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.
或曰：以德報怨，何如？子曰：何以報德？以直報怨，以德報德。Someone said: What about repaying injury with kindness? The Master said: Then with what would you repay kindness? Repay injury with uprightness, and repay kindness with kindness.
What this chapter says
一孔按：“直”是公道。该怎么对他就怎么对他，不因怨加重，也不因怨讨好。不是以牙还牙。
Yikonglu's reading of this chapter is in Chinese for now; the English version comes with the video.
白Plain Chinese
有人问，用恩惠回报怨恨怎样，孔子说，那拿什么回报恩惠；应以公正回报怨恨，用恩惠回报恩惠。
Draft plain-Chinese rendering following Zhu Xi; it will be checked when the chapter is covered.
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Connections
- Other books
- Read alongside (Yikonglu)Daodejing 49: "Those who are not good, I also treat with goodness" (不善者吾亦善之). Confucius instead advocates "repay resentment with uprightness."
- SourceDaodejing 63: In the Analects, someone puts "repay resentment with virtue" (报怨以德) to Confucius, who answers "repay resentment with uprightness." Zhu Xi notes: "What this person cites…"
- Read alongside (Yikonglu)Daodejing 79: "Reconcile a great resentment, and some resentment surely remains" (和大怨，必有余怨). Confucius advocates "repay resentment with uprightness, and virtue with virtue."
- People
- Disputed reading
- Yikonglu reads it as “A”. See our note
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.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| 或曰：以德报怨， | “或人所称，今见老子书。德，谓恩惠也。” | page 200 |
| 或曰：以德报怨， | “言于其所怨，既以德报之矣，则人之有德于我者，又将何以报之乎？” | page 200 |
| 以直报怨，以德报 | “于其所怨者，爱憎取舍，一以至公而无私，所谓直也。于其所德者，则必以德报之，不可忘也。” | page 200—201 |
| 以直报怨，以德报 | “或人之言，可谓厚矣。然以圣人之言观之，则见其出于有意之私，而怨德之报，皆不得其平也。必如夫子之言，然后二者之报，各得其所。然怨有不雠，而德无不报，则又未尝不厚也。” | page 200—201 |
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 七
“云或曰者，或人問孔子曰，彼與世有怨，而此人欲行德以報彼怨，其事理何如也。”……
Compared with Zhu Xi
| Commentary | Point | Relation | Confidence | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 钱穆《论语新解》 | same | fairly sure | 同以德为恩惠、直为公正无私的取舍而报怨，不是以怨报怨。钱不认必先引老子书，朱只说此语今见老子，并未坐实当时引书。 |
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