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.
互鄉難與言，童子見，門人惑。子曰：與其進也，不與其退也，唯何甚！人潔己以進，與其潔也，不保其往也。The people of Huxiang were hard to talk with. A boy from there came to see the Master, and the disciples were puzzled. The Master said: I approve of his coming forward, not of his going back. Why be so severe? When a person purifies himself to come forward, I approve of that purity; I do not vouch for his past.
What this chapter says
一孔按：互乡的人难说话，一个少年来见，孔子接见了，弟子疑惑。孔子说人肯洁身而来，就许他这一回进来，不追究他的过去，也不担保他的将来。常有人问“互乡的童子来见，门人疑惑，孔子见他对不对”，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
互乡这个地方的人难以和他们讲道理，那里有个少年来见孔子，学生们都觉得疑惑。孔子说：我赞许他上进，不赞许他退步，何必做得那么过分？人家把自己洗干净了来求进，就赞许他这份洁净，不必追究他过去如何。
Draft plain-Chinese rendering following Zhu Xi; it will be checked when the chapter is covered.
看Watch this chapter
The video for this chapter is in production and will appear here. Follow Yikonglu to see it first:YouTubeBilibili
Connections
- 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
互乡的童子来见，门人疑惑，孔子见他对不对？
注Key words in the commentary
疑此章有错简，‘人洁’至‘往也’十四字，当在‘与其进也’之前。洁，脩治也。与，许也。往，前日也。
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 |
|---|---|---|
| 人洁己以进，与其 | “疑此章有错简，‘人洁’至‘往也’十四字，当在‘与其进也’之前。洁，脩治也。与，许也。往，前日也。” | page 102 |
| 人洁己以进，与其 | “言人洁己而来，但许其能自洁耳，固不能保其前日所为之善恶也；但许其进而来见耳，非许其既退而为不善也。盖不追其既往，不逆其将来，以是心至，斯受之耳。‘唯’字上下，疑又有阙文，大抵亦不为已甚之意。” | page 102 |
| 人洁己以进，与其 | “圣人待物之洪如此。” | page 102 |
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
“互鄉，鄉名也。”……
Compared with Zhu Xi
| Commentary | Point | Relation | Confidence | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 钱穆《论语新解》 | same | fairly sure | 同以许其洁己求进、不保证已往与退后，不宜拒其向善。朱疑章中错简而调次，钱所用正文次序未照调。 |
Found an error in this chapter? Email us; once checked, it goes on the errata page under your username: 
