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.
季康子患盜，問於孔子。孔子對曰：苟子之不欲，雖賞之不竊。Ji Kangzi was troubled by thieves and asked Confucius. Confucius replied: If you yourself did not covet, they would not steal even if you rewarded them for it.
What this chapter says
一孔按：季康子苦于盗多，孔子说您若不贪，就是奖赏人偷，人也不偷。盗的根在上面的贪欲。常有人问“季康子苦于盗多，孔子为什么说病根在他自己的贪”，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
季康子为盗贼忧虑，问孔子；孔子说，如果你自己不贪求财物，即使奖赏百姓去偷，他们也不会偷。
Draft plain-Chinese rendering following Zhu Xi; it will be checked when the chapter is covered.
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Connections
- Other books
- Cited by commentatorsDaodejing 3: Lü Huiqing, explaining “Do not display what is desirable, so the people's hearts are not disturbed,” cites Confucius's answer to Ji Kangzi: if you yourself were not covetous…
- 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
季康子苦于盗多，孔子为什么说病根在他自己的贪？
注Key words in the commentary
言子不贪欲，则虽赏民使之为盗，民亦知耻而不窃。
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 |
|---|---|---|
| 孔子对曰：苟子之 | “言子不贪欲，则虽赏民使之为盗，民亦知耻而不窃。” | page 166 |
| 孔子对曰：苟子之 | “季氏窃柄，康子夺嫡，民之为盗，固其所也。盍亦反其本耶？孔子以不欲启之，其旨深矣。” | page 167 |
| 孔子对曰：苟子之 | “夺嫡事见春秋传。” | page 167 |
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
“國內多偷盜，故問於孔子求除盜之法也。”……
Compared with Zhu Xi
| Commentary | Point | Relation | Confidence | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 杨伯峻《论语译注》 | same | settled | 康子不贪则民知耻而不盗，赏窃仍不为是极言感化；朱更指窃柄夺嫡，杨译具体贪财。 | |
| 钱穆《论语新解》 | same | fairly sure | 同以在上贪欲启民争夺、为盗须反其本，不欲则民知耻；虽赏不窃是反衬教化作用，不作实际赏盗的政令。 |
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