<blockquote>
<p>祭仲曰・都城過百雉・國之害也・先王之制・大都不過參國之一・中・五之一・小・九之一・今京不度・非制也・君將不堪</p>
</blockquote>
<p>the verse of the question is from <a href="https://ctext.org/chun-qiu-zuo-zhuan/yin-gong-yuan-nian/zh" rel="noreferrer">傳 隱公元年</a></p>
<blockquote>
<p>三 is temporarily used as a verb, meaning to divide into three parts</p>
</blockquote>
<p>you’re correct, the character “參 (三)” is used as “divided by three”</p>
<blockquote>
<p>三国 (dividing (the measure of the wall of ) the capital into three parts) doesn't connect smoothly with 之一</p>
</blockquote>
<p>maybe, try to read it as:</p>
<p>[the] big (大) city (都) [does] not (不) exceed (過) [the scope of a] nation’s (國) [capital] one third (參之一)</p>
<p>[the] middle (中) [one, does not exceed the scope of a nation’s capital] one fifth (五之一)</p>
<p>[the] small (小) [one, does not exceed the scope of a  nation’s capital] one ninth (九之一)</p>
<p>personal, i’ve difficulty to think that such structure is odd </p>
<p>have fun :)</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-06-18T22:51:56.250Z
Thanks! After a having it in mind for a few days I too get the sense that it's not odd
lilysirius
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-06-19T01:08:53.873Z
@lilysirius, good sign, keep reading, you’ll find the “beauty” of classical ‘ literary chinese 
水巷孑蠻
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-06-13T13:04:39.990Z
2022-06-13T13:04:39.990Z
水巷孑蠻
<p>It's from 《左传 郑伯克段于焉》. <em>The meaning of the sentence is clear: (the measure of) the wall of big cities cannot exceed one third of (the wall of) the capital.</em></p>
<p>My question lies in the <strong>grammatical structure of 三国之一</strong> (one third of the capital). I intend to think that 三 is temporarily used as a verb, meaning <em>to divide into three parts</em>. If my take on 三 is valid, are there any examples that can corroborate it?</p>
<p>But then, even if it holds, the Verb Phrase 三国 (dividing (the measure of the wall of ) the capital into three parts) doesn't connect smoothly with 之一, which naturally follows a Noun Phrase.</p>

<grammar><classical-chinese>
How to grammatically analyze 三国之一 in 大都不过三国之一?
# How to grammatically analyze 三国之一 in 大都不过三国之一?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2022-06-13)

It's from 《左传 郑伯克段于焉》. *The meaning of the sentence is clear: (the measure of) the wall of big cities cannot exceed one third of (the wall of) the capital.*

My question lies in the **grammatical structure of 三国之一** (one third of the capital). I intend to think that 三 is temporarily used as a verb, meaning *to divide into three parts*. If my take on 三 is valid, are there any examples that can corroborate it?

But then, even if it holds, the Verb Phrase 三国 (dividing (the measure of the wall of ) the capital into three parts) doesn't connect smoothly with 之一, which naturally follows a Noun Phrase.

**Tags:** grammar, classical-chinese


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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2022-06-13. Score: 5 | Accepted answer

> 祭仲曰・都城過百雉・國之害也・先王之制・大都不過參國之一・中・五之一・小・九之一・今京不度・非制也・君將不堪

the verse of the question is from [傳 隱公元年](https://ctext.org/chun-qiu-zuo-zhuan/yin-gong-yuan-nian/zh)

> 三 is temporarily used as a verb, meaning to divide into three parts

you’re correct, the character “參 (三)” is used as “divided by three”

> 三国 (dividing (the measure of the wall of ) the capital into three parts) doesn't connect smoothly with 之一

maybe, try to read it as:

[the] big (大) city (都) [does] not (不) exceed (過) [the scope of a] nation’s (國) [capital] one third (參之一)

[the] middle (中) [one, does not exceed the scope of a nation’s capital] one fifth (五之一)

[the] small (小) [one, does not exceed the scope of a nation’s capital] one ninth (九之一)

personal, i’ve difficulty to think that such structure is odd

have fun :)

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: Thanks! After a having it in mind for a few days I too get the sense that it's not odd  
> **username_1**: @username_0, good sign, keep reading, you’ll find the “beauty” of classical ‘ literary chinese   

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