| Change log entry 73771 | |
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| Processed by: | richwarm (2021-11-26 03:31:45 GMT) |
| Comment: |
<< review queue entry 69516 - submitted by 'xyz' >> See https://ctext.org/art-of-war/tactical-dispositions#n20931 for sample usage; not sure how common it is --------------------------------- Editor: 1) cc-cedict doesn't try to be useful to people reading ancient writings such as "The Art of War." 2) 故曰 doesn't mean "hence the saying". It means "hence people say ...". It's an archaic way of saying 所以说. For example, 烏龜又被稱為玄武，《禮記》曲禮解釋，龜有甲，能禦侮，故曰武，加上黑色，故曰玄，因此取名玄武。 <<The tortoise is also known as the "xuanwu," which means "black soldier." The Book of Rites explains that turtles and tortoises have armor-like exteriors (hence "soldier"), and they are dark in color (hence "black").>> 故曰武 doesn't mean "hence the saying 'soldier' " ("soldier" is not a saying), and 故曰玄 doesn't mean "hence the saying 'black' " ("black" is not a saying). I'm not saying the translation at the Chinese Text Project is wrong. It's fine in that context. I'm saying that, in general, you can't take words in a translation and expect them to work, out of context, as a *definition*. 3) In any case, cc-cedict says 故 means "hence", and 曰 means "to say". I think that makes the meaning of 故曰 clear enough. |
| Diff: |
# 故曰 故曰 [gu4 yue1] /hence the saying:/ |