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：先進於禮樂，野人也；後進於禮樂，君子也。如用之，則吾從先進。The Master said: Those who first advanced in ritual and music were country folk; those who later advanced in ritual and music were gentlemen. If I were to use them, I would follow those who came first.
What this chapter says
一孔按：孔子说前辈对礼乐，后人看来是野人；后辈对礼乐，看来是君子。要用的话，我跟从前辈。文过其质是后辈的毛病，孔子宁取质朴。常有人问：孔子说“先进于礼乐，野人也”，为什么偏要跟从“野人”？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，前辈学习礼乐，被人看作乡野之人；后辈学习礼乐，被人看作有文采的君子。如果要采用礼乐，我选择前辈的做法。
Draft plain-Chinese rendering following Zhu Xi; it will be checked when the chapter is covered.
看Watch this chapter
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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
孔子说“先进于礼乐，野人也”，为什么偏要跟从“野人”？
注Key words in the commentary
先进后进，犹言前辈后辈。野人，谓郊外之民。君子，谓贤士大夫也。
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：先进于礼乐 | “先进后进，犹言前辈后辈。野人，谓郊外之民。君子，谓贤士大夫也。” | page 141 |
| 子曰：先进于礼乐 | “用之，谓用礼乐。孔子既述时人之言，又自言其如此，盖欲损过以就中也。” | page 141 |
| 如用之，则吾从先 | “不自知其过于文也。” | page 141 |
| 如用之，则吾从先 | “先进于礼乐，文质得宜，今反谓之质朴，而以为野人。后进之于礼乐，文过其质，今反谓之彬彬，而以为君子。盖周末文胜，故时人之言如此，不自知其过于文也。” | page 141 |
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 六
“先進者，先進受業者也。”……
Compared with Zhu Xi
| Commentary | Point | Relation | Confidence | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 杨伯峻《论语译注》 | differs | settled | 杨取先学礼乐后仕的平民与先仕后学的贵族子弟，朱取前辈后辈及文质得中、文过其质，不是同一年代或阶层解释。 | |
| 钱穆《论语新解》 | same | fairly sure | 同将先进后进作前辈后辈，前者质实后者文胜；钱专指孔门先后两批弟子，朱不专限定门人而以时人误评文质解释野人与君子。 |
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