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.
子溫而厲，威而不猛，恭而安。The Master was gentle yet stern, commanding yet not fierce, respectful yet at ease.
What this chapter says
一孔按：孔子温和而严肃，威严而不凶猛，恭敬而安详。相反的两样在一个人身上合得恰好，是中和之气见于容貌，弟子只能看出来、学不像。常有人问：“子温而厉，威而不猛，恭而安”，这几个字为什么难做到？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
孔子温和而又严正，有威仪而不凶猛，恭敬而又安详。
Draft plain-Chinese rendering following Zhu Xi; it will be checked when the chapter is covered.
看Watch this chapter
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Connections
- Other books
- Read alongside (Yikonglu)Daodejing 58: "Sharp-edged but not cutting" (廉而不刿): Confucius was "gentle yet stern, awe-inspiring yet not fierce." It is the same "A yet not B" pattern.
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
“子温而厉，威而不猛，恭而安”，这几个字为什么难做到？
注Key words in the commentary
厉，严肃也。人之德性本无不备，而气质所赋，鲜有不偏，惟圣人全体浑然，阴阳合德，故其中和之气见于容貌之间者如此。
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 |
|---|---|---|
| 子温而厉，威而不 | “厉，严肃也。人之德性本无不备，而气质所赋，鲜有不偏，惟圣人全体浑然，阴阳合德，故其中和之气见于容貌之间者如此。” | page 106 |
| 子温而厉，威而不 | “门人熟察而详记之，亦可见其用心之密矣。抑非知足以知圣人而善言德行者不能记，故程子以为曾子之言，学者所宜反复而玩心也。” | page 106 |
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
“明孔子德也。”……
Compared with Zhu Xi
| Commentary | Point | Relation | Confidence | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 钱穆《论语新解》 | same | fairly sure | 同以温和而严、威而不暴、恭而不迫见中和德性形于气貌；钱以此供反省内外交修，朱重圣人阴阳合德与门人熟察。 |
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