一孔录子曰：甚矣吾衰也！久矣吾不復夢見周公！What this chapter says
一孔按：梦不见周公，不是心不向道了，是身子做不动、行道之心也随之歇了；守道的心不分老少，行道的身会老。今例：退休老工程师讲图纸眉飞色舞，说一句“工地我是跑不动了”。常有人问“孔子为什么从梦里知道自己老了”，上面是一孔录的回答。
白Plain Chinese
孔子说：我老得太厉害了！已经很久，梦里没再遇见周公。
A plain modern-Chinese rendering following Yikonglu's reading.
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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
孔子为什么从梦里知道自己老了？
注Key words in the commentary
“复”，又、再（这里旧有“扶又反”一句，已公开不改；以后照规矩说“读作某”）。朱注“孔子盛时，志欲行周公之道，故梦寐之间，或如见之。至其老而不能行也，则无复是心，而亦无复是梦矣，故因此而自叹其衰之甚也”。
说What other commentators say
程子“盖存道者心，无老少之异；而行道者身，老则衰也”。
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
“夫聖人行教，既須得德位兼并。”……
Compared with Zhu Xi
| Commentary | Point | Relation | Confidence | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 杨伯峻《论语译注》 | same | fairly sure | 不复梦周公自叹衰老；朱联系老而身不能行周公之道，杨只确定周公为所敬圣人，不增确证梦境年代。 | |
| 钱穆《论语新解》 | same | fairly sure | 同将周公梦与行周公之道的志愿相连、无梦而叹衰；钱强调不是真无意于世，朱引程子亦分存道无老少与行道身老则衰。 |
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 |
|---|---|---|
| “复，扶又反。孔子盛时……自叹其衰之甚也” | Zhu Xi's commentary | page 92 |
| “程子曰：孔子盛时……老则衰也” | Cheng Yi, quoted by Zhu Xi | page 92 |
音Pronunciation
| Character | In the line | Read as |
|---|---|---|
| 甚 | 甚矣 | shèn |
| 复 | 不复梦见、无复是心、无复是梦 | fù |
| 见 | 梦见、如见之 | jiàn |
页Pages of the base edition
Yikonglu, Analects 述而第七 7.5 “甚矣吾衰也”, https://yikonglu.com/en/lunyu/shu-er/5.html, version 2026-11-15.Last checked: 2026-11-15. Changes are logged on theerrata page.
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