一孔录子夏曰：贤贤易色，事父母能竭其力，事君能致其身，与朋友交言而有信。虽曰未学，吾必谓之学矣。Zixia said: One who honours the worthy in place of beauty, serves his parents with all his strength, serves his ruler with his whole person, and keeps his word with friends — though people say he has not studied, I would certainly say he has.
常The common reading
Several readings circulate online: valuing virtue over looks; choosing a wife for her virtue.
注Key words in the commentary
“贤人之贤，而易其好色之心，好善有诚也” — to prize a worthy person's worth and exchange one's fondness for beauty for it, is to love goodness sincerely; “致，犹委也……不有其身” — zhi means to hand over, to no longer keep one's person for oneself.
家What other commentators say
Yang Bojun reads the first clause as the husband-wife relation, completing a set of four; Wu Yu criticises Zixia: “其流之弊，将或至于废学” — pushed too far, this leads to abandoning study.
读How Yikonglu reads it
Someone who never studied but does all this — Zixia says he has studied. Today: the elders who had only a few years of schooling.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| “子夏，孔子弟子，姓卜，名商” | Zhu Xi's commentary | page 17 |
| “贤人之贤，而易其好色之心，好善有诚也” | Zhu Xi's commentary | page 17 |
| paraphrase对妻子重品德、不重容貌 | Yang Bojun, Lunyu yizhu | 电子转录本印页 5—6 |
| “致，犹委也。委致其身，谓不有其身也” | Zhu Xi's commentary | page 17 |
| paraphrase四者皆人伦之大者……学求如是而已；苟非生质之美，必其务学之至；虽或以为未尝为学，我必谓之已学也 | Zhu Xi's commentary | page 17 |
| “三代之学，皆所以明人伦也” | You Zuo, quoted by Zhu Xi | page 17 |
| “子夏之言，其意善矣。然辞气之间，抑扬太过，其流之弊，将或至于废学。必若上章夫子之言，然后为无弊也” | Wu Yu, quoted by Zhu Xi | page 18 |
音Pronunciation
| Character | In the line | Read as |
|---|---|---|
| 易 | 贤贤易色 | yì |
页Pages of the base edition
Yikonglu, Analects Xue er (Book 1) 1.7 “Honouring the worthy over good looks”, https://yikonglu.com/en/lunyu/xue-er/7.html, version 2026-11-03.Last checked: 2026-11-03. Changes are logged on theerrata page.
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