<p>幸 in this context means <em>to hope for</em>.</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>吾翁即若翁。必欲烹爾翁，則幸分我一杯羹</p>
  
  <p><em>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.</em></p>
</blockquote>

<hr>

<p>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.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-03-11T10:37:50.313Z
What source do you have available that indicates 幸 means "hope" here?
Apollyon
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-03-11T10:42:28.213Z
@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。"
dROOOze
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-03-11T10:49:11.593Z
What is its part of speech? A verb, adjective, or adverb?
Apollyon
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-03-11T09:16:24.087Z
2019-03-11T11:01:51.980Z
2019-03-11T11:01:51.980Z
dROOOze
<p>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)。</p>

<p>Note: 刘邦 and 项羽 once 拜为兄弟</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-03-11T11:20:30.390Z
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。”
Apollyon
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-03-11T11:20:42.500Z
http://wyw.hwxnet.com/view/hwxE5hwxB9hwxB8.html
Apollyon
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-03-11T11:23:18.570Z
Moderators: I think this answer is an excellent demonstration of why its good to have Ruby text functionality [as in this meta question](https://chinese.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/315/should-we-add-the-enhancement-from-japanese-se-for-furigana-ruby-text-here-for-a). It's super-useful, and not just for readings/pinyin.
dROOOze
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-03-11T11:55:15.437Z
That is true. Classical Chinese is not strict on part of speech.
Toosky Hierot
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-03-15T02:08:15.320Z
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.
Apollyon
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-03-15T02:28:36.380Z
@Apollyon Yep, when 幸 functions as "hope"(v or adv, whatever), from my knowledge, it always expresses that it is the speaker bearing the hope. I mean it is more important to understand the meaning of the characters in 文言文, because 文言文 is not very strict in the aspect of "part of speech" or you can say, it is common that a character or word has various part of speech. ԅ(¯ㅂ¯ԅ)
Toosky Hierot
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-03-15T02:43:46.213Z
With so many interpretative possibilities, Classical Chinese seems to be like a guessing game even for native speakers of Chinese.
Apollyon
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-03-15T02:53:44.890Z
@Apollyon 後世之文，其言義不亦明乎？不明者，非釋者才學不逮，即著者思路不清，或止修辭文飾、因承舊例，無確鑿之必要，會意即可。
Toosky Hierot
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-03-15T04:31:43.653Z
It would still be preferable to have a thorough analysis. Otherwise, studying Classical Chinese would be the business of a 差不多先生.
Apollyon
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-03-11T11:09:27.407Z
2019-03-11T11:09:27.407Z
Toosky Hierot
<p>幸 literally means 'feel lucky for' or 'happy for'</p>
<blockquote>
<p>吾翁即若翁。必欲烹爾翁，則幸分我一杯羹</p>
<p>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.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>'hope for' is extended meaning of 'happy for' -- When you are happy for something to happen, you are hoping for it to happen</p>
<p>In  the idiom: &quot;幸災樂禍&quot;  (happy to see other people suffer) both 幸 and 樂 mean 'happy for'; 災禍 means disaster</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-03-11T10:59:19.683Z
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
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-03-11T11:02:34.080Z
I didn't downvote, but I question your interpretation of 若.
dROOOze
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-03-11T11:04:27.830Z
Now I see 若 is a typo from the OP's  post.
Tang Ho
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-03-11T11:05:41.653Z
I don't think so, see https://zh.wikisource.org/zh-hant/%E5%8F%B2%E8%A8%98/%E5%8D%B7007 and https://ctext.org/shiji/xiang-yu-ben-ji/zh.
dROOOze
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-03-11T11:07:33.073Z
《漢語大詞典》「若」: 8.    你(的)；你們(的)。 
    ▶ 《莊子•人間世》： “一若志， 無聽之以耳， 而聽之以心。”
dROOOze
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-03-11T11:08:38.750Z
The point is it  shouldn't be  若, It should be 爾 in the quote
Tang Ho
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-03-11T11:09:31.483Z
The original text says「若」, why would you change it to something else?
dROOOze
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-03-11T11:12:04.243Z
If it is in the original quote, then I would use it. But 爾 make more sense in writing style. I would either write 吾翁即若翁。必欲烹若翁 or 吾翁即爾翁。必欲烹爾翁
Tang Ho
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-03-11T11:12:28.617Z
hh I donwvoted your post but cancelled. 吉而免凶而为幸。So I think "good luck" is better than feel lucky for
Toosky Hierot
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-03-11T11:14:54.227Z
幸 in 幸災樂禍 is a verb for "happy for"
Tang Ho
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-03-11T11:24:47.847Z
You sure 幸 didn't gain the meaning of 'hope for' later ?
Tang Ho
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-03-11T11:29:14.670Z
I'll remove my comments, I think your interpretation is fine for 幸災樂禍. But it probably doesn't apply to the quote 則幸分我一杯羹.
dROOOze
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-03-11T10:50:24.177Z
2019-03-11T11:10:06.510Z
2020-06-17T09:50:11.587Z
Tang Ho
<p>What is the meaning and function of "幸" in the following sentence?</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>吾翁即若翁。必欲烹而翁，则<strong>幸</strong>分我一杯羹</p>
</blockquote>

<grammar><meaning-in-context>
What is the meaning and function of 幸 in "则幸分我一杯羹"?
# What is the meaning and function of 幸 in "则幸分我一杯羹"?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2019-03-11)

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

**Tags:** grammar, meaning-in-context

---

## 3 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2019-03-11. Score: 5

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.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: What source do you have available that indicates 幸 means "hope" here?  
> **username_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。"  
> **username_0**: What is its part of speech? A verb, adjective, or adverb?  

---

### Answer by username_2 on 2019-03-11. Score: 4

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

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: 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。”  
> **username_0**: http://wyw.hwxnet.com/view/hwxE5hwxB9hwxB8.html  
> **username_1**: Moderators: I think this answer is an excellent demonstration of why its good to have Ruby text functionality [as in this meta question](https://chinese.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/315/should-we-add-the-enhancement-from-japanese-se-for-furigana-ruby-text-here-for-a). It's super-useful, and not just for readings/pinyin.  
> **username_2**: That is true. Classical Chinese is not strict on part of speech.  
> **username_0**: 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.  
> **username_2**: @Apollyon Yep, when 幸 functions as "hope"(v or adv, whatever), from my knowledge, it always expresses that it is the speaker bearing the hope. I mean it is more important to understand the meaning of the characters in 文言文, because 文言文 is not very strict in the aspect of "part of speech" or you can say, it is common that a character or word has various part of speech. ԅ(¯ㅂ¯ԅ)  
> **username_0**: With so many interpretative possibilities, Classical Chinese seems to be like a guessing game even for native speakers of Chinese.  
> **username_2**: @Apollyon 後世之文，其言義不亦明乎？不明者，非釋者才學不逮，即著者思路不清，或止修辭文飾、因承舊例，無確鑿之必要，會意即可。  
> **username_0**: It would still be preferable to have a thorough analysis. Otherwise, studying Classical Chinese would be the business of a 差不多先生.  

---

### Answer by username_3 on 2019-03-11. Score: 3

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

> **Comments:**
> **username_3**: 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?  
> **username_1**: I didn't downvote, but I question your interpretation of 若.  
> **username_3**: Now I see 若 is a typo from the OP's  post.  
> **username_1**: I don't think so, see https://zh.wikisource.org/zh-hant/%E5%8F%B2%E8%A8%98/%E5%8D%B7007 and https://ctext.org/shiji/xiang-yu-ben-ji/zh.  
> **username_1**: 《漢語大詞典》「若」: 8.    你(的)；你們(的)。      ▶ 《莊子•人間世》： “一若志， 無聽之以耳， 而聽之以心。”  
> **username_3**: The point is it  shouldn't be  若, It should be 爾 in the quote  
> **username_1**: The original text says「若」, why would you change it to something else?  
> **username_3**: If it is in the original quote, then I would use it. But 爾 make more sense in writing style. I would either write 吾翁即若翁。必欲烹若翁 or 吾翁即爾翁。必欲烹爾翁  
> **username_2**: hh I donwvoted your post but cancelled. 吉而免凶而为幸。So I think "good luck" is better than feel lucky for  
> **username_3**: 幸 in 幸災樂禍 is a verb for "happy for"  
> **username_3**: You sure 幸 didn't gain the meaning of 'hope for' later ?  
> **username_1**: I'll remove my comments, I think your interpretation is fine for 幸災樂禍. But it probably doesn't apply to the quote 則幸分我一杯羹.  

---

