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.
孔子曰：見善如不及，見不善如探湯。吾見其人矣，吾聞其語矣。隱居以求其志，行義以達其道。吾聞其語矣，未見其人也。Confucius said: 'Seeing good, act as if you could not reach it; seeing evil, act as if testing boiling water.' I have seen such men and heard such words. 'Living in seclusion to pursue one's aims, practicing what is right to fulfill one's Way.' I have heard such words, but have not seen such men.
What this chapter says
一孔按：见善如追不上，见不善如手探沸水，这样的人我见过；隐居以求其志，行义以达其道，这样的人我只听说过、没见过。后一种是能进能退的大人物，所以少。常有人问：“隐居以求其志，行义以达其道”，孔子为什么说没见过这种人？上面是一孔录的回答。
Yikonglu's reading of this chapter is in Chinese for now; the English version comes with the video.
白Plain Chinese
孔子说，看见善就像唯恐追不上，见到不善就像伸手碰到滚水，这样的人他见过，这样的话他也听过。隐居以守自己的志向，依义而行以实现自己的道，这样的话他听过，这样的人却没有见到。
Draft plain-Chinese rendering following Zhu Xi; it will be checked when the chapter is covered.
看Watch this chapter
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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.
常The common reading
“隐居以求其志，行义以达其道”，孔子为什么说没见过这种人？
注Key words in the commentary
真知善恶而诚好恶之，颜、曾、闵、冉之徒，盖能之矣。语，盖古语也。
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 |
|---|---|---|
| 孔子曰：见善如不 | “真知善恶而诚好恶之，颜、曾、闵、冉之徒，盖能之矣。语，盖古语也。” | page 227—228 |
| 隐居以求其志，行 | “求其志，守其所达之道也。达其道，行其所求之志也。盖惟伊尹、太公之流，可以当之。当时若颜子，亦庶乎此。然隐而未见，又不幸而蚤死，故夫子云然。” | page 227—228 |
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
“云見善如不及者，見有善者當慕而齊之，恒恐己不能相及也。”……
Compared with Zhu Xi
| Commentary | Point | Relation | Confidence | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 杨伯峻《论语译注》 | same | fairly sure | 善急从、恶急避，隐存志行义达道；朱推可当者伊尹太公而今未见，杨未增具体人物为经文点名。 | |
| 钱穆《论语新解》 | same | fairly sure | 同以见善急求、见恶速去为诚好恶，隐居守志行义达道须出处一致；钱以伊尹为可参者，朱引古语而不定未见之人为一人。 |
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