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.
子貢問政。子曰：足食。足兵。民信之矣。子貢曰：必不得已而去，於斯三者何先？曰：去兵。子貢曰：必不得已而去，於斯二者何先？曰：去食。自古皆有死，民無信不立。Zigong asked about government. The Master said: Enough food, enough arms, and the trust of the people. Zigong said: If one had no choice but to give up one of the three, which first? The Master said: Give up arms. Zigong said: If one had no choice but to give up one of the remaining two, which first? The Master said: Give up food. Since ancient times, all have died; without the people's trust, nothing stands.
What this chapter says
一孔按：足食、足兵、民信之矣。不得已先去兵，再去粮，信不能去。自古皆有死，民无信则立不住。常有人问“子贡问政，孔子说兵和粮都能去，信为什么不能去”，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
子贡问政，孔子说，粮食充足、军备充足，百姓信任你；子贡问，迫不得已要去掉一项先去什么，孔子说，去军备，再问剩下两项先去什么，孔子说，去粮食。自古人都有一死，百姓没有信任，国家便立不住。
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 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.
- Other books
- Read alongside (Yikonglu)Daodejing 17: “When trust is lacking, there is distrust” (信不足焉，有不信焉): Confucius too puts trust ahead of food and arms.
- 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
子贡问政，孔子说兵和粮都能去，信为什么不能去？
注Key words in the commentary
言仓廪实而武备修，然后教化行，而民信于我，不离叛也。
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 |
|---|---|---|
| 民信之矣。 | “言仓廪实而武备修，然后教化行，而民信于我，不离叛也。” | page 161—162 |
| 民信之矣。 | “食足而信孚，则无兵而守固矣。” | page 161—162 |
| 自古皆有死，民无 | “民无食必死，然死者人之所必不免。无信则虽生而无以自立，不若死之为安。故宁死而不失信于民，使民亦宁死而不失信于我也。” | page 161—162 |
| 自古皆有死，民无 | “不以危急而可弃也。” | page 162 |
| 自古皆有死，民无 | “孔门弟子善问，直穷到底，如此章者，非子贡不能问，非圣人不能答也。” | page 162 |
| 自古皆有死，民无 | “以人情而言，则兵食足而后吾之信可以孚于民；以民德而言，则信本人之所固有，非兵食所得而先也。是以为政者，当身率其民而以死守之，不以危急而可弃也。” | page 162 |
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
“問為政之法也。”……
Compared with Zhu Xi
| Commentary | Point | Relation | Confidence | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 杨伯峻《论语译注》 | same | settled | 足食修武备而取民信，不得已先去兵食、信不可失；兵杨释军器而译军备，朱亦武备，非专士兵数。 | |
| 钱穆《论语新解》 | same | fairly sure | 同列食兵信三政，万不得已先兵后食而不能去信；民信上是立国所本，不是要求百姓无条件服从欺骗。 |
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