一孔录The video for this chapter is still in production. For now this page gives the original text, the facsimile page, a working translation and the commentary; the full reading follows when the video is out.
季氏將伐顓臾。冉有、季路見於孔子曰：季氏將有事於顓臾。孔子曰：求！無乃爾是過與？夫顓臾，昔者先王以為東蒙主，且在邦域之中矣，是社稷之臣也。何以伐為？冉有曰：夫子欲之，吾二臣者皆不欲也。孔子曰：求！周任有言曰：陳力就列，不能者止。危而不持，顛而不扶，則將焉用彼相矣？且爾言過矣。虎兕出於柙，龜玉毀於櫝中，是誰之過與？冉有曰：今夫顓臾，固而近於費。今不取，後世必為子孫憂。孔子曰：求！君子疾夫舍曰欲之，而必為之辭。丘也聞有國有家者，不患寡而患不均，不患貧而患不安。蓋均無貧，和無寡，安無傾。夫如是，故遠人不服，則修文德以來之。既來之，則安之。今由與求也，相夫子，遠人不服而不能來也；邦分崩離析而不能守也。而謀動干戈於邦內。吾恐季孫之憂，不在顓臾，而在蕭牆之內也。The Ji family was about to attack Zhuanyu. Ran You and Jilu came to see Confucius and said: The Ji family is about to take action against Zhuanyu. Confucius said: Qiu, is this not your fault? Zhuanyu was long ago made by the former kings the lord of the sacrifices to Mount Dongmeng; moreover, it lies within our borders and is a vassal of the state. Why attack it? Ran You said: Our master wants it; neither of us two ministers does. Confucius said: Qiu, Zhou Ren had a saying: 'Put forth your strength and take your place; if you cannot, step down.' If he is in danger and you do not hold him steady, if he stumbles and you do not support him, what use are you as his helper? And what you say is wrong. When a tiger or rhinoceros escapes from its cage, or tortoiseshell and jade are smashed in their case, whose fault is it? Ran You said: But Zhuanyu is well fortified and close to Bi. If it is not taken now, it will surely trouble his descendants in later generations. Confucius said: Qiu, the gentleman hates those who, instead of saying 'I want it,' insist on making excuses. I have heard that those who hold a state or a family do not worry about having few people but about unequal shares, do not worry about poverty but about unrest. For where there is equality there is no poverty, where there is harmony there is no shortage of people, where there is peace there is no toppling. That being so, if people far away do not submit, cultivate culture and virtue to attract them; once they have come, give them peace. Now you, You and Qiu, assist your master; people far away do not submit and you cannot attract them; the state is splitting apart and you cannot hold it together; and yet you plan to take up arms within the state. I fear that the Ji family's trouble lies not in Zhuanyu, but within their own walls.
What this chapter says
一孔按：“均”不是平均，是各得其分。照下文“均无贫，和无寡”，原句很可能是“不患贫而患不均，不患寡而患不安”，清人有这样校的。片里照原文讲。
Yikonglu's reading of this chapter is in Chinese for now; the English version comes with the video.
白Plain Chinese
季氏准备攻打颛臾，冉有和子路把这件事告诉孔子；孔子责问冉有，说颛臾本受先王之命主持东蒙山的祭祀，又在鲁国境内，是鲁国公室的臣属，何必攻打，冉有却说是季孙想打，他们两人并不赞成，孔子便引周任“能尽职便居位，不能便退下”的话，指出见人危险不扶持、跌倒不搀助，这样的助手无用，正如虎兕逃出笼子、龟甲玉器毁在匣中，守护者不能推卸过错。冉有又以颛臾城坚、离费邑近，恐后世成患为理由，孔子批评想要夺取却替它编借口，说治国治家应忧分配不均、人心不安，均平便不至贫困，和睦便不嫌人少，安定便不致倾覆，远方人不归服应修明文德招徕、来了便使其安居，而由与求如今辅佐季孙，既招不来远人、又保不住分裂的国家，反在国内发动战争，他担忧季孙真正的祸患在家内而不在颛臾。
Draft plain-Chinese rendering following Zhu Xi; it will be checked when the chapter is covered.
看Watch this chapter
The video for this chapter is in production and will appear here. Follow Yikonglu to see it first:YouTubeBilibili
Connections
- Other books
- Read alongside (Yikonglu)Three Character Classic 27: Disaster often starts close at hand. The Ming fell to its eunuchs, trouble from right “within the screen wall.”
- Read alongside (Yikonglu)Daodejing 46: "No calamity is greater than not knowing contentment" (祸莫大于不知足): Confucius says a state should fear unequal distribution more than scarcity.
- Read alongside (Yikonglu)Daodejing 61: "If a great state lowers itself to a small state, it wins the small state" (大国以下小国，则取小国). Confucius says that if distant people do not submit, one should cultivate civil virtue to draw them in.
- Read alongside (Yikonglu)Daodejing 77: "The way of Heaven reduces surplus and makes up deficiency" (天之道，损有余而补不足). Confucius says the worry is not scarcity but inequality.
- People
Zilu41 chaptersJi Family7 chaptersRan You16 chaptersZhou Ren
- Disputed reading
- Yikonglu reads it as “Wording per B, meaning per A”. See our note
Relationship map of the whole book · The Analects, AI-reconstructed edition (PDF)
Close reading and checking
For readers who want to go deeper or check our work: key words in the commentary, what other commentators say, textual variants, the commentaries in their own words with facsimile pages, pronunciation and corrections. Tap a heading to open it.
核Zhu Xi's commentary, line by line
Zhu Xi's own words on each line of this chapter, each checked against the base-edition page. Other commentators are added when the chapter is covered. About this edition
| Line | Quoted text | Page |
|---|---|---|
| 冉有、季路见于孔 | “固，谓城郭完固。费，季氏之私邑。此则冉求之饰辞，然亦可见其实与季氏之谋矣。” | page 222 |
| 冉有曰：夫子欲之 | “欲之，谓贪其利。” | page 222 |
| 丘也闻有国有家者 | “寡，谓民少。贫，谓财乏。均，谓各得其分。安，谓上下相安。” | page 222 |
| 丘也闻有国有家者 | “是时季氏据国，而鲁公无民，则不均矣。君弱臣强，互生嫌隙，则不安矣。” | page 222 |
| 夫如是，故远人不 | “内治修，然后远人服。有不服，则修德以来之，亦不当勤兵于远。” | page 222—223 |
| 今由与求也，相夫 | “子路虽不与谋，而素不能辅之以义，亦不得为无罪，故并责之。” | page 222—223 |
| 吾恐季孙之忧，不 | “萧墙，屏也。言不均不和，内变将作。其后哀公果欲以越伐鲁而去季氏。” | page 222—223 |
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 八
“此章明季氏專征濫伐之惡也。”……
Compared with Zhu Xi
| Commentary | Point | Relation | Confidence | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 钱穆《论语新解》 | differs | fairly sure | 陈力就列钱重先度己能而任位，朱重布陈才力以居职；两家均责季臣失辅导之职。钱对贫寡不均不安两句主张互校，朱依本文逐训。 | |
| 杨伯峻《论语译注》 | 贫寡 | word sense | settled | 杨据俞樾调换经文两字使均贫、和寡相应，朱保留原序并解释分均和安；均无贫不是杨本未经校改的原序。 |
Found an error in this chapter? Email us; once checked, it goes on the errata page under your username: 
