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Notes on Literary Chinese

Verbs and Verb Phrases

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Notes on Literary Chinese

Verbs and Verbal Phrases

Verbal Phrases

In verbal sentences the comment has a verb. Verbs may be transitive or intransitive. Transitive verbs take an object. For example, 知其 (knew it). Intransitive do not take an object. For example, 盗亡 (the thief fled).

An adjective describes a quality or continuing state of an object and are sometimes classified as stative verbs because they can form predicates. For example, 山高 'the mountain is tall.'' However, adjectives are more commonly found in front of nouns as modifiers. For example, 富人 'a rich person' (Rouzer 2007, p. 22).

Adjectives can also be made into transitive verbs by moving the subject to the object position. For example

王请大之
I plead with Your Majesty to make it large

王请大之
Text: A Rich Person in the Song Kingdom (Han Feizi)

宋有富人，天雨墙坏。
其子曰：不筑，必将有盗。
其邻人父亦云。
暮而果大亡其财。 此夕盗至故亡也。
其家什知其子，而疑邻人父。

There was a rich person in the Song Kingdom whose wall broke after some rain.
The person said,"I will not rebuild it. There will inevitably be a thief."
His neighbor's father also agreed.
The sun set and, as a result, he lost a huge amount of his wealth. So that evening a thief plundered his home.
Other families who knew him suspected his neighbor's father.

The author, Han Feizi (c. 280-233 BC), was pre-Han dynasty philosopher.

This passage demonstrates a number of adjectives and verbs. In the first line the adjective 富 (rich) modifies the noun 人 (person). The very common transitive verb 有 (to have) indicates that the state of Song has a rich man. The object of 有 is 富人 (the rich man). The intransitve verb 亡 (to flee) is used in line 4. It was 盗 (the bandit) that fled.

Coordinate Verbs

Coordinate verbs can be used to form a sequence of actions. Verb coordination in classical Chinese usually implies that the first verb is an antecedent condition for the verb that follows. For example,

兔走触株
A rabbit walked by and bumped into the tree stump.

If the rabbit was not walking (走) it would not have bumped (触) into the tree stump. Here is another example,

兔折颈而死
The rabbit broke its neck and died.

The rabbit died (死) because it broke (折) its neck.

Text: Guarding a Tree Stump Waiting for a Rabbit (Han Feizi)

宋人有耕者，田中有株，兔走触株，折颈而死。
因檡其耒而守株，冀后得兔。
兔不可后得，而身为宋国笑。
今欲以先王之政治当世之民皆守株之类也。

A farmer plowing his field in the state of Song when a rabbit bumped into a tree stump and broke its neck and died.
He was reluctant to use his plow, preferring to guard the tree stump and wait for the next rabbit.
Of course, he did not catch a rabbit after that but did become the laughing stock of the state of Song.
Today, we desire to rule like the former kings did in their age but we still have many people who are watching the tree stump waiting for a rabbit.

This passage demonstrates the coverbs discussed above.

Active and Passive Constructions

In an active construction an agent of an action is in the subject position and followed by a transitive verb and another noun in the object position. For example, from the passage above

宋人得兔
The man from Song caught a rabbit.

In this example 宋人 'the man from Song' is the subject, 得 'to obtain' is the verb, and 兔 'rabbit' is the object. In a passive construction the object of the verb is placed before the verb (Rouzer 2007, p. 22). For example, from Mencius

师行而粮食
The host proceded and provisions were eaten.

Here the object 粮 'provisions' appears before the verb 食 (to eat). An active verb can be changed into a passive construction to change the emphasis of a sentence. For example, from the Han Feizi text above:

而身为宋国笑
and that person became the laughing stock of the state of Song

Here the term 为 is used to create the passive construction. It placed emphasis on that person (身) rather than simply saying that the people in the state of Song laughed at him. The verb in this sentence is 笑 (to laugh). The object 身 (person) appears before the subject 宋国 (the state of Song). 为 is called a copula, similar to is in English.

The use of 可 can also create a passive construction. In the construction

兔不可后得
Of course, he never caught another rabbit

可 is used to emphasize the fact that another rabbit could not possibly be caught that way rather than just saying that he the farmer did not catch any more rabbits. Here 兔 (rabbit) is the object for the verb 得 (to obtain). The coverb 于 can also be used in an analogous way to create a passive construction. For example, from Mencius,

劳力者治于人
Those who do manual labor are governed by other people.

In this example the verb is 治 (to govern), which acts on the object 劳力者 (those who do manual labor). The subject 人 (other people) appears last in the sentence.

Verbs of Motion and Location

Commonly encountered verbs to express motion are 来 (to come), 往 (to go), 行 (to walk or to travel), and 止 (to stop). These verbs do not need a destination. For example,

吴王曰，子来
The King of Wu said, “Sir, please come [here].” (刘向Liu Xiang, 79—8 BCE)

The location 'here' is implied but not stated. Some verbs describing movement are transitive and take a location as their object. The transitive verb 之 (to go) is used in this way. For example,

滕文公为世子，将之楚，过宋而见孟子。
When the prince, afterwards duke Wen of Teng, had to go to Chu, he went by way of Song, and visited Mencius. (Mencius)

In this example, 楚 (the state of Chu) is the object of the verb 之.

The particle 于 is often associated with verbs of motion to refer to a destination.

居 (to reside) and 在 (to be at) are commonly encountered verbs of location. The object of these transitive verbs indicates the location. For example

不知螳蜋在其也
... does not know that there is a praying mantis behind him

其后 (behind him) is the object of the verb 在.

The Modifier 所

The term 所 can be used as a tool to change the emphasis in sentence constructions. 所 allows the writer to refer to a set of objects selected for their role as objects of verbs. For example, in the phrase

从其所契者入水

所 represents the place where it fell into the water. Although Fuller [FUL] refers to this use of 所 as a modifier and the character can play a variety of grammatical functions other sources refer to this particular use of 所 as a pronoun.

Nominalization of Verbs

Nominalization of a verb allows a writer to refer to the action of a verb as an object in itself. The most direct way to nominalize a verb is to make it the topic of a sentence. Another way is to make it the object of another verb. A third way is to use the nominalizing function word 者.

The simplest use of the nominalizing function word 者 is to add it at the end of a verb or verb phrase to refer to the person performing the action. For example, 知者 “one who knows.” (Rouzer 2007, p. 9)

For example, in the phrase

有涉江者
there was a river crossing

者 is used to nominalize 涉江 (to cross the river) so that 涉江者 (a river crossing) becomes the object of the verb 有 (there was).

Text: A notch on the Side of a Boat to Find a Dropped Sword (Mr Lu's Annals)

楚人有涉江者，
其剑自舟中坠于水。
遽契其舟，曰是吾剑之所从坠。
舟止，从其所契者入水求之。
舟已行矣，而剑不行。
求剑若此，不亦惑乎。

There was a person from the state of Chu who crossed a river.
His sword fell out of the boat into the water.
He quickly made a mark in boat and said, 'This is where my sword fell.'
When the boat stopped moving, he went into the water to look for his sword at the place where he had marked the boat.
The boat had moved but the sword had not.
Is this not a very foolish way to look for a sword?

The passage was written by 吕不韦 Lu Buwei (-235 BC), a merchant and politician in the state of Qin. The title 刻舟求剑 has now become a modern idiom meaning an action made pointless by changed circumstances.

Coverbs

A coverb describes an antecedent condition. 与， 以，and 自 are common coverbs. For example,

自舟中坠
fell from the boat

自 (to come from) acts as the coverb and 坠 (to fall) is the main verb. The object of the coverb is 舟 (the boat).

Coverbs play the same role that prepositions do in modern Chinese and English. However, coverbs are different from prepositions. They are a kind of transitive verb. Coverbs take objects and can be modified by certain adverbs, such as 不. They describe an antecedent action, which is something to bring about the actions of the main verb. Some common coverbs are

1. 从 to follow
2. 为 to act as
3. 以 to grasp / to use

   A common pattern is 以 A 为 B [to take A to be B]

4. 因 to rely on

   因 can take an object but is sometimes used without an object at the beginning of a sentence. In this case the implication is that the situation described in the preceding text is relied upon.

5. 由 to follow along
6. 与 to give / to accompany
7. 自 to come from

所 can be used to change the location of the object of the coverb, as described above.

Negatives

There are a number of different terms for negation in classical Chinese:

1. 不 negates verbs. If a noun follows 不 it is modified to act as a verb. For example, in Han Feizi's story from below

   吾矛之利，于物无不陷也。
   My spears are so sharp that there is nothing they cannot pierce through.

2. 未 indicates that an action has not yet occurred, although it still may occur at some time in the future.
3. 无 is a verb that indicates something does not exist. 无 is the opposite of 有. For example,

   吾矛之利，于物无不陷也。
   My spears are so sharp that there is nothing they cannot pierce through.

   This example demonstrates that the different types of negation can come in handy with double negatives.

4. 非 negates the identity, i.e. A is not a B. 非 acts on nouns. For example, from the Analects 6.13 text above

   非敢后也 Not having the courage to lag behind

5. 弗 is a fusion character that combines 不 and 之 For example,

   其人弗能应也
   The person could not respond.

6. 勿 is a negative imperative — do not ...
7. 莫 is a negative distributive, similar to neither, nothing, or none. 莫 is the opposite of 或. For example, again from Han Feizi's story about the shield and spear below

   吾盾之坚，物莫能陷也
   My shields are so hard that nothing can pierce through them.

Text: Spear and Shield (Han Feizi)

楚人有鬻盾与矛者，誉之曰吾盾之坚，物莫能陷也。
又誉其矛曰吾矛之利，于物无不陷也。
或曰以子之矛陷子之盾，何如。
其人弗能应也。
夫不可陷之盾与无不陷之矛不可同世而立。

There was a man of the state of Chu who sold shields and spears. He bragged about his shields saying: “My shields are so hard that nothing can pierce through them.”
He also bragged about his spears saying: “My spears are so sharp that there is nothing they cannot pierce through.”
Someone said: “Sir, what would happen if people were to use your spears to pierce through your shields?’”
The person could not respond.
Obviously, shields that cannot be pierced by anything and spears that can pierce through anything cannot both exist at the same time.

Pivot Verbs

A pivotal construction is one where a pivot joins two verbs by being the object of the first verb and the subject responsible for the action of the second verb. Certain verbs, including 令 (to lead to), 使 (to cause), and 劝 (to urge) are often found in these constructions. For example,

嚮者使汝狗白而往，黑而来，岂能无怪哉。
Turning to face him caused the dog to go away from him with white and towards him with black. How could you not blame it?

Here 使 [to cause] is the pivot verb and 汝狗 [him, the dog] is the pivot.

Auxiliary Verbs

An auxiliary verb changes the sense of another verb, in particular, the possibility, probability, or desirability. For example,

岂能无怪哉。
How can you not blame it?

which uses the auxiliary verb 能 (can). The most frequenty encounterd auxiliary verbs are

1. 能 can / able to
2. 可 can
3. 可以 can
4. 必 must
5. 应 ought to
6. 肯 agree to
7. 敢 dare to
8. 难 hard to

An auxiliary verb accepts a main verb as its object. However, sometimes the main verb is omitted if it is obvious from the context.

Text: Yang Bu (Lie Zi)

杨朱之弟曰布。 衣素衣而出。
[释文云衣素衣之衣于旣切。 下衣缁衣同。 素衣之衣依字。]
天雨，解素衣。 衣缁衣而反。
其狗不知，应而吠之。
杨布怒将扑之。
杨朱曰子无扑矣。 子亦犹是也。
嚮者使汝狗白而往，黑而来，岂能无怪哉

Yang Zhu's younger brother declared that he would go out wearing undyed white clothes.
[Interpretation of the Classics says that clothes in “wear white clothes” is used for the sound. In the text below “wear black clothes” is the same. The text “White clothes” relies on this character.]
A rain shower cuts through the plain white clothes. The clothes become black instead.
The dog does not know any better but to greet him by barking.
Yang Bu angrily beats the it the dog.
Yang Zhu says to the master please do not beat the dog. It appears that the master will listen.
Turning to face him caused the dog to go away from him with white and towards him with black. How could you not blame it?

Text: The Fox Borrows the Tiger's Prestige (Strategies of the Warring States)

虎求百兽而食之，得狐。
狐曰子无敢食我也。
天帝使我长百兽，今子食我，是逆天帝命也。
子以我为不信，吾为子先行，子随我后，观百兽之见我而敢不走乎。
虎以为然，故遂与之行，兽见之皆走。
虎不知兽畏已而走也，以为畏狐也。

The tiger chases after all kinds of animals to eat and so happened to catch a fox.
The fox said, “Sir, you would not be so brave as to eat me.”
The Heavenly Emperor let me raise all types of animals. If Master eats me now you will be rebelling againts the order of the Emperor.
If you do not believe me, I will walk first and you follow behind. Observe how all animals see me and run away.
The tiger did as he said and walked with him. In each case, the animals fled.
The tiger di not know that the animals were afraid of himself but, instead thought that they were afraid of the fox.

The title of this section 狐假虎威 has become a modern Chinese idiom meaning to use powerful connections to intimidate people.

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