一孔录子贡曰：夫子之文章，可得而闻也；夫子之言性与天道，不可得而闻也。Zigong said: The Master's outward cultivation we may hear about; the Master's words on human nature and the Way of Heaven we may not hear about.
Tap any sentence of the original to copy it with its source.
白Plain Chinese
子贡说：老师显露在外的威仪和言谈，我们天天都见得到、听得到；老师谈人性与天道，我们难得听到。
A plain modern-Chinese rendering following Yikonglu's reading.
常The common reading
Read as Zigong complaining that Confucius never spoke of nature and the Way of Heaven, or that Confucius did not discuss metaphysics at all.
注Key words in the commentary
“文章，德之见乎外者，威仪文辞皆是也” — wenzhang is virtue showing outwardly: bearing and speech are both it; “性者，人所受之天理；天道者，天理自然之本体，其实一理也” — nature is the heavenly principle a person receives; the Way of Heaven is the natural substance of that principle; in truth they are one principle; “盖圣门教不躐等，子贡至是始得闻之，而叹其美也” — the sage's school did not teach out of order; only now did Zigong get to hear it, and he sighed at its beauty.
家What other commentators say
The Cheng brothers: “此子贡闻夫子之至论而叹美之言也” — these are Zigong's words of admiration on hearing the Master's highest teaching.
读How Yikonglu reads it
Wenzhang is not written essays but virtue showing in conduct and speech. Confucius spoke little of nature and the Way of Heaven, but not never; his school taught in order, and only now did Zigong hear it for the first time. The line is admiration, not complaint. Today: an apprentice in a kitchen chops vegetables for three years before the head chef first talks to her about heat.
家Other commentaries
Our base text is Zhu Xi's Collected Commentaries (above). Here are other commentaries side by side: for old commentaries, the first line of the sub-commentary with a link to the woodblock scan; for modern editions, one short quoted translation for comparison. The “compared with Zhu Xi” notes are written by Yikonglu, not quoted.
皇侃《论语义疏》Liang dynasty · 1750 Japanese woodblock edition · juan 三
“云子貢曰云云者，子貢此歎顔氏之鑽仰也。”……
Compared with Zhu Xi
| Commentary | Point | Relation | Confidence | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 钱穆《论语新解》 | differs | fairly sure | 章旨有别：钱认子贡真叹性天道不可得闻，文章为诗书礼乐；朱认子贡至此始闻而赞美，文章为德见于外的威仪文辞。 |
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 |
|---|---|---|
| “文章，德之见乎外者，威仪文辞皆是也。性者，人所受之天理；天道者，天理自然之本体，其实一理也” | Zhu Xi's commentary | page 67 |
| “言夫子之文章，日见乎外，固学者所共闻；至于性与天道，则夫子罕言之，而学者有不得闻者。盖圣门教不躐等，子贡至是始得闻之，而叹其美也” | Zhu Xi's commentary | page 67 |
| “程子曰：此子贡闻夫子之至论而叹美之言也” | Cheng Yi, quoted by Zhu Xi | page 68 |
页Pages of the base edition
Yikonglu, Analects 公冶长第五 5.12 “The Master's outward cultivation can be heard”, https://yikonglu.com/en/lunyu/gong-ye-chang/12.html, version 2026-11-05.Last checked: 2026-11-05. Changes are logged on theerrata page.
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