一孔录季文子三思而后行。子闻之，曰：再，斯可矣。Ji Wenzi thought three times before he acted. When the Master heard of it, he said: Twice is enough.
Tap any sentence of the original to copy it with its source.
白Plain Chinese
季文子遇事总要想过三遍才动手。孔子听说了，说：想两遍，也就够了。
A plain modern-Chinese rendering following Yikonglu's reading.
常The common reading
“Think three times before you act” is usually praised as a virtue, so why did Confucius say twice was enough?
注Key words in the commentary
“三” here is read sàn, meaning “again and again”; “斯，语辞” — “si” is a particle.
家What other commentators say
Zhu Xi: Ji Wenzi “每事必三思而后行，若使晋而求遭丧之礼以行” — thought three times before every act, as when, sent to Jin, he first sought out the rites for a death in mourning. He cites Master Cheng: “再则已审，三则私意起而反惑矣” — by the second time it is already clear; by the third, selfish thoughts arise and confuse instead. Zhu Xi adds that when Duke Xuan usurped the throne, Wenzi “不能讨，反为之使齐而纳赂焉” — could not punish him and instead went to Qi on his behalf with bribes: “君子务穷理而贵果断，不徒多思之为尚” — the gentleman works to understand fully and values decisiveness, not mere quantity of thought.
读How Yikonglu reads it
By the second pass things are clear; at the third, private calculation creeps in. Ji Wenzi serving a usurper as envoy is the proof of thinking oneself into confusion. Today: reading a contract for the fourth time and starting to find faults that are not faults.
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
“云季文子三思而後行者，言文子有賢行，舉事必三過思之也。”……
Compared with Zhu Xi
| Commentary | Point | Relation | Confidence | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 钱穆《论语新解》 | same | fairly sure | 同取再思已审、过思反添私意而惑，不赞专尚多思。钱并列两说后据季文子行事取此解，朱引程子及纳赂事为证。 |
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 |
|---|---|---|
| “三，去声。季文子，鲁大夫，名行父。每事必三思而后行，若使晋而求遭丧之礼以行，亦其一事也。斯，语辞” | Zhu Xi's commentary | page 71 |
| “程子曰：为恶之人，未尝知有思，有思则为善矣。然至于再则已审，三则私意起而反惑矣。故夫子讥之” | Cheng Yi, quoted by Zhu Xi | page 71 |
| “愚按：季文子虑事如此，可谓详审，而宜无过举矣。而宣公篡立……不徒多思之为尚” | Zhu Xi's commentary | page 71 |
音Pronunciation
| Character | In the line | Read as |
|---|---|---|
| 三 | 三思而后行、每事必三思 | sàn |
页Pages of the base edition
Yikonglu, Analects 公冶长第五 5.19 “Why is thinking twice enough?”, https://yikonglu.com/en/lunyu/gong-ye-chang/19.html, version 2026-11-05.Last checked: 2026-11-05. Changes are logged on theerrata page.
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