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.
顏淵問仁。子曰：克己復禮為仁。一日克己復禮，天下歸仁焉。為仁由己，而由人乎哉？顏淵曰：請問其目。子曰：非禮勿視，非禮勿聽，非禮勿言，非禮勿動。顏淵曰：回雖不敏，請事斯語矣。Yan Yuan asked about humaneness. The Master said: To restrain oneself and return to ritual is humaneness. If for one day one could restrain oneself and return to ritual, the whole realm would turn to humaneness. Practicing humaneness comes from oneself — how could it come from others? Yan Yuan said: May I ask for the details? The Master said: Look at nothing contrary to ritual; listen to nothing contrary to ritual; say nothing contrary to ritual; do nothing contrary to ritual. Yan Yuan said: Though I am not quick, I will make these words my task.
What this chapter says
一孔按：克己是管住自己的一举一动，让它合乎礼。下文“为仁由己”的“己”就是自己，说成“私欲”讲不通。片里照朱熹讲成战胜私欲；一孔录取旧注“约身”一说。
Yikonglu's reading of this chapter is in Chinese for now; the English version comes with the video.
白Plain Chinese
颜渊问仁，孔子说，约束自身、回到礼就是仁，一旦做到，天下人都会称许你的仁，行仁在自己，难道在别人吗；颜渊请问具体条目，孔子说，不合礼的不看、不听、不说、不做。颜渊说，我虽不聪敏，请让我照这些话去做。
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
- Same question
Asking about humaneness: 8 times in the book. Different people asked, and got different answers:
- 6.20 Fan Chi: The humane put the hard work first and the reward after.
- 12.1 Yan Yuan: To overcome the self and return to ritual is humaneness.
- 12.2 Zhonggong: What you do not want for yourself, do not impose on others.
- 12.3 Sima Niu: The humane are slow to speak.
- 12.22 Fan Chi: Love people.
- 13.19 Fan Chi: Be respectful at home, reverent in your duties, and loyal to others.
- 15.9 Zigong: Serve the worthiest of its high officers; befriend the most humane of its scholars.
- 17.6 Zizhang: Respectfulness, generosity, trustworthiness, diligence, kindness.
- Same line elsewhere
- Analects 12.2 仲弓問仁。子曰：出門如見大賓……
- Other books
- Cited by commentatorsDaodejing 12: Wu Cheng cites Dong Sijing: Confucius's “four do-nots” begin with looking, which matches Laozi's “the five colors blind the eye” and “for the belly, not for the eye.”
- Cited by commentatorsDaodejing 33: Su Zhe explains “one who conquers himself is strong” as “able to overcome the self and restore one's nature” (克己复性), clearly adapting Confucius's “overcome the self and return to ritual” (克己复礼).
- Read alongside (Yikonglu)Daodejing 52: "Block the openings, shut the doors" (塞其兑，闭其门): Laozi shuts the gates of eyes and ears, while Confucius teaches not to look at or listen to what is contrary to ritual.
- People
- Disputed reading
- Yikonglu reads it as “Restraining oneself”. 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 一日克己复礼，天 | “仁者，本心之全德。克，胜也。己，谓身之私欲也。复，反也。礼者，天理之节文也。为仁者，所以全其心之德也。盖心之全德，莫非天理，而亦不能不坏于人欲。故为仁者必有以胜私欲而复于礼，则事皆天理，而本心之德复全于我矣。” | page 156 |
| 一日克己复礼，天 | “归，犹与也。又言一日克己复礼，则天下之人皆与其仁，极言其效之甚速而至大也。又言为仁由己而非他人所能预，又见其机之在我而无难也。日日克之，不以为难，则私欲净尽，天理流行，而仁不可胜用矣。” | page 156 |
| 颜渊曰：回虽不敏 | “目，条件也。颜渊闻夫子之言，则于天理人欲之际，已判然矣，故不复有所疑问，而直请其条目也。非礼者，己之私也。勿者，禁止之辞。是人心之所以为主，而胜私复礼之机也。私胜，则动容周旋无不中礼，而日用之间，莫非天理之流行矣。事，如事事之事。请事斯语，颜子默识其理，又自知其力有以胜之，故直以为己任而不疑也。” | page 156—157 |
| 颜渊曰：回虽不敏 | “颜渊问克己复礼之目，子曰非礼勿视，非礼勿听，非礼勿言，非礼勿动。四者身之用也。由乎中而应乎外，制于外所以养其中也。颜渊事斯语，所以进于圣人。后之学者宜服膺而勿失也，因箴以自警。” | page 157 |
| 颜渊曰：回虽不敏 | “此章问答，乃传授心法切要之言。非至明不能察其几，非至健不能致其决，故惟颜子得闻之，而凡学者亦不可以不勉也。程子之箴，发明亲切，学者尤宜深玩。” | page 158 |
见Cross-references
- 颜渊曰：回虽不敏 Elsewhere in the Analects：仲弓曰：雍虽不敏，请事斯语矣。（《论语》集注分章12.2（底本第 158 页））
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
“顏淵問孔子為仁之道也。”……
Compared with Zhu Xi
| Commentary | Point | Relation | Confidence | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 钱穆《论语新解》 | 己 | differs | fairly sure | 钱以克己为约束己身，不单将己等于私欲；朱以己为身之私欲、克胜私而复天理之节文。礼是为仁功夫之纲均同。 |
| 杨伯峻《论语译注》 | 归仁 | word sense | settled | 杨取称仁并明引朱与仁同义；克己杨译约束自己，朱以胜私欲、复天理节文解释，理论层次不应混同。 |
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