---
title: When he was seventeen, he and his brother went to Peking to take the… — Gleanings from Chinese folklore · tree and pragmatics
description: When he was seventeen, he and his brother went to Peking to take the examinations for the higher degrees; for these they not only wrote the three-page essay, but also a two-page “Chin Tsin,” or a short account of the family, going back several generations and giving the official positions of any of 
---

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# Gleanings from Chinese folklore, A Story of Old China, part 4, sentence 48

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When he was seventeen, he and his brother went to Peking to take the examinations for the higher degrees; for these they not only wrote the three-page essay, but also a two-page “Chin Tsin,” or a short account of the family, going back several generations and giving the official positions of any of their ancestors.

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**Who acts:** student, examinations, family · **What happens:** be, go, take, not write, go back, give · **To what, where:** seventeen, Peking, examinations, page essay, several generations, official positions

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This is a sentence of «Gleanings from Chinese folklore» by Nellie Naomi Russell, A Story of Old China, part 4. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (student, examinations, family), what happens, when and where, as Mova's frames read it from the tree.

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**Mova's own parse.** This tree may be wrong.

## The tree {#tree}

```conllu
# sent_id = book:pg75089:20:48
# text = When he was seventeen, he and his brother went to Peking to take the examinations for the higher degrees; for these they not only wrote the three-page essay, but also a two-page “Chin Tsin,” or a short account of the family, going back several generations and giving the official positions of any of their ancestors.
1	When	when	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	4	advmod	_	_
2	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
3	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
4	seventeen	seventeen	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	10	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	4	punct	_	_
6	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	10	nsubj	_	_
7	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	9	cc	_	_
8	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	9	nmod:poss	_	_
9	brother	brother	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	conj	_	_
10	went	go	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
11	to	to	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
12	Peking	Peking	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	10	obl	_	_
13	to	to	PART	TO	_	14	mark	_	_
14	take	take	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	10	advcl	_	_
15	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	16	det	_	_
16	examinations	examination	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	14	obj	_	_
17	for	for	ADP	IN	_	20	case	_	_
18	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	20	det	_	_
19	higher	high	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	20	amod	_	_
20	degrees	degree	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	14	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
21	;	;	PUNCT	,	_	27	punct	_	_
22	for	for	ADP	IN	_	23	case	_	_
23	these	this	PRON	DT	Number=Plur|PronType=Dem	27	obl	_	_
24	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	27	nsubj	_	_
25	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	27	advmod	_	_
26	only	only	ADV	RB	_	27	advmod	_	_
27	wrote	write	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	10	conj	_	_
28	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	32	det	_	_
29	three	three	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	31	nummod	_	SpaceAfter=No
30	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	29	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
31	page	page	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	32	compound	_	_
32	essay	essay	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	27	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
33	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	39	punct	_	_
34	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	39	cc	_	_
35	also	also	ADV	RB	_	39	advmod	_	_
36	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	39	det	_	_
37	two	two	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	39	nummod	_	SpaceAfter=No
38	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	37	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
39	page	page	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	parataxis	_	_
40	“	"	PUNCT	``	_	41	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
41	Chin	Chin	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	39	appos	_	_
42	Tsin	Tsin	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	41	flat	_	SpaceAfter=No
43	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	41	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
44	”	"	PUNCT	''	_	41	punct	_	_
45	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	48	cc	_	_
46	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	48	det	_	_
47	short	short	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	48	amod	_	_
48	account	account	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	39	conj	_	_
49	of	of	ADP	IN	_	51	case	_	_
50	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	51	det	_	_
51	family	family	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	48	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
52	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	53	punct	_	_
53	going	go	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	51	acl	_	_
54	back	back	ADV	RB	_	53	advmod	_	_
55	several	several	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	56	amod	_	_
56	generations	generation	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	53	obl	_	_
57	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	58	cc	_	_
58	giving	give	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	53	conj	_	_
59	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	61	det	_	_
60	official	official	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	61	amod	_	_
61	positions	position	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	58	obj	_	_
62	of	of	ADP	IN	_	63	case	_	_
63	any	any	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	61	nmod	_	_
64	of	of	ADP	IN	_	66	case	_	_
65	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	66	nmod:poss	_	_
66	ancestors	ancestor	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	63	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
67	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	10	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | past | student | seventeen |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **go** | past | student |  |  | Peking |  | a two page or a short account of the family *parataxis* | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V PP.initial\_location»: agent=Theme to peking=Initial\_Location |
| 3 | **take** | to-infinitive | student *not said here* | the examinations |  |  |  | for the higher degrees | vn get-13.5.1 «NP V NP PP.beneficiary»: agent=Agent examination=Theme for degree=Beneficiary |
| 4 | **not** **write** | past | examinations *= examination* | the page essay |  |  |  | for these | vn create-26.4-1 «NP V NP PP.beneficiary»: agent=Agent essay=Result for this=Beneficiary |
| 5 | **go back** | gerund | the family *not said here* | several generations |  |  |  |  | vn convert-26.6.2 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Patient |
| 6 | **give** | gerund | the family *not said here* | the official positions of any of examinations's ancestors |  |  |  |  | vn give-13.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent position=Theme |
| 7 | **account** |  |  | the family |  |  |  |  | nom account «communication transitive»: of=patient |

<!-- .note -->
One row per clause the reader finds. «not said here»: a role filled from the clause above. «roles by»: a VerbNet class and frame when one fits the verb, else the reader's rules on the tree.

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**Text:** «Gleanings from Chinese folklore» by Nellie Naomi Russell, Project Gutenberg book 75089 (public domain in the USA). **Tree:** Mova's own parse, Elamur Cosmic License. **Frames:** Mova's frames reader (`prag`), the chapter read in order.

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