一孔录子曰：君子不重则不威，学则不固。主忠信。无友不如己者。过则勿惮改。The Master said: If a gentleman lacks weight he will have no dignity, and what he learns will not hold firm. Make loyalty and trustworthiness your mainstay. Have no friend who is not your equal. When you err, do not fear to correct it.
常The common reading
Only befriend people better than yourself (which sounds like social climbing).
注Key words in the commentary
“无、毋通，禁止辞” — wu is a prohibition; “友所以辅仁，不如己，则无益而有损” — friends are for helping one toward ren; one who is not up to you brings no gain and some loss; “惮，畏难也” — dan is to shrink from difficulty.
家What other commentators say
You Zuo strings the four clauses into one line: weight as the base — learning — loyalty and trust — the help of those who surpass you — correcting faults without fear; if you don't correct them, the worthy stop telling you.
读How Yikonglu reads it
Zhu Xi takes the words as they stand and does not talk his way around them. Today: the one person willing to tell you to your face tells you twice; if you don't change, the third time he says nothing.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| “重，厚重。威，威严。固，坚固也。轻乎外者，必不能坚乎内” | Zhu Xi's commentary | page 18 |
| “人不忠信，则事皆无实” | Zhu Xi's commentary | page 18 |
| “不诚则无物” | Cheng Yi, quoted by Zhu Xi | page 18 |
| “无、毋通，禁止辞也。友所以辅仁，不如己，则无益而有损” | Zhu Xi's commentary | page 18 |
| “惮，畏难也。自治不勇，则恶日长” | Zhu Xi's commentary | page 18 |
| “学问之道无他也，知其不善，则速改以从善而已” | Cheng Yi, quoted by Zhu Xi | page 18 |
音Pronunciation
| Character | In the line | Read as |
|---|---|---|
| 重 | 不重则不威 | zhòng |
| 无 | 无友不如己者 | wú |
| 惮 | 勿惮改 | dàn |
页Pages of the base edition
Yikonglu, Analects Xue er (Book 1) 1.8 “A gentleman without weight has no dignity”, https://yikonglu.com/en/lunyu/xue-er/8.html, version 2026-11-03.Last checked: 2026-11-03. Changes are logged on theerrata page.
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