The difference between Zou Ji’s three questions

In the article "Zou Ji satirized the King of Qi for Accepting Admonitions", Zou Ji had three questions about his wife, concubines and guests respectively: "Who is more beautiful between me and Xu Gong in the north of the city?" "Who is more beautiful between me and Xu Gong?" "Who is more beautiful between me and Xu Gong?" ".

Most of the reference materials analyze the differences in attitudes between the three from the perspective of wives, concubines, and customers. But what are the subtle differences between Zou Ji's three questions? I thought about it and came to the following insights:

Difference 1: Zou Ji uses "I" when talking to his wife, and "I" when talking to concubines and guests. The difference between "I" and "I" is that "I" is more verbal and belongs to a private space; "I". It is more formal and belongs to a public situation. Relatively speaking, using "I" has a sense of distance.

From Zou Ji's self-identification, we can feel that he is closer to his wife.

The difference. 2: In the first conversation with his wife, there was "Xu Gong in the North of the City". Xu Gong in the North of the City was also famous for being the most beautiful person in Qi. It gave people the impression that Zou Ji was full of confidence in comparing his beauty in front of his wife. The conversation between the concubine and the guest only mentions "Xu Gong" and no longer highlights "North of the City". Where does "Xu Gong" refer to? Are you afraid that if you make it too clear, you will compare your beauty with the most beautiful people in the country? Do you joke in private about overestimating your abilities? The absence of "Chengbei" I think is a sign of lack of confidence. Therefore, the presence or absence of the word "Chengbei" in the question can be seen in Zou Ji's change in self-confidence.

Difference 3: The sentence structure is different. In the first two times, Zou Ji used "Which and" when talking about his wife and concubines, emphasizing who is more beautiful? Very general sentence structure, Bimei's self-confidence has weakened.

The nuances of the above three questions pave the way for Zou Ji's self-reflection below.