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.
衛靈公問陳於孔子。孔子對曰：俎豆之事，則嘗聞之矣；軍旅之事，未之學也。明日遂行。在陳絕糧，從者病，莫能興。子路慍見曰：君子亦有窮乎？子曰：君子固窮，小人窮斯濫矣。Duke Ling of Wei asked Confucius about military formations. Confucius replied: Matters of sacrificial vessels I have heard about; military matters I have never studied. The next day he left. In Chen, their provisions ran out; his followers fell ill and could not rise. Zilu came to him, indignant: Does the gentleman, too, end up in straits? The Master said: The gentleman holds firm in straits; the petty man in straits loses all restraint.
What this chapter says
一孔按：君子本来也有穷困的时候，只是穷了不乱来。朱熹另引程子“固守其穷”，说也讲得通。
Yikonglu's reading of this chapter is in Chinese for now; the English version comes with the video.
白Plain Chinese
卫灵公问军阵，孔子说，祭礼的事我听过，军旅的事没学过，第二天便离开；在陈国断粮，随从饥病得起不来，子路愠怒地问，君子也会穷困吗？孔子说，君子困穷仍能固守，小人困穷便胡作非为了。
Draft plain-Chinese rendering following Zhu Xi; it will be checked when the chapter is covered.
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Connections
- Other books
- Read alongside (Yikonglu)Daodejing 31: Duke Ling of Wei asked about battle formations. Confucius said he had never studied them, and left the next day.
- Read alongside (Yikonglu)Daodejing 69: "Military strategists have a saying" (用兵有言), yet Confucius said he had never studied military matters.
- People
- 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 孔子对曰：俎豆之 | “陈，谓军师行伍之列。俎豆，礼器。” | page 207 |
| 在陈绝粮，从者病 | “孔子去卫适陈。兴，起也。” | page 207 |
| 子路愠见曰：君子 | “圣人当行而行，无所顾虑；处困而亨，无所怨悔。于此可见，学者宜深味之。” | page 207 |
| 子曰：君子固穷， | “卫灵公，无道之君也，复有志于战伐之事，故答以未学而去之。” | page 207 |
| 子曰：君子固穷， | “滥，溢也。言君子固有穷时，不若小人穷则放溢为非。” | page 207 |
| 子曰：君子固穷， | “固穷者，固守其穷。” | page 207 |
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 八
“云衞靈公云云者，靈公不慕勝業，唯知問於軍陣之事。”……
Compared with Zhu Xi
| Commentary | Point | Relation | Confidence | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 杨伯峻《论语译注》 | same | settled | 杨15.1：同解：陈为军阵、俎豆借指礼仪，答未学军旅而去；朱连在陈绝粮合章，杨另立章，不能据并章强排紧接次日赴陈；杨15.2：同解：固穷为处困守定，濫为放逸无不为，非君子本来注定穷；朱与问阵合章，杨另分。 | |
| 钱穆《论语新解》 | same | fairly sure | 同以陈为军阵、俎豆为礼器，答未学而离卫；陈绝粮时君子固穷仍守道、小人穷则滥，不是君子必无窘境。 |
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