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.
子不語：怪、力、亂、神。The Master did not speak of the strange, of force, of disorder, or of spirits.
What this chapter says
一孔按：怪、力、乱、神，孔子不谈。前三样不合正理，鬼神虽不是不正，却难说清，所以不轻易拿来跟人讲。不是不信，是不拿它做教。常有人问：“子不语怪力乱神”，孔子是不信，还是不说？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
孔子不谈论怪异、勇力、悖乱、鬼神。
Draft plain-Chinese rendering following Zhu Xi; it will be checked when the chapter is covered.
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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
“子不语怪力乱神”，孔子是不信，还是不说？
注Key words in the commentary
怪异、勇力、悖乱之事，非理之正，固圣人所不语。鬼神，造化之迹，虽非不正，然非穷理之至，有未易明者，故亦不轻以语人也。
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 |
|---|---|---|
| 子不语：怪、力、 | “怪异、勇力、悖乱之事，非理之正，固圣人所不语。鬼神，造化之迹，虽非不正，然非穷理之至，有未易明者，故亦不轻以语人也。” | page 99 |
| 子不语：怪、力、 | “圣人语常而不语怪，语德而不语力，语治而不语乱，语人而不语神。” | page 99 |
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
“子不語怪力亂神，或無益於教化，或所不忍言也。”……
Compared with Zhu Xi
| Commentary | Point | Relation | Confidence | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 钱穆《论语新解》 | differs | fairly sure | 怪力乱三类皆不常语，鬼神之界略异：钱称怪神生于惑；朱认鬼神是造化之迹本非不正，只是不易明故不轻语。 |
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