子不學 and when her child would not learn, Tzu 3 pu 1 hsueh 2 Child not learn Tzu, under its original form, was a rude picture of a child. Except in special cases it refers to males. It came to be used as a term of respect, sir, philosopher, and is now colloquially employed as an enclitic. Pu see line 5. Hsueh is a corruption of 敎 chiao to teach (line 5), the radical on the right being omitted and the left-hand portion modified by the addition of an obsolete word 冖 mi to cover, imparting the idea of ignorance. It originally meant to awake to a sense of one's position. 12. 斷機杼 she broke the shuttle from the loom. Tuan 4 chi 1 chu 4 Break machine shuttle Tuan has for its radical 斤 chin to cut wood, an axe (line 3), with a phonetic which was the old form of a word 絕 chüeh to break, and is said to express pictorially the idea of dividing into halves. Chi is composed of 木 mu wood as radical (line 66), with 幾 chi how many? as phonetic, and is rather the motive power than the machine itself, which is an extended sense. Chu is composed of 木 mu wood as radical, with 予 yu I as phonetic, and is the shuttle for holding the thread of the woof (see title). What Mencius' mother did was to exemplify to her son the disastrous effect of want of co |
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