16 Lesson 15- 漢高祖
漢高祖 (《史記》)
Hàn Gāozǔ （shǐ jì）
高祖以亭長，為縣送徒酈山，徒多道亡，自度比至皆亡之。到豐西澤中，止飲。 夜乃解縱所送徒曰：“公等皆去，吾亦從此逝矣！” 徒中壯士願從者十餘人。高祖被酒，夜徑澤中，令一人行前。行前者還報曰：“前有大蛇當徑，願還。” 高祖醉曰：“壯士行，何畏！” 乃前，拔劍擊斬蛇，蛇遂分為兩，徑開。行數里，醉因臥。後人來至蛇所，有一老嫗夜哭。人問何哭，嫗曰：“人殺吾子，故哭之。” 人曰：“嫗子何為見殺？” 嫗曰：“吾子白帝子也，化為蛇，當道，今為赤帝子斬之，故 哭。”人乃以嫗為不誠，欲笞之。嫗因忽不見。後人至，高祖覺。後人告高祖，高祖乃心獨喜自負。諸從者日益畏之。
高祖以亭长，为县送徒郦山，徒多道亡，自度比至皆亡之。到丰西泽中，止饮。 夜乃解纵所送徒曰：“公等皆去，吾亦从此逝矣！” 徒中壮士愿从者十余人。高祖被酒，夜径泽中，令一人行前。行前者还报曰：“前有大蛇当径，愿还。” 高祖醉曰：“壮士行，何畏！” 乃前，拔剑击斩蛇，蛇遂分为两，径开。行数里，醉因卧。后人来至蛇所，有一老妪夜哭。人问何哭，妪曰：“人杀吾子，故哭之。” 人曰：“妪子何为见杀？” 妪曰：“吾子白帝子也，化为蛇，当道，今为赤帝子斩之，故 哭。”人乃以妪为不诚，欲笞之。妪因忽不见。后人至，高祖觉。后人告高祖，高祖乃心独喜自负。诸从者日益畏之。
Lesson 15 vocabulary
| 漢高祖 | Hàn Gāozǔ | (Liu Bang, the first Han Emperor, r. BCE 206-195. Gaozu is his posthumous title) |
| 以 | yǐ | as, in the capacity of |
| 亭 | tíng | (administrative unit of 10 square li, villages) |
| 亭長 | tíng zhǎng | head of a ting |
| 縣 | xiàn | district |
| 送 | sòng | to escort |
| 徒 | tú | prisoner, the convict(s) |
| 酈山 | lì shān | Mt. Li |
| 多 | duō | many |
| 道 | dào | road |
| 亡 | wáng | to escape |
| 度 | duó | to calculate [c.f. dù, to measure] |
| 比 | bǐ | by the time that; compare |
| 到 | dào | to arrive at |
| 豐 (丰) | Fēng | (name of a place) |
| 西 | xī | west |
| 止 | zhǐ | to stop |
| 夜 | yè | night |
| 解縱 | jiě zòng | to release |
| 公 | gōng | you (polite) |
| 等 | děng | [pronoun and noun suffix indicating plural] |
| 從 (从) | cóng | from |
| 從此 | cóng cǐ | from now on, at this point |
| 逝 | shì | to depart |
| 壯 (壮) | zhuàng | strong |
| 壯士 | zhuàng shì | able-bodied men |
| 願 (愿) | yuàn | to be willing to |
| 從 (从) | cóng | to follow |
| 被酒 | bèi jiǔ | under the influence of drink |
| 徑 (径) | jìng | to take a short cut; footpath |
| 前 | qián | ahead; to go ahead |
| 報 (报) | bào | to report |
| 當 (当) | dāng | to occupy |
| 願 | yuàn | I suggest |
| 醉 | zuì | drunk |
| 拔 | bá | to draw out |
| 劍 (剑) | jiàn | sword |
| 擊 | jī | to strike |
| 斬 (斩) | zhǎn | to behead |
| 分 | fēn | to divide |
| 為 | wéi | to become |
| 開 (开) | kāi | open |
| 里 | lǐ | (measure of distance) |
| 臥 (卧) | wò | to lie down |
| 嫗 (妪) | yù | old woman |
| 見 (见) | jiàn | [verb prefix indicating passive] |
| 化 | huà | to change, to transform |
| 赤 | chì | red |
| 誠 (诚) | chéng | honest, sincere |
| 欲 | yù | to be about to |
| 笞 | chī | to flog |
| 忽 | hū | suddenly |
| 覺 (觉) | jué | to wake up |
| 獨 (独) | dú | alone |
| 喜 | xǐ | happy |
| 負 (负) | fù | to rely on |
| 自負 | zì fù | self-confident; self assured; self-possessed |
| 從者 | cóng zhě | follower |
| 日 | rì | daily, by the day |
| 益 | yì | increasingly |
《史記 》 shǐ jì
The 史記 Historical Records (aka Records of the Grand Historian) is the first comprehensive history of China, written during the second century BCE by Sima Qian 司馬遷. This passage is taken from the biography of the first emperor of the Han Dynasty; at the time he was a lowly commoner serving in a series of minor posts.
Commentary on lesson 15:
1.1: 以 here means “acting as” and occurs often in giving a person’ s bureaucratic position. The 為 in this sentence is fourth tone, “for the sake of.”
1.2: 酈山 was a hill east of present-day Xian; it was the supposed site of the tomb of the first Qin emperor. Convicts and peasants were frequently conscripted to work on the building of the tomb long before the emperor died.
1.3: 等 is a noun suffix indicating plural; it also occasionally has the meaning of “etc.” (as in modern).
1.4: This 為is redundant because of the 故 of the next phrase: “Now because the son of the red emperor has beheaded him, for that reason I cry.”
Grammar Note 14
More but not all about 所 suǒ.
In lesson 3 occurred a noun meaning “place”:
| 鬻金者之所 | the gold-seller’s place |
| yù jīn zhě zhī suǒ |
Also in lesson 15 we have 後人 來至蛇所 hòu rén lái zhì shé suǒ in this sense (cf. Mandarin usage in 廁所 cè suǒ, 研究所 yán jiū suǒ).
Quite different from this – and not identical to any Mandarin usage such as 所以 suǒ yǐ “therefore” – is 所 suǒ in its more frequent and important function as relative pronoun object, basically meaning “that which, what, (she/he) whom”.
This 所 suǒ was implied (but not used overtly) in lesson 2:
| 而身為宋國 [所] 笑 | and he himself was [what] the State of Song laughed at |
| ér shēn wéi Sòng guó suǒ xiào |
In lesson 11 we had:
| 殆所謂之不祥也 | …perhaps are what are called unlucky and/or what are called unlucky are precisely things like these |
| dài suǒ wèi zhī bù xiáng yě |
We can regard each instance of this construction as a transformation of an underlying sentence:
| 1. 宋 國 笑 之 | the State of Song laughed at him |
| Sòng guó xiào zhī | |
| (身為) 宋國 所 笑 | (he was) what the State of Song laughed at |
| shēn wéi Sòng guó suǒ xiào |
| 2. [子] 謂 之 不祥 | (you) call them unlucky |
| zǐ wèi zhī bù xiáng |
From simple sentences we can easily fashion further examples of the same kind:
| 3. 梟 逢 鳩 | owl meets dove |
| xiāo féng jiū | |
| 梟 所 逢 | what the owl meets |
| jiū suǒ féng | |
| 4. 宋人釋其耒 | the man of Song abandoned his plow |
| Sòng rén shì qí lěi | |
| 宋人所 釋 | what the man of Song abandoned |
| Sòng rén suǒ shì | |
| 5. 虎求百獸 | the tiger sought the hundred beasts |
| hǔ qiú bǎi shòu | |
| 虎所求 | what the tiger sought |
| hǔ suǒ qiú |
If you have difficulty with 所 suǒ construction at first, that will be because所 suǒ DOES SEVERAL THINGS AT ONCE to the sentences in which it appears, and this (for a while) may be confusing:
- 所 suǒ being itself a pronoun, REPLACES the noun or pronoun object. As in other pronominalization, noun object, being replaced, lose their reference to a particular kind of thing: owl meets dove becomes what the owl meets.
- 所suǒ as object-substitute DISPLACES the object from its nominal position after the verb to an typical position before it.
- 所 suǒ NOM1NALIZES the sentence into which it has introduced, turning it from a sentence into a noun phrase. Owl meets dove is a sentence. What the owl meets is a noun phrase, requiring the addition of a subject or predicate to make it a sentence again.
For example, subjects or predicates can be added as follows:
- predicate added:
| 梟 所 逢 鳩 也 | what the owl met was a dove |
| xiāo suǒ féng jiū yě |
2. subject added:
| 虎食其所求之百獸 | the tiger ate the hundred beasts he sought |
| hǔ shí qí suǒ qiú zhī bǎi shòu |
