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：民可使由之，不可使知之。The Master said: The people can be made to follow it, but cannot be made to understand it.
What this chapter says
一孔按：“不可”是做不到，不是不许。百姓能照着做，却没法人人都懂其中道理。程子说：若说圣人不让百姓知道，那是后世的权术。
Yikonglu's reading of this chapter is in Chinese for now; the English version comes with the video.
白Plain Chinese
孔子说：对百姓，可以让他们照着正理去做，却很难让每个人都明白其中的所以然。
Draft plain-Chinese rendering following Zhu Xi; it will be checked when the chapter is covered.
看Watch this chapter
The video for this chapter is in production and will appear here. Follow Yikonglu to see it first:YouTubeBilibili
Connections
- Other books
- Read alongside (Yikonglu)Daodejing 65: "Not to enlighten the people but to keep them simple" (非以明民，将以愚之): the two lines are often compared, and both depend on how the old commentaries read them.
- Disputed reading
- Yikonglu reads it as “A”. See our note
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.
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：民可使由之 | “民可使之由于是理之当然，而不能使之知其所以然也。” | page 111 |
| 子曰：民可使由之 | “岂圣人之心乎。” | page 111—112 |
| 子曰：民可使由之 | “圣人设教，非不欲人家喻而户晓也，然不能使之知，但能使之由之尔。若曰圣人不使民知，则是后世朝四暮三之术也，岂圣人之心乎？” | page 111—112 |
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
“此明天道深遠，非人道所知也。”……
Compared with Zhu Xi
| Commentary | Point | Relation | Confidence | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 杨伯峻《论语译注》 | 知 | word sense | settled | 杨直译可以使民遵行、不可以使知其所以，不采民指弟子等改读；朱强调是不能皆知而非不欲其知，语用取向有别。 |
| 钱穆《论语新解》 | same | fairly sure | 同读为民可由理之当然、未必能知所以然，不是统治者故意禁知；钱把不可联系智力及教化次第，朱引程子明确斥愚民术。 |
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