Reread chinese essay story composed by Han Yu "On Horse" 重讀昌黎馬說 嘆伯樂少焉！

寫文章可以把零碎的資訊整理出「條理化」，也在書寫的過程把資訊消化成個人「知識化」，並且連貫以往的資料。
In short, Beauty is everywhere. It is not that she is lacking to our eye, but our eyes which fail to perceive her.
Let's Read Literary Chinese - 馬說 On Horses, by Han Yu 韓愈
This is a short essay written by Han Yu 韓愈, an influential poet and prose writer of the Tang dynasty. He is considered the prose writer of Literary Chinese. His level of influence has been compared to Dante. In this essay he uses a "thousand-li" horse and one's ability to recognize such an exceptional animal as a metaphor for recognizing talented people. Although Han Yu did attain official posts, he always felt (probably rightly) that he deserved something better. So here he is complaining about it. Han Yu's work is often funny and straightforwardly biting, so you should check him out if you like this one.

This essay is written in Literary Chinese. Now my knowledge of Literary Chinese is rather haphazard. I learned by diving in and reading, and I used 《古文觀止》 as my textbook, along with a few tutors whose main job was teaching Mandarin to foreigners at a language school. So I do not have a proper foundation in the intricacies and terminology of the various particles and other grammatical things. What this means is I can read it, but I can't always explain why something means what it does. Fortunately, this essay is short and pretty simple, but if anyone more knowledgeable than me would like to add more detail to the explanations, then please do. So here we go:

《馬說》(On Horses)

世有伯樂，然後有千里馬。千里馬常有，而伯樂不常有。故雖有名馬，祗辱于奴隸人之手，駢死于槽櫪之間，不以千里稱也。

馬之千里者，一食或盡粟一石。食馬者，不知其能千里而食也。是馬也，雖有千里之能，食不飽，力不足，才美不外見，且欲與常馬等不可得，安求其能千里也？

策之不以其道，食之不能盡其材，鳴之而不能通其意，執策而臨之，曰：『天下無馬』！嗚呼！其真無馬邪？其真不知馬也！

世有伯樂
world has Bole

Bole was a figure from the Spring and Autumn period who was good at evaluating horses. Now his name is used when talking about someone who can recognize talented people, which is Han Yu's extended meaning here.

然後有千里馬。
Later/after has thousand-li horse.

This one is pretty easy. A thousand-li horse is a horse of exceptional ability that can run a thousand li (about 300 miles or so) in a day. Not meant to be taken literally. 里 is a unit of measure equal to about a third of an imperial mile. The whole sentence then reads: Bole appeared in the world, [and only] then thousand-li horses appeared. Meaning, you need a Bole first before you can recognize the existence of exceptional horses (...or people, keep in mind Han Yu's intention in this essay).

千里馬常有，而伯樂不常有。
Thousand-li horses are common, but a Bole is not common.

常有 means the same here as it does in modern Chinese, often or common, like 經常. 而 here means "but".

故雖有名馬，祗辱于奴隸人之手
So even though there are thousand-li/exceptional horses, they are disgraced under the hands of slaves

故 means therefore or so, 名馬 refers to 千里馬, means famous horse, though that's not a good translation here because the horse has not been recognized yet, so can't be "famous". 祗 here is the same as 只. 辱 means insulted, shamed, disgraced. The horses deserve better than what they're getting being handled by 奴隸 slaves or servants (though slave is the more accurate word as they couldn't just quit if they wanted to).

駢死于槽櫪之間，不以千里稱也。
they die side-by-side in their stable, without being called "thousand-li" horse.

駢 means pair or parallel. Horses were hitched up to carts by twos, side by side, hence the word. 槽櫪 (cao2li4) means stable. 以 in this case I guess means using or taking, as in taking or using the name of "thousand-li horse". 以 is one of those characters I kind of ignore most of the time because I can't actually explain what it's doing all the time. Maybe someone else can chime in on that. 也 is used here to mark the end of a nominal phrase, the noun being name 稱. That character is usually used as a verb in Modern Chinese, but here it functions as a noun.

馬之千里者，一食或盡粟一石。
A thousand-li horse, can eat a dan of grain in one sitting.

馬之 and 千里者 are duplications, they refer to the same thing. Think of as a horse that can run a thousand-li. 一食 means one meal. Here 食 is a noun. 或 here means sometimes, like 有時. 石 should be read dan4, it's a unit of measure. 盡 here is used as a verb.

食馬者，不知其能千里而食也。
The feeder (person who feeds the horse), doesn't know it's a thousand-li horse and feeds it [accordingly].

In 食馬者, 食 is a verb, meaning to feed, the same as 飼 (si4). So you see, a single character can be used quite differently even within the same paragraph, so context is really important when reading Literary Chinese. 而 here means "and". the last 食 is again a verb, to feed. So the servant doesn't know the horse is exceptional and needs more food, so he feeds it like a regular horse, which means he doesn't feed it enough.

是馬也，雖有千里之能，食不飽，力不足，才美不外見
This horse, although it can go a thousand li, it doesn't get enough food, it's strength is not sufficient, [so] its ability can not be shown on the outside.

是馬也 does not mean "it's a horse". 是 means "this", like 這. Our modern usage of 是 in Literary Chinese is generally 為. 才美 means ability. 見 is the same as 現. So because the horse does not get enough food, it can't utilize its full strength, and so can now show everyone that it can run a thousand li. Just like a talented person who does not get the proper treatment (such as adequate public office--Han Yu always felt he deserved a higher position, or accolades, recognition, etc.) cannot show his true ability.

且欲與常馬等不可得，安求其能千里也？
moreover, it cannot reach the level of even an ordinary horse, [so] how can you demand it run a thousand li?

且 here is 況且 or 尚且. 欲 is 想要 or just 要. 常馬 means an ordinary horse, like 平常. 安 here is a question particle, means "how". In some usages it could mean "where". 求 means request or demand. Again note 也 at the end of the sentence, it marks a nominal phrase, the noun here being 千里.

策之不以其道，食之不能盡其材，
The driver drives [the horse] not according to its proper method, the feeder does not feed it enough to allow it to utilize its full potential

策 means whip. 策之 means "whipping it", so 策 functions as a verb here. You whip the horse not in accordance with its proper method, the "method" part here is expressed by 道. Because the driver doesn't recognize it as an exceptional horse, he does not drive it like one. Same with 食之, "feeding it". 盡 means use up or exhaust, 材 is ability or talent. It doesn't get enough food so it can't perform at 100%.

鳴之而不能通其意，執策而臨之，曰：『天下無馬』！
You hear it [neigh] but don't understand its meaning, [but] hold the whip and look at it and say: "There are no [thousand-li] horses under heaven!"

Again, 鳴之, "hear it". 通 means understand or know. 執 means to hold. 臨之, look [at] it, 臨 specifically refers in this case to facing something. 曰 means to say, to speak. 天下, under heaven, means the world. 無馬 here means no thousand-li horses not no horses at all as that wouldn't make sense. A good example of how context is crucial sometimes to understand the meaning.

嗚呼！其真無馬邪？其真不知馬也！
Sigh! Are there really no [thousand-li] horses? Actually, they just don't know one when they see it!

嗚呼 is an exclamation of regret, sadness, disappointment. It can express extreme sadness or as here, a sigh of disappointment. In modern Chinese we use 唉. 其 is one of those characters that can stand in for a lot. Here I would translate it as "there". Are there really no horses? 邪 is a particle that goes at the end of an interrogative (question) sentence. Again note the 也 at the end, marking a nominal phrase, the noun here being 馬.

So there you have it! It's not a systematic approach, but I hope this was illuminating for those of you just learning Literary Chinese or those who might be interested in learning. I recommend getting a teacher or tutor or taking a class if at all possible.

I hope this was interesting and educational.

Reread chinese essay story composed by Han Yu "On Horse" 重讀昌黎馬說 嘆伯樂少焉!