<p>Arthur Waley is indeed reflecting Chinese scholarship with this statement. In the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classic_of_Poetry" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><em>Book of Odes</em></a> 《詩經》, when 「思」 appears at the end of a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Line_(poetry)" rel="nofollow noreferrer">line</a>, it may be interpreted as a  <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modal_particle" rel="nofollow noreferrer">modal particle</a> (語气詞), equivalent to modern Mandarin 「啊」. For example,</p>
<blockquote>
<h3>《國風・漢廣》</h3>
<p>漢之廣矣、不可泳思。<br>
江之永矣、不可方（汸、舫）*思。<br></p>
<p><em>How broad, the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Han_River_(Hubei)" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Waters of the Hàn</a> - they cannot be swum!</em> <br>
<em>How long, the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yangtze" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Waters of the Jiāng</a> - they cannot be rafted across!*</em></p>
<p><sub>*《說文・方部》：「方，併船也。<s>象兩舟省緫頭形。</s>汸，方或从水。」</sub></p>
<hr />
<h3>《小雅・鹿鳴之什・采薇》</h3>
<p>昔我往矣、楊柳依依。<br>
今我來思、雨雪霏霏。<br></p>
<p><em>Long ago, when I departed, the willows were fresh and tender;</em><br>
<em>Now, as I've returned, the rain and snow fall in torrents.</em></p>
</blockquote>
<hr />
<p>Please note that this use of 「思」 is not its earliest or original meaning. Apart from being a proper noun for a geographical region or person, 「思」's earliest usage is the same as its modern usage, meaning <em>thoughts, contemplation, deliberation</em>. From <em><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guodian_Chu_Slips" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Guōdiàn Chǔ Slips</a>: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wuxing_(text)" rel="nofollow noreferrer">The Five Conducts</a>, Slip #9</em>:</p>
<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/VkWDl.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/VkWDl.png" alt="《郭店楚墓竹簡・五行》09. From http://img.artxz.com/2017/01/12/1484194204.jpg" /></a></p>
<blockquote>
<h3>《郭店楚墓竹簡・五行》09</h3>
<p>……（不）（仁），恖（思）能清（精）。（智），恖能倀（長）……</p>
<p><em>...Without benevolence, one's thoughts cannot be refined; without wisdom, one's thoughts do not have foresight</em>...</p>
</blockquote>
<hr />
<p><strong>References</strong>:</p>
<ul>
<li>《漢語大詞典》</li>
<li>黃德寬《古文字譜系疏證》</li>
<li>何琳儀《戰國古文字典：戰國文字聲系》</li>
</ul>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-02-20T04:03:19.540Z
I have huge respect for Waley.  But the phrase Waley reads this way is 思無邪.  Waley renders Confucius's meaning as "no evil in your thoughts" but claims that in the ode it actually meant something like "oh, without guilt." But in this ode 思 is not at the end of a phrase.  It is at the beginnings of two parallel phrases 思無邪、思馬斯徂。Could Waley be right to read this ode as he does?
Colin McLarty
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-02-20T04:18:00.043Z
I find Victor Mair has a long discussion of the passage in the Ode, where he discusses 思 not only as terminal particle but also as penultimate.  Mair concludes we cannot be sure what this passage meant.  Mair review of  *The Animal and the Daemon in Early China* by Roel Sterckx.  Journal of the American Oriental Society , Oct. - Dec., 2002, Vol. 122, No. 4
Colin McLarty
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-02-20T05:04:00.403Z
@ColinMcLarty I suggest finding a commentary on 《郭店楚墓竹簡・語叢》, especially around Slip 48-49. http://bamboo.lib.cuhk.edu.hk/servlet/list?action=listcard&id=48&t=%E8%AA%9E%E5%8F%A2%E4%B8%89&con=&o=&startPos=41&pageSize=20
dROOOze
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-02-20T05:27:51.570Z
I agree - it is probably not possible to determine what 「思」 is supposed to be in 「思無邪」. There are also a few *Ode* passages where 「思」 is described as *auxiliary* or *modal* when it isn't at the end of a line, too. I followed 《漢語大詞典》's categorisation of line-final 「思」 as equivalent to 「啊」; it categorises some line-medial or line-initial 「思」 as *meaningless auxiliary*, which isn't helpful. 《王力古漢語字典》 just throws all appearances of 「思」 as a particle into the *auxiliary* category.
dROOOze
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-02-20T14:03:06.653Z
I like how you crossed out the incorrect glyph origins in 說文 :-)
Sweeper
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-02-20T00:57:41.070Z
2021-02-20T01:17:29.467Z
2021-02-20T01:17:29.467Z
dROOOze
<p>The Analect 2.2 quotes from the <em>Book of Odes</em>, and Arthur Waley claims there is a difference between how Confucius there reads the character 思 (sī, think) and how it was used in the Ode.  Waley claims that in the Ode &quot;ssu does not mean 'thoughts', but is an exclamation, 'oh', 'ah', or the like.&quot;  I looked at the various old dictionary definitions, and textual examples on the Chinese Text Project <a href="https://ctext.org/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://ctext.org/</a> and I did not find any evidence there that 思 was ever used the way Waley says. It always seems to mean &quot;thought(s)&quot; or &quot;think.&quot;  Other searches got me nothing relevant.</p>
<p>Is there evidence supporting Waley's claim? </p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-02-19T19:57:30.733Z
思 is sometimes described in 詩經 as providing a similar function to today's 啊 (https://ctext.org/book-of-poetry/han-guang/zh and https://ctext.org/dictionary.pl?if=gb&id=15383) - but the original meaning of 思 is 思念, not 啊.
dROOOze
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-02-19T20:12:07.170Z
@dROOOze Yes, now I see that is a persuasive example.  Can you make it an answer?
Colin McLarty
<classical-chinese>
Ancient meaning of the the character 思
# Ancient meaning of the the character 思

(Asked by: username_0 on 2021-02-19)

The Analect 2.2 quotes from the *Book of Odes*, and Arthur Waley claims there is a difference between how Confucius there reads the character 思 (sī, think) and how it was used in the Ode.  Waley claims that in the Ode "ssu does not mean 'thoughts', but is an exclamation, 'oh', 'ah', or the like."  I looked at the various old dictionary definitions, and textual examples on the Chinese Text Project <https://ctext.org/> and I did not find any evidence there that 思 was ever used the way Waley says. It always seems to mean "thought(s)" or "think." Other searches got me nothing relevant.

Is there evidence supporting Waley's claim?

**Tags:** classical-chinese

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: 思 is sometimes described in 詩經 as providing a similar function to today's 啊 (https://ctext.org/book-of-poetry/han-guang/zh and https://ctext.org/dictionary.pl?if=gb&id=15383) - but the original meaning of 思 is 思念, not 啊.  
> **username_0**: @username_1 Yes, now I see that is a persuasive example.  Can you make it an answer?  

---

## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2021-02-20. Score: 3 | Accepted answer

Arthur Waley is indeed reflecting Chinese scholarship with this statement. In the [*Book of Odes*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classic_of_Poetry) 《詩經》, when 「思」 appears at the end of a [line](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Line_(poetry)), it may be interpreted as a [modal particle](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modal_particle) (語气詞), equivalent to modern Mandarin 「啊」. For example,

> ### 《國風・漢廣》
>
> 漢之廣矣、不可泳思。  
> 江之永矣、不可方（汸、舫）\*思。
>
> *How broad, the [Waters of the Hàn](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Han_River_(Hubei)) - they cannot be swum!*   
> *How long, the [Waters of the Jiāng](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yangtze) - they cannot be rafted across!\**
>
> \*《說文・方部》：「方，併船也。~~象兩舟省緫頭形。~~汸，方或从水。」
>
> ---
>
> ### 《小雅・鹿鳴之什・采薇》
>
> 昔我往矣、楊柳依依。  
> 今我來思、雨雪霏霏。
>
> *Long ago, when I departed, the willows were fresh and tender;*  
> *Now, as I've returned, the rain and snow fall in torrents.*

---

Please note that this use of 「思」 is not its earliest or original meaning. Apart from being a proper noun for a geographical region or person, 「思」's earliest usage is the same as its modern usage, meaning *thoughts, contemplation, deliberation*. From *[Guōdiàn Chǔ Slips](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guodian_Chu_Slips): [The Five Conducts](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wuxing_(text)), Slip #9*:

[![《郭店楚墓竹簡・五行》09. From http://img.artxz.com/2017/01/12/1484194204.jpg](https://i.sstatic.net/VkWDl.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/VkWDl.png)

> ### 《郭店楚墓竹簡・五行》09
>
> ……（不）（仁），恖（思）能清（精）。（智），恖能倀（長）……
>
> *...Without benevolence, one's thoughts cannot be refined; without wisdom, one's thoughts do not have foresight*...

---

**References**:

* 《漢語大詞典》
* 黃德寬《古文字譜系疏證》
* 何琳儀《戰國古文字典：戰國文字聲系》

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: I have huge respect for Waley.  But the phrase Waley reads this way is 思無邪.  Waley renders Confucius's meaning as "no evil in your thoughts" but claims that in the ode it actually meant something like "oh, without guilt." But in this ode 思 is not at the end of a phrase.  It is at the beginnings of two parallel phrases 思無邪、思馬斯徂。Could Waley be right to read this ode as he does?  
> **username_0**: I find Victor Mair has a long discussion of the passage in the Ode, where he discusses 思 not only as terminal particle but also as penultimate.  Mair concludes we cannot be sure what this passage meant.  Mair review of  *The Animal and the Daemon in Early China* by Roel Sterckx.  Journal of the American Oriental Society , Oct. - Dec., 2002, Vol. 122, No. 4  
> **username_1**: @username_0 I suggest finding a commentary on 《郭店楚墓竹簡・語叢》, especially around Slip 48-49. http://bamboo.lib.cuhk.edu.hk/servlet/list?action=listcard&id=48&t=%E8%AA%9E%E5%8F%A2%E4%B8%89&con=&o=&startPos=41&pageSize=20  
> **username_1**: I agree - it is probably not possible to determine what 「思」 is supposed to be in 「思無邪」. There are also a few *Ode* passages where 「思」 is described as *auxiliary* or *modal* when it isn't at the end of a line, too. I followed 《漢語大詞典》's categorisation of line-final 「思」 as equivalent to 「啊」; it categorises some line-medial or line-initial 「思」 as *meaningless auxiliary*, which isn't helpful. 《王力古漢語字典》 just throws all appearances of 「思」 as a particle into the *auxiliary* category.  
> **username_2**: I like how you crossed out the incorrect glyph origins in 說文 :-)  

---

