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：君子貞而不諒。The Master said: The gentleman is steadfast, but not rigidly bound by small promises.
What this chapter says
一孔按：君子正而固，不拘于小信。谅是不择是非、只求守信；贞是知正而守，所以君子贞而不谅。常有人问：“君子贞而不谅”，守信不好吗，为什么说不谅？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，君子守正坚定，却不拘守不问是非的小信。
Draft plain-Chinese rendering following Zhu Xi; it will be checked when the chapter is covered.
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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
“君子贞而不谅”，守信不好吗，为什么说不谅？
注Key words in the commentary
贞，正而固也。谅，则不择是非，而必于信。
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：君子贞而不 | “贞，正而固也。谅，则不择是非，而必于信。” | page 219 |
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
“君子之人正其道耳，言不必有信也。”……
Compared with Zhu Xi
| Commentary | Point | Relation | Confidence | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 钱穆《论语新解》 | same | fairly sure | 同以贞为正守不变、谅为不择是非必信的小信，君子从义而不固执每言必兑现；不是许其任意背信。 |
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