一孔录 · Reading the classics word by wordEvery line Yikonglu has read aloud can be checked here.https://yikonglu.com/en/2026-11-03T12:00:00+08:00一孔录2.4 At fifteen I set my heart on learninghttps://yikonglu.com/en/lunyu/wei-zheng/4.html2026-11-03T12:00:00+08:00子曰：吾十有五而志于学，三十而立，四十而不惑，五十而知天命，六十而耳顺，七十而从心所欲，不逾矩。 —— Not a certificate issued automatically at a certain age, but a road of learning.2.3 Guiding them by decreeshttps://yikonglu.com/en/lunyu/wei-zheng/3.html2026-11-03T12:00:00+08:00子曰：道之以政，齐之以刑，民免而无耻；道之以德，齐之以礼，有耻且格。 —— Punishment and decree keep people from crime; virtue and ritual move them toward good. Today: the camera breaks, and the rubbish comes back.2.2 Thoughts without crookednesshttps://yikonglu.com/en/lunyu/wei-zheng/2.html2026-11-03T12:00:00+08:00子曰：诗三百，一言以蔽之，曰：思无邪。 —— The “without crookedness” lies in the reader, not entirely in the poems. Today: a novel about a villain can still bring a reader round.2.1 Governing by virtuehttps://yikonglu.com/en/lunyu/wei-zheng/1.html2026-11-03T12:00:00+08:00子曰：为政以德，譬如北辰，居其所而众星共之。 —— Not that decrees are unnecessary, but that the one who governs must first have gained something himself. Today: the form teacher whose word counts.1.16 Not troubled that others do not know mehttps://yikonglu.com/en/lunyu/xue-er/16.html2026-11-03T12:00:00+08:00子曰：不患人之不己知，患不知人也。 —— The book opens with “unrecognised and yet not resentful” and closes here; the two ends meet.1.15 Poor without flatteryhttps://yikonglu.com/en/lunyu/xue-er/15.html2026-11-03T12:00:00+08:00子贡曰：贫而无谄，富而无骄，何如？子曰：可也。未若贫而乐，富而好礼者也。子贡曰：诗云：如切如磋，如琢如磨，其斯之谓与？子曰：赐也，始可与言诗已矣！告诸往而知来者。 —— Acknowledge what has been done, then push one step further. Today: from renting to owning without bowing or showing off — Confucius would say “that will do”.1.14 A gentleman does not seek to eat his fillhttps://yikonglu.com/en/lunyu/xue-er/14.html2026-11-03T12:00:00+08:00子曰：君子食无求饱，居无求安，敏于事而慎于言，就有道而正焉，可谓好学也已。 —— Not going hungry on purpose; simply too occupied to mind.1.13 Trust that comes close to what is righthttps://yikonglu.com/en/lunyu/xue-er/13.html2026-11-03T12:00:00+08:00有子曰：信近于义，言可复也；恭近于礼，远耻辱也；因不失其亲，亦可宗也。 —— The work happens before you say yes. Today: agreeing at midnight, without a thought, to lend the money.1.12 In the use of ritual, harmony is prizedhttps://yikonglu.com/en/lunyu/xue-er/12.html2026-11-03T12:00:00+08:00有子曰：礼之用，和为贵。先王之道，斯为美，小大由之。有所不行，知和而和，不以礼节之，亦不可行也。 —— Harmony alone, with nothing to regulate it, does not work either. Today: the team where everyone only ever says “looks good”.1.11 While the father lives, observe the son's intenthttps://yikonglu.com/en/lunyu/xue-er/11.html2026-11-03T12:00:00+08:00子曰：父在，观其志；父没，观其行；三年无改于父之道，可谓孝矣。 —— What is wrong, change now; what can wait, let wait — that is time given to what one cannot bear to let go. Today: the small factory a father left behind.1.10 Whenever the Master arrives in a statehttps://yikonglu.com/en/lunyu/xue-er/10.html2026-11-03T12:00:00+08:00子禽问于子贡曰：夫子至于是邦也，必闻其政，求之与？抑与之与？子贡曰：夫子温良恭俭让以得之。夫子之求之也，其诸异乎人之求之与？ —— Coming to ask is not the same as handing you the job.1.9 Care at the end, remembrance of the distanthttps://yikonglu.com/en/lunyu/xue-er/9.html2026-11-03T12:00:00+08:00曾子曰：慎终追远，民德归厚矣。 —— Put your heart into the places that are easy to neglect and easy to forget. Today: driving two hundred kilometres to stand ten minutes at a grave.1.8 A gentleman without weight has no dignityhttps://yikonglu.com/en/lunyu/xue-er/8.html2026-11-03T12:00:00+08:00子曰：君子不重则不威，学则不固。主忠信。无友不如己者。过则勿惮改。 —— Zhu Xi takes the words as they stand and does not talk his way around them. Today: the one person willing to tell you to your face tells you twice; if you don't change, the third time he says nothing.1.7 Honouring the worthy over good lookshttps://yikonglu.com/en/lunyu/xue-er/7.html2026-11-03T12:00:00+08:00子夏曰：贤贤易色，事父母能竭其力，事君能致其身，与朋友交言而有信。虽曰未学，吾必谓之学矣。 —— Someone who never studied but does all this — Zixia says he has studied. Today: the elders who had only a few years of schooling.1.6 A young man at home is filialhttps://yikonglu.com/en/lunyu/xue-er/6.html2026-11-03T12:00:00+08:00子曰：弟子入则孝，出则弟，谨而信，汎爱众，而亲仁。行有余力，则以学文。 —— This is about order, not about choosing one and dropping the other. Today: the capable person who never studied has nothing to check himself against when he is wrong.1.5 Governing a state of a thousand chariotshttps://yikonglu.com/en/lunyu/xue-er/5.html2026-11-03T12:00:00+08:00子曰：道千乘之国：敬事而信，节用而爱人，使民以时。 —— Cheng Yi: “此言至浅……若推其极，尧舜之治亦不过此” — the words are plain, but pushed to the limit, even Yao and Shun governed no differently. Today: a shopkeeper who keeps his word, doesn't waste money, and doesn't send staff on private errands in the busy season.1.4 Three things I examine myself on dailyhttps://yikonglu.com/en/lunyu/xue-er/4.html2026-11-03T12:00:00+08:00曾子曰：吾日三省吾身：为人谋而不忠乎？与朋友交而不信乎？传不习乎？ —— When you act for someone, did you hold anything back? Today: a colleague asks you to look over a plan; you can't be bothered to point out the flaw and say “looks good”.1.3 Clever words and a pleasing facehttps://yikonglu.com/en/lunyu/xue-er/3.html2026-11-03T12:00:00+08:00子曰：巧言令色，鲜矣仁！ —— Watch whether he does it to get the thing done, or only to be liked.1.2 Filial and fraternal duty as the root of renhttps://yikonglu.com/en/lunyu/xue-er/2.html2026-11-03T12:00:00+08:00有子曰：其为人也孝弟，而好犯上者，鲜矣；不好犯上，而好作乱者，未之有也。君子务本，本立而道生。孝弟也者，其为仁之本与！ —— Filial and fraternal duty is where practising ren begins. Today: kind to strangers online, no patience for one's parents at home — that is starting from the far end.1.1 Learning and practising it in seasonhttps://yikonglu.com/en/lunyu/xue-er/1.html2026-11-03T12:00:00+08:00子曰：学而时习之，不亦说乎？有朋自远方来，不亦乐乎？人不知而不愠，不亦君子乎？ —— What you learned, keep taking out to practise and to do. Today: watching the tutorial ten times is watching another bird fly.