# 知者固無不知, 然常以所當務者爲急, 則事無不治, 而其爲知也大矣



## Ahyeon

知者固無不知, 然常以所當務者爲急, 則事無不治, 而其爲知也大矣

Hi, please analyze the gramatical structure of the above sentence. Thank you!


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## retrogradedwithwind

Even koreans have been  already learning 孟子.....
知者/固無不知
然/常以所當務者/爲急
則/事/無不治
而/其/爲知也/大矣

I think it's enough to do this.


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## Ahyeon

Thank you very much. I understand the meaning of words, but don't know well the grammar.

常以所當務者, here how must I understand 以所 for their grammar function. And it's fonctioning like this: 然... 爲急? I mean, 然 functions as a sentence auxiliary? Concerning 事 and 其, what role do they do in the grammar?


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## retrogradedwithwind

You dont know what 然 means? It surprised me. .....

然，然而，但是

所字结构。所思所想。句子中，所当务者

事，主语，谓语是无不治

其，代词，指代知者, 或者是个助词，无义


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## Flaminius

以 does not make a construction with 所 but with 為 in 以A為B.

常 is the conjunction "whenever" in [[常…][[則…][而…]]].


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## YangMuye

I try to give you a literal, word-to-word translation.

The originally meaning of 然 and 而 is more like “that” or “so”, but they are frequently used as conjunctions.
所, “where/location”, is often considered as a passive marker.
其, “their”, is often a subject marker.

知者 people who know (a lot)
固 indeed
無 have no-
不知 thing (they do) not know
，
然 so   --- 然 can mean “and/besides that”, “so/considering that”, “but/despite that” depending on the context. I think this 然 is more like “but”
常 always
以 take
所 當務 者 things to which efforts (should) be devoted right (now)
爲 as
急 things that should be quickly completed, --- the important
，
則 it immediately follows that --- 则 can mean “then”, “so”, “right”, “just”, etc. I think this 则 is more like “and” or “(if) ... then”
事 things
無 do not exist
不治 that cannot be managed,
，
而 so   --- 而 can mean “and”, “so” or “but” depending on the context. I think this 而 means “and”
其 爲知 their doing research --- I'm not sure what 爲知 means
也 is --- a particle, often placed after the subject to preface some important comment
大 remarkable
矣 (ah) --- a particle, used to express exclamations


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## Ahyeon

Thank you very much!!!!


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## Ghabi

YangMuye said:


> 知者 people who know (a lot)


知 is read as 智 here. 知去聲者 is "a wise man; a wise one".


> 爲知 their doing research --- I'm not sure what 爲知 means


其為知 is literally "his being wise". 而其爲知也大矣 is "in that case how great his being wise is!"

The gist of the passage is that it's not enough to be wise: wisdom is only valuable when it is devoted to doing useful things.


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## Ahyeon

爲知 means a practice or practices of knowledge (or wisdom), dosn't it? So 其爲知 means their practices of knowledge (or wisdom)? Or their practising knowledge (or wisdom)?


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## YangMuye

Ghabi should be right. “其为 ... 也” is a common pattern that means “speaking of his/its being ...”


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## Skatinginbc

《孟子．盡心上》: 知者，無不知也，當務之為急
宋朱熹《孟子集註》卷十三: 知者固無不知，然常以所當務者為急，則事無不治，而其為知也大矣
知者 = 智者 "wise man"
固...然 = 雖...仍 "although..., still..." 
知者固無不知，然常以所當務者為急 = 智者雖無不知, 仍常以當務為急

所  VP 者 = the thing(s) or person(s) that (SUBJECT) + VP.  For example,  我所愛者 = the thing(s) or person(s) that I love.  他所恨者 = the thing(s) or  person(s) that he hates. 
當務 (VP) = 應當料理 "must take care of".  
所當務者 = the thing(s) that one must take care of = the thing(s) that must be taken care of.

以 N1 為 N2 = take N1 as N2
以...為急 "treat...as an urgent matter"; 急 (N2) = 迫切緊急的事 "an urgent matter"
以所當務者為急 ==> 當務 (VP) = 應當料理 "must take care of".  所當務者 (N1) = the thing(s) that must be taken care of; Compare: 以當務為急 ==> 當務 (N1) = 當前應辦的事
以所當務者為急 give urgent priority to matters that must be taken care of right away.  

則 = so
而 = and 
而其為知也 = 而其之智也, structurally similar to 宋蘇轍《欒城應詔集》卷五: 而其為亂也, 志近而禍淺...而其為變也, 怨深而禍大. 
而其為知也大矣 = 而其之智乃大智矣
《荀子·天論》： 大智在所不慮 (最聰明的人在於不考慮不應考慮的事 ==> knowing the priority)
Although wise men know everything, they do not take everything into consideration.  Rather, they give priority to matters that are most urgent and relevant, and that kind of wisdom is so-called "great wisdom".


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## Ahyeon

Thank you, Skatinginbc!


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