the old form was 丁 ting a cyclical character, a man, a nail, etc. It means to accomplish, to complete.
Ch'i is composed of four 口 k'ou mouths with 犬 ch'üan dog (line 78) in the middle. It originally meant receptacles for food etc., the mouths of which are represented as guarded by a dog. It also means anything which can be put to some definite use. Confucius said 君子不器 chün tzŭ pu ch'i the superior man is not a thing, i.e. of restricted use; mathematically, he is not a function of one variable but of many.
| 27. |
人 |
不 |
學 |
If a man does not learn, | |
| Jen2 | pu1 | hsüeh2 | |||
| Man | not | learn |
Jen see line 1.
Pu see line 5.
Hsüeh see line 11.
| 28. |
不 |
知 |
義 |
he cannot know his duty towards his neighbour. | |
| Pu1 | chih1 | i4 | |||
| Not | know | duty |
Pu see line 5.
Chih is composed of 矢 shih the arrow or bolt in a crossbow as radical and phonetic, and 口 k'ou mouth. It is defined in the Shuo Wên (line 22) as language, the outward expression of inward ideas; but from the earliest times it is found meaning to know, to perceive.
I see line 14. It has here a variant, 理 li eternal principles, found in inferior editions.
| 29. |
為 |
人 |
子 |
He who is the son of a man, | |
| Wei2 | jen2 | tzŭ3 | |||
| Be | man | child |
Wei see line 24.