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.
顏淵問為邦。子曰：行夏之時，乘殷之輅，服周之冕，樂則韶舞。放鄭聲，遠佞人。鄭聲淫，佞人殆。Yan Yuan asked about governing a state. The Master said: Use the calendar of Xia, ride the carriage of Yin, wear the cap of Zhou; for music, the Shao and its dances. Banish the tunes of Zheng and keep away glib talkers. The tunes of Zheng are licentious; glib talkers are dangerous.
What this chapter says
一孔按：颜渊问治国，孔子举夏的历法、殷的车、周的冕、舜的韶乐，又说放郑声、远佞人。四代之制取其中，是立万世常行之道；郑声佞人能使人丧其所守，所以要放远。常有人问“颜渊问治国，孔子为什么先说历法、车子和礼帽”，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
颜渊问怎样治理国家，孔子说，采用夏代的历法、殷代的车制、周代的礼帽，音乐用韶舞；弃掉郑声，远离佞人，因为郑声淫荡，佞人危险。
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)Three Character Classic 27: “Powerful eunuchs ran rampant” (权阉肆): Confucius says governing requires keeping glib flatterers at a distance.
- Cited by commentatorsDaodejing 3: Heshang Gong cites this line to explain “not exalting the worthy,” writing 远美人 (“keep beautiful people at a distance”) for 远佞人 (“keep flatterers at a distance”). One character makes the difference.
- 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
颜渊问治国，孔子为什么先说历法、车子和礼帽？
注Key words in the commentary
颜子王佐之才，故问治天下之道。曰为邦者，谦辞。
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 |
|---|---|---|
| 颜渊问为邦。 | “颜子王佐之才，故问治天下之道。曰为邦者，谦辞。” | page 211 |
| 子曰：行夏之时， | “夏时，谓以斗柄初昏建寅之月为岁首也。天开于子，地辟于丑，人生于寅，故斗柄建此三辰之月，皆可以为岁首。而三代迭用之，夏以寅为人正，商以丑为地正，周以子为天正也。然时以作事，则岁月自当以人为纪。” | page 211 |
| 子曰：行夏之时， | “取其尽善尽美。” | page 211—212 |
| 放郑声，远佞人。 | “放，谓禁绝之。郑声，郑国之音。佞人，卑谄辩给之人。殆，危也。” | page 211—212 |
| 放郑声，远佞人。 | “郑声佞人，能使人丧其所守，故放远之。” | page 212 |
| 郑声淫，佞人殆。 | “商辂，木辂也。辂者，大车之名。周人饰以金玉，则过侈而易败，不若商辂之朴素浑坚，而等威已辨，为质而得其中也。” | page 211—212 |
| 郑声淫，佞人殆。 | “周冕有五，祭服之冠也。其为物小，而加于众体之上，故虽华而不为靡，虽费而不及奢。夫子取之，盖亦以为文而得其中也。” | page 211—212 |
| 郑声淫，佞人殆。 | “问政多矣，惟颜渊告之以此。盖三代之制，皆因时损益，及其久也，不能无弊。周衰，圣人不作，故孔子斟酌先王之礼，立万世常行之道，发此以为之兆尔。” | page 212 |
| 郑声淫，佞人殆。 | “礼乐，治之法也。放郑声，远佞人，法外意也。一日不谨，则法坏矣。” | page 212 |
| 郑声淫，佞人殆。 | “此所谓百王不易之大法。” | page 212 |
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
“云顏淵問為邦者，為猶治也。”……
Compared with Zhu Xi
| Commentary | Point | Relation | Confidence | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 钱穆《论语新解》 | same | fairly sure | 同以夏时殷辂周冕韶舞择礼乐之宜，放郑声远佞因淫殆。钱以为邦重创制兴新，朱因颜子王佐才谓问治天下。 |
Found an error in this chapter? Email us; once checked, it goes on the errata page under your username: 
