一孔录子曰：关雎乐而不淫，哀而不伤。The Master said: The Guanju — joyful but not excessive, sorrowful but not hurtful.
Tap any sentence of the original to copy it with its source.
常The common reading
What is so good about a poem of unrequited love? Most people today read it only as a love song.
注Key words in the commentary
le read luo; “淫者，乐之过而失其正者也。伤者，哀之过而害于和者也” — excess is joy overflowing and losing its rightness; hurt is sorrow overflowing and damaging harmony; “关雎之诗，言后妃之德，宜配君子” — the Guanju speaks of the queen's virtue, fit to match a gentleman (Zhu Xi's reading, flagged here as his); “其忧虽深而不害于和，其乐虽盛而不失其正” — its sorrow is deep yet does not harm harmony; its joy is full yet does not lose rightness.
家What other commentators say
Zhu Xi: “欲学者玩其辞，审其音，而有以识其性情之正也” — he wants learners to savour the words, listen to the music, and so recognise rightness of feeling.
读How Yikonglu reads it
Not too little feeling, but feeling full without going over. Today: crying while reading your wedding vows, wiping your eyes and finishing the last line.
核Check every citation
Every commentary line quoted in the video: the original wording, who said it, and the page in the base edition. “Paraphrase” marks our summary, not the commentator's words. About this edition
| Quoted text | Source | Page |
|---|---|---|
| “关雎，周南国风诗之首篇也。淫者，乐之过而失其正者也。伤者，哀之过而害于和者也” | Zhu Xi's commentary | page 46 |
| “关雎之诗，言后妃之德，宜配君子。求之未得，则不能无寤寐反侧之忧；求而得之，则宜其有琴瑟钟鼓之乐” | Zhu Xi's commentary | page 46 |
| “盖其忧虽深而不害于和，其乐虽盛而不失其正，故夫子称之如此。欲学者玩其辞，审其音，而有以识其性情之正也” | Zhu Xi's commentary | page 46 |
音Pronunciation
| Character | In the line | Read as |
|---|---|---|
| 乐 | 关雎乐而不淫、乐之过、其乐虽盛 | lè |
| 雎 | 关雎 | jū |
页Pages of the base edition
Yikonglu, Analects Ba yi (Book 3) 3.20 “The Guanju: joy without excess”, https://yikonglu.com/en/lunyu/ba-yi/20.html, version 2026-11-04.Last checked: 2026-11-04. Changes are logged on theerrata page.
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