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.
季康子問政於孔子。孔子對曰：政者，正也。子帥以正，孰敢不正？Ji Kangzi asked Confucius about government. Confucius replied: To govern is to be correct. If you lead by being correct, who will dare not be correct?
What this chapter says
一孔按：季康子问政，孔子说政就是正，您带头正，谁敢不正。为政先正自己。常有人问：季康子问政，孔子说“政者正也”，为什么从正自己说起？上面是一孔录的回答。
Yikonglu's reading of this chapter is in Chinese for now; the English version comes with the video.
白Plain Chinese
季康子问政，孔子说，政就是正，你以正道带头，谁敢不正呢？
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 government: 10 times in the book. Different people asked, and got different answers:
- 12.7 Zigong: Enough food, enough arms, and the trust of the people.
- 12.11 Duke Jing of Qi: Let the ruler be a ruler, the minister a minister, the father a father, the son a son.
- 12.14 Zizhang: Keep it in mind without weariness; carry it out with loyalty.
- 12.17 Ji Kangzi: To govern is to set right.
- 12.19 Ji Kangzi: You govern; what need is there for killing?
- 13.1 Zilu: Go before them; toil for them.
- 13.2 Zhonggong: Put your officers to work first, pardon small faults, promote the worthy and able.
- 13.16 the Duke of She: Those near are pleased, and those far away come.
- 13.17 Zixia: Do not seek speed; do not look to small gains.
- 20.2 Zizhang: Honor the five excellences; banish the four evils.
- Same line elsewhere
- Analects 12.19 季康子問政於孔子曰：如殺無道……
- Other books
- Read alongside (Yikonglu)Daodejing 37: The excavated manuscripts read "Heaven and earth will right themselves" (天地将自正). Confucius says, "If you lead with rectitude, who will dare not be upright?"
- Read alongside (Yikonglu)Daodejing 75: "The people are hard to govern because those above meddle" (民之难治，以其上之有为). Confucius says that if those above are upright, those below will not dare to be otherwise.
- People
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.
常The common reading
季康子问政，孔子说“政者正也”，为什么从正自己说起？
注Key words in the commentary
未有己不正而能正人者。
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 |
|---|---|---|
| 子帅以正，孰敢不 | “未有己不正而能正人者。” | page 166 |
| 子帅以正，孰敢不 | “鲁自中叶，政由大夫，家臣效尤，据邑背叛，不正甚矣。故孔子以是告之，欲康子以正自克，而改三家之故。惜乎康子之溺于利欲而不能也。” | page 166 |
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
“季康子，魯上卿，諸臣之帥也。”……
Compared with Zhu Xi
| Commentary | Point | Relation | Confidence | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 杨伯峻《论语译注》 | same | settled | 政者正，居上正己而民正；朱联系三家窃政背景，杨直译带头端正，非仅靠正字词源作制度结论。 | |
| 钱穆《论语新解》 | same | fairly sure | 同以政者正、在上以身率先为本，下有不正须先反求己；钱明以正道非偏邪解释，不专解为刑令纠正别人。 |
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