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：益者三友，損者三友。友直，友諒，友多聞，益矣。友便辟，友善柔，友便佞，損矣。Confucius said: There are three kinds of friends who help and three who harm. Friends who are upright, friends who are faithful, friends who know much — they help. Friends who are ingratiating, friends who are fawning, friends who are glib — they harm.
What this chapter says
一孔按：有益的朋友三种：正直、诚信、见闻广；有害的三种：惯于逢迎、善于媚悦、巧于言辞。前三种使人闻过、进诚、进明，后三种正相反。常有人问：“友便辟、友善柔、友便佞”，会讨好会说话的朋友为什么有害？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，有益的朋友有三种，有害的朋友也有三种，结交正直、诚信、见闻广博的人有益，结交只熟于仪表、善于逢迎、能说会道却无实学的人有害。
Draft plain-Chinese rendering following Zhu Xi; it will be checked when the chapter is covered.
看Watch this chapter
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Connections
- Same line elsewhere
- Analects 16.5 益者三樂，損者三樂。樂節禮樂……
- Other books
- Read alongside (Yikonglu)Three Character Classic 3: “Keep close to teachers and friends” (亲师友): which friends? Three kinds: the upright, the trustworthy, and the well-informed.
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.
常The common reading
“友便辟、友善柔、友便佞”，会讨好会说话的朋友为什么有害？
注Key words in the commentary
友直，则闻其过。友谅，则进于诚。友多闻，则进于明。
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 |
|---|---|---|
| 友直，友谅，友多 | “友直，则闻其过。友谅，则进于诚。友多闻，则进于明。” | page 224—225 |
| 友便辟，友善柔， | “便，习熟也。便辟，谓习于威仪而不直。善柔，谓工于媚悦而不谅。便佞，谓习于口语而无闻见之实。三者损益，正相反也。” | page 224—225 |
| 友便辟，友善柔， | “自天子至于庶人，未有不须友以成者。而其损益有如是者，可不谨哉！” | page 224—225 |
见Cross-references
- 孔子曰：益者三友 Elsewhere in the Analects：孔子曰：益者三乐，损者三乐。（《论语》集注分章16.5（底本第 225 页））
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
“云益者三友者，明與朋友益者有三事，故云益者三友。”……
Compared with Zhu Xi
| Commentary | Point | Relation | Confidence | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 钱穆《论语新解》 | differs | fairly sure | 益友三者同以直信多闻为善；三损对应略异，钱便辟对谅、善柔对直，朱便辟对直、善柔对谅。便佞无实闻均对多闻。 | |
| 杨伯峻《论语译注》 | same | settled | 谅为诚信，非此处小信拘执；直谅多闻与便辟善柔便佞三损益对应，朱详虚仪媚悦空口之别。 |
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