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.
曾子有疾，孟敬子問之。曾子言曰：鳥之將死，其鳴也哀；人之將死，其言也善。君子所貴乎道者三：動容貌，斯遠暴慢矣；正顏色，斯近信矣；出辭氣，斯遠鄙倍矣。籩豆之事，則有司存。Zengzi was ill and Meng Jingzi came to ask after him. Zengzi said: When a bird is about to die, its cry is mournful; when a man is about to die, his words are good. There are three things in the Way that a gentleman values: in his bearing, he keeps far from violence and insolence; in setting his countenance, he comes near to good faith; in his words and tone, he keeps far from vulgarity and impropriety. As for the matters of ritual vessels, there are officers for that.
What this chapter says
一孔按：曾子临终告诉孟敬子，君子看重的是三件：容貌远暴慢、颜色近诚信、言辞远鄙倍。礼器之类有专人管，修身才是在上者自己的事。常有人问“曾子临终对孟敬子说君子所贵乎道者三，为什么挑这三件”，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
曾子病重，孟敬子来探问。曾子开口说：鸟快死时，叫声凄哀；人快死时，说的话也良善。君子看重的修身之道有三条：举止容貌端庄，就能远离粗暴与怠慢；神色端正，就近于诚实可信；说话注意言辞语气，就能远离鄙陋与悖理。至于祭器陈设那些细务，自有专管的小吏。
Draft plain-Chinese rendering following Zhu Xi; it will be checked when the chapter is covered.
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Connections
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
曾子临终对孟敬子说君子所贵乎道者三，为什么挑这三件？
注Key words in the commentary
孟敬子，鲁大夫仲孙氏，名捷。问之者，问其疾也。
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 |
|---|---|---|
| 曾子有疾，孟敬子 | “孟敬子，鲁大夫仲孙氏，名捷。问之者，问其疾也。” | page 108 |
| 曾子言曰：鸟之将 | “言，自言也。鸟畏死，故鸣哀。人穷反本，故言善。此曾子之谦辞，欲敬子知其所言之善而识之也。” | page 108 |
| 君子所贵乎道者三 | “贵，犹重也。容貌，举一身而言。暴，粗厉也。慢，放肆也。信，实也。正颜色而近信，则非色庄也。辞，言语。气，声气也。鄙，凡陋也。倍，与背同，谓背理也。笾，竹豆。豆，木豆。” | page 109 |
| 笾豆之事，则有司 | “言道虽无所不在，然君子所重者，在此三事而已。是皆修身之要、为政之本，学者所当操存省察，而不可有造次颠沛之违者也。若夫笾豆之事，器数之末，道之全体固无不该，然其分则有司之守，而非君子之所重矣。” | page 109 |
| 笾豆之事，则有司 | “动容貌，举一身而言也。周旋中礼，暴慢斯远矣。正颜色则不妄，斯近信矣。出辞气，正由中出，斯远鄙倍。三者正身而不外求，故曰笾豆之事则有司存。” | page 109 |
| 笾豆之事，则有司 | “养于中则见于外，曾子盖以修己为为政之本。若乃器用事物之细，则有司存焉。” | page 109 |
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
“云曾子有疾孟敬子問疾者，孟敬子，魯大夫仲孫捷也。”……
Compared with Zhu Xi
| Commentary | Point | Relation | Confidence | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 杨伯峻《论语译注》 | same | settled | 容貌、颜色、辞气三项重在诚敬，笾豆细节有司掌之；朱训暴粗厉、慢放肆，杨慢释懈怠不敬。 | |
| 钱穆《论语新解》 | same | fairly sure | 同以问为问疾、孟敬子为仲孙捷，曾子欲其识善言；钱辨言曰并非不顾问者而自言，朱释言为自言而作临终谦辞。 |
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