子曰:「視其所以,觀其所由,察其所安。人焉廋哉?人焉廋哉?」
子曰:“视其所以,观其所由,察其所安。人焉廋哉?人焉廋哉?”
Shì qí suǒyǐ, guān qí suǒ yóu, chá qí suǒ ān. Rén yān sōu zāi? Rén yān sōu zāi?
"Watch their actions; observe their reasons; examine them at rest. People, how can they hide [their nature]? People, how can they hide [their nature]?"
Noteworthy elements:
The most interesting part of this translation for me was the following structure: [seeing verb] [person pronoun] [所] [transitive verb].
This structure provides the basis for the passage. 視 and 觀 can indicate simple sensory function, but they can also indicate a more evaluative manner of observation. 察 can also be a kind of examination, but almost always involves an evaluative component. This may involve inquisitively examining the phonemena or considering consistency with prior phenomena.
所 results in turning the following transitive verb into a nominal phrase. For example, "take" or "use" becomes "that which is taken" or "that which is used." 以 has a number of translations, but I tend to defer to "take" or "by means of."
This is an interesting case where 所 and 以 should be understood separately and not as 所以. The second and third phrases also use 以 but here it is clear 以 is operating singularly.
*Side note, Chinese thought tends to regards sensory action in terms of complete/successful versus incomplete/unsuccessful; this is inherited by modern linguistic conventions, e.g. 看到,看不到; the heart-mind is also regarded as a sense organ, and is responsible for evaluation.
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