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：君子有三畏：畏天命，畏大人，畏聖人之言。小人不知天命而不畏也，狎大人，侮聖人之言。Confucius said: The gentleman holds three things in awe: the decree of Heaven, great men, and the words of the sages. The petty man does not know the decree of Heaven and so does not hold it in awe; he is overfamiliar with great men and mocks the words of the sages.
What this chapter says
一孔按：君子有三畏：畏天命、畏大人、畏圣人之言。小人不知天命而不畏，轻慢大人，侮慢圣言。畏是知其可畏而戒谨恐惧，所托付的重任才不会失。常有人问：“君子有三畏：畏天命、畏大人、畏圣人之言”，怕又有什么好？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，君子敬畏天命、身居高位者和圣人的言论；小人不懂天命，便不敬畏，轻慢身居高位者，戏侮圣人的言论。
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 16.7 君子有三戒：少之時，血氣未定……
- Other books
- Read alongside (Yikonglu)Daodejing 20: “What others fear, one cannot fail to fear” (人之所畏，不可不畏): Confucius speaks of three things the gentleman holds in awe.
- Read alongside (Yikonglu)Daodejing 72: "When the people do not fear authority, a greater terror arrives" (民不畏威，则大威至). Confucius speaks of the three things the gentleman holds in awe.
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
“君子有三畏：畏天命、畏大人、畏圣人之言”，怕又有什么好？
注Key words in the commentary
畏者，严惮之意也。天命者，天所赋之正理也。知其可畏，则其戒谨恐惧，自有不能已者。而付畀之重，可以不失矣。
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 |
|---|---|---|
| 小人不知天命而不 | “畏者，严惮之意也。天命者，天所赋之正理也。知其可畏，则其戒谨恐惧，自有不能已者。而付畀之重，可以不失矣。大人圣言，皆天命所当畏。知畏天命，则不得不畏之矣。” | page 226 |
| 小人不知天命而不 | “侮，戏玩也。不知天命，故不识义理，而无所忌惮如此。” | page 226 |
| 小人不知天命而不 | “三畏者，修己之诚当然也。小人不务修身诚己，则何畏之有？” | page 226 |
见Cross-references
- 孔子曰：君子有三 Elsewhere in the Analects：孔子曰：君子有三戒：少之时，血气未定，戒之在色；及其壮也，血气方刚，戒之在斗；及其老也，血气既衰，戒之在得。（《论语》集注分章16.7（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
“云君子有三畏者，君子所畏有三事也。”……
Compared with Zhu Xi
| Commentary | Point | Relation | Confidence | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 杨伯峻《论语译注》 | differs | fairly sure | 大人杨定高位人，朱将大人圣言统于天赋正理的敬畏；三畏不是单纯怕权势，亦不可把两注天命观全并为一。 | |
| 钱穆《论语新解》 | 天命 | nuance | fairly sure | 钱以人事不能支配且不可尽知者说明敬畏；朱以天赋正理及所付重任说明。畏均非单惧灾祸。 |
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