Grammar

聖人不期脩古，不法常可，論世之事，因為之備。宋人有耕者，田中有株，兔走觸株，折頸而死；因釋其耒而守株，冀復得兔。兔不可復得，而身為宋國笑。今欲以先王之政，治當世之民，皆守株之類也。

Shèng rén bù qī xiū gǔ, bù fǎ cháng kě, lùn shì zhī shì, yīn wèi zhī bèi. Sòng rén yǒu gēng zhě, tián zhōng yǒu zhū, tù zǒu chù zhū, zhé jǐng ér sǐ; yīn shì qí lěi ér shǒu zhū, jì fù dé tù. Tù bù kě fù dé, ér shēn wéi sòng guó xiào. Jīn yù yǐ xiān wáng zhī zhèng, zhì dāng shì zhī mín, jiē shǒu zhū zhī lèi yě.

Nouns and verbs

In classical Chinese, one word may be either a noun or a verb. Some words are nouns only in modern language, but they could be used as verbs. For example, the word 法 is a noun in modern Chinese, but it could be used as a verb in classical Chinese. It means 'law', 'rules' in modern Chinese. It means 'to follow' in ancient language. Similarly, the word 可 in 常可 is a verb in modern language, but it is a noun here in this lesson meaning 'common practice' or 'convention in . 不法常可 must be interpreted as 'do not follow the conventions or common practice.'

The meanings of 之

The meaning of the pronoun 之 is determined by the context. In this lesson, the word 之 has two meanings 'a possessive pronoun' and 'a personal pronoun'. 之 in the following phrases is a possessive pronoun which is like English of:

世之事        the current situation of one's own time
先王之政    the ruling methods of the ancient kings
當世之民    the people of current time
守株之類    the type of those who wait for hare under the tree

However 之 in 因為之備 is a personal pronoun 'it'. It refers to what was discussed before. In this specific context, the author is discussing the society 世 .

Full words and Empty words 實詞與虛詞

Much attention must be paid to the difference between the so called full words and empty words. The full words are those with lexical meanings while the empty words are those with grammatical meanings only. Empty words are also referred to as grammatical words.

Examples of the full words in this lesson: 株、兔、法、世……

Examples of the empty words in this lesson: 之、為、而、因