with ye 也 as a clause connector (function C, see section 1.6.3).

Previous approaches have all tried to identify ye 也 in sentence final position with a

single semantic function. Graham (1967: 8) calls ye 也 in this function “an indicator of

judgment”, Harbsmeier (1983-5: 81) a mark of “identificatory predication” and Liu 2008 an

explanatory particle.

Rather than uncovering new meanings for ye 也, the approach I follow in this chapter is

not to look for a single, subjacent function, but to treat all cases of ye 也 occurring at the end of

combinations of clauses116 as instances of a pragmatically ambiguous clausal connector, a type of

discourse marker whose value is determined by contextual inferences (Schwenter 2000: 275),

developing an intuition by Yue 2004 who characterizes it as a “modal, ‘matter-of-fact particle”.

In section 4.1 I will provide the theoretical background for my analysis, with a brief

overview of the literature on discourse markers, of which clause connection markers constitute a

subset; in section 4.2 I will analyze ye 也 encoding consequential relationships (function C1); in

section 4.3 I will analyze ye 也 encoding explanatory relationships (function C2); in section 4.4 I

will propose a diachronic path connecting ye 也 as a focus marker to ye 也 as a clause connector,

by means of the feature of contrastiveness.

4.1 Discourse markers

116 When ye 也 occurs at the end of simple clauses it functions as a marker of assertion (function D1), and I will treat it in section 5.4.

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When ye 也 occurs in combinations of clauses it marks a semantic relationship between

the final clause and the preceding ones. As we will see, it cannot be identified with a specific

semantic content and it only signals that the final clause is in some way a consequence (C1) or an

explanation (C2) of what it precedes. These two features (lack of content meaning and role in

signaling the relationship of the basic message to the foregoing discourse) are the two main

features of discourse markers. According to Levinson (1983:88): ‘What [discourse markers]

seem to do is indicate, often in very complex ways, just how the utterance that contains them is a

response to, or a continuation of, some portion of the prior discourse.’ Discourse markers are a

syntactically heterogeneous class of often highly poly-functional expressions that must be

described at the level of discourse rather than the sentence and whose meaning must be analyzed

in terms of what they indicate rather than what they describe (Blakemore 2004: 221). As in the

GD corpus the scope does not seem to extend beyond combination of clauses into larger chunks

of discourse like paragraphs, I will here use the term ‘clause connector’ to designate this function

of ye 也; ‘clause connectors’ are one subtype of discourse markers (Blakemore 1992: 136 ff.).

Discourse markers are a category widely recognized since Schiffrin's groundbreaking

book (1987) on the subject.117

However, most of the literature on discourse markers has analyzed spoken conversation;

Fraser has written that: “One cannot expect to do research in this area to any degree of subtlety

unless the researcher is a native speaker of the language being examined and the data is naturally

occurring discourse.” The texts I use here are instead written, non-dialogic and furthermore they

belong to a language many features of whose grammar are not accessible to us. Recently, though,

studies on narrative markers in Middle English (Traugott 2004: 539) and discourse particles in

Latin have been published, showing the way for the application of discourse markers analysis to

old written texts (Kroon 1995).

One of the foremost scholars in the field, Fraser (1993: 1-16), has proposed to categorize

discourse markers into three basic functions:118 one of which is message relationship markers

117 This book has served as the impetus for a large number of studies of items the prime function of which is to "bracket discourse", that is, to mark relations between sequentially dependent units of discourse.

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which signal the relationship of the basic message being conveyed by the current utterance to

some prior message. This most important class is subdivided into four groups: parallel markers

like also, likewise, too; contrastive markers like but, rather, still, yet; elaborative markers like

furthermore, moreover, that is; and inferential discourse markers like consequently, so, then,

therefore.

Fraser’s inferential discourse marker corresponds to what I have referred to as ye 也’s

consequential usage (function C1, section 4.2) and his elaborative marker corresponds (roughly)

to what I have referred to as its explanatory usage (function C2, section 4.3).

In the following two sections I will apply this framework to an exhaustive analysis of all

the examples of ye 也 marking clause connection in the GD corpus.

4.2 Consequence (X, then Y and X therefore Y)119 This pattern has two main types of usage: the first type is conditional and temporal, the

second causal-resultative.120 Both patterns, conditional and causal-resultative, follow an iconic

order of events namely “the order of linguistic expressions corresponds to their order in the

conceptual world” (Tai 1993: 159; see also Noordman and Blijzer 2000: 41). Temporal-

conditional and resultative-causal relationships are tightly connected (see Dancygier and

Sweetser 2000) and all the ‘X, Y也’ clauses in section 4.2 can be glossed as ‘X so Y’. In this

pattern ye 也, without changing their meaning, emphasizes the connection between the last

clause and the preceding ones.121

4.2.1 Conditional and temporal (If/then, whenever/then)

Conditional and temporal clauses deal with states of affairs that spring from other states

of affairs, coming after them in both a temporal and a logical sense (as described by the Latin

saying post hoc, ergo propter hoc “after this, therefore because of this”).

118 Namely, discourse topic markers, discourse activity mrkers and message relationshhip markers. 119 By ‘X’ I indicate the preceding clause(s) and by ‘Y’ the final clause. 120 See section 4.2.2 for an explanation of the term. 121 In the GD corpus ye 也 is the only particle with this function (see section 6.2).

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The most common conjunction for conditional and temporal clauses ending in ye 也 is ze

則 ‘then’; there are some instances of the usage of connectives yi zhi 以至 ‘until’, ranhou 然後

‘afterwards’ and er 而 ‘and then/but’.

These connectives are by no means necessarily followed by final ye 也; we are in the

realm of discourse, not of syntax, and therefore the presence and absence of ye 也 is not

predictable, but we can analyze recurring patterns of occurrence of given connectors with ye 也.

4.2.1.1 Conditional and temporal clauses with ze 則

Ze 則 is mostly used in conditional sentences, marking a then-clause, as seen in the

following examples:

1)10.3. 忠積則可親也，10.3.1信積則可信也。(忠信之道 1)

When loyalty is accumulated, then one can be intimate (with the people), when trust is accumulated then

one can be trusted (by the people).

2)11.24.智而比次，則民欲其智之遂也。11.25.富而分賤，則民欲其富之大也。11.26.

貴而能讓，則民欲其貴之上也。(成之聞之 17-18)

If one is knowledgeable but abides to a (proper) order, then the people will desire his knowledge to increase.

If one is rich but share with the poor, then the people will desire his wealth to increase. If one is eminent

but able to yield, then the people will desire his eminence to rise.

3)12.36. 攻 [.] <眛DYZ> 往者復。12.37. 依惠則民材足，不時則亡勸也. (尊德義 32)

Attack [caos] and those who were leaving will return. If one relies on kindness the wealth of the people will

be enough, if one is untimely there will be no (concerted) effort (from the people).

4)14.28. 得其人則舉焉，不得其人則止也。(六德 48)

(If you) can get the proper man then you should promote him, if you cannot get the proper man then you

should stop.

5)17.35. […] 治者化。17.36. 化則難犯也. (語叢三 45)

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[…] the ruler is (educationally) transformed. When he is (educationally) transformed he is difficult to

oppose.

In the last three examples (6-8), the scope of final ye 也 is on both clauses following ze 則:

6)5.58. 子曰：5.59. 大臣之不親也，則忠敬不足，而富貴已過也。5.60. 邦家之不寧

也，則大臣不治，而褻臣託也。(緇衣 19-21)

The Master said: “With the non-intimacy of the high ministers, then their loyalty and respect will not be

sufficient while their wealth and honor will already be in excess. With the instability of the state and the

family, then the great ministers will not rule while the sycophantic ministers will be entrusted.

7) 5.75. 子曰：5.76. 政之不行，教之不成也，則刑罰不足恥，而爵不足勸也。

(緇衣 27-28)

The Master said: “If the government is not enacted and the instruction is not perfected, then punishments

and fines will not suffice to shame and entitlements will not suffice to encourage.

8)5.134. 子曰：5.135. 輕絕貧賤，而重絕富貴，則好仁不堅，而惡不著也。

(緇衣 43-44)

The Master said: “If one treats as a light matter cutting himself off from the poor and lowly but treats as a

heavy matter cutting himself off from the rich and noble, then his love of humanity is not firm and his

hatred of evil is not manifest.

4.2.1.2 Conditional and temporal clauses with 以至 , 然後

Yi zhi 以至 “until” and ranhou 然後 “afterwards” are also used as connectives for main

clauses and are sometimes followed by ye 也:

9) 2.9. [為]學者日益，為道者日損. 2.10. 損之又損, 以至亡為也. 亡為而亡不為. (老子乙

本 3-4)

Those who [toil at] their studies increase day after day; those who practice the Way, decrease day after day.

They decrease and decrease, until they reach the point where they do nothing at all. They do nothing, yet

there is nothing left undone. (Henricks)

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10)12.46.有[或MC]是施,小有害，轉而大有利者，有之。12.47.行此度也，然後可逾也.

(尊德義 38+17)

Sometimes this extension in small amounts is damaging but it turns into great benefits, there are (also)

cases like this. If one follows this pattern, (things) can subsequently be improved.

11)2.9.[為]學者日益，為道者日損。2.10.損之又損，以至亡為也.亡為而亡不為。(老子

乙本 3-4)

Those who [toil at] their studies increase day after day; those who practice the Way, decrease day after day.

They decrease and decrease, until they reach the point where they do nothing at all. They do nothing, yet

there is nothing left undone. (Henricks)

4.2.1.3 Conditional and temporal clauses without conjunctions

The following examples have no conjunctions, and ye 也 is a redundant marker of

consequence.

12)1.102.金玉盈室，莫能守也。1.103.貴富驕，自遺咎也。1.104.功遂身退，天之道也.

(老子甲本 38-39)

When gold and jade fill your chambers No one can safeguard them. Arrogance resulting from wealth and

rank, on its own brings on disaster. When the deed is done withdraw - such is heaven's Way. (Henricks)

13)1.7.1聖人之在民前也，以身後之；7.2其在上也，以言下之。1.8.1其在民上也，民

弗厚也；8.2 其在民前也，民弗害也。1.9. 天下樂進而弗厭。(老子甲本 3-4)



if he is in front of his people, they do not regard him as posing a threat. All under heaven delight in

advancing him while never tiring of him. (Henricks)

14) 8.90. 有大罪而弗大誅也，不行也。8.91. 有小罪而弗赦也，不察於道也。(五行 38-

39) If, when there is a great crime one refuses to apply the heavy punishment that is a case of not acting

(properly). If when there is a small crime one refuses to pardon the culprit, then that is a matter of not

discerning the Way (properly).

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15) 12.52.尊仁、親忠、敬壯、貴禮，行矣而亡遺; 養心於子諒, 忠信日益而不自知也.

(尊德義 20-21)

When one honors humanity, approaches loyalty, respects solemnity and values rites, one will acts and

nothing will be remiss; when one nourishes the heart with kindness and goodness, loyalty and trust will

increase day by day without oneself even noticing it.

16)1.54.至虛恒(極BYL:243)也；1.55.守中[沖LZ]篤也。1.56.萬物旁作，居以須復也.

1.57. 天道員員[圓圓]，各復其根。(老子甲本 24)

As I attain the utmost emptiness and I keep to extreme stillness, (then) the ten thousand things arise side by

side arise and by sitting still I await their return. Heaven and the Dao come forth unendingly, and each

returns to its root.

17)1.58.其安也，易持也；1.59.其未兆也，易謀也；1.60.其脆也，易判(泮LL)也；1.61.

其幾也，易散也。1.62. 為之於其亡有也, 1.63. 治之於其未亂. (老子甲本 25-26)

If something is at rest it is easy to hold, if it has not yet given a sign, it is easy to plan for, if it is fragile it is

easily broken, if it is minute is easily scattered. If you act on it when it does not (yet) exist, you will control

it before it turns into chaos.

18)14.1.君子如欲求人道，14.2.〔…〕人民，14.3.小者以修其身。14.4.為道者必由

〔…〕14.5. (茍不) 由其道，雖堯求之弗得也。(六德 6+47+7)

The gentleman, if he desires to seek the human way […] the people, the small one to cultivate his body.

Enacting the way, one must necessarily follow […] (if not by) following his [=the proper] way, even if Yao

would seek it, (even) he would not get it.

19)14.97.凡君子所以立身大法三，其繹之也六，其貫十又二. 14.98.三者通，言行皆通.

14.99.三者不通，非言行也。14.100.三者皆通，然後是也。14.101.三者，君子所生

與之立，死與之敝也。(六德 44-46)




(=the six roles and the six functions). If the three are unobstructed, speech and acts are both unimpeded. If

the three are obstructed, speech and acts are caused to be incorrect. If in all cases these three are

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unobstructed, then (everything) is correct. These three (rules) stand together with the gentleman when he is

born, and decay with him at his death.

20)15.56. 當其然而行，治焉爾也。(語叢一 59)

Acting according to how things are, that’s being well directed.

21)1.100. 持而盈之，不 {不} 若已。1.101. 揣 (湍GDE)而群之，不可長保也。1.102. 金

玉盈室，莫能守也。1.103. 貴富驕，自遺咎也。(老子甲本 37-39)

To accumulate until you have filled it, is not as good as stopping in time. Even if you measure it and amass

it, it cannot hold out very long. When gold and jade fill your chambers No one can safeguard them.

Arrogance resulting from wealth and rank, on its own brings on disaster.

22)9.22. 愛親忘賢，仁而未義也；9.23. 尊賢遺親，義而未仁也。(唐虞之道 8-9)

When one loves those who are close and forget the worthies, he is humane but not (yet) righteous. When

one respects the worthies and abandons those who are close, he is righteous but not (yet) humane.

23)17.4. 不悅，可去也；17.5. 不義而加諸己, 弗受也。(語叢三 4-5)

If (the minister) is not happy, he can leave; if there is something unrighteous imposed upon him, he will not

accept it.

24)18.30. 善使其民者，若四時，一遣一來，而民弗害也。(語叢四 19-20)

Those who are good at employing their people are like the four seasons, one departing as another comes on,

and the people never consider them a source of harm.

25)18.41.納[內GDE]之或[又]納[內GDE]之,致之或[又]致之，致[至GDE]而亡及也已。

(語叢四 27)

(Once) you have entered there (=the court), enter there again, once you have brought something (an advice)

forward bring it forward again [enter the court again and again, bring advice again and again], it will arrive

(to its destination) and (you) will be beyond reach (of others).

26)13.17.牛生而長，雁生而伸，其性〔使然〕.13.18.〔人〕而學，或使之也。(性自命

出 7-8)

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Oxes are born and then grow (robust), wild geese are born and then stretch (their long neck), their inborn

nature [makes them like this]. [If men] study, [they] sometimes can cause it (to be different).

In many cases, the passages contain the verb ke 可 ‘to be able to’ followed by ye 也.

They are not different from the preceding passages; the reason why I have collected them

together is to be able to compare them with the examples containing ke 可 that I will analyze in

section 5.4.1.3.

27)5.139.子曰：5.140.宋人有言曰：5.141. “人而亡恒，不可為卜筮也.” 5.142.其古之遺

言與？(緇衣 45-46)

The Master said: “The men of Song have a saying which goes: ‘If a man does not have constancy, he

cannot be a turtle shell or milfoil diviner.’ This must be a saying handed down from antiquity!

28)12.33. 治樂和哀，民不可惑也。(尊德義 31)

Regulate music and harmonize grief (passions), and the people cannot be perplexed.


When one receives unsuitable (orders), they can be followed, but not reached (=implemented).

30)17.4. 不悅，可去也；17.5. 不義而加諸己, 弗受也。(語叢三 4-5)

If (the minister) is not happy, he can be gotten rid of; if there is something unrighteous imposed upon him,

he will not accept it.

31)12.51.故共[終DYZ]是物也而又深焉者，可學[教GDE] 也而不可疑也.可教也而不可

迪其民，而民不可止也。(尊德義 19-20) 122

So [if only] one is thorough (in practicing) these things (=the way of man) and goes deep into them, one

can can be taught and (this) should not be doubted. [But] if (people that) can be taught are not able to lead

the people, the people cannot be at rest.

122 See the complementary analysis of parts of the same passage in section 5.4.1.3, example 71.

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32)12.43. 上好是物也，下必有甚焉者。12.44. 夫唯是故, 德可易而施可轉也. 12.45. 有

[或MC]是施，小有利，轉而大有害者，有之.12.46.有[或MC]是施,小有害，轉而大

有利者，有之。12.47. 行此度也，然後可逾也。(尊德義 36-38+17)123

If those above like one thing, those below will necessarily be even more extreme (about it) than them. Now,

because of this, virtue can change (the people) and its (benevolent) extension can be transmitted.

Sometimes this extension in small amounts is beneficial but it turns into great damages, there are cases like

this. Sometimes this extension in small amounts is damaging but it turns into great benefits, there are (also)

cases like this. If one follows this pattern, there can subsequently be improvement.

4.2.2 Causal-result (X, therefore Y)

Above I have analyzed the passages where the final clause marked by ye 也 simply

functions as a then-clause, a clause which logically follows from what precedes. In the following

passages, the final clause carries a sense of result. By ‘result’ I mean a subtype of causality, a

cause-effect relation between two events that can be conveyed in English by the connectives

‘therefore’, ‘as a result’, ‘that’s why’ (Maat and Sanders 2000: 58-59). There is no common label

for this kind of clauses in the literature (causal being generally used for the effect-cause

relationship conveyed in English by the connective ‘because of’); I will here call them ‘causal-

result’.

In most cases, this reading is reinforced by the connectives gu 故 ‘so, thus, therefore’ and

shi gu 是故 ‘(for) this reason’. Other connectives are shi yi 是以 and ci yi 此以 ‘therefore’. Just

like in English, these connectives might both conjoin clauses and begin sentences.124 The

function of ye 也 is the same, with or without connectives.

Within this subtype the following relations can be specified: (i) the second segment (Y) is

the result (intended or unintended) of the first segment (X), as in example 33; (ii) the sequence

can be interpreted as a volitional relation in which Y contains the reason for an intentional action

referred to in X (example 34); (iii) Y is a conclusion based on X (example 35):

123 See the complementary analysis of parts of the same passage in section 5.4.1.3, example 71 (see also section 4.2.1.2 ex 10). 124 Lobeck 2000: 227. Compare lines 10.22 and 10.23 with line 10.26 in example 37 below.

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33)3.23.為之者敗之，執之者失之。3.24.聖人無為，故無敗也；3.25.無執，故[無失

也].(老子丙本 10-11)

Those who act on it ruin it, those who hold on to it lose it. The Sage does nothing, and as a result he has no

disasters; he holds on to nothing, and as a result [he loses nothing]. (Henricks)

34) 9.9.夫聖人上事天，教民有尊也；9.10.下事地，教民有親也；9.11.時事山川，教民

有敬；9.12親事祖廟，教民孝也；9.13.太學之中，天子親齒，教民悌也。9.14.先聖

與後聖，孝[考GDE]後而歸先，教民大順之道也。(唐虞之道 4-6)125

Now, saintly people above serve Heaven, (thereby) teaching people to have respect; below they serve the

Earth, (thereby) teaching people to come close; they serve timely the mountains and the rivers, (thereby)

teaching people to have reverence; they serve intimately the temple of the ancestors, (thereby) teaching

people to be filial. In the midst of the Great Study the Son of Heaven treats intimately age (=the elders) ,

(thereby) teaching people to be fraternal. As for the earlier and later sages, (if one) examines (the behavior)

of the latter, and reverts to (the examples of) the former, one thereby teaches the people the way of the

great compliance.

35)11.21.上不以其道，民之從之也難。11.22.是以民可敬導也，而不可掩（=抑）也，

可御也，而不可牽也。(成之聞之 15-16)

If those above do not use the proper way, it will be difficult that people will follow them. Therefore the

people can be lead with respect, but they cannot be coerced; they can be driven, but not dragged.

Even though I have separated the two categories of temporal-conditional and causal-

result, this is done mainly for a matter of clarity of exposition: many examples could be

interpreted as belonging to the former as well as to the latter category, as in the following

example where gu 故 just shows that the last segment Y is the conclusion of the preceding

discourse X (type (iii) in the typology delineated above), without implying any clear kind of

causal relationship, equivalent to ‘so’ in its more bleached usage:126

125 It is also possible to interpret this passage as belonging to the category of exegetical clauses (section 4.3.2. where I give examples and the term is explained). 126 This does not mean that there is no difference, in general, between temporal and causative sense, but that in given contexts there might be no clues to decide for one interpretation over the other.

112

36)9.59.堯禪天下而授之，南面而王而[天LZ]下而甚君。9.60. 故堯之禪乎舜也, 如此

也。(唐虞之道 24-25)

When Yao relinquished all-under-Heaven and gave it to him, facing south and reigning on all-under-

Heaven he was extremely lordly. So Yao relinquishing to Shun was like this.

4.2.2.1 Gu 故 and shigu 是故

Both gu 故 ‘therefore’ and shi gu 是故 ‘(for) this reason’ are used as connectives

marking a main clause (or a separate sentence) in the sense of ‘therefore’ (Pulleyblank 1995:

162). Here are the examples:

37) 10.22.君子其施也忠，故蠻親傅(附LL)也；10.23.其言爾信，故轉(亶GDE)而可受

也.10.24. 忠，仁之實也。10.25. 信，義之期[基CW]也。10.26. 是故古之所以行乎蠻

[啟ZG] (開TZL) 貊 [數MC] 者，如此也。(忠信之道 7-9)

As for the gentleman, his acts are loyal, as a result (even) the Man barbarians will come close and approach

(him). His words are trustworthy, as a result they will be transmitted and (they) could be accepted (by the

people). Loyalty is the realization of humanity, trust the foundation of righteousness. Therefore the way in

which the ancients acted in explaining these rules (?), is like this

38)10.5.至忠如土，化物而不伐(及LL)；10.6.至信如時，比[必TZL](畢LL)至而不結。

10.7.忠人亡詭(偽GDE/訛LL)，信人不倍. 10.8.君子如此，故不誑(忘LL)生，不倍死

也. (忠信之道 2-3)

The utmost loyalty is like the earth, it transforms things without boasting (about it). The utmost trust is like

the seasons, it necessarily comes and does not stop. The loyal man does not harbor any insincerity, the

trustful man does not turn his back. The gentleman is like this, therefore he does not cheat (for his) life, he

does not turns his back to death (=ready to risk his life and oblivious of death).

39)11.21.上不以其道，民之從之也難。11.22.是以民可敬導也，而不可掩（=抑）也，

可御也，而不可牽也。11.23. 故君子不貴庶物，而貴與民有同也。(成之聞之 15-17)

If those above do not use the proper way, it will be difficult that people will follow them. Therefore the

people can be lead with respect, but they cannot be coerced; they can be driven, but not dragged. Therefore

the gentleman does not value the abundance of objects, but values what he has in common with the people.

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4.2.2.2 Shi yi 是以 and ci yi 此以

Shi yi 是以 and ci yi 此以 are both used as sentence connectives marking a main clause

in the sense of “because of that, therefore” (Pulleyblank 1995: 50). Their scope is generally the

same as gu 故 and shi gu 是故. Here are some examples:

40)1.39.萬物作而弗始也，為而弗恃也，成而弗居。1.40.天[夫LZ]唯弗居也，是以弗去

也。1.40. 天[夫LZ]唯弗居也，是以弗去也。(老子甲本 17-18)


them dependent. He brings things to completion, but he does not dwell on his achievements. But it is

precisely because he does not dwell on them that they therefore do not leave him. Precisely because he does

not dwell on them, they therefore do not leave him. (Henricks)

41)9.61. 古者聖人二十而帽 (冠LL)，三十而有家，五十而治天下，七十而致政。9.62.

四肢倦惰，耳目聰明衰，禪天下而授賢，退而養其性[生GDE]。9.63.此以知其弗利

也。(唐虞之道 25-27)

In antiquity saintly men would wear their cap at twenty, have a family at thirty, rule all-under-Heaven at

fifty and deliver the government (to others) at seventy. (At seventy) the four limbs are exhausted and lax,

the acuteness of hearing and seeing in the ears and eyes has withered, relinquishing all-under-Heaven and

giving it to a worthy, they can retire and nourish their life. By means of this you know that they do not

consider it as a benefit (for themselves).

42)11.66.及其博長而厚大也，則聖人不可猶豫憚之。11.67.此以民皆有性而聖人不可慕

也。(成之聞之 27-28)

When (his understanding) has become wide and deep, then the sage cannot be hesitant or feel fear towards

it (the right way). Therefore people all have innate nature, but the sage cannot be (easily) imitated.

43)14.77. 綿[放LL] (更QXG)之為言也，猶綿[放LL] 綿[放LL]也，小而實[遠DYZ] (折

LL)多也。14.78. 抒其志，求養親之志，蓋亡不以也。14.79. 是以綿[放LL]也。 (六

德 32-33)

To express “abandon” in words, it means to be unrestrained, minute and far and manifold. In expressing

one’s intent and trying to nourish the intent (=satisfy the desires) of one’s intimates, there is nothing that

cannot be used, therefore it is unrestrained.

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4.2.2.3 Examples without connectives.

44)15.83. 悲嗟[作TZL:248] 其所也，亡非是[joined in TZL:248]之弗[侼TZL: 248]也. (語

叢一 73-74)

In grief one (should) stand in the proper place (=perform his function), so that there is no confusion of right

and wrong.

45)18.30. 善使其民者，若四時，一遣一來，而民弗害也。(語叢四 19-20)

Those who are good at employing their people are like the four seasons, one departing as another comes on,

and so the people never consider them a source of harm.

4.2.2.4 Ambiguous examples

The following two passages could be interpreted in three ways: 1) as conditional clauses;

2) as copular clauses, with ze 則 providing focus to the topic (a function that Pulleyblank calls

exposure, see id.1995: 72) 3) as simple verbal clauses with complex nominalized NP topics, with

ze 則 providing focus to the topic:

46)12.63. 究民愛，則子也；12.64. 弗愛，則讎也。(尊德義 26)

When one brings to completion the love for the people, he is benevolent [or: (this) is benevolence] ; when

he does not care for them, then one is (their) enemy [(this) is enmity].

47)13.45.其先後之序則宜[義DYZ]道也。13.46.或[有LL]序, 為之節則文(度QXG)也。

(性自命出 19-20)

The order of their sequence (of the emotions) is proper to the way [or: the way of righteousness]. Having

order and give them (=the emotions) restraint one is cultured [or: (this) is culture].

4.3. Explanatory usage Under the label of explanatory usage I treat here ‘because of’ clauses expressing an

effect-cause relationship (that I will just call, as usual in the literature, ‘causal’) (section 4.3.1)

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and exegetical clauses (section 4.3.2).127 Both provide an elaboration on a preceding clause or

sequence of clauses, and they are quite different in usage from consequential usage as both are

un-iconic, as the effect, or the item to be explained, comes before its cause or explanation.

4.3.1 Causal clauses (X is because of Y) In this pattern, the last clause (Y) provides the reason for what precedes (X).128 While

often treated together with clauses introduced by 故 (see section 4.2.2.1 above), causal clauses

are different. They can always be understood as expressing the notion ‘because (of)’and their

discourse function is to provide an explanation for a preceding statement or state of affairs

(Thompson, Longacre and Hwang 2007: 250).

In the following passage, for example, a state of affairs X is presented and then a clause

Y ending in ye 也 gives the cause for the state of affairs:

48)7.5.舜耕於歷山，陶拍於河浦[滸LL]，立而為天子，遇堯也。7.6.皋陶衣枲褐，帽絰

蒙巾釋板築而佐天子，遇武丁也。7.7.呂望為臧棘津，守監門棘地，行年七十而屠

牛於朝歌，舉而為天子師，遇周文也。7.8.管夷吾拘囚梏縛，釋械柙，而為諸侯相,

遇齊桓也。7.9.百里轉鬻五羊，為伯牧牛，釋鞭箠而為朝卿，遇秦穆。129 7.10.孫叔

三謝期思少司馬，出而為令尹，遇楚莊也。(窮達以時 2-8)

Shun farmed at Mount Li, made pottery on the banks of the He; he stood up and became Son of Heaven,

because he met Yao. Gao Tao [but it should be Fu Yue] was wearing a coarse cloth made of hemp and

wearing a cap made of a band of hemp as covering kerchief [the attire of a convicted laborer]; he was

released from the construction planks and made to help the son of Heaven, because he met Wu Ding. Lü

127 As explained in section 4.3.2 below, exegetical clauses are clauses commenting and elucidating over the literal meaning of a previous discourse segment. 128 It is only when they come in final position with final ye 也 that causal clauses are un-iconic; in examples 24 and 47 in chapter 3 there are two iconic causal sentences preceding the main clause which encodes the effect: (24) 1.29. 道恒亡為也，侯王能守之，而萬物將自化. (老子甲本 13). Because the Way constantly takes no action marquises and kings can maintain it, and the ten thousand things transform on their own. (47) 1.39.萬物作而弗始也，為而弗恃也，成而弗居。1.40. 天[夫LZ]唯弗居也，是以弗去也. (老子甲本 17-18) The ten thousand things arise, but he does not begin them. He does things for them, but he does not make them dependent. He brings things to completion, but he does not dwell on his achievements. But it is precisely because he does not dwell on them that they therefore do not leave him. 129 The double underlining signals the non-appearance of ye 也 where parallelism would lead us to expect it.

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Wang was a slave in Ji Jin, serving guard as a door keeper in Ji, was seventy years old and was slaughtering

an ox in Chao Ge; he rose and became instructor to the Son of Heaven because of meeting Lord Wen of

Zhou. Guan Yiwu was detained as a prisoner in manacles and ropes, he was released from his fetters and

his cage and became the minister of a lord, because he met Duke Huan of Qi. Bai Lixi was sold in

exchange for five goats, and herded cattle for the Bo (family); he gave up the whip to become a minister at

the court, because he me Duke Mu of Qin. Sun Shu’ao renounced three times to the position of minor

horse official of Qi Si, then he went out and became Prime Minister, because he met Duke Zhuang of Chu.

Only in line 7.9 ye 也 is not used, without a clear reason for this asymmetry, be it scribal

mistake or a reflex of free variation in the language of the time.

Here are the other examples of this pattern:

49)13.22. 四海之內其性一也。13.23. 其用心各異，教使然也。(性自命出 9)

As for (every man) within the four seas, their inborn nature is the same. In using their minds each is

different, because education makes it like this.

50)13.61. 其居次[節LZ, SHR1:179 n.9] 也舊，13.61.1其反善復始也慎；13.62. 其出入也

順，始 [司DYZ] (殆SHR1: 180 n.12) 其德也。(性自命出 26-27)

If their standing in the rhythm (=dancing) is long, If they are careful about their reverting to goodness and

returning to the beginning, if their externalizations and their internalizations are smooth, (this is because)

they control its virtue (=the virtue of music).

51)15.88. 求者, 亡有自來也。(語叢一 99)

One seeks (something) because it does not come by itself.

The following example is the only one introduced by a causal connective, yi 以 ‘with,

because of”:

52)1.9. 天下樂進而弗厭1.9.1以其不爭也. (老子甲本 5)130

All under heaven delight in advancing him while never tiring of him, because of his not competing.

130 See section 3.3.3 example 46 for another possible analysis of the same example.

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In the following examples, the predicate marked by ye 也 expresses the goal. A goal is a

reason for acting, so it is natural to expresses it as a cause:131

53) 9.33. 夏用戈，征不服也。(唐虞之道 13)

When the Xia used weapons, it was to castigate those who did not comply.

54)12.14.教非改道也，效之也。12.15. 學非改倫也，學己也。(尊德義 4-5)

Teaching is not (aimed at) changing the way, but to imitate it. Learning is not (aimed at) changing moral

principles, but to learn about oneself.

Pulleyblank (1995: 63) analyzes causal sentences like the ones given above132 as cases of

unmarked nominalization. The special usage of particle copula ye 也133 and the explanatory

usage of the clause connector ye 也serve the same discourse function. This can be grasped

vividly by comparing example 48 above with the following passage, where causal clauses with

ye 也 are simply underlined and where ‘because of’ NPs are doubly underlined, but there is no

syntactically motivated reason to consider the verbal clauses as nominalized just because nouns

like tian 天 ‘sky’ and ren 人 ‘man’, occur with ye 也 in the sense of ‘because of Heaven/ natural’

and ‘because of man/man-made’:

55)故桀、紂雖不肖，其亡、遇湯、武也，遇湯、武、天也，非桀、紂之不肖也；湯、

武雖賢，其王遇桀、紂也，遇桀、紂，天也，非湯、武之賢也。 (呂氏春秋

14.5.1.2)134

131 As noted by Thompson, Longacre and Hwang (2007: 250) in many languages, purpose and reason clauses are encoded in the same way. 132 The example he analyzes has the same structure of my example 49. 133 In this usage (see section 5.3.3) the nominal predicate is in a causal relationship with the subject, and it can be interpreted as “it is because”, “it is due to”, as in the following example (ex. 46, section 5.3.3): 46) 7.14. 遇不遇，天也。(窮達以時 11) Meeting or not meeting (with success), is due to Heaven. 134 See also the following example: 夫禹遇舜，天也；禹周於天以求賢者，事利黔首，水潦川澤之湛滯壅塞可通者，禹盡為之，人也。夫湯遇桀，武遇紂，天也；湯武修身積善為義，以憂苦於民，人也。(呂氏春秋·146·1·2) That Shun encountered Yao was due to heaven. Yu’s making a circuit of the world searching for worthies whose service would benefit the black haired people, and his dredging and diking of rivers, ponds, streams

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Thus, though Jie and Zhou Xin were unworthy, they were destroyed because they encountered kings Tang

and Wu. Their encountering Tang and Wu was attributable to Heaven and not to their lack of worth.

Though Tang and Wu were worthies, they became kings because they encountered Jie and Zhou Xin. Their

encountering Jie and Zhou Xin was attributable to Heaven and not to their being worthies (Kroll and Riegel)

Until we gather more data, it is difficult to establish what is the nature of the relationship

between ‘because of’ copular constructions and explanatory clauses, and it is preferable to treat

the two as separate.

4.3.2. Exegetical clauses (‘X’ (a given portion of text) means Y) Exegetical clauses are clauses commenting and elucidating over the literal meaning of a

given expression.135 In this pattern a statement X is first given (be it a quotation or a sentence

which needs to be explained) and then commented upon by a final clause Y. Most often, such

pattern occurs when there is a question asking for the meaning of a quotation or a paradoxical

statement, and ye 也 is preceded by a verb of saying, like yan 言 ‘to speak, to talk’ and dao 道

‘to speak, to explain’.136

I will examine all the instances of such usage dividing them into passages containing a

question and an answer (4.3.2.1), and passages without questions and answers (4.3.2.2).

4.3.2.1 Passages containing a question and answer137

Most of these passages contain answers without an explicit subject. Mainland scholars

treat such sentences as one of the three main subtypes of clauses, the shuoming ju 說明句

‘explanatory sentences’.138 I will first treat these cases.

4.3.2.1.1 Without subject and marshes so that they would be passable- these yu did completely on his own and are the results of human effort. (Kroll and Riegel) 135 Exegetical clause is a term of my coinage; equivalent terms (equally of my coinage) might be ‘glossing clauses’ or ‘commentarial clauses’. 136 In Traugott’s terminology (see Traugott 1982) this kind of usage would be referred as textual as opposed to propositional, corresponding to the ‘speech act’ vs. ‘real world’ semantic distinction in Sweetser’s (1990) terms. 137 Wh-questions and answers are typically marker by focus; see section 1.8.2.6 examples 67-68 and note 64. 138 Not to be confused with the usage of the same term by Zhou Fagao (see section 1.1.3) meaning ‘declarative sentences’ (called chenshu ju 陳述句 by Mainland scholars).

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The following passages might contain a verb of saying, like yan 言 ‘to talk’ or dao 道 ‘to

speak’, or no verb of saying, without any apparent difference; in all cases, ye 也 is at the end of

the subjectless final clause, answering a question.

4.3.2.1.1.1 With yan 言139

56)11.47. 「槁木三年，不必為封旗」11.48. 何？11.49. 言陳[挾DYZ]之也.140 11.50. 是以

君子貴成之。(成之聞之 30+1)

“A tree withered since three years should not serve as boundary mark.” What does that mean? It means

making something go full circle - therefore the gentleman values accomplishing something [what has

reached its time without reaching completion is useless, and therefore one must be diligent].

57)11.69. 《君奭》曰: 11.70. 「惟冒丕單稱德」11.71. 何？11.72. 言疾也。11.73. 君子

曰：11.74. 疾之，行之不疾，未有能深之者也。(成之聞之 22-23)

When the “Jun shi” says: “he looked at them and grandly and entirely displayed his virtue”, what does it

mean? It talks about urgency. Treat things with urgency, if you do not act on them with urgency, there is

nobody who can make them deep.”

4.3.2.1.1.2 With dao 道

58)11.42.《君奭》曰：11.43.「襄我二人，毋有合在音」何？11.44.道不悅之詞也。(成

之聞之 29)

The Jun Shi says: “Except for (the work of) our two men (=the founders Wen and Wu), there is no

harmony in the sounds (=agreement with others)”- what does it mean? It tells words of discontent.

4.3.2.1.2 With subject There are two passages where the answer contains a subject. They all contain the verb

yan 言, following the subject 此言也 “these words”:

139 See 6.2.3 for two examples (ex 52 and ex 53) where, respectively, yi 矣 and yan 焉 are used instead of ye 也. 140 The character 陳/挾 is problematic (see Liu 2003: 144 and Ding 2000: 173). The meaning “full circle” is attested in the Zhouli, see GSR 630l.

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59)11.33.大禹曰：11.34.「余茲度天心」何？11.35.此言也，言舍之此而度於天心也。

(成之聞之 33)

In the “Great Yu” it is said: “I here estimate the heart of Heaven”, what does it mean? These words mean

that I settle here and I estimate the heart of Heaven.

60)11.59.《詔命》曰：11.60.「允師濟德。」11.61.何？11.62.此言也，言信於眾之可以

濟德也。(成之聞之 25)

The Shao Ming says: “Being true to the multitude is to increase virtue” what does this mean? These words

mean that being trusted by the people you can increase virtue.

4.3.2.2 Passages without a question and answer. 4.3.2.2.1 Commentary-like passages

When there is no question, exegetical ye 也 might follow a quotation (ex 61), the telling

of an old event (ex 62), an enigmatic statement that require explanation (ex 63):

61)8.21.「淑人君子，其儀一也」.8.22.能為一，然後能為君子,〔君子〕慎其獨也. 8.23.

「〔瞻望弗〕及，泣涕如雨。」8.24.能(走+屈)[差RT]池其羽,後能至哀;君子慎其

[獨也]. (五行 16-18)

"The good man, my lord, his fine deportment is unified". Being able to make (one’s deportment) unified,

after that you can become a gentleman. [the gentleman] is careful about his being alone (=his solitude). "I

gaze after (her), (do not reach her=) can no longer see her, the tears are like rain."When one can “move

unevenly its wings”, after that one can reach grief; the gentleman is careful about his [being alone (=his

solitude)].

62)9.39.夫古者舜居於草茅之中而不憂，升(登QXG)為天子而不驕。9.40.居草茅之中而

不憂，知命也；9.41. 升為天子而不驕，不流也。(唐虞之道 15-17) 141

Now in antiquity Shun resided in the middle of the wilderness and was not grieved, he rose to be Son of

Heaven and was not conceited. Residing in the middle of the wilderness and not being grieved, is to know

fate/because one knows fate. Rising to be Son of Heaven and not being conceited, is not letting oneself

go/because one does not let oneself go.

141 As reflected in my translation, a causal reading is also possible.

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63) 3.13.君子居則貴左, 用兵則貴右. 3.14.故曰：兵者, [不祥之器也.] 3.15. 〔不〕得已而

用之, 銛[恬LL] 功 [龔RH:217 n.10] 為上. 3.16.弗美也。3.17. 美之，是樂殺人。3.18.

夫樂〔殺，不可〕以得志於天下。3.19.故吉事上左，喪事上右。3.20. 是以偏將軍

居左，上將軍居右，言以喪禮居之也。(老子丙本 6-9)

When the gentleman is at home he values the left; when using weapons he values the right. Therefore we

say, weapons [are instruments of ill omen]; if you have no choice but to use them, it is best to be dignified

and reverent. (The gentleman) does not see them as things of beauty. Whenever one sees them as things of

beauty, then he takes delight in the taking of life. And if you delight [in killing, you cannot] achieve your

aim in the world. Therefore, in auspicious affairs we honor the left; while in matters of mourning we honor

the right. As a result, (when they go into battle) the lieutenant general stands on the left, while the supreme

general stands on the right. This means they act as they would at a funeral rite. (Henricks)

Example 63 comes at the end of a relatively long and complex passage where it is

explained why in military matters the inauspicious right is given preference to the auspicious left.

Before the discovery of the Mawangdui and Guodian manuscripts, most commentators thought

that the words 言以喪禮居之也 were the interpolation of an earlier commentator, but they are

now believed to belong to the original text.142

4.3.3 Definitions (‘X’ (a given term) means Y)

In the following passages, where there is no verb of saying, no question (beside example

64) and no quotation to explain, the function of ye 也 is also explanatory, somehow equivalent to

a gloss providing the definition of a given term. Most of the examples of this pattern come from

the collections of short sayings called yucong 語叢 by the Guodian editors:

64)2.14. 寵辱若驚 [纓GDE], 貴大患若身. 2.15. 何謂寵辱? 2.16. 寵為下也.(老子乙本 5-6)

142 Liao 2003: 550. Mencius uses this pattern twice to comment on the meaning of quotations from the book of Odes: 1) 詩云：『刑於寡妻，至于兄弟，以御於家邦。』言舉斯心加諸彼而已。(Mencius 1.7) “It is said in the Book of Poetry, His example affected his wife. It reached to his brothers, and his family of the State was governed by it. --The language shows how king Wen simply took his kindly heart, and exercised it towards those parties” (Legge); 2) 詩云：『既醉以酒，既飽以德。』言飽乎仁義也，所以不願人之膏粱之味也；令聞廣譽施於身，所以不願人之文繡也。」(Mencius 11.17) “It is said in the Book of Poetry, He has filled us with his wine, He has satiated us with his goodness. Satiated us with his goodness, that is, satiated us with benevolence and righteousness, and he who is so satiated, consequently, does not wish for the fat meat and fine millet of men. A good reputation and far-reaching praise fall to him, and he does not desire the elegant embroidered garments of men.” (Legge).

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Being favored is disgraceful - it is like being in bondage. Take seriously matters that cause great distress-

treat them as if they could mean your life. What does "Being favored is disgraceful" mean? Receiving favor

puts you in a dependent position. (Henricks modified)

65)8.47. 聞君子道，聰也。8.48. 聞而知之, 聖也. 8.49. 聖人知而[天LZ] 道也. (五行

26)143 Hearing about the way of the gentleman, is being sharp-eared. Hearing about it and understanding it, it's

being a saint. Saints understand the way of Heaven.

66)15.61. 父子，識上下也。15.62. 兄弟，識先後也。(語叢一 69-70)

To be father and son means to understand (the relation between) superior and inferior. To be elder and

younger brothers means to understand who has precedence and who goes last.

67)15.58. 學，教其[斯HAR]也。(語叢一 61)

Studying means to be taught this (=things as they are). (Harbsmeier)

68)15.86. 數，不盡也。(語叢一 90)

In counting one does not reach an end. (Harbsmeier)

69)16.28. 譁，自宴也。16.29. 賊，退人也。(語叢二 43-47)

Being boastful, one makes oneself happy. Being rebellious, one drives others away.

70)17.1. 1父亡惡，君猶父也，17.1.2 其弗惡也，17.2.1 猶三軍之旌也，17.2.2 正也。

17. 3. 所以異於父，君臣不相存也, 則可已. (語叢三 1-3)

The father does not have any fault; the lord like the father does not find any fault in him, like the banner of

the three armies he is correct. As for that by which he differs from the father, lord and minister do not exist

for each other, (their relationship) can be terminated.

4.4 Diachronic connection to focus usage

143 Csikszentmihalyi (2004: 297) notes that line 8.49 might be a misplaced commentary.

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The study of language change relies on the analysis of contexts where a given morpheme

or construction is systematically liable to more than one interpretation, which serve as bridges

(therefore the name ‘bridging contexts’) from a previous to a later usage.

It is therefore significant that some sentences here below might be interpreted as

exegetical and at the same time as causal:

71)1.86. 未知牝牡之合, 朘怒，精之至也。1.87. 終日呼而不嚘，和之至也. 144

(老子甲本 34)

It does not know of the union of male and female yet its male member will stir: this is because/it means that

its virility is at its height. It holds all day yet does not become hoarse: this is because its harmony is at its

height. (Lau modified)

72)17.1. 1父亡惡，君猶父也，17.1.2 其弗惡也，17.2.1 猶三軍之旌也，17.2.2 正也。

17. 3. 所以異於父，君臣不相存也, 則可已. (語叢三 1-3)145

The father does not have any fault; the lord is like the father, (and so) one does not find any fault in him,

like the banner of the three armies, he is correct. As for that by which he differs from the father, it means/ is

because lord and minister do not exist for each other, so (their relationship) can be terminated.

More in general, across categories C1 and C2 and beyond, ye 也 can be interpreted, based

on the context, as encoding more than one relationship at once, as can be seen in the following

examples where ye 也 can be interpreted as encoding both conditional and causative as well as

temporal (ex.73), adversative and concessive 146as well as causal (ex. 74), adversative and

causative (ex. 75), causal and temporal (ex.76) relationships.

144 See section 5.3.3 ex. 47 145 The same example has been analyzed above as exegetical (see ex 70). 146 In my analysys I have not treated concessives as a separate function but as a subtype of conditionals. There is only one instance of a concessive explicitely marked by the connective sui 雖: 14.5. (茍不) 由其道，雖堯求之弗得也。(六德 7) (If not by) following his [=the proper] way, even if Yao would seek it, (even) he would not get it. Sui 雖 (which occurs ten times in the GD corpus) is not otherwise followed by ye 也 (beside the problematic passage in example 24, section 6.1.2.5). As for other cases, the concessive interpretation is speculative, as in the following example: 1.100. 持而盈之，不 {不} 若已。1.101. 揣 (湍GDE) 而群之，不可長保也. (老子甲本 37-38)

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73)1.58.其安也, 易持也;1.59.其未兆也, 易謀也;1.60.其脆也,易判(泮LL)也;1.61.其幾也，

易散也。1.62. 為之於其亡有也, 1.63. 治之於其未亂. (老子甲本 25-26)147

If/when something is at rest, then it is easy to hold/something is at rest, because it is easy to hold, if it has

not yet given a sign, it is easy to plan for, if it is fragile it is easily broken, if it is minute is easily scattered.

If you act on it when it does not (yet) exist, you will control it before it turns into chaos. (Henricks modified)

74)1.7.1聖人之在民前也，以身後之；1.7.2其在上也，以言下之。1.8.1其在民上也，民

弗厚也；1.8.2其在民前也，民弗害也。1.9. 天下樂進而弗厭。(老子甲本 3-4)148



if he is in front of his people, they do not regard him as posing a threat. /(So) he is on top of his people, yet

they do not regard him as heavy; he is in front of his people, yet they do not regard him as posing a threat.

/This is why he he is on top of his people, and they do not regard him as heavy; this is why he is in front of

his people, and they do not regard him as posing a threat All under heaven delight in advancing him while

never tiring of him. (Henricks modified)

75)3.13.君子居則貴左，用兵則貴右。3.14.故曰：兵者，〔不祥之器也.〕3.15.〔不〕

得已而用之, 銛[恬LL] 功[龔RH:217 n.10] 為上. 3.16. 弗美也。(老子丙本 6-7)149

When the gentleman is at home he values the left; when using weapons he values the right. Therefore we

say, weapons [are instruments of ill omen]; if you have no choice but to use them, it is best to be dignified

and reverent. But/so (the gentleman) does not see them as things of beauty. (Henricks modified)

76)15.56. 當其然而行，治焉爾也。(語叢一 59)

When he acts according to how things are, then he is being well directed./He acts according to how things

are, because he is being well directed.

To accumulate until you have filled it, is not as good as stopping in time. Even if you measure it and amass it, it cannot hold out very long. (Henricks). 147 See also section 3.2.2 ex. 38. 148 The Wang Bi text adds 是以 to lines 1.7.2, 1.8.1-1.8.2, interpreting them as causal: 是以欲上民必以言下之,欲先民必以身後之是以聖人處上而民不重, 處前而民不害 (see Chart 1 section 1.7.2). According to D. C. Lau (1982:99): “Therefore the sage takes his place over the people yet is no burden; takes his place ahead of the people yet causes no obstruction.That is why the empires supports him joyfully and never tires of doing so.”(the Wang Bi passage is slightly different due to a change in the order of the sentences).: 149 The Wang Bi text has er而 before 美: 君子居則貴左，用兵則貴右。兵者不祥之器，非君子之器，不得已而用之，恬惔為上。勝而不美

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What we see in these examples, lacking the connectives ze 則 “then”, gu 故, shiyi 是以

and ciyi 此以 “so, thus, therefore”, is a continuum of interpretations between adversatives,

concessives, conditionals, temporals and causals. The semantic relationship among this kind of

clauses has been recently investigated in English, Swedish, Spanish (see Couper-Kuhlen and

Kortmann 2000), as well as in Chinese (see Jiang 2004) and it is in fact a cognitiver feature that

belongs to every language, based on the fact that adversatives, just like concessives, encode a

contrast between a statement and an inferred assumption, as in the couple of sentences John is

rich but his brother Bill is poor and John is rich and yet his brother Bill is poor (Lang 2000:

244). Similar connections have been found between adversatives and causatives (see Schwenter

2000). As for the connections between concessive and conditional, conditional and causal and

conditional and temporal we already noticed them while analyzing our examples.

Adversativity, which is at the center of these semantic relationships, is based on contrast,

which is a main feature of focus; the fact that clauses marked by ye 也 and no connectives can be

interpreted in various ways which are related to adversativity suggests a diachronic path from

focus to the other functions, namely from ye 也 as focus marker (in its contrastive/adversative

function) and ye 也 as clause connector. While hypothetical, this diachronic path is motivated by

the data (which provide bridging contexts) and supported by recent studies in cognitive

linguistics and typology.

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Chapter 5

Ye 也 marking nominal predicates

In this chapter I will deal with ye 也 marking nominal predicates (function D) and

assertions (function D1).

In section 5.1 I will provide the theoretical background for my analysis, with a brief

overview of the typological discussion on copulas (nominal predicate markers) and how the

recent approach by Stassen allows to describe ye 也 as a special kind of copula, a particle copula,

developing from a focus marker into a nominal predicate marker; in section 5.2 I will analyze the

different types of nominal predicates in the GD corpus in term of their internal structure; in

section 5.3 I will analyze the logical and discourse functions that these nominal predicates

display; in section 5.4 I will analyze ye 也 as a marker of assertion (5.4.1) and its relationship

with functions A and D (5.4.2).

5.1 A typological approach to Copulas

Most scholars of OC linguistics debating about the status of ye 也, whether or not it is a

copula, or rather just, as Pulleyblank puts it, a “mark of noun predication” (Pulleyblank 1995:

20), refer to notions of copulas that go back to early 20th century linguistics, or even earlier. Like

many linguistic terms, ‘copula’ has a history, and retracing its history is necessary to clarify its

usage.

The classical notion of copula has been influenced by three distinct traditions (Moro 1997:

248-261).

The first tradition goes back to Aristotle, who considers the copula as the sign of tense, or

more generally of those inflectional features that are normally expressed syncretically on the

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verbal predicate in Indo-European languages; this tradition has not much to contribute to the

Chinese case.

The second tradition, starting from the Medieval logicians, most importantly Abelard

(12th century) who coined the name copula (which means ‘link’ in Latin) and reaching its

canonical expression with the 17th century Grammar of Port Royal, considers the copula as sign

of affirmation, indispensable for the basic logical act of judgment (which is the connection of

names in a predicative relationship by means of a copula) (Moro 1997: 252). As the Grammar of

Port Royal is the most important Western source of Ma Jianzhong’s Mashi wentong 馬氏文通,

(Peyraube 2001), the choice of the term panduan ju 判斷句 (literally “judgmental sentences”)

most probably comes from there (see section 1.1.2).

The third tradition goes back to Frege and Russell and the attempt to use mathematical

logic to describe natural language; for them the copula is a mark of identity. Bloomfield’s and

Zhou Fagao’s terminology of equational sentences comes from here (see section 1.1.3), even

though Zhou states explicitly that the A=B relationship between subject and predicate is a

syntactic, not a logical relationship (Zhou 1961: 6). When Peyraube and Wiebusch consider ye 也

as a copula “when it links a NP subject and a nominal predicate and expresses an assertion”, they

cite Frege in support of their definition of assertion as the act by which one thinks or states a

judgment as true, be it in its affirmative or negative form (Peyraube and Wiebusch 1994: 388 and

401 n. 12).

Pustet 2003, the most comprehensive typological account of copulas across languages,

rejects the Aristotelian notion of the copula as marker of tense, or more in general as a syntactic

‘hitching post’ to which verbal inflectional categories can be attached, as a viable typological

account of copular usage (Pustet 2003: 2-4); as for the notion, going back to Abelard and Port

Royal, of the copula as a necessary linker between subject and predicate, it is also not consistent

with the existence of languages, such as Tagalog, where nominal predicates regularly occur

without any linking item (Pustet 2003: 2). Such languages lack copulas entirely, and express

nonverbal predicates directly, a situation that Stassen, the author of the other major book on

copulas, refers to as “zero encoding” (Stassen 1997: 62-5). As for the third notion, it is not

empirically testable in natural languages.

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The motivation for the use of copulas, according to Pustet (2003: 4), is to be seen neither

in its morphological or semantic function, but rather in the syntactic function of rendering certain

types of lexemes eligible for predicate position, enabling a non-verbal predicate to act as main

predicate in those languages and under those circumstances in which this non-verbal predicate

could not fulfill this role on its own.

Pustet’s definition of copula is the following: “a copula is a linguistic element which co-

occurs with certain lexemes in certain languages when they function as predicate nucleus. A

copula does not add any semantic content to the predicate phrase it is contained in” (Pustet 2003:

5). This means, in our case, that we will consider ye 也 following nominal predicates as a

supportive item devoid of semantic content, whose rate of presence in such environment we will

analyze in section 6.4.1 below.

At this point, we need to decide which lexemes in a given language need copulas when

functioning as predicate nuclei or to put it in other words, which lexemes are verbal and which

are nonverbal. The other major book on copulas, Stassen 1997, mentions three criteria to decide

whether a given predicate encoding must be rated as verbal or nonverbal.

The first, the agreement criterion, is based on verb agreement and is clearly not

applicable to language like Old Chinese that lack inflectional morphology (Stassen 1997: 39).

The second, the auxilary criterion, states that: “if a predicate category is marked by the

presence of a supportive item (an auxiliary), then its encoding must be rated as nonverbal

(Stassen 2005: 693). It is important to notice that such a supportive item does not need to be a

verb. While in Indo-European languages copular items are verbal copulas, which have (by and

large) the same morphosyntactic properties as verbs, as English be, Spanish ser and Russian byt’,

large areas of the world show the use of nonverbal copular items. Particularly prominent is the

use of a pro-copula, i.e., a demonstrative or personal pronoun which serves as the linker between

subject and nominal predicate, and which is obligatory in nominal predication. In addition to

pronouns, other nonverbal items are attested in copular function. They are called particle copulas

and have their origin in a variety of markers of discourse-oriented phenomena such as

topicalization, backgrounding, or contrastive focus for subjects or predicates, as in Awtuw

(Papua New Guinea), where the item po is a general focus marker which is generally optional in

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verbal sentences, but nearly obligatory with nominal predicates (Stassen 1997: 486-7), with the

functional motivation that in equational sentences, especially when they are zero marked, the

explicit encoding of information structure is more important than with verbal sentences, which

have many ways of marking the relationship between subject and predicate. In this sense, ye 也

can be defined a particle copula, as in my corpus, as I will show in section 6.4.1, ye 也 co-occurs

with nominal predicates with an extremely high regularity. Even with this expanded notion of

copulas, for languages that lack both agreement and auxiliaries like Tagalog the two

aforementioned criteria are not applicable.

The third criterion is the negation criterion, stating that “if a predicate category has a

negation that differs from the negation of predicate verbs, then the encoding of that predicate

category must be rated as nonverbal.” OC has a special negator for nominal predicates, fei 非.

OC, according to the auxiliary and the negation criteria, encodes copulas only for nominal

predicates.

The definition of copula appropriate for OC is therefore “a semantically empty element

which co-occurs with nominal predicates and is negated by fei 非.”150 Nominal predicates are in

general followed by ye 也, which can therefore be considered a copula.151

5.2 Types of nominal predicates These are the types of nominal predicates in the GD corpus: 1) bare nouns (5.2.1) 2)

complex NPs, namely nouns modified by other nouns, demonstratives, numerals or stative verbs

used attributively (5.2.2); 3) noun phrases with zhi 之 and qi 其 (including NP之VP and NP之

NP, as well as 其VP and 其NP) (5.2.3), 4) nominalized sentences with suo 所 (5.2.4), 5) verb

phrases with zhe 者 (5.2.5); 6) clauses with you 猶 “like” (5.2.6) constitute a special case.

5.2.1 Bare NPs

While items 2) to 5) are unambiguously nominal, deciding about the word class of

unmodified lexical items such as nouns in a language such as OC that does not have 150 I will analyze the negator fei 非 in section 6.1.2. 151 As shown in detail in section 6.4.1.4, particle copula ye 也 alternates with zero copula, a situation that Stassen (1997: 91) has found to be fairly common in languages using particle copulas.

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morphologically defined word classes requires us first to discuss briefly the issue of how to

identify the word class of unmodified lexical items in OC.

I will not try here to provide a solution to the general problem of identifying the word

class of unmodified lexical items independently of a given syntactic environment, a problem that

has been already investigated in detail by Kennedy 1956 [1964], Cikoski 1978 and Liu 1991,

without providing ultimate results, but simply to make explicit the criteria for my identification

of the 76 occurrences of bare nouns serving as nominal predicates followed by ye 也.

When a bare lexical item serves as predicate, if there is an equational relationship

between the subject and the predicate (A= B), I identify the predicate as nominal, both when the

bare lexical item is unambiguously a noun (as in example 1) and when it is a nominalized verb

(as in example 2):

1) 4. 20. 下，土也，而謂之地。21. 上，氣也，而謂之天。22.道亦其字也 (太一生水, 10)



2) 17.45. 踴，哀也，46. 三踴，文也。(語叢三 41)

Jumping is (an instance of) grief, jumping three times, is (an instance of) civility.

In the following example, instead, there is no equational relationship between the subject and

the predicate, and the bare lexeme gong 共 functions as verbal predicate:152

3) 14.63. 仁，內也。14.64. 義，外也。14.65. 禮樂，共也。(六德 26)

Humanity is internal. Righteousness, external; Rites and Music, are (both) together (=internal and external).

Some bare nouns only occur as noun phrases, as in the following examples:

152 Nei 內 and wai 外 instead are nominal predicates, “what is internal”, “what is external”; see section 5.4.1.5 ex. 92 and related note.

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4) 15.79. 決與信，器也。(語叢一 107)

Determination and good faith are (like) (fragile) implements.

5) 14.66. 內位父、子、夫也；67. 外位君、臣，婦也。(六德 26-27)

The internal roles are father son and husband, the external roles are lord, minister and wife.

These nouns designate entities, objects and social roles, and are closer to what typologists

call the ‘nominal prototype’ in the so-called notional analysis of parts of speech (Croft 2000: 65).

Other lexical items instead, as the five virtues ren 仁 ‘humanity’, yi 義 ‘righteousness’, li

禮 ‘ritual propriety’, zhi 智 ‘wisdom’ and sheng 聖 ‘saintliness’, occur sometimes as heads of

NPs (examples 6 and 8) and sometimes as head of VPs (example 7).

These terms are:

a) used as abstract nouns and function as subjects in lines 8.1-8.5:

6)8.1.五行：仁形於內, 謂之德之行，不形於內謂之行。8.2.義形於內謂之德之行，不形

於內謂之行。8.3.禮形於內謂之德之行，不形於內謂之[行].8.4.[智形]於內謂之德之

行，不形於內謂之行。8.5.聖形於內謂之德之行，不形於內謂之 {德之LZ} 行。(五

行 3-4)

The five practices: (when) humanity takes shape in the inside, it is called "the practice of virtue", when it

does not take shape in the inside, it is called "practice". (When) righteousness takes shape in the inside, it

is called "the practice of virtue", when it does not take shape in the inside, it is called "practice". (When)

ritual propriety takes shape in the inside, it is called "the practice of virtue", when it does not take shape in

the inside, it is called "practice". (When) wisdom takes shape in the inside, it is called "the practice of

virtue", when it does not take shape in the inside, it is called "practice". (When) saintliness takes shape in

the inside, it is called "the practice of virtue", when it does not take shape in the inside, it is called "practice

[of virtue]".

b) used as stative verbs (beside li 禮)153 in lines 8.34-8.36:

153 Li 禮, which I underline to mark the difference with the other items, cannot undergo zero derivation, like zui 罪 and de 德 (see Liu 1991: 85-88).

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7)8.34.不勉不悅，不悅不戚，不戚不親，不親不愛，不愛不仁。8.35.不直不肆[肄]，不

肆[肄]不果，不果不簡，不簡不行，不行不義。8.36.不遠不敬，不敬不嚴，不嚴不

尊，不尊不恭，不恭亡禮。(五行 21-22)

If one does not make an effort, one will not feel pleased, if one will not feel pleased one will not feel close,

if one will not feel close one will not be feel kinship, if you will not feel kinship one will not feel care, if

you will not feel care one will not be humane. If one is not upright one will not toil, if one does not toil one

will not be decisive, not being decisive one will not be resolute, not being resolute one will not act, not

acting one will not be righteous. If one is not far (=keeps some distance) one will not be reverent, not being

reverent one will not be in awe, not being in awe one will not be respectful, not being respectful one will

not be humble, not being humble there will be no ritual propriety.

c) used as nominal predicates in lines 8.47-8.55:

8)8.47.聞君子道，聰也。8.48.聞而知之，聖也。8.49.聖人知而[天LZ]道也。8.50.知而

行之，義也. 8.51.行之而時，德也。8.52.見賢人，明也。8.53.見而知之，智也。

8.54.知而安之，仁也。8.55. 安而敬之，禮也。(五行 26-30)154

Hearing about the way of the gentleman, is being sharp-eared. Hearing about it and understanding it, it's

being a saint. Saints understand the way of Heaven. Knowing it and putting it into practice, it's

righteousness. Putting it into practice in a timely way, it's virtue. Seeing worthy men, is being clear-eyed.

Seeing them and understanding them, it’s wisdom. Knowing it and being at ease with it, it’s humanity.

Being at peace with it and respecting it, it's ritually proper.

In the following case, instead, there are different ways of parsing the same sentence,

which is inherently ambiguous (Henricks 2000: 60). The passage can be analyzed and translated

in two ways, as given here:

9)1.54.{至虛}SUBJ，{恒也}NOMPRED;1.55.{守中[沖LZ]}SUBJ，{篤也}NOMPRED。1.56.萬物旁

作，居以須復也。1.57. 天道員員[圓圓]，各復其根。(老子甲本 24)

Extreme emptiness (this is real) constancy; guarding the void (this is real) firmness (Liao 2003: 244-250).

The ten thousand things, side by side they arise; sitting still we await their return. Now, the forms come

forth in great numbers, but each returns to its root. (Henricks)

154 The double underlined items are the five virtues mentioned above, the items with a single underlinening are other NPs.

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10)1.54.(至VERB{虛恒}OBJ)也；1.55.(守VERB{中[沖LZ]篤}OBJ)也;1.56.萬物旁作，居以須復

也。1.57. 天道員員[圓圓]，各復其根。(老子甲本 24)

As I attain the utmost emptiness and I keep to extreme stillness, the ten thousand things arise side by side

arise and by sitting still I await their return. Heaven and the Dao come forth unendingly, and each returns to

its root. (Lau 2001: 289).

In the first reading, ye 也 in 1.54 and 1.55 marks nominal predication, while in the second

reading it is a topic marker for the two clauses in 1.54 and 1.55 modifying the main clause in

1.56.155 Both readings are possible.156

5.2.2 Complex NPs There are 13 occurrences of nouns modified by other nouns, by demonstratives, numerals

or stative verbs used attributively and they can be always unambiguously identified as

nominal.157 The following are some examples of nouns modified by NPs (ex 11), demonstratives

(ex 12) and numerals (ex 13):

155 As topic marker ye 也 can occur just once, at the end of the second clause (1.55) or after each modifying clause, as here; see section 6.4.3. 156 As the reading given in example 9 would be the only occurrence in the GD Laozi of a bare noun functioning as nominal predicate (all the others being complex nominalized NPs) I am inclined to prefer the reading given in example 10). 157 The following three cases, instead, are ambiguous between an NP reading (a) and a VO reading (b), something that in the case of the first two examples depends on the choice of the word represented by the character yi 宜, whether standing for the word yi 義 OC *ŋaih (‘righteousness’) or for the word yi 宜 OC *ŋai (‘appropriate’) (see also section 1.5):

Ia) 13. 45. 其先後之序則[義道]NP也. (性自命出 19) The order of their sequence (of the emotions) is the way of righteousness.

Ib) 13. 45. 其先後之序則[宜道]VO也。 The order of their sequence (of the emotions) is in accordance with the way.

IIa) 13.52. 其詞，[義道]NP也。(性自命出 22) Their gift is (an instance of) the way of righteousness.

IIb) 13.52. 其詞，[宜道]VO也。 Their gift is in accordance with the way

IIIa) 17.50. 賓客之用幣也，非徵, [納貨] NP也，禮必廉。(語叢三 55+60) The usage of silk offerings by the hosts is not a levy, (they are merely) goods accepted (by the ruler), (therefore in these occasions) rituals must be simple.

IIIb) 17.50. 賓客之用幣也，非徵, [納貨] VO也，禮必廉。 If the host offers silk, (the ruler) does not levy (a tax on them), (he just) accepts the goods, (therefore in these occasions) rituals must be simple.

Readings Ia and IIa are preferrable because in 性自命出 the graph yi 宜 tends to be used as yi 義 “right”; reading IIIa is preferrable because 納貨也 is parallel to 非徵, which is a nominal predicate negated by fei 非.

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11)8.6.德之行五, 和謂之德，四行和,謂之善。7.善，人道也。8.德，天道也。(五行 4-5)

The practices of virtue are five, (when they) are in harmony they are called "virtue", (when) the four

practices are in harmony they are called "good". Good is the way of man. Virtue is the way of Heaven.

12)9.26. 愛親尊賢，虞舜其人也。(唐虞之道 10)

Loving those who are close and respecting the worthies, Shun of Yu was such a man.

13)14.8.有率人者，有從人者；9.有使人者，有事人〔者〕；10.〔有〕教者，有受者。

11. 此六職也。(六德 8-10)

There are those leading others, and there are those following others, those commanding people and those

serving people, those instructing and those receiving (instructions), these are the six functions.

5.2.3 Noun phrases with zhi 之 and qi 其

Whatever the view on the nature of zhi 之, be it a nominalizer or a determinative particle,

there is agreement on the fact that zhi 之 phrases (including both NP之VP and NP之NP phrases)

are noun phrases, just as qi 其 phrases are (including both 其VP and 其NP phrases).

There are 57 occurrences of ye 也 after zhi 之 phrases and qi 其 phrases functioning as

nominal predicates (54 occurrences of zhi 之 phrases and 3 occurrences of qi 其 phrases). The

following are representative examples of NP之NP (14), NP之VP (15), 其NP (16):

14)8.94. 簡，義之方也。95. 匿，仁之方也。 (五行 40-41)

Resoluteness is a method of righteousness, leniency is a method of humanity.

15)1.97.返也者，道〔之〕動也。1.98. 弱也者，道之用也。(老子甲本 37) "Returning" is the way the Way moves; "Weakness" is the way the Way works. (Henricks)

16)4.20. 下，土也，而謂之地; 21. 上，氣也，而謂之天。22. 道亦其字也。158

158 Here the 其NP phrase is shown by the double underlining, while the single underlining shows the bare NPs (all functioning as predicate nominals).

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(太一生水 10)



The analysis of such cases is unproblematic, while the following example is ambiguous:

17) 2.7 有國之母，可以長〔久。2.8 是謂深根固柢〕， (3) 長生久視之道也。(老子乙

本 2-3)

And if you possess the world's mother, you can last [and endure. This is called the Way of deep roots, a

firm base,] long life, and long-lasting vision. (Henricks)

If 長生久視之道 is understood as in the scope of wei 謂 (the first half of the sentence is

defective and reconstructed according to the received text), then this N之NP would be the object

of wei 謂; otherwise it is a nominal predicate.159

5.2.3.1 N之所VP phrases

One subset of N之VP nominal predicates, the N之所VP, deserves to be analyzed apart,

as they constitute almost half of the cases in which ye 也 is absent after a nominal predicate (5

out of 12 occurrences), as in the following example:

18) 4.9.故歲者，濕燥之所生也。4.10.濕澡者，凔熱[然GDE]之所生也。4.11.凔熱 [然

GDE]者,[四時之所生也].4.12.四時者，陰陽者之所生.1604.13.陰陽者,神明之所生

也.4.14.神明者，天地之所生也。4.15. 天地者，大一之所生也。(太一生水 4-6)

Therefore the year was what was produced by moisture and dryness; moisture and dryness were what was

produced by cold and hot. Cold and hot [were what was produced by the four seasons]. The four seasons

were what was produced by Yin and Yang. Yin and Yang were what was produced by the “gods above and

below”. The “gods above and below” were what was produced by Heaven and earth, and Heaven and earth

were what was produced by the Great One.

159 Sentences with wei 謂 are not normally followed by ye 也 if there is no object topicalization therefore I prefer the nominal predicate interpretation. 160 Here the double underlining shows the absence of ye 也 after a nominal predicate (analyzed in section 6.4.1.1 example 61).

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I will discuss the absence of ye 也 after nominal predicates in detail below in section 6.4.1.

5.2.4 Nominalized sentences and VPs with 所

There are just two occurrences of the pattern N所VP (examples 19 and 20), and nine of

the pattern 所以VP (examples 21 and 22).

19)8. 66. 仁義，禮所由生也. 8.67. 四行之所和也。(五行 31)

Humanity and righteousness are that from which ritual propriety derives, and the way of harmony of the

four practices. They are harmonized and then they are made the same; they are made the same and then

there is goodness.

20)14.84. 君子言信焉(言GDE)爾，言煬焉(言GDE)爾，設(=合)外內皆得也。14.85. 其

反，夫不夫，婦不婦，父不父，子不子，君不君，臣不臣，昏所由作也。(六德

36-38) The gentleman’s words are sincere and that’s it, his words are warm and that’s it, they bring together

internal and external (factors) so that in all cases there is gain. On the opposite, if husbands do not behave

as husbands, wives do not behave as wives, fathers do not behave as fathers, sons do not behave as sons,

lords do not behave as lords, ministers do not behave as ministers, this is from where confusion arises.

21)12.4. 爵位，所以信其然也。5. 征陷 [侵DYZ]，所以攻 […]。6. 刑〔罰〕，所以 […]

舉也。 7. 殺戮，所以除怨也。(尊德義 2-3)

Feudal positions are that by means of which it is made sure that is like this (=that rewards and punishments

are paramount). Punitive expeditions and invasions are that by means of which one attacks […].

Punishments are that by means of which […] actions. Capital punishment (?) is that by means of which one

eradicates resentment.

22)13.51. 幣帛，所以為信與徵也. 13.52. 其詞[貽SHR1: 174 n. 19]，宜[義DYZ] 道也。

(性自命出 33)

Offerings of silk, are that by means of which one enacts trust and reliability; their gift is (an instance of) the

way of righteousness.

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Both N所VP nominalized sentences and 所以VP nominalized verb phrases are regularly

followed by ye 也 while functioning as nominal predicates.161

5.2.5 Verb phrases with 者

Verb phrases followed by zhe 者 are NPs; when zhe 者 is followed by ye 也 in predicate

position, the result is a nominal predicate: “VP者也” is an agentive nominalization meaning

“those that VP”.

23) 6.15. 夫為其君之故殺其身者，效祿爵者也。(魯穆公問於子思 6)

Now, someone who sacrifices himself for his lord is someone who receives salary and rank.

24) 8.104.君子知而舉之，謂之尊賢；8.105.知而事之，謂之尊賢{者也}162。106.[前，

王公之尊賢者也MWD]163; 後，士之尊賢者也。(五行 43-44)

To recognize and to exalt gentlemen, is called revering the worthies. To recognize and to employ them (the

gentlemen), is (also) called revering the worthies. The former is the (way of) revering the worthies among

kings and dukes; the latter is the (way of) revering of worthies among the officers.

25) 8.118.聞道而悅者，好仁者也。119.聞道而畏者，好義者也。120.聞道而恭者，好

禮者也。121. 聞道而樂者，好德者也。(五行 49-50)

One who hearing of the Way feels pleasure is a person who loves humanity. One who hearing about the

Way feels fear is a person who loves righteousness. One who hearing about the way,feels humble, is a

person who loves ritual propriety. One who hearing about the Way, feels joy, is a person who loves virtue.

26)13.130.聞道反上，上交者也。13.131.聞道反下，下交者也。13.132.聞道反己，修身

者也。(性自命出 55-56)

When one hears about the way and reverts to those above, (he) is one connecting above. When one hears

about the way and reverts to those below, (he) is one connecting below. When one hears about the way and

reverts to oneself, (he) is one cultivating one’s person. 161 See section 6.4.1.2, example 65 for an exception. 162者也 in line 8.105 is redundant, as suggested by the context and shown by the comparison with the matching Mawangdui manuscript. 163 The part within square brackets is supplied on the basis of the matching Mawangdui (MWD) manuscript.

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It is a fairly frequent pattern, with 36 occurrences, regularly followed by ye 也 when the verb

phrases with zhe 者 function as nominal predicates.

5.2.6 You 猶 ‘like’

You 猶 occurs 13 times in the GD corpus. In 4 instances it is not the morpheme meaning

‘like’ but the adverb ‘still, yet’ (line 1.34 and 5.143)164 or the verb ‘hesitant’ (line 1.18 and

11.66),165 and it is not followed by 也.

In the following instances, you 猶 means ‘like’ and co-occurs with ye 也. As noted by

Pulleyblank (1995: 18), you 猶 in the sense of “(just) like” is not a verb (it is never negated by bu

不), 166 but a sentential adverb that generally co-occurs with nominal predicates marked by 也. In

the following examples, the phrases between you 猶 and ye 也 are nominals, be they simple

nouns (as in line 17.1 of example 27) or NPs with zhi 之 (line 17.2 of example 27 and examples

28-29):

164 I)1.34. 是以聖人猶難之，故終亡難。 (老子甲本14-15) Therefore even the Sage regards things as difficult, and as a result in the end he has no difficulties. II) 5.143. 龜筮猶弗知而況於人乎？(緇衣 46) If even the turtle shell or milfoil do not let him know (their counsel), how much more so is it with men! (=such a person could not be a good intermediary between the king and the people)” 165 III)1.18. 豫乎〔其〕冬涉川，猶乎其如畏四鄰. (老子甲本8-9) Hesitant were they! Like someone crossing a river in winter. Cautious were they! Like someone wary of his four neighbors. IV) 11.66. 及其博長而厚大也，則聖人不可猶豫憚之。(成之聞之 26-27) When (his understanding) has become wide and deep, then the sage cannot be hesitant or feel fear towards it (the

right way). 166 This is only true for Warring states texts. In the Book of Odes there are 3 occurrences of 不猶 meaning ‘not like’ and by extension ‘not good’ (Ode 21 second strophe, Ode 208 third strophe, Ode 229 second strophe); in these cases, though, you 猶 is not followed by any object. Ode 21.2:嘒彼小星，維參與昴。肅肅宵征，抱衾與裯：寔命不猶。 Minute are those little stars, there are only (visible) the Shen and the Mao; hurriedly we walk in the night, we carry in the arms the coverlet and the (night) chemise; truly our lot is not like (hers). (Karlgren) Ode 208.3:鼓鐘伐鼛，淮有三洲。憂心且妯。淑人君子，其德不猶。 They strike the bells and beat the big drum. In the Huai there are three islands; I am worried in my heart and agitated; The good man, my lord, his virtue is unequalled (or: not fraudulent). (Karlgren) Ode 229.2英英白雲，露彼菅茅。天步艱難，之子不猶。 Brilliant are the white clouds, they shed drops on the Jian plants and the (white) grass; Heaven's course is calamitous; this gentleman is no good. (Karlgren)

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27)17.1. 父亡惡，君猶父也，其弗惡也，17.2. 猶三軍之旌也，正也. (語叢三 1-2)

The father does not have any fault; the lord, just like the father, he does not find any fault in him, like the

banner of the three armies, he is correct.

28)12.59. 為邦而不以禮，猶人之無[亡]所適也。(尊德義 24)

To rule a country without using rites, just like something that cannot be attained by man.

29)13.16. [人之不可] 獨行，猶口之不可獨言也。(性自命出 7)

[Man cannot act] alone, just as the mouth not being able to speak alone.

In example 30, even if there is no ye 也, there is final yu 與, which has been shown by

Graham to be a fusion of ye 也 and hu 乎 (see section 1.1.4.a). This example can therefore be

considered to belong to the same group as examples 27-29 above:

30)1.52. 天地之間，其猶橐籥與？(老子甲本 23)

The space between heaven and earth –just like a bellows.167 (Henricks modified)

The following example is ambiguous, as here the morpheme might mean both ‘like’ and

‘still’:168

31)11.63. 聖人之性與中人之性, 其生而未有非 [別DYZ] 之。11.64. 節於儒 [而GDE (=此)

DYZ] 也，則猶是也。 (成之聞之 26-27)

As for the nature of the sage and the nature of the common man, at birth they do not yet have (something

that) distinguishes them. As they are restrained by it (their innate nature, which they share), it is still so

(=not yet differentiated).

167 I translate the rhetorical interrogative sentence as an affermative. 168 The interpretation of the passage is problematic, the problem being mainly with the meaning of the word written with the character 而. Here Liu Zhao’s proposal of reading 儒 for 而 on the basis of OC pronunciation (Liu 2003: 145) is untenable, and I have followed Ding Yuanzhi’s proposal of glossing而 as 此, namely of understanding it as a demonstrative pronoun (see Ding 2004: 166 and also 古代漢語虛詞詞典2001: 118, A.2). In this context, I understand 是 as the adverb “such”, the clause 則猶是也 “then it is still such” and 猶 as “still.”

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From the context, the interpretation ‘still’ seems to be preferable, and I have therefore not

counted this passage as a case of nominal predication.

Overall, with one exception that will be discussed in section 6.4.1.3 (example 68), you 猶

meaning “like” can be analyzed as an adverb that regularly co-occurs with nominal predicates

marked by 也.169 Any argument based on the non-occurrence of a given element is to a certain

degree speculative. If it would emerge that it is preferable to treat you 猶 as a verb, it would be

analyzed in my model as a semi-copula, and treated in section 5.4.1.2 together with wei 為.

5.3 Functions of nominal predicates

Nominal predicates generally express an equation between the entity referred to by the

subject phrase and the entity referred to by the nominal predicate phrase (A=B), and are therefore

sometimes referred to as equational predicates. We can analyze this equation from two points of

view: its logical value and its discourse function. From a logical point of view, we differentiate

ascriptive and identificational predicates, considering the uniqueness vs. non-uniqueness of the

extra-linguistic referent of the nominal predicate phrases in the universe of discourse (Pustet

2003: 29) (5.3.1); from the point of view of discourse, we can study how nominal predicates are

used in providing definitions, and which alternative devices are used in the texts (5.3.2); finally, I

will discuss a special usage of the copula (5.3.3).

5.3.1 Ascriptive and identificational predicates There are two types of nominal predicates: ascriptive (as in English ‘He is a teacher’) and

identificational (as in ‘He is the teacher’). The prototypical identificational predicate is a proper

name, as in: ‘This star is Alpha Centauri’; the prototypical ascriptive predicate is a class name

(kind, race, profession), as in: ‘He is a professor’.170

In OC an ascriptive predicate like example 32 and an identificational one like example 33

have the same encoding:

169 Two more examples will be discussed in section 5.3.2 (examples 39 and 40). 170 I followed here Pustet (2003: 29 ff.) but the distinction among the two types of nominal predication goes back to Frege and the beginnings of modern logic and philosophy of language (see Yue 1969 and Lyons 1977: 144 ff. ).

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32)15.79. 決與信，器也。(語叢一 107)

Determination and good faith are (like) (fragile) implements.

33)13.43. 教，所以生德于中者也。(性自命出 18)

Education is that by which one generates virtue in the innermost feelings.

An extension of ascriptive predication is illustrated in the following passage, where

instead of equational relationship we have a more loose relationship (instantiation, namely ‘X is

an instance of Y’):

34)13.51. 幣帛，所以為信與徵也; 13.52. 其詞[貽SHR1: 174 n. 19]，宜[義DYZ] 道也。

13.53. 笑，禮之淺澤也。13.54.樂，禮之深澤也。 (性自命出 21-23)

Offerings of silk, are the means to enact trust and reliability; their gift is (an instance of) the way of

righteousness. Smiling, is (a sign of the) superficial moisture (=initial influence) of the rites. Joy, is (a sign

of the) deep moisture (=lasting influence) of the rites.

As we do not have explicit markers of definiteness like the English articles, sometimes it

is difficult to tell apart the two uses.171 In the following passage, for example, we do not know if

the recurring pattern NP之方 should be translated as “the method” (the only one) or “a method”

(one among many):

35)13.86. 恕，義之方也。 87. 義，敬之方也。88. 敬，物之節也。89. 篤，仁之方也。

90. 仁，性之方也。91. 性或生之。92. 忠，信之方也。93. 信，情之方也。(性自命

出 38-40)

Fairness, is the method (=manifestation) of righteousness; righteousness is the manifestation of respect;

respect, is the regulation of things. Sincerity is the manifestation of humanity; humanity is the

manifestation of inborn nature. Inborn nature in all likelihood begets it (humanity). Loyalty is the

manifestation of trust. Trust is the manifestation of emotions.

171 The line is not always easy to draw even in English; see Stassen (1997: 102-3) for some examples.

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In other cases, though, as in the following example, the context tells us that the pattern

has a non-unique interpretation, it is “a method” (out of many), as both 義之方也 and 仁之方也

are acting as nominal predicates of, respectively, both jian 簡 ‘resoluteness’ and qiang 強

‘hardness’, and ni 匿 ‘leniency’ and rou 柔 ‘softness’:

36) 8.94.簡，義之方也。8.95.匿，仁之方也。8.96.強，義之方。172 8.97.柔，仁之方

也。 (五行 40-42)

Resoluteness is a method of righteousness. Leniency is a method of humanity. Hardness is a method of

righteousness. Softness is a method of humanity.

As our texts are not technical texts about logic, where the inability of expressing clearly

the uniqueness vs. non-uniqueness of given referents might cause significant problems, it is not

necessary to further explore this kind of ambiguity. What is important to note is that in OC, as in

the majority of languages investigated by Stassen in his extensive survey (1997:104), the two

types of predicates are not structurally different, unlike in Polish, where identificational

predicates require the presence of a copula, while ascriptives do not (Stassen 1997: 104).

5.3.2 Definitions The GD texts are mostly philosophical essays, where equational predicates are used to

define certain concepts, behaviors, entities or individuals (which we will call A and serve as

definiendum) in terms of other concepts, behaviors, entities or individuals (that we will call B

and serve as definiens).173

In the following examples A precedes B:

37) 8.28. 金聲，善也; 8.29. 玉音，聖也; 8.30. 善，人道也；8.31. 德，而[天LZ] 道

〔也〕。(五行 19-20)

The sound of the metal bell is the good; the tone of the jade stone is saintliness. Good is the way of man,

virtue is the way of heaven.

172 I will discuss this case of unmarked nominal predication in section 6.4.1. 173 See Hurley 2008: 88-89.

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38) 4.9. 故歲者，濕燥之所生也。10. 濕澡者，凔熱[然GDE]之所生也. (太一生水 4)

Therefore the year is what is produced by moisture and dryness; moisture and dryness are what is produced

by cold and hot. (Henricks)

Sometimes, the definition is in the form of a gloss, using the periphrasis A之為言猶B也 “As

for defining A, (it is) like B”, where B is a nominalized stative verb.174

39)8.92.簡之為言猶練[見MC]也，大而罕者也。8.93.匿[暱MC]之為言也猶匿匿也，小

而軫[旁(=溥)CSI]者也. (五行 39-40)

Resoluteness as a term is like "visible", something that is great and rare. Leniency as a term is like "very

hidden", something that is small and common.

40)14.77.綿[放LL](更QXG)之為言也，猶綿[放LL]綿[放LL]也，小而實[遠DYZ](折LL)

多也. (六德 32-33)

Abandon as a term is like “unrestrained”, it is (something) minute and far and manifold.

In other cases B precedes A:

41)13.25.凡動性者，物也；26. 逆性者，悅也；27. 交性者，故也；28. 礪性者，義也；

29. 出性者，勢也；30. 養性者，習也；31. 長性者，道也。(性自命出 10-12)

In general, what moves inborn nature, are external objects, what entices inborn nature, is pleasure, what

makes links with inborn nature, is intention, what polishes inborn nature, is righteousness, what brings out

inborn nature, is circumstance, what nurtures inborn nature, is repeated study, what causes inborn nature to

grow, is the way.

42) 8.75.中心辯然而正行之，直也。8.76.直而遂之，肆[肄]也。8.77.肆[肄]而不畏強

禦，果也.8.78.不以小道害大道，簡也。8.79.有大罪而大誅之，行也。8.80.貴貴, 其

等尊賢，義也。(五行 33-35)

174This pattern is also used in Mencius (without you 猶): 征之為言正也，各欲正已也，焉用戰 [Mencius 14.4] : “‘Royal correction’ is but another word for ‘rectifying.’ Each State wishing itself to be corrected, what need is there for fighting?” (Legge)

144

Making distinctions in the inner mind and then acting upon them in a correct way, is being upright. Being

upright and making progress upon it, is to toil (=being persistent). Toiling (=being persistent) and not

fearing violent resistance, is decisiveness. Not harming the great way by means of the small way, is being

resolute. Punishing greatly those who committed great crimes, (one can) do (it) (=it is proper). Treating the

nobles as nobles, on a par with respecting the worthy men, is righteous.

In certain texts, this use of equational predication is contrasted with other more explicit

ways of naming and defining, like the verb wei 謂 “to be called, to be referred to”:

43) 4.20. 下，土也，而謂之地。21. 上，氣也，而謂之天。22. 道亦其字也.

(太一生水 10)



A similar difference is seen in these two almost contiguous passages from the 五行, but

here it is not at all clear that the different discourse strategies imply a contrast; rather, it seems

that example 44 with its explicit definitions with wei 謂 and example 45 with its equational

predicates are just means to provide some textual variation, a rhetorical effect:

44) 8.37.未嘗聞君子道，謂之不聰。8.38.未嘗見賢人，謂之不明。8.39.聞君子道而不

知其君子道也，謂之不聖。8.40. 見賢人而不知其有德也，謂之不智。(五行 22-24)

Never having heard about the way of the gentleman is called being unperceptive. Not yet having seen

worthy people is called being unenlightened. Having heard about the way of the gentleman and not

knowing that it is the way of the gentleman, is called not being saintly. Seeing worthy people and not

knowing that they have virtue, is called being unwise.

45) 8. 47. 聞君子道，聰也。8.48. 聞而知之，聖也。8.49. 聖人知而[天LZ] 道也。8.50.

知而行之，義也。8.51.行之而時，德也。8.52.見賢人，明也。8.53.見而知之，智

也。(五行 28-28)

Hearing about the way of the gentleman, is being sharp-eared. Hearing about it and understanding it, is

being a saint. Saints understand the way of Heaven. Knowing it and putting it into practice, is righteousness.

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Putting it into practice in a timely way, is virtue. Seeing worthy men, is being clear-eyed. Seeing them and

understanding them, is wisdom.

5.3.3 Special usage In some cases (examples 46-47), the nominal predicate is in a causal relationship with the

subject, and it can be interpreted as “it is because”, “it is due to”.

46)7.14. 遇不遇，天也。(窮達以時 11)

Meeting or not meeting (with success), is due to Heaven.

47) 1.86. 未知牝牡之合, 朘怒，精之至也。1.87. 終日呼而不嚘，和之至也. 175

(老子甲本 34)

It does not know of the union of male and female yet its male member will stir: this is because its virility is

at its height. It holds all day yet does not become hoarse: this is because its harmony is at its height. (Lau)

This special usage of ye 也 after nominal predicates is functionally very close to the

usage of ye 也 after verbal predicates with explanatory function (see section 4.3.1).

5.4 Ye 也 as a marker of assertion

I will now treat a set of occurrences of ye 也 as marker of assertion (function D1, see section

1.6.4). In such function ye 也 occurs 61 times in the GD corpus, in simple clauses that mark

general statements and time-stable truths, after semi-copular verbs and stative (non-dynamic)

verbs. I will first analyze them in term of the types of verbs they contain (section 5.4.1), namely

existential verbs (有, 無) (section 5.4.1.1), the semi-copular verb wei 為 (section 5.4.1.2), the

optative verb ke 可 (section 5.4.1.3), verbs denoting origin (you 由 ‘to come from’, sheng 生 ‘to

originate’) (section 5.4.1.4) and stative verbs (section 5.4.1.5); finally I will discuss the function

played by ye 也 in this environment and its relationship to the focus and particle copula functions

(section 5.4.2).

175 See section 5.3.3 ex. 47

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5.4.1 Types of verbs

What existential verbs (you 有 and wu 無), the semi-copular verb wei 為, the optative

verb ke 可, verbs denoting origin (you 由 ‘to come from’, sheng 生 ‘to originate’), as well as

stative verbs like gong 共 ‘common’, zheng 正 ‘correct’, mei 美 ‘beautiful’, shang 上 ‘best’, duo

多 ‘paramount’, yi 一 ‘constant’ have in common is the shared characteristic of being stative, in

terms of the three features given by Hopper and Thompson (1980: 294): non-agentive subject,

non-affected object, atelic verb. The co-occurrence with ye 也 is in most cases (beside for ke 可)

not a regular feature. What distinguishes these verbs from others in respect of their usage with ye

也, is that other verbs in the GD corpus are not followed by ye 也 in simple clauses.176

5.4.1.1 Existential verbs Existential verbs have non-agentive subject, non-affected object, and are atelic. They are

occasionally followed by ye 也, twice after the existential verb you 有 and twice after the

negative existential wu 無.

5.4.1.1.1 You 有

48) 8.25. 〔君〕子之為善也，有與始，有與終也. 177 8.26. 君子之為德也，〔有與始，

無與〕終也。(五行 18-19)

As for the gentleman's doing good, there is something with which he begins and something with which he

finishes. As for the gentleman's practice of virtue, [there is something with which he begins but nothing]

with which he finishes.

49) 13.34. 習也者，有以習其性也。(性自命出 13-14)

(Through) practice, there are the means to exercise one’s inborn nature.

5.4.1.1.2 Wu 無

50) 8.25.〔君〕子之為善也，有與始，有與終也. 8.26.君子之為德也, [有與始，無與] 終

也。(五行 18-19)178

176 Or in sequence of coordinated simple clauses, mostly sharing the same subject, as in examples 48 and 62. 177 Here ye 也 has scope over both occurrences of the verb you 有 (see section 6.4.3).

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As for the gentleman's doing good, there is something with which he begins and something with which he

finishes. As for the gentleman's practice of virtue, [there is something with which he begins but nothing]

with which he finishes.

51) 15.69. 友，君臣，無親也。(語叢一 80-81)

Among friends and between ruler and minister, there is no kinship.

The majority of the occurrences of existential verbs are not followed by ye 也; these are two

examples among the many:

52) 1.49. 天大，地大，道大，王亦大。1.50. 國中有四大, 焉王居一焉。179 (老子甲本 22)

Heaven is great; the earth is great; the Way is great; and the king too is great. In this realm there are four

greats, and the king counts as one among them. (Henricks)

53) 7.1. 有天有人，天人有分。(窮達以時 1)

There is Man and there is Heaven, Heaven and Man are differentiated.

5.4.1.2 The semicopular verb wei 為

The verb wei 為 “make, do” occurs 172 times in the GD corpus; it is used in the sense of

“to be” approximately 70 times180 and is often referred, in such usage, as copular (Pulleyblank

1995: 20) or semi-copular (Lü 1942 [2002]: 63-65). As in the case of existentials, it is an atelic

verb, with non-agentive subjects and non-affected objects.

In most of its occurrences with the sense “to be”, it is not followed by ye 也, as in the

following example:

54) 1.6. 江海所以為百谷王，以其能為百谷下，是以能為百谷王。(老子甲本 2-3) 178 Text reconstructed on the basis of the matching Mawangdui manuscript. As in example 57 ye 也 has scope over both occurrences of the verb you 有. 179 The first yan 焉 should be interpreted as the conjunction “thereupon”, equivalent to yushi 於是 (see 古代漢語虛詞詞典p. 674 and Liao 2003: 228-230), the second as equivalent to yuzhi 於之 (here: “among them”), which is yan 焉’s most usual function (see 古代漢語虛詞詞典 p. 771). The absence of ye 也 might be related to the presence of yan 焉; see infra 6.2.3. 180 It is often problematic to decide if a given occurrence of wei 為 is semi-copular or not, therefore the approximate number.

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That which allows the rivers and seas to be kings of the small valley streams, is because of their ability to

be below the small valley streams. Therefore, they can be kings of the small valley streams. (Henricks

modified)

It is followed by ye 也 16 times. It occurs 9 times in the pattern 為可VP也:

55) 12.9.仁為可親也，12.10.義為可尊也，12.11. 忠為可信也，12.12. 學為可益也，

12.13. 教為可類也。(尊德義 3-4)

To be humane is to be able to be close (to the people), to be righteous is to be able to be respected, to be

loyal is to be able to be trusted, to learn is to be able to be accrued upon, to teach is to be able to arrange

(things) into categories.

56) 13.97. 所為道者四，唯人道為可道也。(性自命出 41-42)

There are four (ways) to follow, but only the way of man is such that it can be followed.

57) 13.110. 凡人偽為可惡也。(性自命出 48)

In general, man’s false behavior is despicable.

58) 13.117. 凡人之情為可悅也。(性自命出 50)

In general, others’ emotions (=a passionate behavior) are likable.

59) 15.74. 勢與聲為可察也。(語叢一86)

Positions (of power) and reputation count as being open to investigation.

Otherwise it occurs in the following passages:181

60) 12.1.尊德義，明乎民倫，可以為君。12.2.推忿懣，戒惎勝，為人上者之務也。(尊

德義 1) 181 In the following example, wei 為 is also used as the verb “to be” and is also followed by ye 也, but I have analyzed sentences like this, action nominalization (S之VP and 其VP) following verbs of knowledge and perception, as a special case, in section 2.2, example 37: 1.35: 天下皆知美之為美也，惡已[矣MC]；1.36. 皆知善，此其不善已[矣MC]。(老子甲本 15) When everyone in the world knows the beautiful as beautiful, there is ugliness. When everyone knows the good, then there is the not-good.

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Respecting virtue and righteousness, and discerning the moral principles of the people, one can be a lord.

To eliminate anger and resentment, and to guard against hate and the will to overcome (others), is the task

of the people at the top.

61) 14.68.疏斬布絰，杖，為父也，為君亦然。14.69.疏衰齊牡麻絰，為昆弟也，為妻亦

然。14.70. 袒免，為宗族也，為朋友亦然。(六德 27-29)

Un-hemmed coarse clothes, hemp clothes and a stick, for the (mourning of the) father, the same for the

(mourning of the) lord. Un-hemmed coarse garment with frayed edges, clothes of male hemp, for the

(mourning of the) brothers, the same for the wife. (Wearing) clothes that leave exposed the upper body and

avoiding (to wear a cap), is for the relatives of the main branch and the same for friends.

5.4.1.3 Optative ke 可

Ke 可 governing verbs with patient subjects (Pulleyblank 1995: 23) is generally followed by ye

也:

62) 11.78. 唯君子道可近求，而可遠措也。(成之聞之 37)182

Only the way of the gentleman183 can be achieved nearby (straightening oneself), and it can be established

far away (giving order to society).

63) 5.41.子曰：5.42.下之事上也，不從其所以命，而從其所行。5.43.上好此物也，下必

有甚焉者矣。5.44.故上之好惡，不可不慎也。5.45.民之表也。5.46.《詩》云：5.47.

「赫赫師尹，民具爾瞻。」(緇衣 14-16)


of which he commands them, but follow what he enacts. If the superior loves this thing, among the inferiors

there will certainly be those who are more extreme about it. Therefore, one cannot but be careful about the

superior’s loves and hates; he is the standard of the people. The Poetry says: “So splendid is Captain Yin,

the people all look to you.”

182 I take ye 也 to have scope over the whole underlined passage. 183 君子道 is translated here as “the way of the gentleman”. In OC texts a bisillabic noun phrase modifying a noun generally requires the marker of modification zhi 之: 君子之道. In GD texts, though, this is often not the case, and the phrase 君子道 is used many times, as in the following line: 8.11. 士有志於君子道, 謂之志士. (五行 6) “If a candidate official sets his intentions towards the way of the gentleman, we call him ‘aspiring candidate official’”.

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64) 12.49.夫生而有職事者也，非教所及也. 12.50.教其正[政GDE]，不教其人，正[政

GDE]弗行矣。12.51.故共[終DYZ]是物也而又深焉者，可教也而不可疑也.可教也而

不可迪其民，而民不可止也.12.52.尊仁、親忠、敬壯、貴禮,行矣而亡遺;養心於子

諒,忠信日益而不自知也。12.53.民可使道之，而不可使知之。12.54.民可道也，而

不可強也。12.55.桀不謂其民必亂，而民有為亂矣.12.56.受不若也，可從也而不可

及也. (尊德義 18-23)184

Now, they are the ones who have their position by inheritance, they are not the ones who are reached by

education. When one teaches the proper (way of) government but not the proper men, (correct) government

will not be implemented. So [if only] one is thorough (in practicing) these things (=the way of man) and

goes deep into them, one can be taught and (this) should not be doubted. [But] if (people that) can be taught

are not able to lead the people, the people cannot be at rest. If one honors humanity, approaches loyalty,

respects solemnity and values rites, one will acts and nothing will be remiss; if one nourishes the heart with

kindness and goodness, loyalty and trust will increase day by day without oneself even noticing it. As for

the people, one can cause them to follow it, but not to understand it. People can be lead, but not forced. Jie

did not think that his people would necessarily revolt, but people did revolt. Receiving unsuitable (orders),

they can be followed, but not reached (=implemented).

65) 13.80. 凡學者求其心為難，13.81. 從其所為，近得之矣，不如以樂之速也。13.82.

雖能其事，不能其心，不貴。13.83.求其心有偽也，弗得之矣。13.84.人之不能以偽

也，可知也。13.85.〔不〕過十舉，其心必在焉，察其見者，情安失哉？(性自命出

36-38) In general in studying the difficult thing is to seek (into) one’s heart. If one follows (=examines) what one

has done, one will be close to obtaining it, but it is not comparable with the rapidity of using music. Though

one might be able (to accomplish) an affair, if one cannot (possess) one’s heart, it is worthless. If one seeks

after one’s heart with deliberate action (falsity), he will not obtain it. That one cannot use deliberate action

(=falsity) (for obtaining it), can be known. If [one] make mistakes in ten actions (=many times), his mind

must be present in it (=this course of action); if one looks at his appearance, how can one miss (to uncover)

the (underlying) emotions (or: the real situation)? (i.e. one’s own emotions are apparent from one’s

behavioral pattern)

66) 14.96. 道不可偏(體LL)也，能守一曲, 安可以諱其惡，是以其斷訕速。(六德 43-44)

184 The occurrences of ke 可 not followed by ye 也 are analyzed hereunder in example 70; see the complementary analysis of parts of the same passage in section 4.2.1.3, examples 27-32.

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The way cannot be partial, if you can only protect one nook (of it), how can you avoid its（turning）ugly?

Therefore the interrupting of slander must be prompt.

Keyi 可以 ‘can’ instead is generally not followed by 也, as seen in example 66 above and the

ones here below:

67) 1.96. 故知足，不辱；知止，不殆：可以長久。(老子甲本 36-37)

Therefore, if you know contentment you will not be disgraced, and if you know when to stop, you will not

be harmed. As a result, you can live a long time. (Henricks)

68) 2.21.〔故貴為身於〕為天下，若可以托天下矣。2.22.愛以身為天下，若可以寄天下

矣。(老子乙本 7-8)

[Therefore, with someone who values taking care of his life more than] running the world, to him we can

entrust the world. And with someone who dotes on his life as if it were the whole world, to him we can turn

over the world. (Henricks)

The reason why verbs governed by ke 可 (whose subject is regularly a patient) are

followed by ye 也, and verbs governed by keyi 可以 (whose subject is regularly an agent), are

not followed by ye 也, is that the former are turned by ke 可 into atelic verbs, with non-agentive

subjects and non-affected objects.

This is also shown by the fact that ye 也 does not follow ke 可 when it governs a transitive

verb followed by an object (examples 69-70), or, very rarely, a transitive verb with an object

understood (example 71):

69) 11.66.及其博長而厚大也，則聖人不可猶豫憚之。11.67.此以民皆有性而聖人不可慕

也。(成之聞之 27-28)

When (his understanding) has become wide and deep, then the sage cannot be hesitant or feel fear towards

it (the right way). Therefore people all have innate nature, but the sage cannot be imitated.

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70) 12.51.故共[終DYZ]是物也而又深焉者，可教也而不可疑也.可教也而不可迪其民，

而民不可止也。12.52.尊仁、親忠、敬壯、貴禮，行矣而亡遺;養心於子諒,忠信日

益而不自知也。12.53.民可使道之，而不可使知之。12.54.民可道也，而不可強也。

(尊德義 19-22)

Now these are people who have their position by inheritance, not because they have been reached through

education. When one teaches the proper (way of) government but not the proper men, (correct) government

will not be implemented. So [if only] one is thorough (in practicing) these things (=the way of man) and

goes deep into them, one can can be taught and (this) should not be doubted. [But] if (people that) can be

taught are not able to lead the people, the people cannot be at rest. If one honors humanity, approaches

loyalty, respects solemnity and values rites, one will acts and nothing will be remiss; if one nourishes the

heart with kindness and goodness, loyalty and trust will increase day by day without oneself even noticing

it. As for the people, one can cause them to follow it, but not to understand it. People can be lead, but not

forced.

71) 12.44. 夫唯是故, 德可易而施可轉也。(尊德義 37)

Now, because of this, virtue can change (the people) and its (benevolent) extension can be transferred (to

the people).185

The same pattern can be seen also in manuscript variation. The following passage in the

GD Laozi (老子甲本 37-38, lines 1.100-101) is replicated identical in MWDB, but MWDA

(even though partly defective) clearly shows an active reading and has no final ye 也: [不]可長

保之 “you cannot hold it very long”, where the transitive verb bao 保 ‘to protect’ is followed by

the anaphoric pronoun zhi 之:186

MWDA GD MWDB 1 持而盈之，持而盈之，持而盈之，

2 […] 不若已。不若其已。

185 It is clear by the contexts that here yi 易 has to be interpreted as active. One might alternatively argue that ye 也 has scope over the whole underlined passage. Most commentators understand zhuan 轉 meaning “to transform” (the people), parallel to yi 易, but I find the meaning “to transfer” preferrable, as it is the primary meaning of the verb and it can be interpreted passively. 186 See Liao 2003: 358.

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3 […] 銳[.]之，揣而群之，揣而銳之

4 [.]可長保之。不可長保也。不可長保也。

To accumulate until you have filled it, is not as good as stopping in time. Even if you measure it and amass it, it

cannot hold out very long. (Henricks modified)

5.4.1.4 Verbs of origin

The verbs you 由 “coming from” and sheng 生 “arising (from)”, both denoting origin, are

atelic verbs with non-agentive subject and non-affected object, just as the other types of verbs

analyzed above. They are only occasionally followed by ye 也 in simple clauses, in the following

four examples:

5.4.1.4.1 You 由

72) 13.75.吟遊[由LZ](流LL)哀也，噪遊[由LZ]樂也，啾[愁DYZ]遊[由LZ]聲也，嚱(嘔

LL) 遊[由LZ]心也。(性自命出 33)

Moaning comes from sadness, loud sounds come from joy, sadness comes from (sad) sounds and happiness

comes from the heart.

73) 11.3. 是故威服刑罰之屢行也，由上之弗身也。(成之聞之 5-6)

Therefore the frequent practice of the overawing application of punishments and fines, derives from (the

fact that) those in power do not commit themselves personally to it (=virtue).

5.4.1.4.2 Sheng 生

74) 15.57. 政不達文，生乎不達其然也。(語叢一 59-60)

When the government does not attain a well patterned (=enlightened) (condition), (this) originates from not

attaining (a proper understanding of) things as they are.

75) 15.77. 缺生乎未得也。(語叢一 91)

Lack arises from not having got (something).

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5.4.1.5 Stative verbs Stative verbs are intransitive verbs and some of them are atelic, with non agentive

subjects. Stative verbs in OC, unlike adjectives in Indo-European languages, do not require a

copula to serve as predicates, and are therefore not regularly followed by the marker of nominal

predication ye 也, as can be seen in the following example:

76) 1.49. 天大，地大，道大，王亦大。(老子甲本 22)

Heaven is great; the earth is great; the Way is great; and the king too is great. (Henricks)

Here below are the examples of stative verbs followed by ye 也. All the verbs in this

group indicate either value (good, important, superior, beautiful) or similarity (shared,

identical). 187 Here the predicate designates a property of the subject (encoded by verbal

predication with stative verbs), not its belonging to a class (which would be encoded by nominal

predication). There is no compelling reason for considering the stative verbs as being

nominalized and functioning as nominal predicates, with ye 也 functioning as nominal predicate

marker:188

77) 17.1.1父亡惡，君猶父也，17.1.2其弗惡也，17.2.1猶三軍之旌也，17.2.2 正也。(語

叢三 1-2)

The father does not have any fault; the lord is like the father; as he does not find any fault in him, he is like

the banner of the three armies, he is correct.

78) 9.42. 求乎大人之興, 微 [美GDE]也。(唐虞之道 17)

Searching into the rise of great men is beautiful.

79) 12.28. 善取，人能從之，上也。(尊德義 11)

(If one is) good in choosing, so that men can follow him, this is the best.

187 See Stassen (1997: 168-9) for an overview of classes of stative verbs by semantic class, and of how this relates to their tendency to co-occur with copulas. 188 An approach taken by Li Zuofeng and Gassmann and Behr.

155

80) 14.43.一與之齊，終身弗改之矣。14.44.是故夫死有主，終身不嫁，謂之婦.14.45.以

信從人多也。14.46. 信也者，婦德也。 (六德 19-20)

Once having being united with him, until death one should not to change it. For this reason if the husband

dies, she (still) keeps his ancestral tablet, not marrying (again) for the rest of her life, this is what we call a

wife. To use trust to follow others is (his) paramount (virtue). Trust is the virtue of the wives.

81) 14.77. 綿[放LL] (更QXG)之為言也，猶綿[放LL] 綿[放LL]也，小而實[遠DYZ] (折

LL)多也。(六德 32-33)

To express “abandon” in words, it means to be unrestrained, minute and far and manifold.

82) 14.56. 觀諸《詩》、《書》則亦在矣，14.57. 觀諸《禮》、《樂》則亦在矣，14.58.

觀諸《易》、《春秋》則亦在矣。14.59.親此多也，14.60.密(欽LL)此多[也],189

14.61. 美此多也。(六德 24-26)

Look for it in the Odes and Documents, and it is there, look for it in the Rites and Music and it is there,

look for it in the Changes and in the Springs and Autumns and it is there. To be familiar with it is

paramount, to be intimate with it (=the six virtues) is paramount, to make it beautiful (=perfect) is

paramount.

83) 13.22. 四海之內其性一也。13.23. 其用心各異，教使然也。(性自命出 9)

As for (every man) within the four seas, their inborn nature is the same. That in using their minds each is

different, it is education that makes it like this.

84) 7.20. 窮達以時，德行一也。(窮達以時 14)

Failure and success depend on circumstances, but virtuous deeds should be constant.

85) 14.63. 仁，內也。14.64. 義，外也。14.65. 禮樂，共也。(六德 26)190

189 The ye 也 in line 14.60 is just a conjectural integration by the GD editors. As the ‘missing’ 也 comes at the very end of a bamboo strip (see the photographical reproduction of strip 25 in Jingmenshi Bowuguan 1997: 71), which is a typical place where a scribal mistake by omission might happen, the integration is more likely than if it was based purely on parallelism. 190 Nei 內 and wai 外 should be interpreted as nouns (see Mencius 11.4: “告子曰：「食色，性也。仁，內也，非外也。義，外也，非內也。」” The philosopher Gao said, to enjoy food and delight in colours is nature. Benevolence is something internal and not something external; righteousness is something external and not

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Humanity is internal. Righteousness, external; Rites and Music, are (both) together (=internal and external).

5.4.2 Synchronic and diachronic connections with other functions

We said before that what the above-mentioned categories of verbs have in common is

stativity. As already discussed in section 1.6.4 while discussing function D1, Hopper and

Thompson (1984: 726) noted that the more stative the inherent meaning of a lexical item, the

more noun-like it is, and further research in typology by Stassen has shown that adjectives,

existential and nominal predicates are often encoded with similar strategies and that all known

languages conform to the following transitivity scale NOMINALS>ADJECTIVALS>VERBALS,

where the more to the left is an item, the lower is its valence and the higher its time stability

(Pustet 2003: 185-195), a scale that applies even to languages that do not distinguish adjectives

and verbs as parts of speech, so that the finding that in OC lower transitivity items show a higher

tendency of co-occurrence with the particle copula ye 也 conforms to the typological

expectations (Stassen 1997: 156-179).191

As we have seen in section 5.1, the nominal predicate sentence is a sentence type in which

marking of the discourse function of its various parts is more important than in sentences with

other types of predicates (Stassen 1997: 76), and while the motivation for the initial stage of the

usage of ye 也 after nominal predicates and verbs of high time-stability and low transitivity has

probably been the same, in a second stage ye 也 must have been used more and more frequently

after nominal predicates, until it was reanalyzed from a focus marker into a copula particle, as we

something internal. (Legge, modified). There are no examples, instead, of gong 共 “to be the same” used nominally (see section 5.2.1 ex. 3). 191 This is similar to the situation in two languages of the Americas with particle copulas, Alabama and Popoloc, as described by Stassen, and a similar situation holds for the West Chadic language Hausa (Green 2007) and for two Sino-Tibetan languages with particle copulas, Kham, a Tibeto-Burman language of the Rung branch (Watters 2002: 185, 215), and Hani, a Tibeto-Burman language of the Loloish branch (Zhang 2005: 56-57, 136; Li and Wang 1986: 114-115, 125-127). For example in Hausa, a language with focus particle copula (like OC), adjectives can be encoded either with the verb yana ‘be with’, or with the particle copula, as in the following examples (Stassen 1997: 510-511): Kogin yana da fadi River 3SG.MASC.be with width ‘The river is wide’ Kogin mai-fadi ne River ADJ-width COP ‘The river is wide’

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see in the GD corpus. When ye 也 became a particle copula, its optional presence after time

stable predicates, was determined by their intermediate position between nominal predicates and

action verbs, a tendency seen across the languages of the world. 192 This is how function D1 (ye

也 as a marker of assertion) can be related synchronically to the use of ye 也 as particle copula,

and diachronically to its focus usage.

192 The claim that time stable, low transitivity verbs tend to require special informational marking is supported by the fact that most often, when not followed by ye 也, this kind of verbs are preceded by bu 不 and ze 則, which can provide emphasis (bu 不) or contrast (ze 則) to the clause, and emphasis and contrast are typical focus features This can be seen in the following examples, which are among the only extended passages in the GD corpus where ye 也 is not found: a) 8.31. 德，而[天LZ] 道〔也〕。8.32. 唯有德者，然後能金聲而玉振之。8.33. 不聰不明，不聖不智; 不智不仁，不仁不安，不安不樂，不樂亡德。(五行 20-21) Virtue is the way of heaven. Only if one has virtue, thereafter there can be a metal bell sounding and a jade stone causing it to vibrate. If one is not sharp-eared and clear-sighted, one will not be saint not wise; if one is not wise then one will not be humane; if one is not humane one will not be at peace, if one is not at peace one will not be joyful, if one is not joyful one will not have virtue. b) 8.66. 仁義，禮所由生也，8.67. 四行之所和也。8.68. 和則同，同則善。(五行 31-32) Humanity and righteousness are that from which ritual propriety derives, this is how the four practices are harmonized. They are harmonized and then they are made the same; they are made the same and then there is goodness. Contrastive focus on the subject can be obtained also by using other particles, including ye 也 itself, as in the following example where ye 也 and er 爾 both function as subject focus markers before bare stative verbs: c)110.22.君子其施也忠，故蠻親傅(附LL)也；10.23.其言爾信，故轉(亶GDE)而可受也。(忠信之道 7-8) As for the gentleman, when his acts are loyal, then (even) the Man barbarians will come close and approach (him). When his words are trustworthy, then they will be transmitted and (they) could be accepted (by the people). To sum up my argument, ye 也 following verbs of high stativity is only one of the focus strategies available in the GD texts; other focusing constructions or other focus markers for the topic might serve a similar function.

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Chapter 6

Other issues and Conclusion

After having analyzed the four main functions of ye 也, there are four minor questions

that still need to be addressed before I summarize my conclusions (section 6.5). The first is the

usage of the negator fei 非 and the focus marker wei 唯 (section 6.1); the second is the

relationship between ye 也 and the other main final particles in the GD corpus, namely yi 矣 and

yan 焉 (section 6.2); the third concerns the few cases of ye 也 used in non-declarative sentences

(section 6.3); the fourth is the analysis of the absence and presence of ye 也 (section 6.4).

6.1 The negator fei 非 and the focus marker wei 惟/唯 .

6.1.1 Wei 惟/唯

Fei 非, the special negator of nominal predicates, is generally analyzed as a fusion of bu

不 (OC *pə) + wei 惟/唯193 (OC *wi), a legacy from the pre-OC times when wei 惟/唯 was a

verbal copula (Pulleyblank 1959: 183 and 1995: 22).194 I will first discuss briefly the function of

wei 惟/唯.

Wei 惟/唯 recurs 25 times in the GD corpus, 5 times in quotations, 3 of which with a

copular meaning,195 and 20 in the text proper, with the meaning “only”, a quantifier marking

193 The copular morpheme *wi is written as 惟, 唯 and 維. Pulleyblank 1959 uses 唯 as the default form. 194 Most scholars analyze wei 惟/唯 as a verbal copula; Pulleyblank in 1994 (332-338) hypothesizes a demonstrative origin for both wei 惟/唯 and ye 也. Hong Bo (2000) and Zhang (2005) propose to analize wei 惟/唯 as a focus marker whereas 隹 in the oracle-bone inscriptions, the earliest graph and form for all three, is generally regarded as a verb, which according to Yue (2004) later became grammaticalized into a focus marker for the subject (see also Takashima 1997). 195 In the quotations from the Book of Odes, reflecting an earlier stage of language and matching with the received text, wei 惟/唯 occurs with copular function, twice with fei 非: a) 5.21. 《小雅》云：5.22. 「非其止之共, 唯王恭 [邛LL]。[=非其止共, 唯王之邛」(緇衣 7-8)

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scope (restrictive focus) which functions as an emphatic marker of exposure according to

Pulleyblank.196

Here are two examples of the emphatic function:

1) 5.129. 唯君子能好其匹，小人豈能好其匹。(緇衣 43)

“Only a gentleman is able to love his adversaries; how could a petty man be able to love his adversaries.

2) 12.29. 為故, 率民向方者，唯德可。(尊德義 28)

Because of this, to lead the people towards the (true) direction, only with virtue it can be accomplished.

Here wei 惟/唯 co-occurs with ye 也, both marking emphasis:

3) 17.59. 賢者唯其止也以異。(語叢三 52-53)

As for worthy men, it is only by they stopping (places) [where they lay their heart-mind] that they differ.

When it is in the combination fuwei 夫唯, wei 唯 might occur with 也 as in example 4, or

without it, as in example 5.197

4) 1.40. 天[夫LZ]唯弗居也，是以弗去也。(老子甲本 17-18)

But it is precisely (because) he does not dwell on them that they therefore do not leave him. (Henricks)

5) 2.1. 治人事天，莫若嗇。2.2. 夫唯嗇，是以早{是以早}備[服LL] 198；2.3. 是謂〔重

積德〕。(老子乙本 1)

The Xiao Ya says: “It is not the case that they are proper in their demeanor and respect, it is the case that they are the king’s grief.” b) 5.73. 《呂型》云：5.74. 「非用臸[命LZ]，制以刑, 惟作五瘧之刑曰法。」(緇衣 26-27) The “Punishments of Lü” says: “If (the Miao people) do not follow the good, and you regulate them with punishment; (then) it is the making of the punishments of the five mutilations that is called ‘law’.” 196 Namely providing emphasis for a given phrase (see Pulleyblank 1995: 72-74). 197 (夫) 唯 A 是以/是/故 B is a pattern meaning ‘because of A therefore B’ (see Pulleyblank 1959: 181 and Zhou 1961: 259). As I have discussed the two examples at the end of section 1.5 (ex 41 and 42) I will not analyze them further. 198 According to Liao (2003: 379), fu 服 ‘to submit’ should here be understood as de 得 ‘to obtain’.

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For ruling humanity and serving heaven, there is nothing as good as keeping things in reserve. It is

precisely (because of) keeping things in reserve that (people) will early submit; this means [to repeatedly

build up your virtue]. (Henricks modified)

Here wei 唯 does not function as the marker of restrictive focus ‘only’, but has scope

over the whole clause, a function connected with its earlier copular usage.199 The causal meaning

is not part of this function, but is a pragmatic implicature derived from the sequence of a focused

clause followed by a result clause marked by 是以. I emphasize this, because it helps explaining

certain occurrences of fei 非 with causal clauses, as we will see in section 6.1.2.4.

6.1.2 Fei 非

OC is not the only language having a special negator for nominal predicates; Turkish and

Bahasa Indonesian also have one (Stassen 1997: 45-50), and some language with particle copulas

also have one, such as Kham (Watters 2002: 216). Beside when it precedes negated nominal

predicates, where it regularly co-occcurs with ye 也, fei 非 has two more functions, namely

focusing NPs and marking final clauses with explanatory function. This is not surprising because,

as noted by Pulleyblank (1959:180-1), in a previous period fei 非 is to be regarded as the

negative of wei 惟/唯. While in the period under consideration here (600-200 BCE) wei 唯 was

mainly restricted to the meaning ‘only’, we still find, in texts like the Zuozhuan (and, as I will

argue, in the GD texts) “particular features of the use of the two particles which must be

understood in relation to the older stage of the language.” (ib.)

I will discuss the examples in the following sequence: section 6.1.2.1: fei 非 preceding

nominal predicates with final ye 也; section 6.1.2.2: fei 非 preceding nominal predicates without

final ye 也; section 6.1.2.3: fei 非 focusing NPs (always without ye 也); section 6.1.2.4: fei 非

preceding a final clause expressing aim or reason, with final ye 也; section 6.1.2.5: unclear cases,

without final ye 也.200

199 The 是… 的 construction has the same focus function in Mandarin (see Cheng 1983). 200 In the GD corpus there are 14 occurrences of fei 非 with ye 也 and 8 without.

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6.1.2.1 Fei 非 preceding nominal predicates with final ye 也

Most of the seven occurrences of ye 也 in this function come from the very short

sentences of the Yucong 語叢 collections, especially from the Yucong yi 語叢一, which is

dedicated to logic and definitions. Beside example 6, all the other examples are definitions.

6) 12.49. 夫生而有識 [職GDE]事者也，非教所及也. (尊德義 18)

Now, they are the ones who have their position by inheritance, they are not the ones who are reached by

education.

7) 12.62. 治民非懁生而已也，不以嗜欲害其義。(尊德義 25-26)

Ruling people is not worrying about their livelihood only, but also not with (their) cravings and desires to

harm righteousness.

8) 15.18. 信非至齊也。(語叢一 66)

Trust is not (a matter of) perfect equality.

9) 15.22.刑非X[嚴LL]也。(語叢一 64) 201

Punishment is by no means (a matter of) severity.

10) 15.49. 為孝，此非孝也。15.50. 為悌，此非悌也。(語叢一 55-56)

If one deliberately shows filial piety, then that is not filial piety; if one deliberately shows brotherly love,

then that is not brotherly love.

11) 17.8. 父孝子愛，非有為也。(語叢三 8)

Filial piety towards the father and love towards the son, are not (behaviors that can be) performed on

purpose.

Compared with the use of ye 也 following nominal predicates, we see a wider variety of

predicates in the scope of fei 非 as in examples 7 and 11;202 I assume that the underlined elements

201 X (according to the conventions given in the Appendix) stands for an unidentified character, for which Li Ling proposes the meaning into square brackets.

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comprised between fei 非 and ye 也 have been nominalized, based on the semantic relationship

of equivalence between subject (the defined term) and predicate nominal (the defining term).

6.1.2.2 Fei 非 preceding nominal predicates with a long distance final ye 也

There are two examples.

The first is a definition:

12) 17.50. 賓客之用幣也，非徵, 納貨也，禮必廉。(語叢三 55+60)

The usage of silk offerings by the hosts is not a levy, (they are merely) goods accepted (by the ruler),

(therefore in these occasions) rituals must be simple.

Here fei 非 occurs in contrast with ye 也 marking nominal predicates; even if fei 非 is not

immediately followed by ye 也, it is a common pattern that the last occurrence of ye 也 has in its

scope even the preceding sentences.203

The second is followed by a sentence final ye 也 which does not follow a nominal

predicate. In this case, ye 也 does not seem to have scope just over 非其聲204 alone but over the

entire complex clause 非其聲而從之.

13) 13.63. 鄭衛之樂，則非其聲而從之也。(性自命出 27)

As for the music of Zheng and Wei, then it is not his (=the correct) sound (=music), and yet (people) follow

it.

It can be therefore argued that when fei 非 negates predicate nominals, with the possible

exception of example 13, it is regularly followed by ye 也.

202 When following nominal predicates, ye 也 is preceded by nouns, by explicitely nominalized elements and by zero-nominalized bare lexemes (see section 5.2), while fei 非 is often followed by nominalized full verbal clauses without nominalization markers. 203 See section 6.4.3 (ye 也 having scope on more than one clause). 204 It might still be the case that the presence of a final ye 也 discourages the usage of ye 也 after 聲, be it for reasons of euphony or to avoid redundancy.

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6.1.2.3 Fei 非 focusing NPs, not followed by ye 也

The following examples give all the five instances of a special usage of fei 非, where it

does not mark a main predicate but is found with nouns and verbs phrases treated as nouns which

do not form main predicates. It functions as the negative of wei 唯, to focus noun phrases, with

the meaning ‘if (it is) not’ or ‘unless’ (see Pulleyblank 1995: 106):

14) 6.16.恒〔稱其君〕之惡〔者，遠〕祿爵者〔也。〕6.17.〔為〕義而祿爵，非子思，

吾惡聞之矣。」(魯穆公問於子思 6-8)

Someone who constantly [mentions what one’s lord] dislikes, is someone who [removes] (from himself)

salary and rank, and to remove salary and rank (from oneself) [because of] righteousness, if (it is) not for Zi

Si, when would I have heard it?”

15) 14.20.聖與智就矣, 仁與義就矣，忠與信就矣。14.21.作禮樂，制刑法，教此民爾[而]

使之有向也，非聖智者莫之能也。14.22.親父子，和大臣，寢四鄰之殃禍，非仁義

者莫之能也。14.23.聚人民，任土地，足此民爾(黎DYZ)生死之用，非忠信者莫之

能也。(六德 1-5)

Saintliness and wisdom are close [<approach each other], humanity and righteousness are close, loyalty and

trust are close. Instituting rites and music, establishing punishments and laws and instructing the people in

this way to cause them to have direction, if (it is) not for saints and sages, nobody could (achieve) it.

Causing fathers and sons to be intimate and lord and minister to be harmonious and stopping calamities and

disasters in the four corners (of the world), if (it is) not for humane and righteous people, nobody could

(achieve) it. Uniting the people and taking charge of the land and fulfilling the assignments of the people in

life and death, if (it is) not for loyal and trustworthy people, nobody could (achieve) it.

16) 15.63. 亡物不物，皆至焉，而亡非己取之者。(語叢一 71-72)

There is no creature which does not act as a creature, they all get to this point, and there is none who that

does not bring this if (it is) not by himself.

In the three examples above, fei 非 occurs in sentences with negatives, so that the pattern

‘非 NP NEG VP’ (if not for NP nobody would VP) is equivalent to ‘wei 唯 NP VP’ (only NP

would VP). Fei 非 in other words functions here as the negative plus wei 唯, to limit the scope of

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the verb.205 OC seems to belong to the set of languages that, like Welsh (Payne 1985: 232) associate a special negative form with focused elements.

6.1.2.4 Fei 非 preceding verbal phrases and final clauses expressing aim or reason, with

final ye 也

The following examples are instances of another special usage of fei 非, where it

introduces verbal phrases and final clauses expressing aim or reason. The reason for me to insist

in analyzing these sentences as non-nominalized is that they are symmetrical to sentences with

final ye 也 expressing aim or reason (as seen in section 4.3.1), and I intend to treat, as far as

possible, the two sets in the same fashion.

In the following examples fei 非 precedes a verbal clause expressing aim (examples 17-

19) or reason (example 20):

17) 7.15.動非為達也，故窮而不 [困。TZL] 7.16.[學非TZL] 為名也，故莫之知而不吝

(窮達以時 11-12)206

Acting is not for the sake of getting ahead. [studying is not] for the sake of fame, therefore if nobody

appreciates us we should no be regretful.

18) 11.14. 是故君子之於言也，非從末流者之貴，窮源反本者之貴. (成之聞之 11)207

Therefore as for the gentleman’s relationship with words, it is not to follow the value of the lower flow

(=details, consequences), (instead he follows) the value of exhausting (=examining) the source and

reverting to the root.

205 Here are 4 examples, given by Pulleyblank (1959: 181), (1995: 71) and Harbsmeier (1981: 43), of the usage of wei 唯 and fei 非 focusing NPs in received texts: 1) 唯君圖之 (左傳, 昭公·, Year 13, Yang Bojun ed. p. 1239): “This is a matter for your lordship to think about’. 2) 非此之謂也 (Mencius 4.2) “It is not this that we refer to”. 3) 匪舌是出, 維躬是瘁 (Book of Odes, Mao 194, strophe 5) “I cannot bring out my tongue, I only exhaust the body’. 4) 非楚受兵，必秦也。何以知其然也？秦人援魏以拒楚，楚人援韓以拒秦. (戰國策·7·1·7) ‘Unless Chu receive their troops, Qin certainly will. How do I know they think this way? The people of Qin will go to Wei's rescue in order to hold Chu off and Chu will rescue Han in order to stave off Qin.’ See also Yue 2004. 206 The characters in square brackets have been integrated speculatively by Tu Zongliu. 207 This example is not easy to analyze. The part preceded by fei 非 is in contrast with the following 窮源反本者之貴, and as contrast is one of the functions of focus, it might be treated as a case of focus, but there is no ye 也 marking it. I have decided to treat it as a case of fei 非 preceding purpose clauses.

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19) 12.14.教非改道也，效之也。12.15. 學非改倫也，學己也。(尊德義 4-5)

‘Teaching’ is not aimed at changing the way, [it is] aimed at imitating the way; ‘learning’ is not aimed at

‘changing the order of human relations, [it is] aimed at learning about oneself.

20) 7.11.初沈(澹LL)鬱[晦LL]，後名揚，非其德加.7.11.1子胥前多功，後戮死，非其智

衰也。7.12. 驥馰張山，騹(穴+土)於邵來[控於邵棘TZL]，非亡體壯也。(窮達以時

9-10)208 Zi Xu first had many achievements, and later was put to death by execution- it was not because his

understanding had decreased. Fine horses stretching over the mountains (?), fine steeds obstructed by the

thorns of Shao (?), (this failure) is not because (the latter) lack the (right) physical shape. 209

Harbsmeier (1981: 19-22) has argued, from a different point of view, for treating this

kind of sentences as non-nominalized. Among his many examples I will cite the following:210

21) 古之善為道者，非以明民(也)，將以愚之(也)。(Laozi 65)211

Those in ancient times good at practicing the way, it was not for the sake of using it to enlighten the people,

[but of] taking it to keep them stupid.

208 There is no ye 也 at the end of line 7.11. Compare example 48, section 4.3.1, where ye 也 has the same function as in example 19 here, and with a similar absence of ye 也 at the end of line 7.9: 7.5.舜耕於歷山，陶拍(埏LL)於河浦[滸LL]，立而為天子，遇堯也。7.6.皋陶衣枲褐，帽絰蒙巾釋板築而佐天子，遇武丁也。7.7.呂望為臧棘津，守監門棘地，行年七十而屠牛於朝歌，舉而為天子師，遇周文也。7.8.管夷吾拘囚梏{束QXG}縛，釋械柙，而為諸侯相，遇齊桓也。7.9.百里轉鬻五羊，為伯牧牛，釋鞭箠而為朝卿，遇秦穆。7.10.孫叔三謝期(恆GDE)思少司馬，出而為令尹，遇楚莊也。(窮達以時 2-8) Shun farmed at Mount Li, made pottery on the banks of the He. That he stood up and became Son of Heaven, was (because) he met Yao. Gao Tao [but it should be Fu Yue] was wearing a coarse cloth made of hemp and wearing a cap made of a band of hemp as covering kerchief [the attire of a convicted laborer], that he was released from the construction planks and made to help the son of Heaven, was because he met Wu Ding. Lü Wang was a slave in Ji Jin, serving guard as a door keeper in Ji, was seventy years old and was slaughtering an ox in Chao Ge, when he rose and became instructor to the Son of Heaven, (that was because of) meeting Lord Wen of Zhou. Guan Yiwu was detained as a prisoner in manacles and ropes, he was released from his fetters and his cage and became the minister of a lord, because he met Duke Huan of Qi. Bai Lixi was sold in exchange for five goats, and herded cattle for the Bo (family). That he gave up the whip to become a minister at the court, was because he me Duke Mu of Qin. Sun Shu’ao renounced three times to the position of minor horse official of Qi Si, then he went out and became Prime Minister,that was because he met Duke Zhuang of Chu. 209 The interpretation of this sentence is highly problematic, and no agreement has been reached on the correct transcription of the characters in line 7.12. The overall meaning in relation with ye 也 is not problematic, though. 210 Pulleyblank provides examples from bronze inscriptions with fei 非 and wei 唯 preceding verbal clauses, as the Mao Gui 卯簋inscription: “今余非敢 […] 今余惟令汝” (Now it is not that I dare […] Now it is that I command you.”

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22) 非為身體, 皆為觀好。(Mozi 6.19)

It wasn’t as if they were for the body. They were all for external beauty. (Harbsmeier)

23) 故古者列地建國，非以貴諸侯而已. (Xunzi 27.76)

Thus the ancients lined up the land to establish states, (it was) not just to honor the feudal lords with it

Just as we do not treat verbal clauses expressing aim or reason and followed by ye 也 as

being nominalized, but we interpret ye 也 as marking an explanatory relationship between the

preceding clauses and the final one, so there is no reason to treat the above verbal clauses

preceded by fei 非 and followed by ye 也 as nominalized.

6.1.2.5 Unclear cases, without final ye 也

The three remaining examples are unclear, and I will consider them apart.

The meaning of example 24 below, which has been already analyzed above while

discussing you 猶 in section 5.2.6 as example 31, is unclear, as the transcription of the characters

in line 11.65 is uncertain, and the syntax problematic:

24) 11.63. 聖人之性與中人之性，其生而未有非[別DYZ]之。11.64. 節於儒[而GDE (=

此)DYZ]也，則猶是也。11.65. 雖其於善道也，亦非有擇, 數以多也 (?). (成之聞之

26-27) The nature of the sage and the nature of the common man, at birth do not yet have (something that)

distinguishes them. As they are restrained by it (their innate nature, which they share), it is still like this (=a

condition in which there is no difference). (But) even though (initially men are) on the good path，those

who do not choose (appropriately) are a great number (?).

The same holds for examples 25 and 26, which are short fragments:

211 The Mawangdui manuscripts here have ye 也 while the received text has no ye 也.

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25) 17.53. 人之性非與止，呼其孝。(語叢三 57+61)

When the inborn nature of man is not something that stops with it (that expands outwards), we call it filial

piety (?)

26) 17.71. 亡非樂者。(語叢三 66下)

[…] there is none who is not happy […]

In conclusion, my analysis of the use of fei 非 allows the following generalizations: 1) fei

非 is used in three of the patterns that I have analyzed for ye 也: with nominal predicates,

focused NPs and explanatory clauses; 2) fei 非 is not followed by ye 也 only when it focuses

NPs212(as shown in section 6.1.2.3).

6.2 Other final particles

I will here investigate the usage of the particles yi 矣 (section 6.2.1) and yan 焉 (section

6.2.2) in the GD corpus, and their relationship with ye 也 (section 6.2.3).213

6.2.1 The particle yi 矣

Yi 矣 appears quite late in datable documents, with just one example in the Zhongshan

bronzes (Zhang 1982: 301). The GD materials constitute therefore, just as for ye 也, the earliest

reliably dated sizable set of data for the study of yi 矣. I will first review the main, quite

uncontroversial features of the usage of yi 矣 in the GD corpus, where it occurs around 60 times

(one tenth of ye 也’s occurrences) (section 6.2.1.1), and then discuss the relationship between ye

也 and yi 矣 (section 6.2.1.2).

6.2.1.1 Main features of the usage of yi 矣

6.2.1.1.1 Yi 矣 as marker of perfective and perfect aspect

212 There are languages, like Punjabi, where the negative naii triggers copula deletion (see Bhatia 1993: 118-119); the non-appearance of particle copula ye 也 in a clause modified by fei 非, not infrequent in OC texts, is not attested in the GD corpus. 213 The best study on pre-Qin final particles is Guo 1988 [1997].

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Scholars generally agree that the yi 矣’s most basic function is to mark perfective aspect

(representing an action as completed according to Comrie 1976: 12 but it is more appropriate to

describe it in Chinese as an action realized, see Liu 1988) as well as perfect aspect (indicating the

present relevance of a past or future situation, see Comrie 1976: 52).214

In the following examples yi 矣 has perfective function:

27) 6.13. 夫為其君之故殺其身者，嘗有之矣。(魯穆公問於子思 5)

Now, in the past there have been people who have sacrificed themselves because of their lord,

28) 12.3. 賞與刑，禍福之基也，有前之者矣。(尊德義 2)

Rewards and punishments are the foundation of calamity and fortune, and there have been those who put

them in the forefront (of the government).

29) 12.55. 桀不謂其民必亂，而民有為亂矣。(尊德義 22-23)

Jie did not think that his people would necessarily revolt, but people did revolt.

In some cases, as an extension of its perfect function, yi 矣 seems to convey certainty

(which may imply emphasis):215

30) 1.12. 知足之為足，此恒足矣。(老子甲本 6)

The contentment one has when he knows that he has enough - this is abiding contentment indeed.

(Henricks)

31) 12.57.君民者，治民復禮，民除害知[智GDE]。58.罹[思]勞之究也。59.為邦而不以

禮，猶人之無[亡]所適也。60. 非禮而民悅，在此，小人矣。(尊德義 23-25)

214 It is not uncommon for languages to encode both aspectual functions with the same means, as it happens with the Northern Italian present perfect form . 215 It is not uncommon across languages to use perfective markers to indicate surprise value (Lindstedt 2001: 775) or the implication that the proposition so marked has a strong relevance, is newsworthy in and of itself (Lee and Thompson 1981: 283). Lü Shuxiang (1952 [2002]: 230-1) analyzes this kind of examples as exclamatory. They are used by Liu Chenghui to support his claim that yi 矣 marks subjective/inferential statements, see section 6.2.1.2 for a review of his argument.

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If the ruler of people leads them in returning to the rites, the people will eradicate harmful knowledge

(=opinions), (this) is the culmination of laborious thoughts (from the ruler). To rule a country without using

rites, it is something that cannot be attained by man. Making happy the people without the rites, doing this

is just (typical) of petty men.

32) 6.3. 子思曰：6.4. 「恒稱其君之惡者，可謂忠臣矣。」(魯穆公問於子思 1-2)

Zi Si answered: “(Only) one who is always mentioning what his lord dislikes can be truly deemed a loyal

minister”.

33) 11.79.昔者君子有言曰:11.80.「聖人天德」11.81.何？11.82.言慎求之於己，而可以

至順天常矣。(成之聞之 37-38)

Formerly the gentleman had a saying: “The sage is the virtue of Heaven” what does it mean? It says that

you should obtain it (virtue) carefully in yourself, and then you will be truly able to comply completely

with Heaven’s rules.

6.2.1.1.2 Then-clauses

In most cases in the GD corpus yi 矣 follows then-clauses.216 While ye 也 following then-

clauses, as we saw in section 4.2.1, has a habitual reading translatable as “whenever”, yi 矣

covers a wider range of situations.

In some cases, the event takes place into the future:

34) 1.26. 臨事之紀，慎終如始，此亡敗事矣。(老子甲本 11)

The rule to follow in approaching all matters, is - If you're as careful at the end as you were at the

beginning, then you will have no disasters. (Henricks modified)

35) 13.116. 人不慎, 斯有過信矣。(性自命出 49)

If one is not careful then it is certain that he will commit mistakes.

216 According to Harbsmeier (1981: 47) the use of yi 矣 with conditionals indicates that the conditions mentioned in the protasis are completely sufficient to guarantee the truth of the apodosis. In Mandarin, for example, final le 了 (perfect function) is used in counterfactual conditional sentences like the following: 要不是他來, 我就同意了.

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In other cases, it encodes irrealis mode, and this usage is connected with its perfect function,

“were X to occur, then Y would come about”:217

36) 5.134.子曰：5.135.輕絕貧賤，而重絕富貴，則好仁不堅，而惡不著也。5.136.人雖

曰不利, 吾弗信之矣。(緇衣 43-45)

The Master said: “If one treats as a light matter cutting himself off from the poor and lowly but treats as a

heavy matter cutting himself off from the rich and noble, then his love of humanity is not firm and his

hatred of evil is not manifest. Even if others should say that this is not to act (just) in view of profit, I would

still not believe it.”

37) 6.15.夫為其君之故殺其身者，效祿爵者也。6.16.恒〔稱其君〕之惡〔者，遠〕祿爵

者〔也。〕6.17. [為〕義而遠祿爵，非子思，吾惡聞之矣。」(魯穆公問於子思 5-8)

Now, someone who sacrifices himself because of their [lord], is someone who receives salary and rank.

But someone who constantly [mentions what one’s lord] dislikes, is someone who [removes](from himself)

salary and rank, and to remove salary and rank (from oneself) [because of] righteousness, if not for Zi Si,

when would I have heard it?”

In most cases they are then-clauses of the generic type (‘whenever…then’):

38) 3.23.為之者敗之，執之者失之。3.24.聖人無為，故無敗也；3.25.無執，故〔無失

也〕。3.26. 慎終若始，則無敗事矣。(老子丙本 10-11)

Those who act on it ruin it, Those who hold on to it lose it. The Sage does nothing, and as a result he has no

disasters; He holds on to nothing, and as a result [he loses nothing]. If you are as careful at the end as you

were at the beginning, then you will have no disasters. (Henricks)

39) 5.41.子曰：5.42.下之事上也，不從其所以命，而從其所行。5.43.上好此物也，下必

有甚焉者矣。(緇衣 14-15)


of which he commands them, but follow what he enacts. If the superior loves this thing, among the inferiors

there will certainly be those who are more extreme about it.

217 See for example spoken Arabic where, according to Brustad (2000: 273-4, 367) imperfectives tends to be used with conditionals with a low degree of hypotheticality (id. 2000: 270) and perfectives with conditionals with a high degree of hypotheticality (id. 2000: 269)

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40) 11.1. 君子之於教也，其導民也不浸，則其淳也弗深矣. 11.2. 是故亡乎其身而存乎

其詞，雖厚其令，民弗從之矣. (成之聞之 4-5)

The gentleman’s relationship with education, is such that if his leading of the people does not soak in

(=penetrate gradually), then his moisture (=influence) will not make it (=education) deep. Therefore if he

lacks (virtue) in himself but keeps (it) in his words, even though he intensifies his orders, the people will

not follow him in these.

41) 11.17. 農夫務食不強耕，糧弗足矣。11.18. 士成言不行，名弗得矣。(成之聞之 13)

If peasants while working for food are not diligent in plowing, provisions will not be enough for them. If

scholars are accomplished in their words but do not act, fame will not be achieved.

6.2.1.2 Contrast between ye 也 and yi 矣

Both Pulleyblank and Liu Chenghui postulate a contrast between ye 也 and yi 矣.

Pulleyblank notes that the negative particle wei 未, which has the aspectual meaning of a

continuing state, excludes the particle yi 矣 and is frequently accompanied by final ye 也

(Pulleyblank 1995: 116-7). 218 On the other hand, final ye 也 does not generally co-occur with

adverbs like ji 既 ‘already’. While this complementary distribution suggests a relationship

between the function of the two particles, such symmetry occurs in a very restricted environment:

if one takes away the examples with wei 未, the case for interpreting ye 也 as imperfective loses

most of its strength. Now, yi 矣 being a particle encoding the realization of an event, it is natural

that is does not co-occur with the negative wei 未 which encodes the fact that an event is not yet

realized, and I have provided arguments in section 2.1.1 to justify the co-occurrence of ye 也

with wei 未 on the basis of its focus usage with negatives. As far as the GD corpus is concerned,

there is no compelling reason to postulate an additional function (marking aspectual imperfective

meaning) for ye 也, as we can describe all the data on the basis of our four functions.

Furthermore, in the GD texts ye 也 does co-occur (once) with perfective adverb ji 既:

218 There seems to be no exception to the incompatibility of wei 未 and yi 矣 (see Harbsmeier 1981: 42-48).

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42) 14.12. 既有夫六位也，以任此〔六職〕也. (六德 9-10)

Since there are already the six roles, they are used to take charge of these six functions.

In two recent papers Liu Chenghui (2007, 2008) 219 suggests a grammaticalization path

leading from yi 矣’s usage as perfect marker and marker of future events, to evidentiality marker

(see Liu 2007, and Aikhenvald 2004: 264 for some typological examples). According to Liu, as

an evidentiality marker yi 矣 marks subjective/inferential statements, while ye 也, which also has

evidential value, marks objective statements (Liu 2008: 68). The instances of emphatic usage of

yi 矣 in the GD data (see section 6.2.1.1.1 above) are compatible with this analysis (emphasis is

an expression of subjectivity), but this is not enough to postulate a whole evidential system in

OC, as in my analysis ye 也 cannot be satisfactorily explained along these lines and, from a

methodological point of view, by definition an evidential system requires obligatory marking on

all predicates (Aikhenvald 2004: 1) and a high proportion of OC predicates are not marked by

either ye 也 or yi 矣.

Rather than talking about contrast or complementary distribution among ye 也 and yi 矣,

we should describe their interaction as a constraint on co-occurrence, as treated in 6.2.3 below.

6.2.2 The particle yan 焉

The particle yan 焉, just like ye 也 and yi 矣, occurs only late in excavated material,

being first seen in the Zhongshan bronzes (ZL Zhang 1982: 301-2) and in the GD manuscripts.

The basic meaning of yan 焉 is “in it” (Pulleyblank 2003: 635). No agreement has been reached

on the morphological analysis of the particle, over whether or not it is a fusion of two known

morphemes, as hypothesized by Kennedy (1940 [1964]: 73-77).220 “In it” is its most frequent

meaning in the GD corpus, where it occurs 30 times.

Here are some examples:

219 See also section 1.1.5. 220 Pulleyblank 2003 proposes to consider the clause initial an 安 *ân and the clause final yan 焉 *an as (respectively) the non-enclitic and enclitic version of the same morpheme, a demonstrative pronoun. Wang Li (1982: 121, 548) suggests for yan 焉 the gloss “zhi 止” (meaning ‘place’, ‘here’, ‘there’ [general locative reference]).

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43) 6.10. 寡人惑焉，而未之得也。」(魯穆公問於子思 4)

I was puzzled by that, and have not yet got (understood) it.”

44) 11.86. 此言也，言不逆大常者，文王之刑莫重焉。(成之聞之 39)

These words say that if someone did not oppose the rules of Heaven, the punishments of King Wen were

not heavy towards him.

45) 13.85. 〔不〕過十舉，其心必在焉，察其見者，情安失哉？(性自命出 38)

If [one] make mistakes in ten actions (=many times), his mind must be present in it (=this course of action);

if one looks at his appearance, how can one miss (to uncover) the (underlying) emotions (or: the real

situation)?

In many passages, it is not clear what the precise referent of yan 焉 is, and the particle

might as well be treated as empty; even so, it is generally possible to interpret it as referring to a

generic place or entity:

46) 3.2. 信不足焉, 有不信。(老子丙本 1-2)

When trust in others is insufficient, others will have no trust in return.

47) 13.48.君子美其情，貴〔其義〕，善其節，好其容，樂其道，悅其教，是以敬焉。

(性自命出 20-21)

The gentleman beautifies his emotions, ennobles [his righteousness], perfections his restraint, makes

lovable his appearance, makes enjoyable his way and pleasurable his teachings, and thereby shows respect.

Just in one case yan 焉 co-occurs with ye 也, in the combination 焉爾也:221

48) 15.56. 當其然而行，治焉爾也。(語叢一 59)

When (one) acts according to how things are, (he) is being well directed.

221 焉爾也 is an attested compound final particle (see 古代漢語虛詞詞典 pp. 675).

174

Shortly thereafter, the same passage is repeated, without ye 也 (and without er 爾):

49) 15.59. 當其然而行，治焉。(語叢一 67)

50) When (one) acts according to how things are, (he) is being well directed.

6.2.3 Constraints on the co-occurrence of ye 也 , yi 矣 and yan 焉

While ye 也, yi 矣 and yan 焉 in the GD corpus have different and unrelated functions, yi

矣 and yan 焉 might occur in contexts where we most frequently find ye 也, as after nominalized

clauses objects of verbs of knowing (ex. 50), after the optative verb ke 可 (ex. 51), and in

sentences starting with the verb yan 言 “to say” explaining the meaning of citations (ex. 52 and

53).

51) 14.86. 君子不啻明乎民微而已，又以知其一矣。(六德 38-39)

The gentleman not only understands the smallest (pains) of the people, but also knows their oneness

(=entirety?).

52) 6.3. 子思曰：6.4. 「恒稱其君之惡者，可謂忠臣矣。(魯穆公問於子思 1-2)

Zi Si answered: “(Only) one who is always mentioning what his lord dislikes can be deemed a loyal

minister”.

53) 11.80. 「聖人天德」11.81. 何？11.82. 言慎求之於己，而可以至順天常矣。(成之聞

之 37-38)

“The sage is the virtue of Heaven.” What does it mean? It says that you should obtain it (virtue) carefully

in yourself, and then you will be able to comply completely with Heaven’s rules.

54) 11.83. 《康誥》曰：11.84. 「不還大戛，文王作罰，刑茲亡赦」11.85. 何？11.86.

此言也，言不逆大常者，文王之刑莫重焉。(成之聞之 38-39)

The “Proclamation of Kang” says: “For those who do not revert to the great rule, King Wen instituted

punishments, to punish them without pardon” what does it mean? These words say that if someone did not

oppose the rules of Heaven, the punishments of King Wen were not heavy towards him.

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What is notable in these passages is not the occasional presence of yi 矣 (here marking

perfectivity) and yan 焉 (here meaning, as usual, “in it”, “towards it”), but the regular absence of

ye 也 when the former are present. There seems to be a tendency not to allow the sequence 也矣

(and to a lesser degree 焉也), a tendency that holds across OC texts.222

This might be due to prosodic factors, as there are reasons to believe that ye 也 and yi 矣

are prosodically reduced words (either by lack of stress or reduction in length) or (to use an

equivalent designation) extrametrical particles, as I will show (tentatively) in section 6.2.4. More

in general, there seems to be a tendency across languages to avoid the co-occurrence of final

particles.

6.2.4 Ye 也 as an extrametrical particle

Kennedy has shown in his 1939 paper “Metrical ‘irregularity’ in the Shih Ching” that in

the Book of Odes ye 也 and the other “weak” words (other final particles like yi 矣 and xi 兮 and

pronouns like qi 其, zhi 之 and wo 我) have a different behavior than “normal” words in final

position of regular four syllable lines stanzas. While the majority of rhyming lines have the

rhyme in final position, rhyming lines ending in ye 也 and other weak words rhyme on the

penultimate syllable, namely it was permissible to rhyme the penultimate syllable of a line when

it was followed by a weak syllable (see also Hsieh 1996: 278).

This is shown in the example below where ye 也 follows the rhyming words (here 轉

*trjonʔ, 卷 *krjonʔ, 選 sjonʔ) (Baxter 1992: 591):

55) Ode 26 (strophe 3) Karlgren

我心匪石， My heart is not a stone,

222 See Guo (1997 [1988]: 81 table 2), as well as Pulleyblank 1995: 19 (on yi 已 as a fusion word of ye 也 and yi 矣). Pulleyblank (1991:33) notices the regular non-co-occurrence of yan 焉 with either ye 也 or yi 矣 and hypothesizes an aspectual function for yan 焉 (as he does for the other two particles). This may suggest that yan 焉 is basically ‘matter-of-fact’ and so is not the same as the perfective yi 矣 which is basically concerned with ‘realization’ and ‘change of status’. Lü Shuxiang (1952 [2002]: 235) noticed that yan 焉 functions similarly to the final particle ne 呢 in contemporary Mandarin (a function he believes to be a natural extension of the ‘in it’ meaning).

176

不可轉也； you cannot turn it;

我心匪席， my heart is not a mat,

不可卷也。 you cannot roll it;

威儀棣棣， my dignified demeanor has been perfect,

不可選也。 you cannot (count=) measure it.

A similar behavior is found in the Guodian Laozi, with bao 保 *pûʔ, shou守*hjuʔ, jiu 咎

*guʔ and dao 道 *lhuʔ rhyming:

56) 1.101. 揣 (湍GDE)而群之，不可長保也。

Even if you measure it and amass it, it cannot hold out very long.

1.102. 金玉盈室，莫能守也。

When gold and jade fill your chambers No one can safeguard them.

1.103. 貴富驕，自遺咎也。

Arrogance resulting from wealth and rank, on its own brings on disaster.

1.104. 功遂身退，天之道也。

When the deed is done withdraw - such is heaven's Way.

Furthermore in the Book of Odes ye 也, together with yi 矣, xi 兮, qi 其, zhi 之 and wo 我,

is often present in so called “irregular lines”, mostly 5 syllables lines in poems of 4 syllable lines

stanzas, as in the following example:


園有桃，In the garden there is a peach tree,

其實之殽。 its fruits I have for viands;

心之憂矣。 Oh, the grief of the heart!

我歌且謠。 But I chant and sing;

不知我者， Those who do not know me

177

謂我士也驕。 say that I am an officer who is arrogant;

「彼人是哉！ Those people are right,

子曰何其」？ What do you say?

心之憂矣， For the grief of the heart,

其誰知之﹖ who can know it?

其誰知之， who can know it?

蓋亦勿思！ Indeed they give it no thought

Or, more seldom, 4 syllables lines in poems of 3 syllables stanzas:


江有汜。 1. The Jiang has branches breaking out and reverting.

之子歸， This young lady went to her new home,

不我以； but she would not take us;

不我以， she would not take us,

其後也悔。 but afterwards she had to repent

Kennedy describes this behavior as motivated by the syllabic weakness of these words, a

weakness that might be due to lack of stress, absence of tones or reduction in length (Kennedy

1939 [1964]: 23). In modern terms this behavior can be described as extra-metric (Hayes 1982),

and it is known that sentence final particles tend to be extrametric.

While this excursus into the metrical properties of ye 也 cannot provide a definite proof,

it tends to support my argument for the interpretation of ye 也 as a sentence final particle.

6.3 Usage of ye 也 in non-declarative sentences

Until now we have examined ye 也 occurring in declarative sentences, simple and multi-

clausal. Here I will examine briefly its co-occurrence with other types of sentences, such as

imperatives (6.3.1), interrogatives (6.3.2) and exclamatory (6.3.3).

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6.3.1 Imperative sentences

Ye 也 generally does not occur with imperative sentences. There are only two

occurrences, in the same passage, with the negative imperative wu 勿. Rather than a strong

imperative, the sentence expresses a moral advice on the kind of the behavior that one should

avoid:223

59) 13.140.凡悅人勿吝也，身必從之，言及則明舉之而毋偽。13.141.凡交毋烈，必使有

末。13.142.凡於路(徵LL)毋思(愄GDE)，毋獨言。13.143.獨處則習父兄之所樂。

13.144. 苟無大害，少枉入之可也，已則勿復言也。(性自命出 59-61)

In general to make people happy you should not treat them with stinginess, you should do things personally.

(For your) words to reach (their target) you should clearly act upon them and not be false. In general in

social intercourse you should not be excessive, you should make it to have (a beginning and) an end

(=constant). In general on the road (=in public) you should not think (too much) (=bee too self-conscious),

(but) you should not talk alone (=be too self-reliant) (either). When living alone (reaching independence in

the world) then you should practice what your father and elder brothers enjoy. If there is no great damage,

it is acceptable to receive minor injustices, and when they are finished you should not talk about them again.

6.3.2 Interrogative sentences

There is one instance of ye 也 following an interrogative sentence. The presence of ye 也 could

be explained on the basis of other factors, and has been analyzed (in section 2.2.1, example 42)

as an instance of focus marking.

60) 1.74. 以正治邦，以奇用兵，以亡事取天下。1.75. 吾何以知其然也?224 (老子甲本

29-30) By means of the upright, one orders the state; by means of irregular methods, one uses the troops; by not

having occupations one takes over the world. How do I know this is so?

223 The reason for the asymmetry between wu 勿 (followed by ye 也) and wu 毋 (not followed by ye 也) might be connected with the presence of the anaphoric object incorporated in the former (see Pulleyblank 1995: 108 and section 2.1.1 ex 15, note 70). Pulleyblank 1978 noted that some negatives are more ‘emphatic’ than others. The ye 也 in line 13.140 might otherwise be explained by the presence universal quantifier and the one in line 13.144 by its occurrence in the apodosis. 224 The matching passage in the Mawangdui manuscript A has: 吾何[以知其然]也哉？

179

6.3.3 Exclamatory sentences.

In the received literature ye 也 often co-occurs with zai 哉, and is sometimes used in

isolation, in exclamatory sentences.225 We do not find the co-occurrence of ye 也 with zai 哉 in

the GD corpus. The only possible example of an exclamatory sentence followed by ye 也 is the

following, which some translators and commentators consider an exclamative sentence, but

might as well be considered a quotation introduced by yue 曰 ‘to say’ and concluded by ye 也, a

usage not seen in the GD corpus but frequent in other pre-Qin texts.

61) 3.4. 成事遂功，而百姓曰我自然也。(老子丙本 2)226

They complete their affairs and finish their tasks, yet the common folk say, "These things happened all on

their own!" (Henricks)

6.4 Absence and presence of ye 也

This section will touch issues related to the presence and absence of ye 也, starting with two

specific environments where ye 也 is generally present (see table 4 in section 1.7.1), namely

nominal predication (section 6.4.1) and complex nominalized NPs in topic position (section

6.4.2). Furthermore I will investigate cases where ye 也 has scope on more than one clause

(section 6.4.3) and some discourse issues (6.4.4) that, though noticeable, do not allow systematic

investigation, like textual asymmetry in the presence vs, absence of ye 也 (6.4.4.1), the usage of

ye 也 in listing (6.4.4.2) and some textual alternatives to topic marking ye 也 (6.4.4.3).

6.4.1 Cases of unmarked nominal predication

With copular verbs such as shi 是 in Mandarin and haih 係 in Cantonese, the copula can

be omitted in affirmative sentences predicating property or identity. 227

225 It is then generally preceded by question words (Yang and He 2001: 899). It sometimes occurs in isolation, as in the following example: “ 孟子曰：’天也!’” (論衡·3·4/1) Mencius said: “Heaven!” 226 According to Li Mingxiao (2010: 339) here ye 也 functions as an exclamatory particle, and it is translated as such by Henderson. It could otherwise be interpreted as marking adversative meaning. 227 Under certain conditions the copula can be omitted in Mandarin and Cantonese, the latter under even stricter conditions and not so popular: Gó bún syú (haih) ngóh ge. “That book is mine”, Nī go (haih) ngóh sailóu lèihge, “This is my younger brother”, Dī choi (haih) sahp mān (yāt) gān.“These vegetables are ten dollars a catty” (see

180

In the GD corpus, the absence of ye 也 after nominal predicates is fairly rare; there are 12

occurrences in 8 passages below, versus 209 occurrences of the copular particle ye 也.228

I will divide these passages into three groups: 6.4.1.1 asymmetric gaps; 6.4.1.2

symmetrical omissions; 6.4.1.3 Isolated instances.

6.4.1.1 Asymmetric gap

In these examples, it seems likely that the lack of ye 也 is due to an accidental gap. This

is because the clause without ye 也 is preceded and followed by parallel clauses with ye 也, and

parallelism is a principle that seldom is overruled in OC texts.

62) 4.9.故歲者，濕燥之所生也。10.濕澡者，凔熱[然GDE]之所生也。11.凔熱[然GDE]

者，〔四時之所生也〕。12.四時者，陰陽者之所生。13.陰陽者，神明之所生也。

14.神明者，天地之所生也。15.天地者，大一之所生也。(太一生水 4-6)

Therefore the year was produced by moisture and dryness; moisture and dryness were produced by cold

and hot. Cold and hot [were produced by the four seasons], The four seasons were produced by Yin and

Yang. Yin and Yang were produced by the “gods above and below”. The “gods above and below” were

produced by Heaven and earth, and Heaven and earth were produced by the Great One. (Henricks)

63) 8.69.顏色容貌溫，勉也。70.以其中心與人交，悅也。71.中心悅播遷於兄弟，戚

也。72.戚而信之，親。73.親而篤之，愛也。74. 愛父，其繼愛人，仁也。 (五行

32-33) Making mild one’s appearance and deportment, it's (proper to) exhortation. Dealing with others with one’s

inner heart, this is (the way to) happiness. The happiness of the inner heart applied to one’s own brothers,

Matthews and Yip 1994: 129). In Mandarin with the negative bu 不 the copula cannot be omitted, so that the sentence *這不[是]我的書 (‘this is not my book’) is ungrammatical (see Yue 2003: 96). The only known exception are some Wu dialects like the Shuyang 沭陽 dialect of Zhejiang, where the copula is omitted even with the adverbs 不，就，也，肯定，還, as in the two following examples: 前邊走那不你姐姐嗎 “Isn’t your sister the one walking in front?”, and 那也圖書館書 “That is also a library book.” (see Huang 1996: 721). 228 There are two quotations from the Book of Odes in which there is no copular marking. I do not discuss them as they do not belong to the language stage I am investigating: 5. 37. 《詩》云：5. 38. 「成王之孚，下土之式。」(緇衣 13) 5. 50. 《詩》云：5.51. 「其容不改，出言有章[順LL]，黎民所望[信LL]。」 (緇衣 17)

181

(this) is closeness. Being close to somebody and trusting him, (this) is intimacy. Being intimate (with

someone) and treating him earnestly, (this) is care. Caring for one’s father and consequently caring for

others, is humanity.

64) 8.94.簡，義之方也。8.95.匿，仁之方也。8.96.強，義之方。8.97.柔，仁之方也。

(五行 40-42)

Resoluteness is a method of righteousness. Leniency is a method of humanity. Hardness is a method of

righteousness. Softness is a method of benevolence.

65) 13.32.凡見者之謂物，快於己者之謂悅，物之勢者之謂勢，有為也者之謂故。13.33.

義也者，群善之蕝也。13.34.習也者，有以習其性也。13.35.道者，群物之道。

13.36.凡道，心術為主。13.37. 道四術，唯人道為可道也。13.38. 其三術者，道之而

已。(性自命出 12-15)

In general what is seen I call external objects, what brings happiness to oneself, I call pleasure; the

disposition of things, I call circumstances; having (intentional) activities, I call intent. Righteousness is the

mark of distinction of the myriad good (things). Practice has (the aim to) exercise one’s inborn nature. The

way is the way of the myriad things. In general for the way, the main thing is the technique of the heart.

The way consists of four techniques, only the human way can be followed as a way. As for the other three

techniques, they can be talked about and that’s all.

6.4.1.2 Symmetrical omissions

In the following examples the strong parallelism suggests that the non-usage of ye 也

after the nominal predicate is not an accident:

66) 12.24.察諸出，所以知己，知己所以知人，知人所以知命，知命而後知道，知道而

後知行。(尊德義 8-9)

Examining it (one’s behavior) in its manifestations, this is how one can know oneself; knowing oneself,

this is how one can know others; knowing others, this is how one can know fate; one first knows fate and

after that one knows the way, one first knows the way and after that one knows how to act.

182

67) 4.16.是故大一藏於水，行於時，周而又〔始，以己為〕萬物母.4.17.一缺一盈，以

己為萬物經.4.18.此天之所不能殺，地之所不能埋，陰陽之所不能成。 4.19.君子知

此之謂〔…〕(太一生水 6-7) 229

This being so, the Great One is concealed in water and moves with the four seasons. Completing a cycle, [it

starts over again. He relies on himself to act as] the mother of the ten thousand things. First it is depleted,

then it is full; He relies on himself to act as the guiding principle of the thousand things. This is something

that Heaven cannot destroy, that earth cannot submerge, and Ying and Yang cannot produce. The

gentleman knows this referred to as (…). (Henricks)

The high regularity in the usage of ye 也 after nominal predicates makes these cases

exceptional, and leads us to think that at this stage the usage of ye 也 has not spread to all cases.

6.4.1.3 Isolated instances For the two following sentences, the context does not provide us with indications on the

motivations for the non-use of ye 也.

68) 18.13. 諸侯之門，義士之所存. (語叢四 8-9)

The gate of the lord is where righteous men are maintained.

69) 1.45. 譬道之在天下也, 猶小谷之與江海。(老子甲本 20) The Way's presence in the world, is like the relationship of small valley streams to rivers and seas.

(Henricks)

There is no reason to consider the lack of ye 也 in these examples as a mistake, and even

though in example 68 the character hai 海 is the last of strip 20, the strip is clearly not defective

229 There is an alternative analysis, that I raise as a mere (less likely) alternative explanation for the absence of ye 也. Here it could also be the case that 此 in line 4.18 is to be understood adverbially, as “so” , “such”, with 天之所不能殺，地之所不能埋，陰陽之所不能成 being analyzed as three pre-posed objects with the 此 in line 4.19 resuming them, namely as a transformation of the line: 此[=則]君子知此謂天之所不能殺，地之所不能埋，陰陽之所不能成。’So the gentleman knows this referred to as something that Heaven cannot destroy, that earth cannot submerge, and Ying and Yang cannot produce.’ See Wu 2002:95 for some examples of this usage from other pre-Qin manuscripts.

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here, as shown by a black square mark indicating end of paragraph. At the same time, the

Mawangdui version has ye 也:

譬道之在〔天下也，猶小〕谷之與江海也.

This shows that the pattern 譬 S之VP也, 猶S之VP也 is also acceptable, on the

assumption that GD and the Mawangdui version share the same usage of ye 也.

6.4.1.4 Concluding remarks

In examples 61, 66 and 67 the nominal predicate is of the kind NP之所VP, and in

examples 63 and 64 the nominal predicate is of the kind NP之NP, and in example 68 of the kind

NP之VP, all unmistakably functioning as NPs. In example 65 the nominal predicate is of the

kind 所以VP, a structure that is also normally analyzed as nominal, as 所以 does not yet have

the postclassical function of the adverb “thereby”, but rather of “that by which”.

With the exception of example 62, where the nominal predicate is a simple NP that might,

in other contexts, be analyzed as VP, in 11 cases out of 12 the absence of ye 也 does not create

any ambiguity. What these examples of the non-use of ye 也 seem to point to, is that in general

the occurrence of ye 也 is not exceptionless, and therefore not yet completely regular, and more

specifically that ye 也 is absent after nominal predicates mostly when its presence is, to a certain

extent, redundant, as no ambiguity could derive form its absence after explicitly nominalized NP

(as compared with bare lexemes, as shown in section 5.2.1). This means that at this stage, even

though to a limited degree, ye 也 after nominal predicates is still redundant. In fact, according to

Stassen, who first investigated particle copulas, “zero copulas and particle copulas are not just

alternative options: they are two different manifestations of some general encoding strategy”

(Stassen 1997: 91) and some languages like Margi (a Chadic language spoken in Nigeria) use

both zero copula and particle copula (Stassen 1997: 86-87). In this case the particle copula is

redundant as its absence does not change the interpretation of a clause with nominal predication

nor makes it ungrammatical. We know that ye 也 follows an earlier stage of zero copula and it

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has not completely replaced it (at least in the GD texts); what the cases of zero copula in the GD

corpus show is the residue of a change in progress from zero copula to particle copula encoding

of nominal predication.

6.4.2 Complex nominalized NPs in topic position not followed by ye 也

The absence of ye 也 is not limited to the case with nominal predicate described in 6.4.1. It

also occurs in the topic position. There are 21 occurrences of complex nominalized NPs in topic

position not followed by ye 也, against 65 with ye 也. As the presence of ye 也 in this context

seems to be fairly regular, I will examine one by one the cases where ye 也 does not occur. I will

divide these passages into three groups: 6.4.2.1 asymmetrical usage; 6.4.2.2 symmetrical absence;

6.4.2.3 isolated instances. In the first case, ye 也 is sometimes present, sometimes absent in

parallel lines; in the second, it is consistently absent in parallel lines; in the third its absence is

not related to parallel lines, as the complex nominalized NP topic is not marked by ye 也 in one

isolated instance.

Even though the presence of ye 也 after complex nominalized NPs in topic position is fairly

frequent, it is not so regular that its absence can be considered an anomaly, but it is possible that

this lack of complete regularity reflects an earlier stage in the development of ye 也 (the latest

being obligatory marking).

6.4.2.1 Asymmetrical usage

In these examples ye 也 is sometimes present, sometimes absent in strongly parallel lines.

69)8.92.簡之為言猶練[見MC]也，大而罕者也。8.93.匿之為言也猶匿匿也，小而軫[旁

CSI]者也。(五行 39-40)

Resoluteness as a term is like "visible"; it is something that is great and rare. Leniency as a term is like

"very hidden"; it is something that is small and common.

70)13.20.剛之柱[樹]也，剛取之也。13.21.柔之約，柔取之也。(性自命出 8-9)

The propping up of hard (objects), it is their hardness that brings it about; the binding (together) of soft

(objects), it is their softness that brings it about. As for (every man) within the four seas, their inborn nature

is the same. That in using their minds each is different, it is education that makes it like this.

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In OC texts strong parallelism among the lines is a feature that is unlikely to be voluntarily

disregarded, but it is difficult to know if the absence of ye 也 is due to scribal error or just

reflects fluctuations in the style related to linguistic change in progress.

6.4.2.2 Symmetrical absence

In these cases the strong parallelism among the lines, all without ye 也, suggests on the

contrary that the lack of ye 也 in the clauses is not accidental:

71)9.15. 堯舜之行，愛親尊賢。9.16. 愛親故孝，尊賢故禪。9.17. 孝之殺 [察KLW] (施

LL)，愛天下之民。9.18. 禪之流(傳LL)，世亡隱德。(唐虞之道 6-7)

The conduct of Yao and Shun is to love those who are close, and respect the worthies. Loving those who

are close then they are filial, respecting the worthies then they relinquish (the throne). (Through) the

(proper) investigation of filial piety, one (comes to) love the people all-under-Heaven. What descends from

abdication, is that in the world there is no virtue that remains hidden.

72)12.18.聖人之治民，民之道也。12.19.禹之行水，水之道也。12.20.造父之御馬，馬

{也LZ}之道也。12.21.后稷之藝地，地之道也。12.22.莫不有道焉，人道為近。

12.23. 是以君子, 人道之取先。(尊德義 6-8)

The sages’ ruling the people is the way of the people. Yu’s governing the waters is the way of the water.

Zao Fu’s managing horses is the way of the horses. Hou Ji’s tending the Earth is the way of the Earth. They

all have their own way, but the way of man is the closest (to good government), therefore the gentleman

chooses to gives precedence to the way of man.

73)13.22.四海之內其性一也.13.23.其用心各異，教使然也。[…]13.39.詩, 書, 禮, 樂，其

始出皆生於人。 (性自命出 9 and 15-16)

As for (every man) within the four seas, their inborn nature is the same. That in using their minds each is

different, it is education that makes it like this.[…] As for the poems, documents, rites and music, their first

expression was in every case generated among men.

74)13.138. 門內之治，欲其掩 {逸LL}也。13.139.門外之治，欲其制也。

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(性自命出 58-59)

In dealing with (affairs) inside the doors (=the family), you want (to keep them) discreet. In dealing with

(affairs) outside the doors (=public affairs), you want (to keep them strictly) regulated.

75)14.75. 門內之治恩[仁QXG]掩義，門外之治義斬恩[仁QXG]。(六德 30-31)

In taking care of the indoor (affairs), humanity should overcome righteousness, in taking care of outdoor

(affairs), righteousness should overcome humanity.

76)5.83.王言如絲，其出如綸[(糸+昏)=綸SHR1:126n.1]；5.84.王言如索,其出如(糸+

聿)[紼LL。(緇衣 29-30)

The king’s sayings are like silk; their utterance is like a fishing line. The king’s sayings are like a rope;

their utterance is like a lasso. Therefore, the Great Man does not take the lead in rumors.

6.4.2.3 Isolated instances

In the passages below, parallelism is not present, so we have no special textual indication

about the significance of the absence of ye 也:

77) 9.1.唐虞之道，禪而不傳；9.2. 堯舜之王，利天下而弗利也。(唐虞之道 1)

The way of Tang and Yu is to relinquish (the throne) and not to transmit (in heredity). Yao and Shun as

kings would benefit all-under-Heaven and not consider it as a benefit (for themselves).

78)11.63. 聖人之性與中人之性，其生而未有非[別DYZ]之。(成之聞之 26)

The nature of the sage and the nature of the common man, at birth do not yet have (something that)

distinguishes them.

79)11.76. 是以智而求之不疾，其去人弗遠矣。(成之聞之 21)

Therefore being knowledgeable and not being urgent in achieving it, even if one distances others he will

never be far from them (=he will never really be ahead of them).

80)13.72. 凡憂思而後悲，凡樂思而後忻。凡思之用心為甚。(性自命出 31-32)

In general there are sorrowful thoughts and then there is sadness, in general there are joyous thoughts and

then there is happiness. In general the operations of the mind while thinking are very intense.

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There does not seem to be an underlying principle uniting these passages. In some cases,

like in example 78, the influence of a preceding NP之NP phrase might be significant, but overall

it seems safer to state that there is no rule requiring the presence of ye 也 in these contexts. Even

so out of 86 occurrences of complex nominalized NPs in topic position, 65 are followed by ye 也,

more than three quarters of the total. In later wenyan prose, the presence of ye 也 in such

contexts will become almost obligatory.230

For NP之NP phrases, instead, the presence of ye 也 is not regular: against 4 occurrences of

marked NP之NP, there are many more that are not marked, as for example:

81)13.2. 喜怒哀悲之氣，性也。(性自命出 2)

The vital forces of joy, anger, sorrow and sadness, are inborn nature.

The same holds for 其NP phrases:

82)13.17. 牛生而長，雁生而伸，其性〔使然〕. (性自命出 7)

Oxen are born and then grow (robust), wild geese are born and then stretch (their long neck), their inborn

nature [makes them like this].

This shows that the usage of ye 也 has not yet regularly extended, at this stage, to the

marking of NP之NP and 其NP phrases.

6.4.3 Ye 也 having scope on more than one clause

230 Shao Yonghai 邵永海 of Beijing University has conducted an exhaustive screening of Han Yu’s prose work and found that complex nominalized NP in topic position are always followed by ye 也 (private communication).

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The case of the “irregular” absence of ye 也 discussed above must be kept distinct from

another, which is more predictable, where only the last topic clause in a series is marked by ye 也,

as in the following examples:231

83)5.75.子曰：5.76.政之不行，教之不成也，則刑罰不足恥，而爵不足勸也。 (緇衣

27-28) The Master said: “With the disfunction of the government and the failure of education, punishments and

fines will then not suffice to shame and entitlements will not suffice to encourage.

84)13.103. 目之好色，耳之樂聲，鬱陶之氣也，人不難為之死。(性自命出 43-44)

The eyes' favor of beautiful appearance and the ears' enjoyment of beautiful sounds [serving] as pent up air,

people easily die because of it.

85)14.21. 作禮樂，制刑法，教此民爾[而] 使之有向也，非聖智者莫之能也。 (六德 2-3) Instituting rites and music, establishing punishments and laws and instructing the people so to cause them

to have direction, if not for saints and sages, nobody could (achieve) it.

In these cases we can consider the last ye 也 as having all the preceding parallel clauses in

its scope, a phenomenon which is seen not only in topic position but only when ye 也 is sentence

final (see section 4.2.1.1 ex. 6-8).

6.4.4 Discourse issues 6.4.4.1 Textual asymmetry

A still different case is the following, where ye 也 appears in a parallel fashion in lines 4.3-

4.8 but not in lines 4.1-4.2:

86)4.1.大(太LL)一生水，水反輔大一，是以成天。4.2.天反輔大一，是以成地。4.3.天

地〔復相輔〕也，是以成神明。4.4.神明復相輔也，是以成陰陽。4.5.陰陽復相輔

231 In example 83 the topic is also the subject of the sentence, while in examples 84 and 85 the objects are topicalized and coreferential with zhi 之.

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也，是以成四時。4.6.四時復〔相〕輔也，是以成凔熱[然GDE]。4.7.凔(寒LL)熱[然

GDE]復相輔也，是以成濕燥。4.8.濕燥復相輔也，成歲而止。(太一生水 1-4)

The Great One gave birth to water, water returned and assisted Taiyi, in this way developing Heaven.

Heaven returned and assisted Taiyi, in this way developing the earth. Heaven and Earth repeatedly assisted

each other, in this way developing the “gods above and below”. The “gods above and below” repeatedly

assisted each other, in this way developing Yin and Yang. Yin and Yang repeatedly assisted each other, in

this way developing the Four Seasons. The Four Seasons repeatedly assisted each other, in this way

developing cold and hot. Cold and hot repeatedly assisted each other, in this way developing moist and dry.

Moist and dry repeatedly assisted each other, they developed the year, and the process came to an end.

(Henricks)

This is the beginning of a short cosmological piece about the origins and properties of the

Great One, describing how the Great One created water, heaven, earth, the gods above and below,

Yin and Yang, the four seasons, cold and hot, moist and dry and finally the year, through a chain

mutual interaction between the Great One and each of the created elements in turn. Every

sentence is constituted by a topical adverbial clause of reason followed by a main verbal clause.

The first two sentences, where the topic is not marked by ye 也, are perhaps considered the

starting point for the chain of interactions, and not part of it. Ultimately, there is no compelling

explanation for the asymmetry, but one must keep in mind that topic marking is not a

requirement in OC, but rather a discourse phenomenon; as such, there is no rule to be followed

but at most tendencies and, as far as verbal clauses are concerned, no clear tendencies either, just

ad hoc decisions by the writer about what topic must or must not be marked.

6.4.4.2 Listing

One of the functions identified for ye 也 is its usage in lists of elements, as in the following

example from Zuozhuan:

87)和戎有五利焉：戎狄荐居，貴貨易土，土可賈焉，一也。邊鄙不聳，民狎其野，穡

人成，二也。戎狄事晉，四鄰振動，諸侯威懷，三也。以德綏戎，師徒不勤，甲兵

不頓，四也。鑒于后羿，而用德度，遠至邇安，五也。君其圖之！」公說，使魏絳

盟諸戎。脩民事，田以時。(左傳 Duke Xiang 襄, year 4, Yang Bojun ed. p. 939)

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To be on good terms with the Rong has five advantages. The Rong and Di are continually changing their

residence, and are fond of exchanging land for goods. Their lands can be purchased; this is the first

advantage. Our borders will not be kept in apprehension. The people can labour on their fields, and the

husbandmen complete their toils; this is the second. When the Rong and Di serve Jin, our neighbours all

round will be terrified, and the States will be awed and cherish our friendship; this is the third.

Tranquillizing the Rong by our goodness, our armies will not be toiled, and weapons will not be broken;

this is the fourth. Taking warning from the sovereign Yi, and using only measures of virtue, the remote will

come to us, and the near will be at rest; this is the fifth." The marquis was pleased, and sent Wei Jiang to

make a covenant with all the Rong. He also attended to the business of the people, and hunted (only) at the

proper seasons (Legge).

No example in the Guodian material is structured quite as the Zuozhuan’s example, with its

exhaustive numerical listing. In the following example from the manuscript A of the Laozi, the

items are first listed in lines 1.37.1-6 and then anaphorically resumed by shiyi 是以 in line 1.38:

88)1.37.1有亡之相生也，1.37.2難易之相成也，1.37.3長短之相形也，1.37.4高下之相

盈，1.37.5音聲之相和也，1.37.6先後之相隨也。1.38.是以聖人居亡為之事，行不言

之教。(老子甲本 15-17)

The mutual production of presence and absence, the mutual completion of difficult and easy, the mutual

formation of long and short, the mutual filling of high and low, the mutual harmony of tone and sound, the

mutual following of front and behind. By means of these (things mentioned above) the Sage abides in

affairs that entail no action, and spreads the wordless teaching. (Henricks modified)

There is no need to analyze examples like these as exhibiting a separate “listing” function;

lines 1.37.1-37.6 are simply a series of topics, just like the examples in Zuozhuan are a series of

verbal predicates. As for the parallelism, it is one of the main organizing features of OC texts,

and so it should be treated as a general discourse tendency, not as a separate feature of ye 也.

One might still talk about a “listing” usage of ye 也, but only as a textual tendency, whereby one

of the functions of ye 也 is repeated, as for example in the following passage:

89)14.36.苟濟夫人之善也，勞其臟腑之力弗敢憚也，危其死弗敢愛也，14.37.謂之

〔臣〕. (六德 16-17)

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If he can increase the welfare of this man (=the ruler), spending the energy of his viscera (=guts) without

shivering, risking his death without a grudge, (this) is what one calls [a minister].

6.4.4.3 Textual alternatives to topic marking ye 也

Passages without ye 也 are typically strongly parallel passages that do not require topic

marking of fairly long elements, with short clauses organized paratactically, as shown in the

following passage, where the cohesion between clauses is mainly obtained through the repetition

of unmarked (lines 12.66-12.67) or marked (lines 12.69-12.78) conditionals with ze 則:

90)12.65.民五之方格，十之方爭，百之而後服。12.66.善者民必富，富未必和，不和不

安，不安不樂。12.67.善者民必眾，眾未必治，不治不順，不順不平.12.68.是以為

政者教道之取先。12.69.教以禮，則民果以勁。12.70.教以樂，則民淑德清壯。

12.71.教以辯說，則民褻陵長[悵DYZ]貴[憒DYZ]以妄。12.72.教以藝，則民野以

爭。12.73.教以技，則民小以吝。12.74.教以言，則民訏以寡信。12.75.教以事，則

民力嗇(=穡)以唅(湎DYZ)利.12.76.教以權謀，則民淫昏. 12.77. 遠禮亡親仁。12.78.

先之以德，則民進善焉。(尊德義 27+12-16)232

The people, if there are five [parts] [=a small amount] (of virtue coming from the ruler) they will resist

(fight), if there are ten [=a slightly larger amount] they will struggle, if there are one hundred [a large

amount] then submit. If (the ones above) are good, the people are necessarily affluent, (and even if) with

affluence there is not necessarily harmony, without harmony there is no peace, without peace no joy. If (the

ones above) are good, the people are necessarily numerous, (and even if) being numerous they are not

necessarily orderly, if they are not orderly they will be not compliant, not being compliant they will not be

peaceful. Therefore the ruler chooses to put first the teaching of the way. If you teach them about the rites,

then the people will be determined and strong. If you teach them about music, then the people will be

beautifully virtuous, pure and vigorous. If you teach them about debates and persuasions, they will be

disrespectful and molest, disappointed, chaotic and lawless. If you teach them about the arts, they will be

wild and quarreling. If you teach them about practical techniques, they will be petty and stingy. If you teach

them about words, they will be boastful and untrustworthy. If you teach them practical things, then they

will harvest with all their strength to get an advantage. If you teach them about power and stratagems, then

they will be depraved and befuddled. Far from the rites there is no approaching humanity. If you lead them

by virtue, then the people will progress towards goodness.

232 The ‘+’ sign signals the joining of strip 27 with strips 12-16.

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To sum up this section, one must keep separate contexts in which the presence of ye 也 is

predictable, like nominal predication and complex nominalized NPs in topic position, from

contexts where its presence is not predicatable. In the first kind of contexts we can see the

progressive development of focus ye 也, taking over zero copula encoding almost completely

and coming close to be a regular marker for complex nominalized NPs in topic position; in the

second kind of contexts, no clear explanation for ye 也’s presence or absence can be given.

6.5 Conclusion

In this dissertation I have taken as my point of departure the hypothesis formulated by Yue

2004 that the original function of ye 也, as attested in the fourth century BCE Zhongshan bronze

inscriptions, is marking focus, and I have tested it against the earliest extensive set of excavated

texts using ye 也, the fourth century Guodian texts.

I have translated the texts and analyzed their discourse structure, plotting in a table the

discourse function of ye 也 and its co-occurrence in syntactic contexts that the scholarly

literature and my previous analysis of ye 也 in the Zuozhuan have shown to be significant, such

as negation, nominal predicates, complex nominalized NPs (S之VP and 其VP phrases), the

optative verb ke 可, verbs of saying, semicopular verbs such as wei 為. Special attention has

been given to the presence vs. absence of ye 也 in these contexts and in the whole corpus. This

was done with the aim to find, if possible, a path leading from a more restricted to a wider

environment of usage for ye 也, either within the 18 Guodian texts or by comparing the whole

Guodian corpus to other received texts.

As such a path has proved elusive, I have taken as my main aim a synchronic analysis of the

particle ye 也 in the Guodian texts in typological terms, and attempted a unified explanation of

ye 也’s functions in terms of their diachronic development .from an original focus marjking

function.

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6.5.1 Synchronic analysis based on typological categories (and hypothesized diachronic

paths connecting them to the focus usage)

I have subdivided the around 600 occurrences of ye 也 into four main functions: focus

marker, topic marker, clause connection marker, predicate nominal marker. .

6.5.1.1 Ye 也 as a Focus marker

Among the main functions of ye 也, the last three (topic marker, clause connection

marker, predicate nominal marker) have long been recognized, even though often with different

labels, in the literature, while the first, the focus function, notwithstanding the insight of Yue

2004, has never been fully articulated as a separate category. Until recently the notion of focus

has been treated in a fairly unsystematic and hoc way, but relying on more systematic typological

analyses that recognize a high degree of correlation among focus and a series of operators and

constructions, like negatives, scope adverbs, quantifiers, wh-questions, relative clauses, inversion,

object topicalization, contrastive topic, I have been able to find a significant degree of correlation

between the focus usage of ye 也 and the occurrence of negatives, reduplicative stative verbs and

inversions, subject prominent sentences, sentences with universal quantifiers and sentences with

topicalized objects repeated in situ by anaphoric zhi 之. Even though this does not amount to a

full-fledged focus system, as in most contexts the presence of the focus marker ye 也 is optional,

these correlations (most of which cannot be accounted for in a consistent way by any other

account of the functions of ye 也) suggest a core focus function for ye 也.

My dissertation is the first study to argue analytically for the recognition of this function

on the basis of a sizable amount of data and to test the hypothesis that the focus function might

be at the origin of the others, by means of typologically attested diachronic paths connecting

them to the focus function.

6.5.1.2 Ye 也 as Topic marker

While the usage of ye 也 as a topic marker has been widely recognized, and its tendency

to co-occur with zhi 之 and qi 其 noun phrases in topic position has been equally noticed, my

investigation is the first systematic analysis of the presence vs. absence of ye 也 as a topic

marker in a given text. I have found that ye 也 occurs with around 80% of complex nominalized

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NPs in topic position, and more in general that in topic position it occurs only with strongly

definite NPs, namely NPs modified by demontratives or by the marker of definiteness zhe 者.

Furthermore, I have found that in its combination with 所VP and zhi 之 and qi 其 noun phrases

in topic position, ye 也 is in complementary distribution with zhe 者.

While it is possible the above features are connected with the known interaction of focus

and definiteness (see Lyons 1999), the issue will require further investigation. What is certain is

that daichronic paths from focus marker into topic marker are widely attested, and fully

compatible with the hypothesis of focus marker as the original function of ye 也, first stated by

Yue 2004 and strengthened by Stassen’s typological hypothesis of focus as one of the possible

origins of copula. This account allows, for the first time, to establish a convincing connection

between the function of ye 也 as topic marker and the other functions.233

6.5.1.3 Ye 也 as Clause connection marker

My treatment of ye 也 as a clause-connection marker expands the traditional approach

from three points of view: 1) it makes use of discourse analysis, and especially of Schiffrin’s and

Fraser’s studies, in conceptualizing the function of ye 也 as a fully optional discourse marker,

and more specifically, in Fraser’s terminology, as a relationship marker that signals the

relationship of the basic message being conveyed by the current utterance to some prior message,

encoding contrast, elaboration and inference; 2) it makes explicit with which kind of sentences

ye 也 co-occurs (temporal, conditional, causative, explanatory) and correlates its usage with the

occurrence of specific connectives like gu 故, shi yi 是以 and ze 則, showing that the usage of ye

也 with strictly explanatory sentences, often deemed to be its core function, is relatively marginal

when compared with its usage with temporal, conditional and causatives sentences and that there

is no single semantic function conveyed by ye 也 as a clause connector; 3) it argues that as a

typical sentence final particle, ye 也 is extrametrical (as shown by data on rhyming patterns in

the Laozi as well as in the Book of Odes as studied by Kennedy) and that, as typical of sentence

233 While it was (and is) possible to establish a connection between the topic and the copular functions of ye 也, this connection always faced a conceptual problem, as the examples of reanalsys of copula into topic marker are all from languages with verbal copulas, and ye 也 is quite clearly not a verbal copula.

195

final particles in most languages, it has constraints in co-occurring with other particles like yi 矣

and yan 焉.

Furthermore, on the basis of passages from the GD corpus that allow more than one

interpretation, where ye 也 can be interpreted, based on the context, as encoding both conditional

and causative, adversative and concessive, adversative and causative, causal and temporal

relationships among the clauses, I argue for the possibility of a diachronic development from ye

也 marking contrast and adversativity (which are basic focus features) to its marking temporal,

conditional and causative relationships, as it has been recently shown that across many languages,

including Chinese (Jiang 2004), there is a tight connection between adversative, concessive,

conditional, temporal and causal meaning.

6.5.1.4 Ye 也 as Nominal Predicate marker

As for ye 也’s most frequent and prominent function, nominal predicate marker, I have

tested on the GD corpus a recent typological hypothesis by Stassen, the major expert on

intransitive predication, concerning the existence of a category of particle copulas, as well as his

observation that particle copulas tend to alternate with zero copula encoding.

From a synchronic point of view my investigation supports the adoption of the category

of particle copulas to describe the function of ye 也 and quantifies, for the first time, the rate of

occurrence of ye 也 after nominal predicates in a given text; from a diachronic point of view, it

provides a diachronic path leading from the focus marker function to the nominal predicate

marker function, a function that can, in light of these findings, be more simply called copular.

As to why ye 也 is far more developed and widespread with respect to the role of a

particle copula marking nominal predicates in the GD corpus, I have already mentioned that with

the nominal predicate, its predecessor was zero marking -- in other words, there was no

alternative marker. On the other hand, ye 也 as a clause connection marker has predecessors in

such forms as ze 則, gu 故 and shiyi 是以, and as topic marker in the topic position it has a

forerunner in wei 隹. It is therefore quite natural that ye 也 would develop the way it did.

196

6.5.1.4.1 Ye 也 in simple clauses with stative verbs

Beyond the four functions examined above, I have investigated one more specific

syntactic environments where ye 也 occurs with a certain frequency, namely simple clauses with

semi-copular verbs and stative (non-dynamic) verbs, like existential verbs, the semi-copular verb

wei 為, the optative verb ke 可, verbs denoting origin as well as certain stative verbs.

I have shown that they all share the feature of stativity, in terms of the three features

given by Hopper and Thompson (1980: 294): non-agentive subject, non-affected object, atelic

verb, and that the distribution of the particle copula ye 也 with this kind of verbs is in accordance

with a widely attested tendency of copular encoding for time stable, low valency verbs, so that

even this usage of ye 也 can be connected with focus, through particle copula ye 也.

6.5.2 Results, limitations and future developments

Summing up my contributions, I have investigated a new group of texts containing the

earliest extensive usage of ye 也, and covered in a more systematic way than any previous study

both the passages containing ye 也 and the ones where ye 也 is absent, providing quantitative

coverage and functional explanations for the usage or non usage of the particle, whose

distribution is summarized in the table below:234

Table 8 Presence of ye: optional and regular contexts

234 An expanded version of Table 4, section 1.7.1.

Presence of ye Function Optional Regular

Focus Pragmatic (Information structure)

NP之NP, 其NP

Verbal clauses S之VP, 其VP, S之於VP topics (80%)

Dem+NP topics (100%) Explanation Pragmatic

(Discourse marker) Consequence Stative verbs 可+ VP (90%)

Nominal predicates (95%) Syntactic Nominalized object clauses (100%)

197

I have given a typological justification for some of the main functions of ye 也 already

covered in the literature, as well as for some (like focus usage, ye 也 occurring in simple

sentences as well as ye 也 after nominalized object clauses) that have not been systematically

treated before.

I have drawn together recent results from the study of focus constructions, copulas and

transitivity, discourse theory and complementation, provided arguments for diachronic paths

relating all the known functions to a primary focus usage, tested and confirmed the viability of

Stassen’s notion of particle copula for ye 也 and found a previously unnoticed connection

between ye 也 in topic position and strong definiteness requirements, as well as a pattern of

complementary distribution (in topic position) with zhe 者.

I am aware that this approach is not without limitations.

The presence of ye 也, as reflected in the table above, is always optional (beside the very

limited case of nominalized object clauses after verbs of knowing and desiring), and no reason

can be given for its presence and absence. Such optionality shows that the usage of the particle

ye 也 is developing and it is spreading unequally across different syntactic and discourse

environments, so that only tendencies, and no straight-cut rules, can be detected.

The strongest justification of any of my categories lies ultimately in how well argued is

its correlation with the others in providing a picture of the usage of ye 也 which is more unified

and typologically more consistent than previous pictures.

If this is the case, the approach can be extended to other texts, both the Shanghai Museum

Texts as well as earlier (the Book of Odes) and later usages, and used to discuss issues of Sino-

Tibetan comparison.

198

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217

Appendix

Guodian texts segmented

Conventions followed for the text and its segmentation

I follow Liu Zhao’s transcription of the Guodian material as the default both for his choice of characters and for his ordering of the strips;235 his edition is based on the 1998 reference edition with supplementary notes by Qiu Xigui.236 For indicating conjectural deletions and supplements to the text I adopt the following conventions: {}= the character in parenthesis should be deleted <> or 〔〕= the characters in parenthesis are supplied (by Liu Zhao, unless otherwise stated) on the basis of either conjecture, matching with received texts, or Shanghai Museum manuscript (matching with the Guodian manuscript, for the Zi yi and the Xing zi ming chu). I have subdivided the text into smaller units, each roughly corresponding to one sentence, and given them a line number, for the purpose of entering the numbered lines into a database. As there are no accepted parameters to segment Classical Chinese texts into sentences, I have mainly used common sense, but I have tended to segment the text in a way that facilitates the analysis of the features I am interested (especially the particle 也)- I have accordingly broken the text into units in way that any one unit does not contain more than one occurrence of也 for each of its three main functions (topic marker, final particle, nominal predicate marker). The following passage from the Xing zi ming chu , for example, is segmented in a way that every occurrence of nominal predicate marker 也 occurs in a separate line (25-31), while the symmetrical preceding sentence is given as a single line (24) : 24. 凡性或動之，或逆之，或交之，或礪之，或出之，或養之，或長之。 25. 凡動性者，物也；26. 逆性者，悅也；27. 交性者，故也；28. 礪性者，義也；29. 出性者，勢也；30. 養性者，習也；31. 長性者，道也。 As I am just counting occurrences of given features and not correlating them statistically to the number of lines/sentences into which the text is broken, the way I segment the text into lines is merely a matter of convenience and does not affect my results. Another temporary feature of my numbering system, which will be corrected in the final version, is an occasionally ad hoc system of numbering, as in the following example: 3. 忠積則可親也，3.1信積則可信也。4. 忠信積而民弗親信者，未之有也。 The choice to number the line consisting of 信積則可信也 as 3.1 instead of 4 merely reflect the fact that I formerly analyzed the whole passage忠積則可親也，信積則可信也 as a single line, and later decided to split it into two parts, for convenience in glossing, according to the principles stated immediately above. Instead of renumbering the whole piece, I have provisionally used this device- for all purposes, this is to interpreted as equal to a normal numbering sequence like 235 劉釗，《郭店楚簡校釋》，福州: 福建人民出版社， 2003. 236 荊门市博物馆, 《郭店楚墓竹简》, 北京：文物出版社, 1998.

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3. 忠積則可親也，4.信積則可信也。4. 忠信積而民弗親信者，未之有也。 In a certain amount of cases I supply one or more characters different from the ones given by Liu Zhao, mostly based on phonological reasons; when the characters are more than one, I indicate with square parenthesis [] the preferred reading and with simple parenthesis the alternative reading (). In certain cases I provide only one or more characters in simple parenthesis, as supplementary candidates for a reading given by Liu Zhao that I share. In each case I indicate the source of my choice by means of abbreviations following the character within the parenthesis, as for example: 門內之治，欲其掩 [婉SHR1: 197 n.13] (逸LL) 也.237 In this case, instead of the character掩 given by Liu Zhao I adopt the character 婉 proposed by the first volume of the Shanghai Museum manuscript reader at page 197, n.13, and give as a possible alternative candidate the character 逸 proposed by Li Ling. I give page and note number only for the Shanghai Museum manuscript reader and (in the case of the Yucong pieces) for Tu Zongliu- for the other texts, the location of the character is fairly straightforward once the piece name and strip number are known. The abbreviations I have adopted are the following: BYL= Bai Yulan238 CW= Chen Wei239 DYZ=Ding Yuanzhi240 ES=Edward Shaughnessy241 GDE= Guodian Editors242 KLW= Kwan Leung Wong243 LL= Li Ling244 LMC= Liao Mingchun245 LXF= Liu Xinfang246 QXG= Qiu Xigui247 RH= Robert Hendricks248 237 Line 138 of the Xing zi ming chu. 238白於藍, 《簡牘帛書通假字字典》, 福州市 : 福建人民出版社, 2008. 239 陳偉,《郭店竹書別釋》, 武漢：湖北教育出版社，2003. 240 丁原植, 《郭店楚簡儒家佚籍四種釋析》, 台北：台灣古籍出版社有限公司，2000. 241 Edward Shaughnessy, Rewriting early Chinese texts, Albany : State University of New York Press, 2006. 242荊门市博物馆, 《郭店楚墓竹简》, 北京：文物出版社, 1998. 243 Kwan Leung Wong , Early Confucianism : a study of the Guodian Confucian texts, PhD dissertation, University of Arizona, available online as a digital dissertation in the Hong Kong University Library system: http://sunzi1.lib.hku.hk/ER/detail/hkul/3845044 244 李零, 《郭店楚簡校讀記》(修訂本), 北京: 北京大學出版社出版, 2002. 245 廖名春《郭店楚簡老子校釋》, 北京 : 淸华大学出版社, 2003 246 劉信芳,《簡帛五行解詁》, 台北: 藝文印書館, 2000 247 Notes to the 1998 reference edition.

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SHM=Shanghai Museum manuscript (matching with the Guodian manuscript, for the Zi yi and the Xing zi ming chu) SHR1= Shanghai Museum manuscripts reader volume 1249 TZL=Tu Zongliu250 ZG= Zheng Gang251 In some cases, Liu Zhao gives a transcription in the main text, but suggests a different reading in the notes- when I find his suggestion in the notes preferable to his choice in the main text, I put it in square parenthesis with the abbreviation LZ; in a handful of cases, I propose a character on my own, and indicate it by the initials MC=Marco Caboara. The sources listed above are not always the ultimate source for the identification of the characters but always provide the relevant data for the proposed identification. When a whole sequence of characters is object of wide interpretative disagreement, I adopt adhoc solutions, giving my own choice for the characters and then presenting one or more interpretation of the whole sequence, with the aim of not hindering the readability of the text, as for example in the following line from Zhong xin zhi dao: 10. 匋[大古CW]而者[著MC]尚 (陶而睹常LL)，信之至也。 To place high antiquity at the summit, is the utmost of trust. The first character is given in Liu Zhao’s transcription (which replicates the Guodian editors’ transcription, without providing an hypothesis for the word represented by the character) and Chen Wei’s emendation in square brackets; the third character is given with my own interpretation in square brackets; the whole sequence is then given with a different interpretation, Li Ling’s, as a possible alternative reading. In places like these, many more alternative readings could be provided. When Liu Zhao does not identify a character of the manuscript by means of a modern equivalent, namely when he admits that he does not know how to interpret a given character, I write an X and provide a candidate relying on one of the aforementioned sources, as for example in the following passage from Xing zi ming chu: 50. 其X [數(=禮)SHR1:173 n.18] (諛DYZ)，文(度QXG)也。 The character following in parenthesis with an equal sign stands for a non obvious meaning connected with a given character (namely, a semantic equivalence between the preceding character and the character following in parenthesis with an equal sign, what the commentators sometimes label as 訓讀).

248 Robert Hendricks , Lao Tzu's Tao te ching : a translation of the startling new documents found at Guodian, New York, NY : Columbia University Press, 2000. 249 季旭昇, 《上海博物館藏戰國楚竹書讀本一》, 台北：萬卷樓圖書股份有限公司, 2003. If I cite another volume of the series (which for the time being consists of four volumes corresponding to the first four volumes of the official publication of the Shanghai Museum manuscripts) I change the numeral accordingly to SHR2, SHR3 or SHR4. 250涂宗流, 劉祖信, 《郭店楚簡先秦儒家佚書校釋》, 台北：萬卷樓圖書有限公司, 2001 251鄭剛, “關於《忠信之道》的性質的再討論”, posted on 2004-6-22 on jianbo.org

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1. 《老子》甲本 1.1. 絕智棄辯，民利百倍。 1.2. 絕巧棄利，盜賊亡有。 1.3.絕偽棄慮 (詐LL), 民復季(孝LL)子。 1.4. 三言以為(2)使不足，或令之, 有[或GDE] 呼屬。 1.5. 視素抱樸，少私寡欲。 1.6. 江海所以為百谷王，以其(3) 能為百谷下，是以能為百谷王。 1.7.1 聖人之在民前也，以身後之；7.2 其在上也，以(4)言下之。 1.8.1 其在民上也，民弗厚也；8.2 其在民前也，民弗害也。 1.9. 天下樂進而弗厭。 1.10. (5) 以其不爭也，故天下莫能與之爭。 1.11. 罪莫重於甚欲，咎莫險於欲得，(6) 禍莫大乎不知足。 1.12. 知足之為足，此恒足矣。 1.13. 以道佐人主者，不欲以兵強 (7) 於天下。 1.14. 善者果而已，不以取強。 1.15. 果而弗伐，果而弗驕，果而弗矜，是謂果而不強。 1.16. 其(8) 事好長。 1.17. 古之善為士者，必微妙玄達，深不可識，是以為之容: 1.18. 豫乎〔其〕(9) 冬涉川，猶乎其如畏四鄰， 1.19. 儼乎其如客，渙乎其如釋， 1.20. 敦乎其如樸，沌乎其如濁。 1.21.孰能濁以靜者將徐清; 1.22. 孰能安以動者將徐生。 1.23.(10) 保此道者不欲尚盈。 1.24. 為之者敗之，執之者遠 (11) 之。 1.25. 是以聖人亡為，故亡敗；亡執，故亡失。 1.26. 臨事之紀，慎終如始，此亡敗事矣。 1.27. 聖人欲 (12) 不欲，不貴難得之貨，教不教，復眾之所過。 1.28. 是故聖人能輔萬物之自然，而弗 (13) 能為。 1.29. 道恒亡為也，侯王能守之，而萬物將自化。 1.30. 化而欲作，將鎮[正]之以亡名之樸。 1.31. 夫 (14) 亦將知足，知足以靜，萬物將自定。 1.32. 為亡為，事亡事，味亡味。 1.33. 大小之, 多易必多難。 1.34. 是以聖人 (15) 猶難之，故終亡難。 1.35. 天下皆知美之為美也，惡已[矣MC]； 1.36. 皆知善，此其不善已[矣MC]。 1.37.1 有亡之相生也，

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1.37.2 (16) 難易之相成也， 1.37.3長短之相形也， 1.37.4高下之相盈也， 1.37.5 音聲之相和也， 1.37.6先後之相隨也。 1.38. 是 (17) 以聖人居亡為之事，行不言之教。 1.39. 萬物作而弗始也，為而弗恃也，成而弗居。 1.40. 天[夫LZ]唯(18) 弗居也，是以弗去也。 1.41. 道恒亡名, 樸; 雖細，天地弗敢臣; 侯王如 (19) 能守之，萬物將自賓。 1.42. 天地相合也，以降[逾GDE]甘露。 1.43. 民莫之令天[而LZ]自均焉。始制有名。 1.44. 名亦既有，夫亦將知止，知止所以不殆。 1.45. 譬道之在天下也, 猶小谷之與江海。 1.46. 有狀混成，先天地生，悦穆 (寂寥LL)，獨立不改，可以為天下母。 1.47. 未知其名，字之曰道，吾強為之名曰大。 1.48. 大曰羨 (衍LL)，羨(衍LL)曰轉，轉曰返。 1.49. 天大，地大，道大，王亦大。 1.50. 國中有四大焉, 王居一焉。 1.51. 人法地，地法天，天法道，道法自然。 1.52. 天地之間，其猶橐籥與？ 1.53. 虛而不屈，動而愈出。 1.54. 至虛，恒 (極BYL:243) 也； 1.55. 守中[沖LZ]，篤也。 1.56. 萬物旁作，居以須復也。 1.57. 天道員員，各復其根。 1.58.其安也，易持也； 1.59. 其未兆也，易謀也； 1.60. 其脆也，易判(泮LL)也； 1.61. 其幾也，易散也。 1.62. 為之於其亡有也。 1.63. 治之於其未亂。 1.64. 合〔抱之木，生於毫〕末， 1.65.九成之臺，作〔於纍土〕， 1.66. 〔千里之行，始於〕足下。 1.67. 知之者弗言，言之者弗知。 1.68.閉其兌，塞其門，和其光，通[同LL]其塵，抽其穎，解其紛, 1.69. 是謂玄同。 1.70. 故不可得而親，亦不可得而疏； 1.71. 不可得而利，亦不可得而害； 1.72. 不可得而貴，亦不可得而賤。 1.73. 故為天下貴。

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1.74. 以正治邦，以奇用兵，以亡事取天下。 1.75. 吾何以知其然也? 1.76. 夫天 <下> 多忌諱而民彌叛。 1.77. 民多利器而邦滋昏。 1.78. 人多智天[而LZ]奇物滋起。 1.79. 乏[法GDE]物滋章, 盜賊多有。 1.80. 是以聖人之言曰：我無事而民自富。 1.81. 我亡為而民自化。 1.82. 我好靜而民自正。 1.83. 我欲不欲而民自樸。 1.84. 含德之厚者，比於赤子， 1.85.虺蠆蟲蛇弗螫，攫鳥猛獸弗扣，骨弱筋柔而捉固。 1.86. 未知牝牡之合朘怒，精之至也。 1.87. 終日呼而不嚘，和之至也， 1.88. 和曰同[常BYL:275]，知和曰明。 1.89. 益生曰祥，心使氣曰強， 1.90. 物壯則老，是謂不道。 1.91.名與身，孰親？ 1.92. 身與貨, 孰多？ 1.93. 得(持CW)與亡，孰病？ 1.94. 甚愛，必大費， 1.95. 厚藏，必多亡。 1.96. 故知足，不辱；知止，不殆：可以長久。 1.97. 返也者，道〔之〕動也。 1.98. 弱也者，道之用也。 1.99. 天下之物生於有，有生於亡。 1.100. 持而盈之，不 {不} 若已。 1.101. 揣 (湍GDE)而群之，不可長保也。 1.102. 金玉盈室，莫能守也。 1.103. 貴富驕，自遺咎也。 1.104. 功遂身退，天之道也。

2.《老子》乙本 2.1. 治人事天，莫若嗇。 2.2. 夫唯嗇，是以早{是以早}備[服LL]； 2.3. 是謂〔重積德〕。 2.4. 〔重積德則無不克〕， 2.5. 〔無〕不克則莫知其恒 [極LL]. 2.6. 莫知其恒 [極LL]，〔則〕可以有國。 2.7. 有國之母，可以長〔久〕。

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2.8. 〔是謂深根固柢之法〕，長生久視之道也。 2.9. [為] 學者日益，為道者日損。 2.10. 損之又損，以至亡為也. 亡為而亡不為。 2.11. 絕學亡憂，唯與呵 (阿LL)，相去幾何？ 2.12. 美與惡，相去何若？ 2.13. 人之所畏，亦不可以不畏。 2.14. 人寵辱若驚[纓GDE]，貴大患若身。 2.15. 何謂寵辱？ 2.16. 寵為下也。 2.17. 得之若驚[纓GDE]，失之若驚[纓GDE]，是謂寵辱〔若RH〕驚[纓]。 2.18.〔何謂貴大患〕若身？ 2.19. 吾所以有大患者，為吾有身。 2.20. 及吾亡身，有何〔患焉〕? 2.21.〔故貴以身為〕為天下，若可以托天下矣。 2.22. 愛以身為天下，若可以寄天下矣。 2.23.上士聞道，僅能行於其中。 2.24. 中士聞道，若聞[昏GDE]若亡。 2.25. 下士聞道，大笑之。 2.26. 弗大笑，不足以為道矣。 2.27. 是以建言有之：明道如昧[費GDE]，夷道如纇，〔進〕道若退。 2.28. 上德如谷，大白如辱，廣德如不足，建德如〔偷，質〕真如渝。 2.29. 大方亡隅，大器慢成，大音希聲，大象亡形，道〔始無名，善始善成〕 2.30. 閉其門，塞其兌，終身不瞀(侮LL)。 2.31. 啟其兌，塞[賽GDE]其事，終身不救。 2.32. 大成若缺，其用不敝。 2.33.大盈若沖，其用不窮。 2.34. 大巧若拙，大成若詘，大直若屈。 2.35. 燥勝凔，靜勝然，清靜為天下正。 2.36. 善建者不拔，善抱者不脫，子孫以其祭祀不輟 (絕MWDB, 忒LXF). 2.37. 修之身，其德乃真。 2.38. 修之家，其德有餘。 2.39. 修之鄉，其德乃長。 2.40. 修之邦，其德乃豐。 2.41. 修之天下〔其德乃溥〕。 2.42. [以家觀〕家，以鄉觀鄉，以邦觀邦，以天下觀天下。 2.43. 吾何以知天〔下之然哉？以此〕。

3.《老子》丙本 3.1. 太上，下知有之。其次，親譽之。其次，畏之；其次，侮之。

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3.2. 信不足焉, 有不信。 3.3. 猷乎，其貴言也。 3.4. 成事遂功，而百姓曰我自然也。 3.5. 故大道廢焉[安GDE]有仁義。 3.6. 六親不和焉[安GDE]有孝慈。 3.7. 邦家昏亂焉[安GDE]有正臣。 3.8. 設[執GDE]大象，天下往。 3.9. 往而不害，安平太。 3.10. 樂與餌，過客止。 3.11. 故道〔之出言〕，淡兮[呵GDE]其無味也。 3.12. 視之不足見，聽之不足聞，而不可既也。 3.13. 君子居則貴左，用兵則貴右。 3.14. 故曰：兵者，〔不祥之器也. 〕 3.15. 〔不〕得已而用之, 銛[恬LL] 功[龔RH:217 n.10] 為上. 3.16. 弗美也。 3.17. 美之，是樂殺人。 3.18. 夫樂〔殺，不可〕以得志於天下。 3.19. 故吉事上左，喪事上右。 3.20. 是以偏將軍居左，上將軍居右，言以喪禮居之也。 3.21. 故殺〔人眾〕，則以哀悲莅[蒞LL]之； 3.22. 戰勝，則以喪禮居之。 3.23. 為之者敗之，執之者失之。 3.24. 聖人無為，故無敗也； 3.25. 無執，故〔無失也〕。 3.26. 慎終若始，則無敗事矣。 3.27. 人之敗也，恒於其且成也敗之。 3.28. 是以〔聖〕人欲不欲，不貴難得之貨； 3.29. 學不學，復眾之所過。 3.30. 是以能輔萬物之自然，而弗敢為。

4.《太一生水》

4.1. 大(太LL)一生水，水反輔大一，是以成天。 4.2. 天反輔大一，是以成地。 4.3. 天地〔復相輔〕也，是以成神明。 4.4. 神明復相輔也，是以成陰陽。 4.5. 陰陽復相輔也，是以成四時。 4.6. 四時復〔相〕輔也，是以成凔熱[然GDE]。 4.7. 凔(寒LL) 熱[然GDE]復相輔也，是以成濕燥。 4.8. 濕燥復相輔也，成歲而止。 4.9. 故歲者，濕燥之所生也。

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4.10. 濕澡者，凔熱[然GDE]之所生也。 4.11. 凔熱[然GDE]者，〔四時之所生也〕。 4.12. 四時者，陰陽之所生〔也LZ〕。 4.13. 陰陽者，神明之所生也。 4.14. 神明者，天地之所生也。 4.15. 天地者，大一之所生也。 4.16. 是故大一藏於水，行於時，周而又〔始，以己為〕萬物母。 4.17. 一缺一盈，以己為萬物經。 4.18. 此天之所不能殺，地之所不能埋，陰陽之所不能成。 4.19. 君子知此之謂〔…〕 4.20. 下，土也，而謂之地。 4.21. 上，氣也，而謂之天。 4.22. 道亦其字也。 4.23. 請問 (青昏LL) 其名。 4.24. 以道從事者必托其名，故事成而身長。 4.25. 聖人之從事也，亦托其名，故功成而身不傷。 4.26. 天地名字並立， 4.27. 故過(訛LL)其方，不思相當. 4.28. 〔天不足〕於西北，其下高以強。 4.29. 地不足於東南，其上〔高以強〕。 4.30. 天道貴弱， 4.31. 削成者以益生者，伐於強，責於〔…〕 4. 32.〔是故，不足於上〕者，有餘於下； 4.33. 不足於下者，有餘於上。

5. 《緇衣》 5.1. 夫子曰： 5.2. 好美如好緇衣，惡惡如惡巷伯，則民咸服(力LL)而刑不蠢 (頓LL)。 5.3. 《詩》云： 5.4. 「儀型文王，萬邦作孚。」 5.5. 子曰： 5.6. 有國者章好章惡，以示民厚，則民情不忒。 5.7. 《詩》云： 5.8. 「靖共爾位，好是正直。」 5.9. 子曰： 5.10. 為上可望而知也，為下可類 [述 SMR1:87]而等也，則君不疑其臣，臣不惑於君。 5.11.《詩》云： 5.12. 「淑人君子，其儀不忒。」 5.13. 《尹誥》云：

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5.14. 「惟伊尹及湯，咸有一德。」 5.15. 子曰： 5.16. 上人疑則百姓惑，下難知則君長勞。 5.17.故君民者，章好以示民欲，謹惡以御[渫QXG]民淫，則民不惑。 5.18. 臣事君，言其所不能，不辭其所能，則君不勞。 5.19. 《大雅》云： 5.20. 「上帝板板，下民卒癉[疸LL]。」 5.21. 《小雅》云： 5.22. 「非其止之共, 唯王恭 [邛LL]。[=非其止共, 唯王之邛RT; ES 99 n.50]」 5.23. 子曰： 5.24. 民以君為心，君以民為體，心好則體安之，君好則民欲之。 5.25. 故心以體廢，君以民亡。 5.26. 《詩》云： 5.27. 「誰秉國成? 不自為貞[正GDE]，卒勞百姓。」 5.28. 《君牙》云： 5.29.「日暑雨，小民惟日怨；晉冬耆滄，小民亦惟日怨。」 5.30. 子曰： 5.31. 上好仁則下之為仁也爭先。 5.32. 故長民者，彰 [章GDE]志以昭百姓，則民致行己以悅上。 5.33. 《詩》云： 5.34. 「有覺德行，四方順之。」 5.35. 子曰： 5.36. 禹立三年，百姓以仁道，豈必盡仁。 5.37. 《詩》云： 5.38. 「成王之孚，下土之式。」 5.39. 《呂型》云： 5.40. 「一人有慶，萬民賴之。」 5.41. 子曰： 5.42. 下之事上也，不從其所以命，而從其所行。 5.43. 上好此物也，下必有甚焉者矣。 5.44. 故上之好惡，不可不慎也。 5.45. 民之表也。 5.46. 《詩》云： 5.47. 「赫赫師尹，民具爾瞻。」 5.48. 子曰： 5.49. 長民者衣服不改，從容有常，則民德一。 5.50. 《詩》云： 5.51. 「其容不改，出言有章[順LL]，黎民所望[信LL]。」 5.52. 子曰： 5.53. 大人不親其所賢，而信其所賤，教此以失，民此以變[煩LL]。 5.54. 《詩》云：

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5.55. 「彼求我則，如不我得，執我仇仇，亦不我力。」 5.56. 《君陳》云： 5.57. 「未見聖，如其弗克見，我既見，我弗迪聖。」 5.58. 子曰： 5.59. 大臣之不親也，則忠敬不足，而富貴已過也。 5.60. 邦家之不寧也，則大臣不治，而褻臣託也。 5.61. 此以大臣不可不敬，民之蕝也。 5.62. 故君不與小謀大，則大臣不怨。 5.63. 《葉[祭SHR1:112 n.5] 公之顧命》云： 5.64. 「毋以小謀敗大圖，毋以嬖御塞莊后，毋以嬖士塞大夫，卿士」 5.65. 子曰： 5.66. 長民者教之以德，齊之以禮，則民有勸心， 5.67. 教之以政，齊之以刑，則民有免心。 5.68. 故孳以愛之，則民有親， 5.69. 信以結之，則民不倍， 5.70. 恭以莅[蒞LL]之，則民有遜心。 5.71. 《詩》云： 5.72. 「吾大夫恭且儉，靡人不斂。」 5.73. 《呂型》云： 5.74. 「非用臸[命LZ]，制以刑, 惟作五瘧之刑曰法。」 5.75. 子曰： 5.76. 政之不行，教之不成也，則刑罰不足恥，而爵不足勸也。 5.77. 故上不可以褻刑而輕爵。 5.78. 《康誥》云： 5.79. 「敬明乃罰。」 5.80. 《呂刑》云： 5.81. 「播刑之迪。」 5.82. 子曰： 5.83. 王言如絲，其出如綸[(糸+昏)= 綸 SHR1: 126 n.1]； 5.84.王言如索, 其出如(糸+聿)[紼LL]。故大人不倡流。 5.85. 《詩》云： 5.86. 「慎爾出話，敬爾威儀。」 5.87. 子曰： 5.88. 可言不可行，君子弗言； 5.89. 可行不可言，君子弗行。 5.90. 則民言不危行，〔行 ES: 111 n.76〕不危言。 5.91. 《詩》云： 5.92. 「淑慎爾止，不諐(衍LL)于儀。」 5.93. 子曰： 5.94. 君子道人以言，而恒以行。 5.95. 故言則慮其所終，

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5.96. 行則稽其所敝，則民慎於言，而謹於行。 5.97. 《詩》云： 5.98. 「穆穆文王，於緝熙敬止。」 5.99. 子曰： 5.100. 言從行之，則行不可匿。 5.101. 故君子顧言而行，以成其信，則民不能大其美而小其惡。 5.102. 《大雅》云： 5.103. 「白珪之玷，尚可磨也。 5.104. 此言之玷，不可為也。」 5.105. 《小雅》云： 5.106. 「允也君子，展也大成。」 5.107. 《君奭》云： 5.108. 「昔在上帝，割[蓋SHR1:134 n.5] 申觀文王德，其集大命于厥身。」 5.109. 子曰： 5.110. 君子言有物，行有格，此以生不可奪志，死不可奪名。 5.111. 故君子多聞，齊而守之； 5.112. 多志，齊而親之；精知，略而行之。 5.113. 《詩》云： 5.114. 「淑人君子，其儀一也。」 5.115. 《君陳》云： 5.116. 「出入自爾師, 虞[于GDE]庶言同。」 5.117. 子曰： 5.118. 苟有車，必見其蓋。 5.119. 苟有衣，必見其黻。 5.120. 人苟有言，必聞其聲； 5.121. 苟有行，必見其成。 5.122. 《詩》云： 5.123. 「服之亡懌[斁RT]。」 5.124. 子曰： 5.125. 私惠不懷德，君子不自留焉。 5.126. 《詩》云： 5.127. 「人之好我，示我周行。」 5.128. 子曰： 5.129. 唯君子能好其匹，小人豈能好其匹。 5.130. 故君子之友也有鄉[向LL]，其惡有方。 5.131. 此以邇者不惑，而遠者不疑。 5.132. 《詩》云： 5.133. 「君子好逑。」 5.134. 子曰： 5.135. 輕絕貧賤，而重絕富貴，則好仁不堅，而惡不著也。 5.136. 人雖曰不利，吾弗信之矣。

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5.137. 《詩》云： 5.138. 「朋友攸攝，攝以威儀。」 5.139. 子曰： 5.140. 宋人有言曰： 5.141. “人而亡恒，不可為卜筮也.” 5.142 其古之遺言與？ 5.143. 龜筮猶弗知而況於人乎？ 5.144. 《詩》云： 5.145. 「我龜既厭, 不我告猷。」

6. 魯穆公問於子思

6.1. 魯穆公問於子思曰： 6.2. 「何如而可謂忠臣？」 6.3. 子思曰： 6.4. 「恒稱其君之惡者，可謂忠臣矣。 6.5. 公不悅，揖而退之。 6.6. 成孫弋見，公曰： 6.7. 「嚮者吾問忠臣於子思， 6.8. 子思曰： 6.9. 『恒稱其君之惡者可謂忠臣矣。』 6.10. 寡人惑焉，而未之得也。」 6.11. 成孫弋曰： 6.12. 「噫，善哉，言乎！ 6.13. 夫為其君之故殺其身者，嘗有之矣。 6.14. 恒稱其君之惡者未之有也。 6.15. 夫為其君之故殺其身者，效祿爵者也。 6.16. 恒〔稱其君〕之惡〔者，遠〕祿爵者〔也。〕 6.17. [為〕義而遠祿爵，非子思，吾惡聞之矣。」

7. 窮達以時

7.1. 有天有人，天人有分。 7.2. 察天人之分，而知所行矣。 7.3. 有其人，亡其世，雖賢弗行矣。 7.4. 苟有其世，何難之有哉。 7.5. 舜耕於歷山，陶拍(埏LL)於河浦[滸LL]，立而為天子，遇堯也。 7.6. 皋陶衣枲褐，帽絰蒙巾釋板築而佐天子，遇武丁也。 7.7. 呂望為臧棘津，守監門棘地，行年七十而屠牛於朝歌，舉而為天子師，遇周文也。

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7.8. 管夷吾拘囚梏{束QXG}縛，釋械柙，而為諸侯相，遇齊桓也。 7.9. 百里轉鬻五羊，為伯牧牛，釋鞭箠而為朝卿，遇秦穆。 7.10. 孫叔三謝期(恆GDE)思少司馬，出而為令尹，遇楚莊也。 7.11. 初沈(澹LL)鬱[晦LL]，後名揚，非其德加。 7.11.1子胥前多功，後戮死，非其智衰也。 7.12. 驥馰張山，騹(穴+土)於邵來[控於邵棘TZL]，非亡體壯也。 7.13. 窮四海，致千里，遇造父[故GDE]也。 7.14. 遇不遇，天也。 7.15. 動非為達也，故窮而不〔困。TZL〕 7.16. [學非TZL〕為名也，故莫之知而不吝。 7.17. [芝蘭生於幽谷, 非以無人LL] 嗅而不芳。 7.18. 無茖[落TZL]瑾瑜，抱山石不為 […] 7.19. […] 善倍(負LL)己也。 7.20. 窮達以時，德行一也。 7.21. 譽毀在旁，聽之, 慝[試MC](弋GDE)毋之白. 7.22. […] 不理. 7.23. 窮達以時。幽明不再，故君子敦於反己。

8. 五行 8.1. 五行：仁形於內, 謂之德之行，不形於內謂之行。 8.2. 義形於內謂之德之行，不形於內謂之行。 8.3. 禮形於內謂之德之行，不形於內謂之<行>. 8.4. <智形> 於內謂之德之行，不形於內謂之行。 8.5. 聖形於內謂之德之行，不形於內謂之 {德之LZ} 行。 8.6. 德之行五, 和謂之德，四行和, 謂之善。 8.7. 善，人道也。 8.8. 德，天道也。 8.9. 君子亡中心之憂則亡中心之智，亡中心之智則亡中心〔之悅〕，亡中心〔之悅則〕不安，不安則不樂，不樂則亡德. 8.10. 五行皆形于內而時行之，謂之君〔子〕。 8.11. 士有志於君子道, 謂之志士。 8.12. 善弗為亡近，德弗志不成，智弗思不得. 8.13. 思不精不察，思不長不形，不形不安，不安不樂，不樂亡德。 8.14. 不仁，思不能精; 不智，思不能長; 不仁不智，未見君子，憂心不能惙惙；既見君子，心不能悅。

8.15. “亦既見之，亦既覯之，我心則 [悅]” 8.16. 此之謂 <也>. 8.17. <不>仁，思不能精; 不聖，思不能輕[徑MC]; 不仁不聖，未見君子，憂心不能忡忡；既見君子，心不能降。

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8.18. 仁之思也精，精則察，察則安，安則溫，溫則悅，悅則戚，戚則親，親則愛，愛則玉色，玉色則形，形則仁。

8.19. 智之思也長，長則得，得則不忘，不忘則明，明則見賢人，見賢人則玉色，玉色則形，形則智。

8.20. 聖之思也輕[徑MC]，輕[徑MC]則形，形則不忘，不忘則聰，聰則聞君子道，聞君子道則玉音，玉音則形，形則聖。

8.21. 「淑人君子，其儀一也」。

8.22. 能為一，然後能為君子，〔君子〕慎其獨也。

8.23. 「〔瞻望弗〕及，泣涕如雨。」 8.24. 能(走+ 屈) [差RT]池其羽，後能至哀; 君子慎其〔獨也〕。 8.25. 〔君〕子之為善也，有與始，有與終也。 8.26. 君子之為德也，〔有與始，無與〕終也。 8.27. 金聲，而玉振之，有德者也。 8.28. 金聲，善也; 8.29. 玉音，聖也; 8.30. 善，人道也； 8.31. 德，而[天LZ] 道〔也〕。 8.32. 唯有德者，然後能金聲而玉振之。 8.33. 不聰不明，不聖不智; 不智不仁，不仁不安，不安不樂，不樂亡德。 8.34.不勉不悅，不悅不戚，不戚不親，不親不愛，不愛不仁。 8.35.不直不肆(=肄)，不肆不果，不果不簡，不簡不行，不行不義。 8.36.不遠不敬，不敬不嚴，不嚴不尊，不尊不恭，不恭亡禮。 8.37.未嘗聞君子道，謂之不聰。 8.38.未嘗見賢人，謂之不明。 8.39.聞君子道而不知其君子道也，謂之不聖。 8.40. 見賢人而不知其有德也，謂之不智。 8.41. 見而知之，智也。 8.42. 聞而知之，聖也。 8.43. 明明，智也。 8.44. 赫赫，聖也。 8.45. “明明在下，赫赫在上.” 8.46. 此之謂也。 8.47. 聞君子道，聰也。 8.48. 聞而知之，聖也。 8.49. 聖人知而[天LZ] 道也。 8.50. 知而行之，義也。 8.51. 行之而時，德也。 8.52. 見賢人，明也。 8.53. 見而知之，智也。

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8.54. 知而安之，仁也。 8.55. 安而敬之，禮也。 8.56. 聖知[智]，禮樂之所由生也， 8.57. 五〔行之所和〕也。 8.58. 和則樂，樂則有德，有德則邦家舉。 8.59. 文王之見也如此。 8.60. 「文〔王在上，於昭〕于而[天LZ]」 8.61. 此之謂也。 8.62. 見而知之，智也。 8.63. 知而安之，仁也。 8.64. 安而行之，義也。 8.65. 行而敬之，禮也。 8.66. 仁義，禮所由生也， 8.67. 四行之所和也。 8.68. 和則同，同則善。 8.69.顏色容貌溫，勉也。 8.70.以其中心與人交，悅也。 8.71. 中心悅播遷於兄弟，戚也。 8.72. 戚而信之，親〔也〕。 8.73. 親而篤之，愛也。 8.74. 愛父，其繼愛人，仁也。 8.75. 中心辯然而正行之，直也。 8.76. 直而遂之，肆(=肄)也。 8.77. 肆 (=肄) 而不畏強禦，果也。 8.78. 不以小道害大道，簡也。 8.79.有大罪而大誅之，行也。 8.80. 貴貴，其等尊賢，義也。 8.81. 以其外心與人交，遠也。 8.82. 遠而莊之，敬也。 8.83. 敬而不懈，嚴也。 8.84. 嚴而畏之，尊也。 8.85. 尊而不驕，恭也。 8.86. 恭而博交，禮也。 8.87. 不簡，不行。不匿[暱MC]，不察於道。 8.88. 有大罪而大誅之，簡也。 8.89. 有小罪而赦之，匿[暱MC]也。 8.90. 有大罪而弗大誅也，不行也。 8.91. 有小罪而弗赦也，不察於道也。 8.92. 簡之為言猶練[見MC]也，大而罕者也。 8.93. 匿[暱MC]之為言也猶匿匿也，小而軫[旁(=溥)CSI]者也。 8.94. 簡，義之方也。

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8.95. 匿[暱MC]，仁之方也。 8.96. 剛，義之方[也]。 8.97. 柔，仁之方也。 8.98. 「不強不絿，不剛不柔」 8.99. 此之謂也。 8.100. 君子集大成。能進之為君子，弗能進也，各止於其里。 8.101. 大而罕者，能有取焉? 8.102. 小而軫[旁(=溥)CSI]者，能有取焉? 8.103. 疋(胥LL)儢儢達諸君子道，謂之賢。 8.104. 君子知而舉之，謂之尊賢； 8.105. 知而事之，謂之尊賢{者也}。 8.106. 〔前，王公之尊賢者也MWD〕；後，士之尊賢者也。 8.107. 耳目鼻口手足六者，心之役也。 8.108. 心曰唯，莫敢不唯；諾，莫敢不諾; 進，莫敢不進；後，莫敢不後；深，莫敢不深；淺，莫敢不淺。 8.109. 和則同，同則善。 8.110. 目而知之謂之進之。 8.111. 喻而知之謂之進之。 8.112. 譬而知之謂之進之。 8.113. 禨而知之，天也。 8.114. 「上帝臨汝，毋貳爾心」 8.115. 此之謂也。 8.116. 大施諸其人，天也。 8.117. 其人施諸人，X [據LXF]也。 8.118. 聞道而悅者，好仁者也。 8.119. 聞道而畏者，好義者也。 8.120. 聞道而恭者，好禮者也。 8.121. 聞道而樂者，好德者也。

9. 唐虞之道 9.1. 唐虞之道，禪而不傳； 9.2. 堯舜之王，利天下而弗利也。 9.3. 禪而不傳，聖之盛也。 9.4. 利天下而弗利也，仁之至也。 9.5. 古昔賢仁聖者如此。 9.6. 身窮不困[憌CW] (貪LL), 損而弗利躬，仁矣。 9.7. 必正其身，然後正世，聖道備矣。 9.8. 故唐虞之 [道如此] 也。 9.9. 夫聖人上事天，教民有尊也； 9.10. 下事地，教民有親也；

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9.11. 時事山川，教民有敬也； 9.12. 親事祖廟，教民孝也； 9.13. 太學之中，天子親齒，教民悌也。 9.14. 先聖與後聖，孝[考GDE]後而歸(甄LL)先，教民大順之道也。 9.15. 堯舜之行，愛親尊賢。 9.16. 愛親故孝，尊賢故禪。 9.17. 孝之殺 [察KLW] (施LL)，愛天下之民。 9.18. 禪之流 (傳LL)，世亡隱德。 9.19. 孝，仁之冕也； 9.20. 禪，義之至也。 9.21. 六帝興於古，皆由此也。 9.22. 愛親忘賢，仁而未義也； 9.23. 尊賢遺親，義而未仁也。 9.24. 古者虞舜篤事瞽瞙 (瞽盲LL)，乃式(一TZL) (載LL)其孝； 9.25. 忠事帝堯，乃式其臣。 9.26. 愛親尊賢，虞舜其人也。 9.27. 禹治水，益治火，后稷治土，足民養 […] 9.28. […] (節?) 乎脂膚血氣之情，養性命之正； 9.29. 安命而弗夭，養生而弗傷。 9.30. 知〔…〕禮，夔(畏GDE)守樂，遜民教也。 9.31. 皋陶內用五刑，出式(載LL)兵, 革罪輕X [法LL] (桔TZL)， 9.32. […] 用威. 9.33. 夏用戈，征不服也。 9.34. 愛而征之，虞夏之治也。 9.35. 禪而不傳，義恒〔...〕治也。 9.36. 古者堯生於天子而有天下，聖以遇命，仁以逢時，未嘗遇〔...〕 9.37.〔...〕並(秉LL)於大時，神明均(將LL)從，天地佑之。 9.38. 縱仁、聖可與，時弗可及矣。 9.39. 夫古者舜居於草茅之中而不憂，升(登QXG)為天子而不驕。 9.40. 居草茅之中而不憂，知命也； 9.41. 升為天子而不驕，不流也。 9.42. 求乎大人之興, 微 [美GDE]也。 9.43. 今之式(戴LL)於德者，未年 (=佞?) 不忒 (微年不戴LL)； 9.44. 君民而不驕，卒王天下而不疑。 9.45. 方在下位，不以匹夫為輕； 9.46. 及其有天下也，不以天下為重。 9.47. 有天下弗能益，亡天下弗能損。 9.48. 極仁之至，利天下而弗利也。 9.49. 禪也者，上德授賢之謂也。 9.50. 上德則天下有君而世明。 9.51. 授賢則民興教而化乎道。

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9.52. 不禪而能化民者，自生民未之有也。[…] 9.53. […] 之正者，能以天下禪矣。 9.54. 古者堯之與舜也，聞舜孝，知其能養天下之孝[老GDE]也； 9.55. 聞舜悌，知其能事天下之長也； 9.56. 聞舜慈乎弟〔…〕為民主也。 9.57. 故其為瞽瞙子也，甚孝； 9.58. 及其為堯臣也，甚忠； 9.59. 堯禪天下而授之，南面而王而[天LZ]下而甚君。 9.60. 故，堯之禪乎舜也，如此也。 9.61. 古者聖人二十而帽 (冠LL)，三十而有家，五十而治天下，七十而致政。 9.62. 四肢倦惰，耳目聰明衰，禪天下而授賢，退而養其性[生GDE]。 9.63. 此以知其弗利也。 9.64. 《虞詩》曰： 9.65. 大明不出，萬物皆揞。 9.66. 聖者不在上，天下必壞。 9.67. 治之至, 養不肖； 9.68. 亂之至, 滅賢。 9.69. 仁者為此進，[…] 9.70. […] 如此也。

10. 忠信之道

10.1. 不詭(偽GDE/訛LL)不謟(孚LL)，忠之至也。 10.2. 不欺弗智，信之至也。 10.3. 忠積則可親也， 10.3.1信積則可信也。 10.4. 忠信積而民弗親信者，未之有也。 10.5. 至忠如土，化物而不伐(及LL)； 10.6. 至信如時，比[必TZL] (畢LL)至而不結。 10.7. 忠人亡詭(偽GDE/訛LL)，信人不倍。 10.8. 君子如此，故不誑(忘LL)生，不倍死也。 10.9. 太久而不渝，忠之至也。 10.10. 匋[大古CW]而者[著MC]尚 (陶而睹常LL)，信之至也。 10.11. 至忠亡詭(偽GDE/訛LL)，至信不倍，夫此之謂{此}<也>。 10.12. 大忠不說，大信不期。 10.13. 不說而足養者，地也； 10.14. 不期而可要者，天也。 10.15. 範(似LL)天地也者，忠信之謂{此}<也> 10.16. 口惠而實弗從，君子弗言爾。 10.17. 心〔疏而貌〕親，君子弗申爾。

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10.18. 故行而爭悅民，君子弗由也。 10.19. 三者，忠人弗作，信人弗為也。 10.20. 忠之為道也，百工不苦，而人養皆足。 10.21.信之為道也，群物皆成，而百善皆立。 10.22. 君子其施也忠，故蠻親傅(附LL)也； 10.23. 其言爾信，故轉(亶GDE)而可受也。 10.24. 忠，仁之實也。 10.25. 信，義之期[基CW]也。 10.26. 是故古之所以行乎蠻 [啟ZG] (開TZL) 貊 [數MC] 者，如此也。

11．成之聞之

11.1. 君子之於教也，其導民也不浸，則其淳也弗深矣. 11.2. 是故亡乎其身而存乎其詞，雖厚其令，民弗從之矣. 11.3. 是故威服刑罰之屢行也，由上之弗身也。 11.4. 昔者君子有言曰： 11.5. 戰與刑，人君子之墜德也。 11.6. 是故上苟身服之，則民必有甚焉者。 11.7. 君袀冕而立於阼，一宮之人不勝其敬。 11.8. 君衰絰而處位，一宮之人不勝其 [哀]; 11.9. [君冠冑帶甲而立於軍] , 一軍之人不勝其勇. 11.10. 上苟倡之，則民鮮不從矣。 11.11. 雖然，其存也不厚，其重也弗多矣。 11.12. 是故君子之求諸己也深。 11.13. 不求諸其本而攻諸其末，弗得矣。 11.14. 是故君子之於言也，非從末流者之貴，窮源反本者之貴。 11.15. 苟不從其由，不反其本，未有可得也者。 11.16. 君上享成不唯本，功〔弗就矣〕。 11.17. 農夫務食不強耕，糧弗足矣。 11.18. 士成言不行，名弗得矣。 11.19. 是故君子之於言也，非從末流者之貴，窮源反本者之貴。 11.20. 苟不從其由，不反其本，雖強之弗入矣。 11.21. 上不以其道，民之從之也難。 11.22. 是以民可敬導也，而不可掩（=抑）也，可御也，而不可牽也。 11.23. 故君子不貴庶物，而貴與民有同也。 11.24. 智而比次，則民欲其智之遂也。 11.25. 富而分賤，則民欲其富之大也。 11.26. 貴而能讓，則民欲其貴之上也。 11.27. 反此道也，民必因此重也以報之，可不慎乎？ 11.28. 故君子所報之不多，所求之不遠，察反諸己而可以知人.

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11.29. 是故欲人之愛己也，則必先愛人； 11.30. 欲人之敬己也，則必先敬人。 11.31. 天降大常，以理人倫, 制為君臣之義，著為父子之親，分為夫婦之辨。 11.32. 是故小人亂天常以逆大道，君子治人倫以順天德。 11.33. 大禹曰： 11.34. 「余茲度 (宅GDE)天心」何？ 11.35. 此言也，言舍之此而度(宅GDE)於天心也。 11.36. 是故君子簟席之上，讓而授幼； 11.37. 朝廷之位，讓而處賤；所度(宅GDE)不遠矣。 11.38. 小人不逞人於忍，君子不逞人於禮。 11.39. 津梁爭舟，其先也不若其後也。 11.40. 言語較之，其勝也不若其已也。 11.41. 君子曰：從允釋過，則先者除，來者信。 11.42. 《君奭》曰： 11.43. 「襄我二人，毋有合在音」何？ 11.44. 道不悅之詞也。 11.45. 君子曰： 11.46. 雖有其恒而可, 能終之為難。 11.47. 槁木三年，不必為封旗。 11.48. 何？ 11.49. 言陳[挾=達DYZ]之也。 11.50. 是以君子貴成之。 11.51. 聞之曰： 11.52. 古之用民者，求之於己為恒。 11.53. 行不信則命不從，信不著則言不樂。 11.54. 民不從上之命，不信其言，而能含德者，未之有也。 11.55. 故君子之蒞民也，身服善以先之，敬慎以守之，其所存者入矣。 11.56. 民孰弗從？ 11.57.1 形於中，發於色，其蕩(睟DYZ)也固矣; 11.57. 2 民孰弗信? 11.58. 是以上之恒務，在信於眾。 11.59. 《詔命》曰： 11.60. 「允師濟德。」 11.61. 何？ 11.62. 此言也，言信於眾之可以濟德也。 11.63. 聖人之性與中人之性，其生而未有非[別DYZ]之。 11.64. 節於儒[而GDE (=此)DYZ]也，則猶是也。 11.65. 雖 (GDE, DYZ唯) 其於善道也，亦非有擇, 數以多也 (?); 11.66. 及其博長而厚大也，則聖人不可猶豫憚之。 11.67. 此以民皆有性而聖人不可慕也。 11.68. 是故凡物在疾之。

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11.69. 《君奭》曰: 11.70. 「惟冒丕單稱德」 11.71. 何？ 11.72. 言疾也。 11.73. 君子曰： 11.74. 疾之，行之不疾，未有能深之者也。 11.75. 勉之遂也，強之工也; 陳之淹也，辭之工也。 11.76. 是以智而求之不疾，其去人弗遠矣。 11.77. 勇而行之不果，其疑也弗往(匡MC)矣。 11.78. 唯君子道可近求，而可遠措也。 11.79. 昔者君子有言曰: 11.80. 「聖人天德」 11.81. 何？ 11.82. 言慎求之於己，而可以至順天常矣。 11.83. 《康誥》曰： 11.84. 「不還大戛，文王作罰，刑茲亡赦」 11.85. 何？ 11.86. 此言也，言不逆大常者，文王之刑莫重焉。 11.87. 是故君子慎六位以祀天常。

12．尊德義

12.1. 尊德義，明乎民倫，可以為君。 12.2. 推忿懣，戒惎勝，為人上者之務也。 12.3. 賞與刑，禍福之基也，有前之者矣。 12.4. 爵位，所以信其然也。 12.5. 征陷 [侵DYZ]，所以攻 […]。 12.6. 刑 <罰>，所以 […] 舉也。 12.7. 殺戮，所以除怨也。 12.8. 不由其道，不行。 12.9. 仁為可親也， 12.10. 義為可尊也， 12.11. 忠為可信也， 12.12. 學為可益也， 12.13. 教為可類也。 12.14.教非改道也，效之也。 12.15. 學非改倫也，學己也。 12.16. 禹以人道治其民，桀以人道亂其民。 12.17. 桀不易禹民而後亂之，湯不易桀民而後治之。 12.18. 聖人之治民，民之道也。

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12.19. 禹之行水，水之道也。 12.20. 造父之御馬，馬{也LZ}之道也。 12.21. 后稷之藝地，地之道也。 12.22. 莫不有道焉，人道為近。 12.23. 是以君子, 人道之取先。 12.24. 察諸出，所以知己，知己所以知人，知人所以知命，知命而後知道，知道而後知行。 12.25. 由禮知樂，由樂知哀。 12.26. 有知己而不知命者，亡知命而不知己者。 12.27. 有知禮而不知樂者，亡知樂而不知禮者。 12.28. 善取，人能從之，上也。 12.29. 為故, 率民向方者，唯德可。 12.30. 德之流，速乎置郵而傳命. 12.31. 其載也亡厚焉, 交矣而弗知也，亡。 12.32. 德者，且莫大乎禮樂焉。 12.33. 治樂和哀，民不可惑也。 12.34. 反之, 此枉矣。 12.35. 刑不逮於君子，禮不逮於小人。 12.36. 攻<眛DYZ> 往者復。 12.37. 依惠則民材足，不時則亡勸也。 12.38. 不愛則不親，不 […] 則弗懷，不勑則亡畏，不忠則不信，弗用則亡覆。 12.39. 咎則民(心+巠)，正則民不吝，恭則民不怨。 12.40. 均不足以平政, (家+心)[埒DYZ]不足以安民，勇不足以沒 (蔑LL) 眾。 12.41. 博不足以知善，決不足以知倫，殺不足以勝民。 12.42. 下之事上也，不從其所命，而從其所行。 12.43. 上好是物也，下必有甚焉者。 12.44. 夫唯是故, 德可易而施可轉也。 12.45. 有[或MC]是施，小有利，轉而大有害者，有之。 12.46. 有[或MC]是施, 小有害，轉而大有利者，有之。 12.47. 行此度也，然後可逾也。 12.48. 因恒則固，察匚[褻LZ]則亡僻，不黨則亡怨，上思則 […]。 12.49. 夫生而有職事者也，非教所及也? 12.50. 教其正[政GDE]，不教其人，正[政GDE]弗行矣。 12.51. 故共[終DYZ]是物也而又深焉者，可學也而不可疑也. 可教也而不可迪其民，而民不可止也。 12.52. 尊仁、親忠、敬壯、貴禮，行矣而亡遺; 養心於子諒, 忠信日益而不自知也。 12.53. 民可使道之，而不可使知之。 12.54. 民可道也，而不可強也。 12.55. 桀不謂其民必亂，而民有為亂矣。 12.56. 受不若也，可從也而不可及也。 12.57. 君民者，治民復禮，民除害知[智GDE]。

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12.58. 罹[思DYZ]勞之究也。 12.59. 為邦而不以禮，猶人之亡所適也。 12.60. 非禮而民悅，在此，小人矣。 12.61. 非倫而民服，際(世LL/殜DYZ)此亂矣。 12.62. 治民非懁生而已也，不以嗜欲害其義。 12.63. 究民愛，則子也； 12.64. 弗愛，則讎也。 12.65. 民五之方格，十之方爭，百之而後服。 12.66. 善者民必富，富未必和，不和不安，不安不樂。 12.67. 善者民必眾，眾未必治，不治不順，不順不平。 12.68. 是以為政者教道之取先。 12.69. 教以禮，則民果以勁。 12.70. 教以樂，則民淑德清壯。 12.71. 教以辯說，則民褻陵長[悵DYZ] 貴[憒DYZ]以妄。 12.72. 教以藝，則民野以爭。 12.73. 教以技，則民小以吝。 12.74. 教以言，則民訏以寡信。 12.75. 教以事，則民力嗇(=穡)以唅(湎DYZ)利。 12.76. 教以權謀，則民淫昏. 12.77. 遠禮亡親仁。 12.78. 先之以德，則民進善焉。 12.79. 故為政者，或論之，或養之，或由中出，或設之外， 12.80. 論列 [肆(=列)MC]其類. 12.81. 凡動民必順民心，民心有恒，求其永. 12.82.重義集理，言此章也。

13．性自命出 13.1. 凡人雖有性，心亡定志，待[恃TZL]物而後作，待[恃TZL]悅而後行，待[恃TZL]習而後定。 13.2. 喜怒哀悲之氣，性也。 13.3. 及其見於外，則物取之也。 13.4. 性自命出，命自天降。 13.5. 道始於情，情生於性。 13.6. 始者近情，終者近義。 13.7. 知情〔者能〕出之，知義者能入之。 13.8. 好惡，性也。 13.9. 所好所惡，物也。 13.10. 善，不〔善，性也〕, 13.11. 所善所不善，勢也。

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13.12. 凡性為主，物取之也。 13.13. 金石之有聲 [也SM, 弗扣不鳴]， 13.14. 雖有性，心弗取不出。 13.15. 凡心有志也，亡舉 [與DYZ] 不〔可〕， 13.16. 〔人之不可〕獨行，猶口之不可獨言也。 13.17. 牛生而長，雁生而伸，其性〔使然〕. 13.18. 〔人〕而學，或使之也。 13.19. 凡物亡不異也者。 13.20. 剛之柱[樹LL]也，剛取之也。 13.21. 柔之約，柔取之也。 13.22. 四海之內其性一也。 13.23. 其用心各異，教使然也。 13.24. 凡性或動之，或逆之，或交之，或礪之，或出之，或養之，或長之。 13.25. 凡動性者，物也； 13.26. 逆性者，悅也； 13.27. 交性者，故也； 13.28. 礪性者，義也； 13.29. 出性者，勢也； 13.30. 養性者，習也； 13.31. 長性者，道也。 13.32. 凡見者之謂物，快於己者之謂悅，物之勢者之謂勢，有為也者之謂故。 13.33. 義也者，群善之蕝也。 13.34. 習也者，有以習其性也。 13.35. 道者，群物之道。 13.36. 凡道，心術為主。 13.37. 道四術，唯人道為可道也。 13.38. 其三術者，道之而已。 13.39. 詩、書、禮、樂，其始出皆生於人。 13.39.1 詩，有為, 為 [哦SHR1: 168 n. 6] 之也。 13.40. 書，有為, 言之也。 13.41. 禮、樂，有為, 舉之也。 13.42.聖人比其類而論會之，觀其先後而逆訓之，體其義而節(次QXG)文(度LL)之，理其情而出入之，然後復以教。 13.43. 教，所以生德于中者也。 13.44. 禮，作於情，或興(遷QXG)之也，當事因方而制之。 13.45. 其先後之序則宜[義DYZ]道也。 13.46. 或[有LL]序, 為之節則文(度QXG)也。 13.47. 致容貌，所以文(度QXG), 節也。 13.48. 君子美其情，貴〔其義〕，善其節，好其容，樂其道，悅其教，是以敬焉。 13.49. 拜，所以〔為服也DYZ〕. 13.50. 其X [數(=禮)SHR1:173 n.18] (諛DYZ)，文(度QXG)也。

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13.51. 幣帛，所以為信與徵也; 13.52. 其詞[貽SHR1: 174 n. 19]，宜[義DYZ] 道也。 13.53. 笑，禮之淺澤也。 13.54.樂，禮之深澤也。 13.55. 凡聲，其出於情也信，然後其入拔[撥LL]人之心也厚. 13.56.1 聞笑聲，則鮮如也斯喜。 13.56.2 聞歌謠，則陶如也斯奮。 13.57. 聽琴瑟之聲則悸如也斯歎。 13.58. 觀《賚》、《武》，則齋如也斯作。 13.59. 觀《韶》、《夏》，則靦[勉LL]如也斯斂[儉QXG]。 13.60. 咏思而動心，喟如也。 13.61. 其居次[節LZ, SHR1:179 n.9] 也舊， 13.61.1其反善復始也慎； 13.62. 其出入也順，始 [司DYZ] (殆SHR1: 180 n.12) 其德也。 13.63. 鄭衛之樂，則非其聲而從之也。 13.64. 凡古樂龍 (弄LZ) 心，益樂龍 (弄LZ)指，皆教其人者也。 13.65. 《賚》、《武》樂取，《韶》、《夏》樂情。 13.66. 凡至樂必悲，哭亦悲，皆至其情也。 13.67. 哀、樂，其性相近也，是故其心不遠。 13.68. 哭之動心也，浸殺， 13.69. 其烈(剌LL)戀戀如也，戚然以終。 13.70. 樂之動心也，濬深鬱陶 (滔DYZ)， 13.71. 其烈 (剌LL) 則流 (憀DYZ)如也以悲，悠然以思。 13.72. 凡憂思而後悲，凡樂思而後忻。凡思之用心為甚。 13.73. 歎，思之方也。 13.74. 其聲變則〔心從之矣〕, 其心變，則其聲亦然。 13.75. 吟遊 [由LZ] (流LL) 哀也，噪遊[由LZ]樂也，啾[愁DYZ]遊[由LZ]聲也，嚱(嘔LL) 遊[由LZ]心也。 13.76. 喜斯陶，陶斯奮，奮斯咏，咏斯搖，搖斯舞。 13.77. 舞，喜之終也。 13.78. 慍斯憂，憂斯戚，戚斯歎，歎斯辟，辟斯踊。 13.79. 踊，慍之終也。 13.80. 凡學者求其心為難， 13.81. 從其所為，近得之矣，不如以樂之速也。 13.82. 雖能其事，不能其心，不貴。 13.83. 求其心有偽也，弗得之矣。 13.84. 人之不能以偽也，可知也。 13.85. 〔不〕過十舉，其心必在焉，察其見者，情安失哉？ 13.86. 恕，義之方也。 13.87. 義，敬之方也。 13.88. 敬，物之節也。

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13.89. 篤，仁之方也。 13.90. 仁，性之方也。 13.91. 性或生之。 13.92. 忠，信之方也。 13.93. 信，情之方也。 13.94. 情出於性。 13.94.1愛類七，唯性愛為近仁。 13.95. 智類五，唯義道為近忠。 13.96. 惡類三，唯惡不仁為近義。 13.97. 所為道者四，唯人道為可道也。 13.98. 凡用心之躁者，思為甚。 13.99. 用智之疾者，患為甚。 13.100. 用情之至者，哀樂為甚。 13.101. 用身之弁[便LL]者，悅為甚。 13.102. 用力之盡者，利為甚。 13.103. 目之好色，耳之樂聲，鬱陶之氣也，人不難為之死。 13.104. 有其為人之節節如也，不有夫簡簡之心, 則采。 13.105. 有其為人之簡簡如也，不有夫恒(=終) 殆 [始LL] (怡GDE) 之志則縵。 13.106. 人之巧言利詞者，不有夫詘詘之心則流。 13.107. 人之悅然可與和安者，不有夫奮作之情則瞀[侮LL]。 13.108. 有其為人之快如也，弗養(牧LL)不可。 13.109. 有其為人之淵[原SHR1: 216 n.12] 如也，弗輔不足。 13.110. 凡人偽為可惡也。 13.111. 偽斯吝矣，吝斯慮矣，慮斯莫與之結矣。 13.112. 慎，仁之方也。 13.113. 然而其過不惡。 13.114. 速，謀之方也， 13.115. 有過則咎。 13.116. 人不慎, 斯有過信矣。 13.117. 凡人情為可悅也。 13.118.苟以其情，雖過不惡；不以其情，雖難不貴。 13.119.苟有其情，雖未之為，斯人信之矣。 13.120. 未言而信，有美情者也。 13.121. 未教而民恒，性善者也。 13.122. 未賞而民勸，含福者也。 13.123. 未刑而民畏，有心威 (畏GDE)者也。 13.124. 賤而民貴之，有德者也, 13.125. 貧而民聚焉，有道者也。 13.126. 獨處而樂，有入禮者也。 13.127. 惡之而不可非者，達於義者也。 13.128. 非之而不可惡者，篤於仁者也。

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13.129. 行之不過，知道者也。 13.130. 聞道反上，上交者也。 13.131. 聞道反下，下交者也。 13.132. 聞道反己，修身者也。 13.133. 上交近事君，下交得眾近從政，修身近至仁。 13.134. 同方而交，以道者也。 13.135. 不同方而〔交，以故者也〕。 13.136. 同悅而交，以德者也。 13.137. 不同悅而交，以猷者也。 13.138. 門內之治，欲其掩 [婉SHR1: 197 n.13](逸LL)也。 13.139.門外之治，欲其制也。 13.140. 凡悅人勿吝也，身必從之，言及則明舉之而毋偽。 13.141. 凡交毋烈，必使有末。 13.142. 凡於路 (徵LL)毋思 (愄GDE)，毋獨言。 13.143. 獨處則習父兄之所樂。 13.144. 苟無大害，少枉入之可也，已則勿復言也。 13.145. 凡憂患之事欲任，樂事欲後。 13.146.身欲靜而毋撼[愆SHR1: 179 n.14] (羨LL)，慮欲淵而毋偽[暴SHR1:198 n.16]， 13.147. 行欲勇而必至，貌欲莊而毋拔[伐LL]， 13.148. 〔心〕欲柔齊而泊，喜欲智而亡末， 13.149. 樂欲繹[懌LL]而有志，憂欲儉而毋惛， 13.150. 怒欲盈[浧GDE]而毋掩 (希LL)，進欲遜而毋巧， 13.151. 退欲X[肅LL] (慎DYZ) 而毋輕; 欲皆文 (敏LL)而毋偽。 13.152.君子執志必有夫皇皇之心，出言必有夫簡簡之信， 13.153. 賓客之禮必有夫齊齊之容，祭祀之禮必有夫齊齊之敬，居喪必有夫戀戀之哀。 13.154. 君子身以為主心。

14．六德 14.1. 君子如欲求人道， 14.2. 〔…〕人民， 14.3. 小者以修其身。 14.4. 為道者必由〔…〕 14.5. (茍不) 由其道，雖堯求之弗得也。 14.6. 生民〔斯必有夫婦、父子、君臣〕， 14.7. 〔此〕六位也。 14.8. 有率人者，有從人者； 14.9. 有使人者，有事人〔者〕； 14.10.〔有〕教者，有受者。 14.11. 此六職也。

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14.12. 既有夫六位也，以任此〔六職〕也. 14.13. 六職既分，以裕六德。 14.14. 六德者… 14.15. …此。 14.16. 何謂六德？ 14.17. 聖、智也， 14.18. 仁，義也， 14.19. 忠，信也。 14.20. 聖與智就矣, 仁與義就矣，忠與信就矣。 14.21. 作禮樂，制刑法，教此民爾(黎DYZ) 使之有向也，非聖智者莫之能也。 14.22. 親父子，和大臣，寢四鄰之殃禍，非仁義者莫之能也。 14.23. 聚人民，任土地，足此民爾 (黎DYZ) 生死之用，非忠信者莫之能也。 14.24. 君子不偏, 如道; 14.25. 導人之…… 14.26. 雖在草茅之中，苟賢〔…〕 14.27. 〔…〕賞慶焉，知其以有所歸也，裁此親戚遠近，唯其人所在。 14.28. 得其人則舉焉，不得其人則止也。 14.29. 〔…〕〔任諸〕父兄，任諸子弟。 14.30. 大材藝者大官，小材藝者小官，因而施祿焉，使之足以生，足以死， 14.31. 謂之君。 14.32. 以義使人多。 14.33. 義者，君德也。 14.34. 非我血氣之親，畜我如其子弟， 14.35. 故曰: 14.36. 苟濟夫人之善也，勞其臟腑之力弗敢憚也，危其死弗敢愛也， 14.37. 謂之〔臣〕。 14.38. 以忠事人多。忠者，臣德也。 14.39. 知可為者，知不可為者，知行者，知不行者， 14.40. 謂之夫. 14.41. 以智率人多。 14.42. 智也者，夫德也。 14.43. 一與之齊，終身弗改之矣。 14.44. 是故夫死有主，終身不嫁，謂之婦. 14.45.以信從人多也。 14.46. 信也者，婦德也。 14.47. 既生畜之, 又從而教誨之， 14.48. 謂之聖。 14.49. 聖也者，父德也。 14.50. 子也者，會最[屯DYZ]長材以事上，謂之義. 14.51. 上恭下 {之DYZ} 義，以奉社稷， 14.52. 謂之孝.

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14.53. 故人則為〔人也，謂之〕仁。 14.54. 仁者，子德也。 14.55. 故夫夫，婦婦，父父，子子，君君，臣臣，六者各行其職而訕誇亡由作也。 14.56. 觀諸《詩》、《書》則亦在矣， 14.57. 觀諸《禮》、《樂》則亦在矣， 14.58. 觀諸《易》、《春秋》則亦在矣。 14.59. 親此多也， 14.60. 密 (欽LL)此多〔也〕， 14.61. 美此多也。 14.62. 道亡止。 14.63. 仁，內也。 14.64. 義，外也。 14.65. 禮樂，共也。 14.66. 內位父、子、夫也； 14.67. 外位君、臣，婦也。 14.68. 疏斬布絰，杖，為父也，為君亦然。 14.69. 疏衰齊牡麻絰，為昆弟也，為妻亦然。 14.70. 袒免，為宗族也，為朋友亦然。 14.71. 為父絕君，不為君絕父。 14.72. 為昆弟絕妻，不為妻絕昆弟。 14.73. 為宗族殺[戾MC] (疾LL/失DYZ)朋友，不為朋友殺[戾MC] (疾LL/失DYZ) 宗族。 14.74. 人有六德，三親不斷。 14.75. 門內之治恩[仁QXG]掩義，門外之治義斬恩[仁QXG]。 14.76. 仁類(艹+罒+芻)[萌DYZ]而束，義類X[止DYZ]而絕，仁X[萌DYZ]而綿[放LL]，義剛[強GDE]而簡[柬GDE]。 14.77. 綿[放LL] (更QXG)之為言也，猶綿[放LL] 綿[放LL]也，小而實[遠DYZ] (折LL)多也。 14.78. 抒其志，求養親之志，蓋亡不以也。 14.79. 是以綿[放LL]也。 14.80. 男女別生焉(言GDE)，父子親生焉(言GDE)，君臣義生焉(言GDE)。 14.81. 父聖，子仁，婦信，君義，臣{宜} <忠LZ>。 14.82. 聖生仁，智率信，義使忠。 14.83. 故夫夫，婦婦，父父，子子，君君，臣臣，此六者各行其職而訕誇靡由作也。 14.84. 君子言信焉(言GDE)爾，言煬焉(言GDE)爾，設(=合)外內皆得也。 14.85. 其反，夫不夫，婦不婦，父不父，子不子，君不君，臣不臣，昏所由作也。 14.86. 君子不啻明乎民微而已，又以知其一矣。 14.87. 男女不別，父子不親。 14.88. 父子不親，君臣亡義。 14.89. 是故先王之教民也，始於孝弟。 14.90. 君子於此一偏者亡所廢。 14.91. 是故先王之教民也，不使此民也憂其身，失其偏。

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14.92. 孝，本也。 14.93. 下修其本，可以斷訕。 14.94. 生民斯必有夫婦、父子、君臣。 14.95. 君子明乎此六者，然後可以斷訕。 14.96. 道不可偏(體LL)也，能守一曲, 安可以諱其惡，是以其斷訕速。 14.97. 凡君子所以立身大法三，其繹之也六，其貫十又二。 14.98. 三者通，言行皆通。 14.99. 三者不通，非言行也。 14.100. 三者皆通，然後是也。 14.101. 三者，君子所生與之立，死與之敝也。 14.102.……生。 14.103. 故曰，民之父母親民易，使民相親也難。

15.《語叢一》 15.1. 凡物由亡(望LL)生。 15.2. 天生倫，人生化。 15.3. 有天有命，有地有形；有物有容，有盡有厚。 15.4. 有地有形，有盡而後有厚。 15.5. 有天有命，有物有名；有物有容, 有稱有名。 15.6. 有命有文,有名而後有倫。 15.7. 有物有由，有尾[綠TZL: 228]而後教生。 15.8.有生有知，而後好惡生。 15.9. 有仁有智，有義有禮，有美有善。 15.10. 有聖有善。 15.11. 夫[天LZ]生百物，人為貴。 15.12. 人之道也，或由中出，或由外入。 15.13. 由中出者：仁忠信。由 […] 15.14. 仁義為之臬。 15.15.愛善之謂仁。 15.16. 喪，仁之端也。 15.17. 上下皆得其所之謂信。 15.18. 信非至齊也。 15.19. 其生也亡為乎﹖ 15.20. 其刑生德，德生禮，禮生樂，由樂知刑。 15.21. 知禮然後知刑。 15.22.刑非X[嚴LL] (胑=肢TZL:229) 也。 15.23.禮, 因人之情而為之節文者也。 15.24. 善理而後樂生。 15.25. 賢者能理之。

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15.26. 禮生於莊，樂生於度。 15.27. 禮齊樂靈，則戚；樂繁禮靈，則慢。 15.28. 樂X[疏TZL: 288] (?) 15.29. 禮不同，不豐不殺。 15.30. 知己而後知人，知人而後知禮，知禮而後知行。 15.31. 知天所為，知人所為，然後知道； 15.32. 知道然後知命。 15.33. 詩，所以會古今之志也。 15.34. 書，[…] 者也。 15.35. 禮，交之行序[述GDE] 也。 15.36. 樂，或生或教者也。 15.37. 易，所以會天道人道也。 15.38. 春秋，所以會古今之事也. 15.39. 察天道以化民氣。 15.40. 凡有血氣者，皆有喜有怒，有慎有莊。 15.41. 其體有容，有色有聲，有嗅有味，有氣有志。 15.42. 凡物有本有化，有終有始。 15.43. 容色目司也； 15.44. 聲耳司也； 15.45. 嗅鼻司也； 15.46. 味口司也； 15.47. 氣容司也； 15.48. 志心司。 15.49. 為孝，此非孝也。 15.50. 為悌，此非悌也。 15.51. 不可為也，而不可不為也。 15.52. 為之，此非也。 15.53. 弗為，此非也。 15.54.人[仁TZL: 241]亡能偽。 15.55. [...] 者義，然不然。 15.56. 當其然而行，治焉爾也。 15.57. 政不達文，生乎不達其然也。 15.58. 學，教其[斯HAR]也。 15.59. 當其然而行，治焉。 15.60. 義亡能偽也。 15.61. 父子，識 [秩MC]上下也。 15.62. 兄弟，識 [秩MC] 先後也。 15.63. 亡物不物，皆至焉，而亡非己取之者。 15.64. 仁生於人，義生於道。或生於內，或生於外。 15.65. [厚於仁，薄] 於義，親而不尊。 15.66. 厚於義，薄於仁，尊而不親。

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15.67. […] 父，有親有尊。 15.68. 長弟，親道也。 15.69. 友，君臣，無親也。 15.70. 君臣、朋友，其擇者也。 15.71. 賓客，清廟之文也。 15.72. 有察善，亡為善. 15.73. 察所知，察所不知。 15.74. 勢與聲為可察也。 15.75. 服之謂聖。 15.76. 盈聲之謂聖。 15.77. 缺生乎未得也。 15.78. 有生乎名。 15.79. 決與信，器也。 15.80. 各以譫詞毀也。 15.81. 呼與容與，夫其行者。 15.82. 食與色與疾 […] 15.83. 悲嗟[作TZL:248] 其所也，亡非是[joined in TZL:248]之弗[侼TZL: 248]也. 15.84. […] 者, 御 [行TZL: 240] 寇不逮，從一道. 15.85. 多好者，亡好者也。 15.86. 數，不盡也。 15.87. 詩由敬作。 15.88. 求者亡有自來也。 15.89. 權，可去，可徙。 15.90. 凡同者通。 15.91. 物各止於其所，我行 [...] 15.92. [...]皆有之. 15.93. [...] 止之。 15.94. 凡物由亡生。

16. 《語叢二》 16.1. 情生於性，禮生於情，嚴生於禮，敬生於嚴，望生於敬，恥生於望，（利+心）生於恥，慊生於（利+心）. 16.2. 愛生於性，親生於愛，忠生於親。 16.3. 欲生於性，慮生於欲，倍生於慮，爭生於倍，黨生於爭。 16.4. 智生於性，化生於智，悅生於化，好生於悅, 從生於好。. 16.5. 子生於性，易生於子，肆生於易，容生於肆。 16.6. 惡生於性，怒生於惡，勝生於怒，忌生於勝，賊生於忌。 16.7. 喜生於性，樂生於喜，悲生於樂。 16.8. 慍生於性，憂生於慍，哀生於憂。

250

16.9. 懼生於性，(監+ 心) [慊TZL： 295]生於懼，望生於(監+ 心) [慊TZL：295]。 16.10. 強生於性，立生於強，斷生於立。 16.11. 弱生於性，疑生於弱，敗[北GDE]生於疑。 16.12. 貪生於欲，倍生於貪，憧[忓TZL： 303]生於倍。 16.13. 諼生於欲，訏生於諼，妄生於訏。 16.14. 侵生於欲，恧生於侵，逃生於恧。 16.15. 逮[急LL]生於欲，察生於逮[急LL]. 16.16. 文生於禮，博生於文. 16.17. 大生於 (性) […]. 16.18. 慍生於憂。 16.19. 凡悔，已道者也。 16.20. 凡必，有不行者也。 16.21. 凡過正一，以失[秩MC]其它者也。 16.22. 凡悅，作於與者也. 16.23. 名數也, 由鼻[占TZL: 310] 鯀[昆=後TZL: 310]生. 16.24. 其所之同，其行者異。 16.25. 有行而不迪，有迪[猷 TZL: 314]而不行。 16.26. 疑取再。 16.27. 未有善事人而不返者。未有譁而忠者。 16.28. 譁，自宴也。 16.29. 賊，退人也。 16.30. 知命者亡必。 16.31. 有德者不移。 16.32. 小不忍，敗大勢。 16.33. 毋失吾勢，此勢得矣。

17《語叢三》

17.1. 1父亡惡，君猶父也， 17.1.2 其弗惡也， 17.2.1 猶三軍之旌也， 17.2.2 正也。 17. 3. 所以異於父，君臣不相存也, 則可已； 17.4. 不悅，可去也； 17.5. 不義而加諸己, 弗受也。 17.6. 友，君臣之道也。 17.7. 長悌，孝之方也。 17.8. 父孝子愛，非有為也。 17.9. 與為義者遊，益。 17.10. 與莊者處，益。

251

17.11. 起習文章，益。 17.12. 與慢者處, 損。 17.13. 與不好學者遊，損。 17.14. 處而亡躐習也，損。 17.15. 自示其所能，損. 17.16. 自示其所不足，益。 17.17. 遊佚，益。 17.18. 嵩志，益。 17.19. 存心，益。 17.20. [有] 所不行，益。 17.21. 必行，損 17.22. 天刑成，人與物斯理。 17.23. […] 物以日，物有理而地能含之生之者，在造 (?). 17.24. 物不服，不成仁。 17.25. 不善擇，不為智。 17.26. 仁，厚之 […]。 17.27. […] 之端也。 17.28. 義，德之進也。 17.29. 義，善之方也。 17.30. 喪，仁也。 17.31. 義，宜也。 17.32. 愛，仁也。 17.33. 義，處之也。 17.34. 禮, 行之也。 17.35. […] 治者化。 17.36. 化則難犯也 17.37. 交行則 […] 17.38. 廉行則治者中。 17.39. 德至區者，治者至亡間。 17.40. 至亡間，則成名。 17.41. 未有其至，則仁治者莫得善其所。 17.42. 智治者寡悔。 17.43. 愛治者親。 17.44. 愛親, 則其殺愛人。 17.45. 踴，哀也， 17.46. 三踴，文也。 17.47. 剛之柱[樹LL]也，剛取之也. 17.48. 文依物以情行之者. 17.49. 或由其辟[避TZL: 235]，或由其不進，或由其 <不 TZL:235> 可(?)。 17.50. 賓客之用幣也，非徵, 納貨也，禮必廉。 17.51. 進食之道，此食作[乍GDE]焉[安GDE] (?)

252

17.52. 行盡此，友矣。 17.53. 人之性非與止，呼其孝。 17.54. 有性有生, 呼生, 有X [德 TZL:273]. 17.55. 春秋亡不以[已MC]，其生也亡耳。 17.56. 忠則會。 17.57. 思亡彊，思亡期，思亡邪，思亡不由我者。 17.58. 善日過我，我日過善， 17.59. 賢者唯其止也以異。 17.60. 樂，服德者之所樂也。 17.61. 得者樂，失者哀。 17.62. 有天有命有生。 17.63. 命與文與, 呼物。 17.64. 名二，物三 17.65. 亡亡由也者。 17.66. 毋意，毋固，毋我，毋必。 17.67. 有性有生呼名。 17.68. 為其形。 17.69. 有性有生者。 17.70. 生為貴。 17.71. 亡非樂者。 17.72. 亡物不物，皆至焉. 17.73 志於道，狎[據TZL]於德，依於仁，遊於藝。 (strips 50-51)

18. 《語叢四》

18.1. 言以詞[始LL]，情以久。 18.2. 靡言不酬[讎LL]，靡徳亡復。 18.3. 言而苟，牆[墉CW]有耳。 18.4. 往言傷人，來言傷己。 18.5. 言之善，足以終世。 18.6. 三世之福，不足以出芒。 18. 7. 口不慎而戶之 <不TZL> 閉，惡言報[復GDE]己而死無日。 18.8. 凡說之道，急者為首。 18.9. 既得其急，言必有及之。 18.10. 及之而不可，必文以過[訛GDE]，無令知我。 18.11. 破邦亡將，流澤而行. 18.12. 竊钩者誅，竊邦者為諸侯。 18.13. 諸侯之門，義士之所存. 18.14. 車蓋之蔽[(酉 + 必+皿)LL] 翳[醢LL]，不見江湖之水。

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18.15. 匹婦遇[偶CW]夫，不知其鄉之小人、君子。 18.16. 食韭惡知終其葉 [年CW] (世LL)。 18.17. 早與賢人，是謂浸行。 18.18. 賢人不在側，是謂迷惑。 18.19. 不與智謀，是謂自欺。 18.20. 早與智謀，是謂重基。 18.21. 邦有巨雄，必先與之以為朋。 18.22. 雖難之而弗惡，必盡其故。 18.23. 盡之而疑，必(十+攴) [許TZL]裕裕其遷. 18.24. 如將有敗，雄是為害[割GDE]。 18.25. 利木陰者，不折其枝。 18.26. 利其潴者，不塞其溪。 18.27. 善使其下，若蚈蛩之足，眾而不害，害[割GDE]而不仆。 18.28. 善事其上者，若齒之事舌，而終弗衍[譴CW]。 18.29. 善[事其下] 者，若兩輪之相轉，而終不相敗。 18.30. 善使其民者，若四時，一遣一來，而民弗害也。 18.31. 山亡嶞則阤，城無蓑則阤，士無友不可。 18.32. 君有謀臣，則壤地不削。 18.33. 士有謀友，則言談不弱。 18.34. 雖勇力聞於邦，不如材， 18.35. 金玉盈室不如謀， 18.36. 眾強甚多不如時。 18.37. 故謀為可貴。 18.38. 一家事，乃有 (石+人+貝) [祏TZL]。 18.39. 三雄一雌，三呱一媞，一王母保三嫛婗。 18.40. 聽君而會，視貌[朝CW]而納[內GDE]。 18.41. 納[內GDE]之或[又]納[內GDE]之, 致之或[又]致之，致[至GDE]而亡及也已。