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：大哉！堯之為君也。巍巍乎！唯天為大，唯堯則之。蕩蕩乎！民無能名焉。巍巍乎！其有成功也。煥乎！其有文章。The Master said: Great indeed was Yao as a ruler! How lofty! Only Heaven is great, and only Yao modeled himself on it. How vast! The people could find no name for it. How lofty were his achievements! How brilliant his culture!
What this chapter says
一孔按：尧的德与天一样大，广远到百姓说不出名目；能看见的，是他成就的事业和制定的礼乐文章。常有人问：孔子说尧“荡荡乎，民无能名焉”，百姓说不出的是什么？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：尧作为君主，真是伟大！崇高啊！只有天最大，只有尧能效法天。广阔啊！百姓找不出词句来称道他。崇高啊！他成就的功业。光辉啊！他制定的礼乐典章。
Draft plain-Chinese rendering following Zhu Xi; it will be checked when the chapter is covered.
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Connections
- Other books
- Cited by commentatorsThree Character Classic 19: Wang Xiang explains Yao with this very line in which Confucius praises Yao.
- SourceMencius: Mencius, Teng Wen Gong I, chapter 4: Confucius said, “Great indeed was Yao as a ruler!” (孔子曰：大哉，堯之為君！)
- SourceMencius: Mencius, Teng Wen Gong I, chapter 4: “Only Heaven is great, and only Yao modeled himself on it.” (惟天為大，惟堯則之。)
- SourceMencius: Mencius, Teng Wen Gong I, chapter 4: “So vast! The people could find no name for it!” (蕩蕩乎，民無能名焉！)
- Read alongside (Yikonglu)Daodejing 25: Laozi says “Heaven is great, Earth is great, and the king too is great.” Confucius praises Yao: “Only Heaven is great, and only Yao modeled himself on it.”
- Read alongside (Yikonglu)Daodejing 34: "Achievement accomplished without claiming the name" (功成不名有): Confucius praises Yao, and the people could not say what was good about him.
- 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
孔子说尧“荡荡乎，民无能名焉”，百姓说不出的是什么？
注Key words in the commentary
唯，犹独也。则，犹准也。荡荡，广远之称也。言物之高大，莫有过于天者，而独尧之德能与之准。
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 |
|---|---|---|
| 唯天为大，唯尧则 | “唯，犹独也。则，犹准也。荡荡，广远之称也。言物之高大，莫有过于天者，而独尧之德能与之准。故其德之广远，亦如天之不可以言语形容也。成功，事业也。焕，光明之貌。文章，礼乐法度也。尧之德不可名，其可见者此尔。” | page 114—115 |
| 其有文章。 | “天道之大，无为而成。唯尧则之以治天下，故民无得而名焉。所可名者，其功业文章，巍然焕然而已。” | page 115 |
见Cross-references
- 尧之为君也。 Other sources：孔子曰：大哉，堯之為君！（《孟子·滕文公上第四章》，四部备要《四书集注·孟子》PDF第132页；对照《论语集注》PDF第114页。本条对应尧之为君；不把孟子省引等同逐字全文。）
- 唯天为大，唯尧则 Other sources：惟天為大，惟堯則之。（《孟子·滕文公上第四章》，四部备要《四书集注·孟子》PDF第132页；对照《论语集注》PDF第114页。《孟子》惟、《论语》唯，保留原书字。）
- 民无能名焉。 Other sources：蕩蕩乎，民無能名焉！（《孟子·滕文公上第四章》，四部备要《四书集注·孟子》PDF第132页；对照《论语集注》PDF第114页。本条对应民无能名焉；未把本章全部句号挂在一个句号上。）
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
“此美堯也。”……
Compared with Zhu Xi
| Commentary | Point | Relation | Confidence | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 杨伯峻《论语译注》 | same | settled | 则为效法天，成功为事业、文章为礼乐法度；朱区分不可名之德与可见功文，杨以恩惠广博译荡荡。 | |
| 钱穆《论语新解》 | same | fairly sure | 同训则为准，谓尧德与天相准而广大难名；成功为事业、文章为礼乐法度。钱不主取则为直接效法天的另一解。 |
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