一孔录子游曰：事君数，斯辱矣；朋友数，斯疏矣。Ziyou said: In serving a ruler, importunity brings disgrace; among friends, importunity brings distance.
Tap any sentence of the original to copy it with its source.
白Plain Chinese
子游说：侍奉君主过于烦琐，就会招致羞辱；对待朋友过于烦琐，就会被疏远。
A plain modern-Chinese rendering following Yikonglu's reading.
常The common reading
Read as “don't keep bothering your boss or friends”, or reading shu (数) as “to scold”.
注Key words in the commentary
Shuo (数) read shuò, frequent. Zhu Xi cites the Cheng brothers: “数，烦数也” — shuo means tiresome frequency; and Hu Yin: “事君谏不行，则当去；导友善不纳，则当止” — when remonstrance with a ruler is not acted on, one should leave; when guiding a friend to good is not accepted, one should stop.
家What other commentators say
Fan Zuyu: “君臣朋友，皆以义合，故其事同也” — ruler and minister, friend and friend, are all joined by rightness, so the matter is the same. These are Ziyou's words.
读How Yikonglu reads it
Persuasion has limits. When it does not get through, stop (with a ruler, leave); urging too often only pushes people away.
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
“斯，此也。”……
Compared with Zhu Xi
| Commentary | Point | Relation | Confidence | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 杨伯峻《论语译注》 | 数 | word sense | settled | 杨释屡屡而意译烦琐，朱训烦数；均指事君交友反复强谏造成辱疏，非劝不尽忠告之责。 |
| 钱穆《论语新解》 | same | fairly sure | 同读数为烦数逼促，谏君导友过烦则反招辱疏；钱并存数说之读而不取，朱所引胡氏强调不纳则应去应止。 |
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 |
|---|---|---|
| “数，烦数也” | Cheng Yi, quoted by Zhu Xi | page 59 |
| “事君谏不行，则当去；导友善不纳，则当止。至于烦渎，则言者轻，听者厌矣。是以求荣而反辱，求亲而反疏也” | 朱注引胡氏 | page 59 |
| “君臣朋友，皆以义合，故其事同也” | Fan Zuyu, quoted by Zhu Xi | page 59 |
音Pronunciation
| Character | In the line | Read as |
|---|---|---|
| 数 | 事君数、朋友数、烦数 | shuò |
页Pages of the base edition
Yikonglu, Analects Li ren (Book 4) 4.26 “Importune a ruler and you meet disgrace; importune a friend and you grow distant”, https://yikonglu.com/en/lunyu/li-ren/26.html, version 2026-11-05.Last checked: 2026-11-05. Changes are logged on theerrata page.
Found an error in this chapter? Email us; once checked, it goes on the errata page under your username: 
