一孔录有子曰：礼之用，和为贵。先王之道，斯为美，小大由之。有所不行，知和而和，不以礼节之，亦不可行也。Master You said: In the practice of ritual, harmony is what is prized. That is what made the way of the former kings beautiful, and they followed it in matters great and small. Yet there are cases where it will not do: to know harmony and seek harmony without regulating it by ritual — that will not do either.
常The common reading
Harmony above all; never argue.
注Key words in the commentary
“礼者，天理之节文，人事之仪则也” — ritual is the measured pattern of heavenly principle and the rule of human affairs; “和者，从容不迫之意” — he is composure without strain, not “being agreeable”; Zhu Xi: “严而泰，和而节” — strict yet at ease, harmonious yet measured.
家What other commentators say
Cheng Yi: “礼胜则离，乐胜则流” — too much ritual divides, too much music dissolves; Fan Zuyu: “礼之体主于敬，其用以和为贵” — the substance of ritual is reverence, its use prizes harmony.
读How Yikonglu reads it
Harmony alone, with nothing to regulate it, does not work either. Today: the team where everyone only ever says “looks good”.
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.
| Quoted text | Source | Page |
|---|---|---|
| “礼者，天理之节文，人事之仪则也。和者，从容不迫之意” | Zhu Xi's commentary | page 20 |
| paraphrase盖礼之为体虽严，然皆出于自然之理，故其为用，必从容而不迫，乃为可贵。先王之道，此其所以为美，而小事大事无不由之也 | Zhu Xi's commentary | page 20 |
| “承上文而言……以其徒知和之为贵，而一于和，不复以礼节之……所以流荡忘反，而亦不可行也” | Zhu Xi's commentary | page 21 |
| “礼胜则离……乐胜则流” | Cheng Yi, quoted by Zhu Xi | page 21 |
| “凡礼之体主于敬，而其用则以和为贵” | Fan Zuyu, quoted by Zhu Xi | page 21 |
| paraphrase严而泰，和而节，此理之自然，礼之全体也。毫厘有差，则失其中正，而各倚于一偏，其不可行均矣 | Zhu Xi's own note | page 21 |
页Pages of the base edition
Yikonglu, Analects Xue er (Book 1) 1.12 “In the use of ritual, harmony is prized”, https://yikonglu.com/en/lunyu/xue-er/12.html, version 2026-11-03.Last checked: 2026-11-03. Changes are logged on theerrata page.
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