一孔录子曰：君子不器。Tap any sentence of the original to copy it with its source.
常The common reading
君子要什么都会。
注Key words in the commentary
“器者，各适其用而不能相通”；“成德之士，体无不具，故用无不周”。
读How Yikonglu reads it
先德行全了才用得开，不是学一百门手艺；放到今天：会计，大家有事都愿意问她。
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 · Zhibuzu Zhai edition · juan 一
“此章明君子之人不係守一業也。”……
Compared with Zhu Xi
| Commentary | Point | Relation | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| 杨伯峻《论语译注》 | 同旨 | word sense | 均否定一人只限一项器用；杨以知识通达解释，朱以成德之士体具用周解释，理论层次不同。 |
| 钱穆《论语新解》 | same | 器用各限一端，君子不可限于一材一艺；钱用现代专家、通才的关系申说。 |
核Check every citation
Every commentary line quoted in the video: the original wording, who said it, and the page in the base edition. “Paraphrase” marks our summary, not the commentator's words. About this edition
| Quoted text | Source | Page |
|---|---|---|
| “器者，各适其用而不能相通” | Zhu Xi's commentary | page 30 |
| “成德之士，体无不具，故用无不周，非特为一材一艺而已” | Zhu Xi's commentary | page 30 |
页Pages of the base edition
Yikonglu, Analects Wei zheng (Book 2) 2.12 “君子不器”, https://yikonglu.com/en/lunyu/wei-zheng/12.html, version 2026-11-04.Last checked: 2026-11-04. Changes are logged on theerrata page.
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