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.
子曰：仁遠乎哉？我欲仁，斯仁至矣。The Master said: Is humaneness far away? I wish for humaneness, and here humaneness is.
What this chapter says
一孔按：仁远吗？我想要仁，仁就到了。仁是心里的德，不在外面；放着不求才觉得远，回头一求就在。常有人问：“我欲仁，斯仁至矣”，仁真有这么近吗？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
孔子说：仁离我们很远吗？我想要仁，仁就来了。
Draft plain-Chinese rendering following Zhu Xi; it will be checked when the chapter is covered.
看Watch this chapter
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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
“我欲仁，斯仁至矣”，仁真有这么近吗？
注Key words in the commentary
仁者，心之德，非在外也。放而不求，故有以为远者；反而求之，则即此而在矣，夫岂远哉？
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 |
|---|---|---|
| 子曰：仁远乎哉？ | “仁者，心之德，非在外也。放而不求，故有以为远者；反而求之，则即此而在矣，夫岂远哉？” | page 103 |
| 我欲仁，斯仁至矣 | “为仁由己，欲之则至，何远之有？” | page 103 |
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
“世人言仁道遠也，言其不遠也。”……
Compared with Zhu Xi
| Commentary | Point | Relation | Confidence | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 钱穆《论语新解》 | same | fairly sure | 同以仁在自心、反求即至而非外在遥远。钱特分仁心易求与成德成道难达，避免把欲仁即至等于已全德。 |
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