一孔录孟武伯问：子路仁乎？子曰：不知也。又问。子曰：由也，千乘之国，可使治其赋也，不知其仁也。求也何如？子曰：求也，千室之邑，百乘之家，可使为之宰也，不知其仁也。赤也何如？子曰：赤也，束带立于朝，可使与宾客言也，不知其仁也。Meng Wubo asked: Is Zilu humane? The Master said: I do not know. He asked again. The Master said: You could be put in charge of the levies of a state of a thousand chariots; I do not know whether he is humane. What about Qiu? The Master said: Qiu could be made steward of a town of a thousand households or a house of a hundred chariots; I do not know whether he is humane. What about Chi? The Master said: Chi, with his sash tied, standing at court, could be made to speak with guests; I do not know whether he is humane.
Tap any sentence of the original to copy it with its source.
白Plain Chinese
孟武伯问：子路算得上仁吗？孔子说：不知道。他又问。孔子说：仲由嘛，一个出得起千辆兵车的大国，可以让他掌管兵事；仁不仁，我不知道。又问：冉求怎样？孔子说：冉求嘛，千户的大邑、百辆兵车的卿大夫之家，可以让他做总管；仁不仁，我不知道。又问：公西赤怎样？孔子说：公西赤嘛，系上礼带站在朝堂上，可以让他应对宾客；仁不仁，我不知道。
A plain modern-Chinese rendering following Yikonglu's reading.
常The common reading
Confucius refusing to rate his students read as protectiveness or modesty.
注Key words in the commentary
Sheng (乘) read shèng; “赋，兵也。古者以田赋出兵，故谓兵为赋” — fu means troops; in antiquity troops were levied by land tax, so troops were called fu; “宰，邑长家臣之通号” — zai is the general title of a town head or household steward; chao (朝) read cháo; “子路之于仁，盖日月至焉者，或在或亡，不能必其有无，故以不知告之” — Zilu reached humaneness for a day or a month, sometimes present, sometimes absent, and it could not be guaranteed, so Confucius answered “I do not know”; “言子路之才，可见者如此，仁则不能知也” — he spoke of what Zilu's ability visibly was; humaneness could not be known.
家What other commentators say
Zhu Xi gives a single reading only.
读How Yikonglu reads it
Say plainly what visible ability there is; humaneness comes and goes, and one does not vouch for it. Three students, three talents: each line says what they can do, none says they are humane. Today: in a background check, the referee says “I vouch for his skills; his character I can't speak to”.
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
“云孟武伯問子路仁乎者，武伯問孔子云：弟子中有子路，是仁人不乎？”……
Compared with Zhu Xi
| Commentary | Point | Relation | Confidence | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 钱穆《论语新解》 | same | fairly sure | 同区分可见的从政才具与不可轻许的仁德；治赋皆指军政，宰及宾客应对亦同训，非因不知仁而否认其才。 |
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 |
|---|---|---|
| “赋，兵也。古者以田赋出兵，故谓兵为赋……宰，邑长家臣之通号……赤，孔子弟子，姓公西，字子华” | Zhu Xi's commentary | page 64 |
| “子路之于仁，盖日月至焉者，或在或亡，不能必其有无，故以不知告之……言子路之才，可见者如此，仁则不能知也” | Zhu Xi's commentary | page 64 |
音Pronunciation
| Character | In the line | Read as |
|---|---|---|
| 乘 | 千乘、百乘 | shèng |
| 赋 | 治其赋 | fù |
| 朝 | 立于朝、治朝 | cháo |
页Pages of the base edition
Yikonglu, Analects 公冶长第五 5.7 “Meng Wubo asked whether Zilu was humane”, https://yikonglu.com/en/lunyu/gong-ye-chang/7.html, version 2026-11-05.Last checked: 2026-11-05. Changes are logged on theerrata page.
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