一孔录子曰：以约失之者鲜矣。The Master said: Those who go wrong through restraint are few.
Tap any sentence of the original to copy it with its source.
白Plain Chinese
孔子说：因为约束自己而犯过失的，是很少的。
A plain modern-Chinese rendering following Yikonglu's reading.
常The common reading
Read as “frugal people make fewer mistakes”, with restraint taken as saving money.
注Key words in the commentary
Xian (鲜) means few. Zhu Xi cites Xie Liangzuo: “不侈然以自放之谓约” — not letting oneself loose in extravagance is called restraint; and Yin Tun: “凡事约则鲜失，非止谓俭约也” — in all things, restraint means few errors; it does not mean thrift only.
家What other commentators say
Xie Liangzuo and Yin Tun (both cited by Zhu Xi).
读How Yikonglu reads it
Holding back words, temper and display are all restraint, not only money. Today: the person who moves house with only two boxes is the one who loses nothing.
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 · Zhibuzu Zhai edition · juan 二
“鮮，少也。”……
Compared with Zhu Xi
| Commentary | Point | Relation | Confidence | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 杨伯峻《论语译注》 | 约 | word sense | settled | 杨主取约束而不取节俭；朱引不自放与非止俭约说，亦不限省钱。此处不可机械列作杨反对朱注。 |
| 钱穆《论语新解》 | same | fairly sure | 同以约为检束不放纵，不限于节俭财用；钱举学问事业之守约，朱引尹氏明言非止俭约。 |
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 |
|---|---|---|
| “不侈然以自放之谓约” | Xie Liangzuo, quoted by Zhu Xi | page 59 |
| “凡事约则鲜失，非止谓俭约也” | Yin Tun, quoted by Zhu Xi | page 59 |
音Pronunciation
| Character | In the line | Read as |
|---|---|---|
| 鲜 | 失之者鲜、鲜失 | xiǎn |
| 约 | 以约、俭约 | yuē |
页Pages of the base edition
Yikonglu, Analects Li ren (Book 4) 4.23 “Those who err through restraint are few”, https://yikonglu.com/en/lunyu/li-ren/23.html, version 2026-11-05.Last checked: 2026-11-05. Changes are logged on theerrata page.
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