What is the meaning and function of "幸" in the following sentence?
吾翁即若翁。必欲烹而翁，则幸分我一杯羹
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幸 in this context means to hope for.
吾翁即若翁。必欲烹爾翁，則幸分我一杯羹
My old man is your old man. If you want to boil your old man alive, then I hope that you’ll share a portion of the soup with me.
As far as I can find, the original text says 必欲烹「而」翁 rather than 必欲烹「爾」翁, but the interpretation is the same.
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What source do you have available that indicates 幸 means "hope" here?– ApollyonMar 11 '19 at 10:37
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1@Apollyon 幸 doesn't necessarily mean hope - its common meaning that people are familiar with is fortune. However, hope is an extended meaning - consider the translation instead: may I be fortunate enough to receive a portion of the soup, which is another natural translation. Of course, 幸 means hope as one of the meanings given by standard reference dictionaries like 《漢語大詞典》: "12. 希望， 期望。 亦為表示希望之辭。"– dROOOzeMar 11 '19 at 10:42
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幸 is hope that. The excerpt is from 《史记》 项羽 threatened 刘邦 that he would boil 刘邦's father alive. But 刘邦 was not afraid of him and said: "吾(my)翁(father)即(is)若(your)翁。(if you)必(must)欲(will,want)烹(boil alive)爾(your)翁,則(conjunction)(I)幸(hope)分(share)我(me)一杯(a bowl of)羹(soup)。
Note: 刘邦 and 项羽 once 拜为兄弟
answered Mar 11 '19 at 11:09
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Some sources say it is an adverb: <副>敬词，希望对方照自己的意见做，可译为“希望”。《孔雀东南飞》：“幸可广问讯，不得便相许。”– ApollyonMar 11 '19 at 11:20
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Moderators: I think this answer is an excellent demonstration of why its good to have Ruby text functionality as in this meta question. It's super-useful, and not just for readings/pinyin.– dROOOzeMar 11 '19 at 11:23
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That is true. Classical Chinese is not strict on part of speech. Mar 11 '19 at 11:55
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Here's an example that requires 幸 to be treated as an adverb: 吾子幸觀焉. The source passage indicate 吾子 is not the person bearing the hope. Rather, the intended meaning is that the speaker hoped 吾子 (the addressee) would do something.– ApollyonMar 15 '19 at 2:08
幸 literally means 'feel lucky for' or 'happy for'
吾翁即若翁。必欲烹爾翁，則幸分我一杯羹
My old man is your old man. If you want to boil your old man alive, then I would be happy to share a portion of the soup.
'hope for' is extended meaning of 'happy for' -- When you are happy for something to happen, you are hoping for it to happen
In the idiom: "幸災樂禍" (happy to see other people suffer) both 幸 and 樂 mean 'happy for'; 災禍 means disaster
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Why down vote? I said 幸 also means 'hope for', just stated the literal meaning of 幸 is 'feel lucky for" or "feel happy for" . Is that wrong?– Tang Ho ♦Mar 11 '19 at 10:59
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I don't think so, see zh.wikisource.org/zh-hant/%E5%8F%B2%E8%A8%98/%E5%8D%B7007 and ctext.org/shiji/xiang-yu-ben-ji/zh.– dROOOzeMar 11 '19 at 11:05
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