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.
季路問事鬼神。子曰：未能事人，焉能事鬼？敢問死。曰：未知生，焉知死？Jilu asked about serving the spirits. The Master said: You cannot yet serve people; how can you serve spirits? He ventured to ask about death. The Master said: You do not yet understand life; how can you understand death?
What this chapter says
一孔按：子路问事鬼神、问死，孔子说不能事人怎能事鬼，不知生怎知死。不是不答，是答了次序：先把生的事、人的事做好，鬼神与死自然在其中。常有人问：子路问事鬼神、问死，孔子说“未知生，焉知死”，是不肯答还是已经答了？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
子路问怎样奉事鬼神，孔子说，还不能奉事好人，怎么能奉事好鬼神；子路又请问死亡，孔子说，还不知道生的道理，怎么能知道死的道理？
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 50: This chapter of Laozi is entirely about life and death. Confucius says: not yet understanding life, how can one understand death?
- People
- Textual variants
- Base text reads 敢问死; the received text reads 曰敢问死
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
子路问事鬼神、问死，孔子说“未知生，焉知死”，是不肯答还是已经答了？
注Key words in the commentary
问事鬼神，盖求所以奉祭祀之意。而死者人之所必有，不可不知，皆切问也。
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 |
|---|---|---|
| 季路问事鬼神。 | “问事鬼神，盖求所以奉祭祀之意。而死者人之所必有，不可不知，皆切问也。” | page 145 |
| 曰：未知生，焉知 | “然非诚敬足以事人，则必不能事神；非原始而知所以生，则必不能反终而知所以死。盖幽明始终，初无二理，但学之有序，不可躐等，故夫子告之如此。” | page 145 |
| 曰：未知生，焉知 | “所以深告之也。” | page 145 |
| 曰：未知生，焉知 | “昼夜者，死生之道也。知生之道，则知死之道；尽事人之道，则尽事鬼之道。死生人鬼，一而二，二而一者也。或言夫子不告子路，不知此乃所以深告之也。” | page 145 |
异Textual variants
Where the base edition differs from the common text; the original follows the base edition.
| Base edition | Common text | Note |
|---|---|---|
| 敢问死 | 曰敢问死 | 底本PDF144季路问段无敢字前曰；杨本11.12有曰 |
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
“發明三世之義。”……
Compared with Zhu Xi
| Commentary | Point | Relation | Confidence | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 钱穆《论语新解》 | same | fairly sure | 同以事人事鬼、知生知死相通而学习有次第，非孔子否认祭祀或死事；钱强调人鬼一理死生一体，朱说幽明始终初无二理。 |
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