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：恭而無禮則勞，慎而無禮則葸，勇而無禮則亂，直而無禮則絞。君子篤於親，則民興於仁；故舊不遺，則民不偷。The Master said: Respect without ritual becomes toil; caution without ritual becomes timidity; courage without ritual becomes disorder; straightness without ritual becomes harshness. When the gentleman is devoted to his kin, the people rise to humaneness; when old friends are not forgotten, the people are not cold.
What this chapter says
一孔按：恭、慎、勇、直本是好品性，没有礼来节制，就变成劳累、畏缩、作乱、尖刻。礼不是束缚好品性，是给它分寸。常有人问：“恭而无礼则劳，慎而无礼则葸”，好品性为什么会出毛病？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：只讲恭敬而不以礼节制，就劳苦不堪；只讲谨慎而不以礼节制，就畏缩怯懦；只讲勇敢而不以礼节制，就会闯祸作乱；只讲直率而不以礼节制，就尖刻逼人。在上位的人厚待亲族，百姓就会兴起仁风；不丢下故交旧人，百姓的风气就不会淡薄。
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: "Straight but not overbearing" (直而不肆): straightness needs measure. Confucius says straightness without ritual wounds others.
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
“恭而无礼则劳，慎而无礼则葸”，好品性为什么会出毛病？
注Key words in the commentary
葸，畏惧貌。绞，急切也。无礼则无节文，故有四者之弊。
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：恭而无礼则 | “葸，畏惧貌。绞，急切也。无礼则无节文，故有四者之弊。” | page 107 |
| 君子笃于亲，则民 | “君子，谓在上之人也。兴，起也。偷，薄也。” | page 107 |
| 君子笃于亲，则民 | “人道知所先后，则恭不劳、慎不葸、勇不乱、直不绞，民化而德厚矣。” | page 107 |
| 君子笃于亲，则民 | “此一节与上文不相蒙，而与首篇慎终追远之意相类，吴说近是。” | page 107 |
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
“此章明行事悉須禮以為節也。”……
Compared with Zhu Xi
| Commentary | Point | Relation | Confidence | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 杨伯峻《论语译注》 | 礼 | word sense | settled | 杨注重礼之本质，朱以有节文免四弊；偷均薄。朱认为君子笃亲以下宜另章，杨保留合章。 |
| 钱穆《论语新解》 | same | fairly sure | 同以礼为恭慎勇直的节文，无节则各成劳葸乱绞；君子皆指在上者。钱不从后半改曾子之语，朱兼列吴氏拆章归曾子之疑说。 |
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