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.
司馬牛憂曰：人皆有兄弟，我獨亡。子夏曰：商聞之矣：死生有命，富貴在天。君子敬而無失，與人恭而有禮。四海之內，皆兄弟也。君子何患乎無兄弟也？Sima Niu said sorrowfully: Everyone has brothers; I alone have none. Zixia said: I have heard this: life and death are a matter of fate; wealth and rank rest with Heaven. If a gentleman is reverent and makes no mistakes, respectful to others and observant of ritual, then all within the four seas are his brothers. Why should a gentleman worry about having no brothers?
What this chapter says
一孔按：司马牛忧兄弟将死于乱，说人皆有兄弟我独无。子夏说死生有命，君子敬而无失、恭而有礼，四海之内皆兄弟。不是安慰他多了兄弟，是告诉他守在自己这边的事。常有人问：司马牛说“人皆有兄弟，我独亡”，他明明有兄弟，为什么说没有？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
司马牛忧愁地说，别人都有兄弟，只有我没有；子夏说，我听说，死生有命、富贵在天，君子自己敬谨而不失，与人相处恭敬有礼，四海之内都可像兄弟，何必忧虑没有兄弟呢？
Draft plain-Chinese rendering following Zhu Xi; it will be checked when the chapter is covered.
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Connections
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
司马牛说“人皆有兄弟，我独亡”，他明明有兄弟，为什么说没有？
注Key words in the commentary
牛有兄弟而云然者，忧其为乱而将死也。
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 |
|---|---|---|
| 司马牛忧曰：人皆 | “牛有兄弟而云然者，忧其为乱而将死也。” | page 160 |
| 子夏曰：商闻之矣 | “盖闻之夫子。” | page 160 |
| 子夏曰：商闻之矣 | “命禀于有生之初，非今所能移；天莫之为而为，非我所能必，但当顺受而已。” | page 160 |
| 子夏曰：商闻之矣 | “既安于命，又当修其在己者。故又言苟能持己以敬而不间断，接人以恭而有节文，则天下之人皆爱敬之，如兄弟矣。盖子夏欲以宽牛之忧，故为是不得已之辞，读者不以辞害意可也。” | page 160 |
| 君子何患乎无兄弟 | “不能践其言尔。” | page 160 |
| 君子何患乎无兄弟 | “子夏四海皆兄弟之言，特以广司马牛之意，意圆而语滞者也。唯圣人则无此病矣。且子夏知此而以哭子丧明，则以蔽于爱而昧于理，是以不能践其言尔。” | 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
“為其兄桓魋有罪，故恆憂也。”……
Compared with Zhu Xi
| Commentary | Point | Relation | Confidence | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 杨伯峻《论语译注》 | 司马牛身份 | word sense | settled | 杨怀疑孔门牛与桓魋弟为二人，朱定有兄弟而忧其乱死；四海兄弟均慰忧之言，非否定亲兄弟义。 |
| 钱穆《论语新解》 | same | fairly sure | 同以司马牛有兄弟却忧乱死如独无，子夏以守敬礼、四海皆兄弟劝慰；不据此否认亲生兄弟之伦或许任人皆同胞。 |
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