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：吾嘗終日不食，終夜不寢，以思，無益，不如學也。The Master said: I once went all day without eating and all night without sleeping in order to think. It was of no use. It is better to learn.
What this chapter says
一孔按：我曾整天不吃、整夜不睡地思考，没有收获，不如去学。这是为思而不学的人说的：劳心强求，不如虚心去学。常有人问：孔子说终日不食、终夜不寝地思考“不如学也”，想了一整夜为什么不如去学？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，我曾整天不吃饭、整夜不睡觉，只顾思索，结果没有益处，不如学习。
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 20: Laozi says “cut off learning and you will have no worries” (绝学无忧). Confucius says a whole day spent thinking is not as good as learning.
- Read alongside (Yikonglu)Daodejing 47: Laozi says "Without going out the door, one knows the world" (不出户，知天下). Confucius says thinking without learning is of no use.
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
孔子说终日不食、终夜不寝地思考“不如学也”，想了一整夜为什么不如去学？
注Key words in the commentary
此为思而不学者言之。盖劳心以必求，不如逊志而自得也。
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 |
|---|---|---|
| 子曰：吾尝终日不 | “此为思而不学者言之。盖劳心以必求，不如逊志而自得也。” | page 217 |
| 子曰：吾尝终日不 | “夫子非思而不学者，特垂语以教人尔。” | page 217 |
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
“勸人學也。”……
Compared with Zhu Xi
| Commentary | Point | Relation | Confidence | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 钱穆《论语新解》 | same | fairly sure | 同以废寝食空思无益不如学，非完全禁思。钱从人生群体与古今经验说明须学于人，朱以思而不学者劳心强求说明。 |
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