<p>there're no punctuations in classical chinese. one must learn to chop the verse since childhood, before about 1911. such ability is called 句讀</p>
<p><a href="http://dict.revised.moe.edu.tw/cgi-bin/cbdic/gsweb.cgi?o=dcbdic&amp;searchid=Z00000096985" rel="noreferrer">http://dict.revised.moe.edu.tw/cgi-bin/cbdic/gsweb.cgi?o=dcbdic&amp;searchid=Z00000096985</a></p>
<p>briefly, people used pattern, particles and pronunciation to help to chop the verse, the provided text would be:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>易之言曰．敬以直內．義以方外</p>
<p>誥之言曰．以義制事．以禮制心</p>
<p>故曰先聖後聖．其揆一也．今夫事興．人之相接也．不接於吾之耳目口體者．不可謂事也．何也</p>
<p>不接於吾之耳目口體．天下非無事也．而非吾之所得制．非吾之所得制．則大台內外．固有不論不諉者矣．則固非吾事矣．不發而之於視聽言動者．不可謂必也．何也</p>
<p>不發而之於視聽言動．吾亦非無必也．而無所施其制．無所制．則人生以上固有 . . .</p>
</blockquote>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-12-01T15:46:27.760Z
sigh I think the text is from ocr... It is 今夫事與人之相接也(›´ω`‹ ), so there's no pause at 興.
Toosky Hierot
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-12-01T07:23:11.817Z
2018-12-01T07:23:11.817Z
2020-06-17T09:50:11.587Z
水巷孑蠻
<p>You are right. This version isn't accurate. It doesn't make much sense somewhere. For example 則大台內外
固有不論不諉者矣, I did simple search to find it should be 則六合內外固有不論不議者矣. I was just curious about why you are asking. If you are familiar with 文言文, then it shouldn't be a question, but if not, it seems too hurried to read "unpunctuated" text.</p>

<p>No matter. I could share some experience.</p>

<p>Generally, you should recognize what 句式 is of a verse, different 句式 has different marks （or without marks to help you pause, but naturally you will be able to punctuate it）. Here are very simple rules （They doesn't always work!）</p>

<ol>
<li><p>Pause after 語氣詞. E.G. 矣/哉/歟/乎/焉/耳/……</p></li>
<li><p>Pause after 判斷. 者……也/非……也/Or 也 omitted A+B 劉備天下梟雄 and various "say" 曰/言/白/呼/……</p></li>
<li><p>Pause before 發語詞. 然則/蓋/若夫/夫/維/……</p></li>
<li><p>Pause before 邏輯連詞. 則/而/使/雖/固/……</p></li>
<li><p>Notice 駢散. The numbers of characters of two consecutive sentence s are often the same.</p></li>
</ol>

<p>易之言曰/敬以直內/義以方外/誥之言曰/以義制事/以禮制心/故曰/先聖後聖其揆一也/今夫事興人之相接也/不接於吾之耳目口體者/不可謂事也/何也/不接於吾之耳目口體/天下非無事也/而非吾之所得制/非吾之所得制/則大台內外固有不論不諉者矣/則固非吾事矣/不發而之於視聽言動者/不可謂必也/何也/不發而之於視聽言動/吾亦非無必也/而無所施其制/"無所制則人生以上固有"（cannot make pauses here）</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-12-01T07:57:44.873Z
2018-12-01T07:57:44.873Z
Toosky Hierot
<p>I'd like to be able to identify punctuation marks in older literature (to be aware of where sentences end basically), such as this exerpt from Chuanshan yishu quanji:</p>

<pre><code>"易之言曰敬以直內義以方外誥之言曰以義制事以禮制心故曰先聖後聖其揆
一也今夫事興人之相接也不接於吾之耳目口體者不可謂事也何也不接 
於吾之耳目口體天下非無事也而非吾之所得制非吾之所得制則大台內外
固有不論不諉者矣則固非吾事矣不發而之於視聽言動者不可謂必也何也
不發而之於視聽言動吾亦非無必也而無所施其制無所制則人生以上固有"
</code></pre>

<p>This transcribed version probably isn't very accurate, however thanks in advance for your efforts.</p>

<punctuation>
What are the characters for punctuation in older literature?
# What are the characters for punctuation in older literature?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2018-12-01)

I'd like to be able to identify punctuation marks in older literature (to be aware of where sentences end basically), such as this exerpt from Chuanshan yishu quanji:

```
"易之言曰敬以直內義以方外誥之言曰以義制事以禮制心故曰先聖後聖其揆
一也今夫事興人之相接也不接於吾之耳目口體者不可謂事也何也不接 
於吾之耳目口體天下非無事也而非吾之所得制非吾之所得制則大台內外
固有不論不諉者矣則固非吾事矣不發而之於視聽言動者不可謂必也何也
不發而之於視聽言動吾亦非無必也而無所施其制無所制則人生以上固有"

```

This transcribed version probably isn't very accurate, however thanks in advance for your efforts.

**Tags:** punctuation


---

## 2 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2018-12-01. Score: 4 | Accepted answer

You are right. This version isn't accurate. It doesn't make much sense somewhere. For example 則大台內外
固有不論不諉者矣, I did simple search to find it should be 則六合內外固有不論不議者矣. I was just curious about why you are asking. If you are familiar with 文言文, then it shouldn't be a question, but if not, it seems too hurried to read "unpunctuated" text.

No matter. I could share some experience.

Generally, you should recognize what 句式 is of a verse, different 句式 has different marks （or without marks to help you pause, but naturally you will be able to punctuate it）. Here are very simple rules （They doesn't always work!）

1. Pause after 語氣詞. E.G. 矣/哉/歟/乎/焉/耳/……
2. Pause after 判斷. 者……也/非……也/Or 也 omitted A+B 劉備天下梟雄 and various "say" 曰/言/白/呼/……
3. Pause before 發語詞. 然則/蓋/若夫/夫/維/……
4. Pause before 邏輯連詞. 則/而/使/雖/固/……
5. Notice 駢散. The numbers of characters of two consecutive sentence s are often the same.

易之言曰/敬以直內/義以方外/誥之言曰/以義制事/以禮制心/故曰/先聖後聖其揆一也/今夫事興人之相接也/不接於吾之耳目口體者/不可謂事也/何也/不接於吾之耳目口體/天下非無事也/而非吾之所得制/非吾之所得制/則大台內外固有不論不諉者矣/則固非吾事矣/不發而之於視聽言動者/不可謂必也/何也/不發而之於視聽言動/吾亦非無必也/而無所施其制/"無所制則人生以上固有"（cannot make pauses here）


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### Answer by username_1 on 2018-12-01. Score: 6

there're no punctuations in classical chinese. one must learn to chop the verse since childhood, before about 1911. such ability is called 句讀

<http://dict.revised.moe.edu.tw/cgi-bin/cbdic/gsweb.cgi?o=dcbdic&searchid=Z00000096985>

briefly, people used pattern, particles and pronunciation to help to chop the verse, the provided text would be:

> 易之言曰．敬以直內．義以方外
>
> 誥之言曰．以義制事．以禮制心
>
> 故曰先聖後聖．其揆一也．今夫事興．人之相接也．不接於吾之耳目口體者．不可謂事也．何也
>
> 不接於吾之耳目口體．天下非無事也．而非吾之所得制．非吾之所得制．則大台內外．固有不論不諉者矣．則固非吾事矣．不發而之於視聽言動者．不可謂必也．何也
>
> 不發而之於視聽言動．吾亦非無必也．而無所施其制．無所制．則人生以上固有 . . .

> **Comments:**
> **username_2**: sigh I think the text is from ocr... It is 今夫事與人之相接也(›´ω`‹ ), so there's no pause at 興.  

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