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.
司馬牛問君子。子曰：君子不憂不懼。曰：不憂不懼，斯謂之君子已乎？子曰：內省不疚，夫何憂何懼？Sima Niu asked about the gentleman. The Master said: The gentleman neither worries nor fears. He said: Neither worrying nor fearing — is that all it takes to be called a gentleman? The Master said: If one looks within and finds nothing amiss, what is there to worry about or fear?
What this chapter says
一孔按：司马牛问君子，孔子说君子不忧不惧。内省不疚，有什么可忧可惧。专挑忧惧说，因为他哥哥向魋作乱，他常忧惧。常有人问：司马牛问君子，孔子为什么专挑“不忧不惧”来说？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
司马牛问君子，孔子说，君子不忧不惧；司马牛问，不忧不惧就算君子了吗，孔子说，反省自己没有愧疚，又有什么可忧可惧的？
Draft plain-Chinese rendering following Zhu Xi; it will be checked when the chapter is covered.
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Connections
- Same question
Asking about the gentleman: 3 times in the book. Different people asked, and got different answers:
- 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
司马牛问君子，孔子为什么专挑“不忧不惧”来说？
注Key words in the commentary
向魋作乱，牛常忧惧，故夫子告之以此。
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 |
|---|---|---|
| 子曰：内省不疚， | “向魋作乱，牛常忧惧，故夫子告之以此。” | page 159—160 |
| 子曰：内省不疚， | “牛之再问，犹前章之意，故复告之以此。疚，病也。言由其平日所为无愧于心，故能内省不疚，而自无忧惧，未可遽以为易而忽之也。” | page 159—160 |
| 子曰：内省不疚， | “不忧不惧，由乎德全而无疵。故无入而不自得，非实有忧惧而强排遣之也。” | page 160 |
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
“牛兄桓魋將為亂，牛自宋來學，常憂懼，故孔子解之。”……
Compared with Zhu Xi
| Commentary | Point | Relation | Confidence | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 杨伯峻《论语译注》 | same | settled | 无忧惧出于内省无愧，非强压恐惧；朱系向魋作乱背景，杨译未据此另定真实兄弟关系。 | |
| 钱穆《论语新解》 | same | fairly sure | 同以不忧惧来自内省无愧，不是强求没有情绪便名君子；司马牛忧兄乱，孔子引其求在己而非以安危占验。 |
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