21. | 子 | 不 | 學 | If the child does not learn, | |
Tzŭ3 | pu1 | hsüeh2 | |||
Child | not | learn |
Tzŭ see line 11.
Pu see line 5.
Hsüeh see line 11.
22. | 非 | 所 | 宜 | this is not as it should be. | |
Fei1 | so3 | i2 | |||
Not | what | ought |
Fei is supposed to resemble a pair of wings placed back to back; hence, to turn the back on, to negative.
So is composed of 戶 hu a leaf of 門 mên a door, and 斤 chin (line 3). Its original meaning was the sound of chopping. It then came to mean a place, i.e. was probably adopted to express an idea the sound for which already existed. The next stage was to apply this word in the sense of a relative pronoun. It will be found under radical hu in K'ang Hsi's dictionary, under chin in the 說文 Shuo Wên dictionary of the 1st cent. A.D.
I is composed, under its old form, of 多 to many (line 302) contracted, below a roof and above a line = the ground. It originally meant in repose, sheltered, and now means to be right, fitting, proper.
23. | 幼 | 不 | 學 | If he does not learn while young, | |
Yu4 | pu1 | hsüeh2 | |||
Young | not | learn |
Yu is an ideogram composed of 幺 yao small, said to be the picture of a new-born child, now the ace at dice, as radical, and 力 li strength; sc. youth.
Pu see line 5.
Hsüeh see line 11.