一孔录子曰：述而不作，信而好古，竊比於我老彭。What this chapter says
一孔按：孔子删诗书、定礼乐，自认只是传旧；德越高心越低，说的是真心，不是客套。可当时作者已多，把它们收拢折中，功劳反比创作大。今例：老字号学徒照师傅的老方子一步步做，方子才没断。常有人问：孔子说自己只是“传”，是客气吗？上面是一孔录的回答。
白Plain Chinese
孔子说：我只传述前人的东西而不自己创制，信从古道又喜爱古道，私下拿自己跟我们的老彭相比。
A plain modern-Chinese rendering following Yikonglu's reading.
看Watch this chapter
This chapter is read in Yikonglu episode “述而一”:YouTubeBilibili
Connections
- Other books
- Read alongside (Yikonglu)Three Character Classic 15: The “transmit” (述) in “transmitting the sages' words” (述圣言) is the same 述 as in Confucius's “I transmit and do not create.”
- Cited by commentatorsDaodejing 6: Du Daojian notes that Laozi often says “what the ancients called” or “the established sayings have it.” He is retelling the ancients, just like Confucius's “I transmit and do not create.”
- Read alongside (Yikonglu)Daodejing 14: “Hold to the Way of old to manage what exists now” (执古之道，以御今之有): Confucius too says he is “faithful to antiquity and loves it.”
- People
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
孔子说自己只是“传”，是客气吗？
注Key words in the commentary
“好”读去声。“述，传旧而已。作，则创始也。故作非圣人不能，而述则贤者可及”；“窃比，尊之之辞。我，亲之之辞。老彭，商贤大夫”。
说What other commentators say
朱注“盖其德愈盛而心愈下，不自知其辞之谦也”；“夫子盖集群圣之大成而折衷之。其事虽述，而功则倍于作矣”。
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 四
“此孔子自說也。”……
Compared with Zhu Xi
| Commentary | Point | Relation | Confidence | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 杨伯峻《论语译注》 | 作 | word sense | settled | 杨倾向不知而妄作，不否认孔说有创造；朱训创始而以传旧解释孔子事业。老彭杨存诸说未定，朱作商贤大夫。 |
| 钱穆《论语新解》 | same | fairly sure | 同训述为传旧、作为创始，老彭作商贤一人而非老聃彭祖二人。钱重有德无位故但述，朱重孔子自谦且述功倍于作。 |
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 |
|---|---|---|
| “述，传旧而已……盖信古而传述者也” | Zhu Xi's commentary | page 91 |
| “孔子删诗书……此又不可不知也” | Zhu Xi's commentary | page 91 |
音Pronunciation
| Character | In the line | Read as |
|---|---|---|
| 好 | 信而好古 | hào |
| 窃 | 窃比 | qiè |
页Pages of the base edition
Yikonglu, Analects 述而第七 7.1 “述而不作”, https://yikonglu.com/en/lunyu/shu-er/1.html, version 2026-11-15.Last checked: 2026-11-15. Changes are logged on theerrata page.
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