Original source spelling · punctuation belongs to the digital witness · pronunciation tools follow your language focus.
A route through this passage
27 Han characters · 15 distinct forms · 4 units separated by the witness’s punctuation
- Establish the frame. Read the surrounding chapter. Who speaks, what is being discussed, and which earlier words supply the context?
- Test one unit.
性也者、吾所不能為也，
Mark a possible predicate and its participants. Record what you have supplied rather than found explicitly in the text. - Reconstruct the argument. Connect the units in your own words. Where does a description, question, contrast, or consequence depend on your interpretation?
Investigate 8 written forms in this passage
Matched by spelling. These are candidate reading procedures, not assigned grammatical analyses.
性也者、吾所不能為也，Name the one, thing, or situation ↗性也者、吾所不能為也，Track speakers and addressees ↗性也者、吾所不能為也，Focus on what an action concerns ↗性也者、吾所不能為也，Keep different negatives apart ↗性也者、吾所不能為也，Distinguish doing, being, and acting for ↗積也者、非吾所有也，Keep different negatives apart ↗Watch recurrence: 也 × 6 者 × 2 吾 × 2 所 × 2 為 × 2 然 × 2. Repetition of a graph need not mean repetition of a sense.
Computed from this exact witness · Contextual interpretation awaits editorial review. The guide is a set of reading prompts, not a translation. Sources & methods
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Use the reading guide above, build your interpretation, then test what you can recover. Your notes and schedule stay on this device.
1 · Explain it in your own words
2 · Recover the wording
Select a source unit, then hide the passage and reconstruct it. This checks textual recall, not understanding.
3 · Explain, then revisit
Without the source in front of you, explain the passage’s main point and one choice you made in reading it. Then reopen the text and check the evidence.
Rate your understanding yourself. These reminders use a simple schedule; they do not certify mastery.
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Shared wording
Computed exact phrases in the pinned witnesses. These links do not assign a sense or assert borrowing.
韓非子 · 說難第十二所不能為彊以其所不能為，止以其所不能已，如此者身危。
韓非子 · 顯學第五十所不能為命也。性命者，非所學於人也，而以人之所不能為說人，此世之所以謂之為狂也。
孟子 · 梁惠王上而可為也從而刑之，是罔民也。焉有仁人在位罔民而可為也？
Follow a connection
Shared teaching construction · an editorial learning connection, not evidence of common authorship or origin.
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Edition, source, and reuse
- Work
- 荀子 · Xunzi
- Attribution
- Traditionally associated with Xun Kuang; the received collection contains multiple textual layers.
- Digital witness
- Kanseki Repository · KR3a0002 · base edition tls
- Contributors
- Kanseki Repository (Kanripo) contributors; upstream base-edition labels retained in each original file.
- Source position
- KR3a0002_008.txt, lines 856–861. XUN 8:11:6, Beida p.108; Knoblock 2:i1f
- Version
e18a27621ef434940a368defd29e00eee205dfd2- Reuse
- CC BY-SA 4.0. Text extraction and teaching additions share this licence.
- Text policy
- Source spelling and punctuation retained. Encoding headers, page markers, paragraph markers, whitespace, and leading section numbers are removed from the reading view. No silent script conversion or textual correction.
- Teaching
- zimai · AI-assisted editorial notes. English renderings are excerpt-level reading aids, not a full published translation. Editorial pilot · not independently reviewed.
Source-file SHA-256: 0c6203b679af54d23735fbf437946dfb663689f78c3772d026a0a74b8a05f9fc. A source comment that cites a translator is an upstream reference, not the attribution of a translation imported here.