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.
棘子成曰：君子質而已矣，何以文為？子貢曰：惜乎！夫子之說，君子也。駟不及舌。文猶質也，質猶文也。虎豹之鞟猶犬羊之鞟。Ji Zicheng said: A gentleman is substance, that is all; what need is there for refinement? Zigong said: What a pity, sir, that you speak of the gentleman so! A team of four horses cannot overtake the tongue. Refinement is as important as substance, and substance as refinement. The hide of a tiger or leopard, stripped of its hair, is just like the hide of a dog or sheep.
What this chapter says
一孔按：棘子成说君子只要质就够了，子贡说文犹质、质犹文，去了毛的虎豹皮和犬羊皮分不出来。文质不可偏废，面子也是里子的一部分。常有人问“棘子成说君子有质就够了，为什么子贡说还要文”，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
棘子成说，君子有质朴就够了，何必讲文饰；子贡说，可惜，你这番话本有君子的用意，却已经说出口、四匹马也追不回，文饰和质地同样要紧，去掉毛文，虎豹的皮同犬羊的皮也没有分别了。
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
- Other books
- Cited by commentatorsDaodejing 56: Heshang Gong explains "Those who speak do not know" (言者不知) with Zigong's saying "a team of four horses cannot overtake the tongue."
- 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
棘子成说君子有质就够了，为什么子贡说还要文？
注Key words in the commentary
棘子成，卫大夫。疾时人文胜，故为此言。
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 |
|---|---|---|
| 棘子成曰：君子质 | “棘子成，卫大夫。疾时人文胜，故为此言。” | page 162—163 |
| 棘子成曰：君子质 | “言子成之言，乃君子之意。然言出于舌，则驷马不能追，其失言也。” | page 162—163 |
| 棘子成曰：君子质 | “鞟，皮去毛者也。言文质等耳，不可相无。若必尽去其文而独存其质，则君子小人无以辨矣。夫棘子成矫当时之弊，固失之过；而子贡矫子成之弊，又无本末轻重之差，胥失之矣。” | page 162—163 |
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
“棘子城云君子之行，但備質樸而足，何必用於文華乎。”……
Compared with Zhu Xi
| Commentary | Point | Relation | Confidence | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 杨伯峻《论语译注》 | 句读 | word sense | settled | 杨取夫子之说君子也为一主语，惜乎作谓语；朱断夫子之说、君子也，惜君子之意而失言。文质不可偏废相合。 |
| 钱穆《论语新解》 | same | fairly sure | 句读不同：钱以夫子之说君子也连读，惜棘子成论君子失言；朱在说字断、君子也另读，先许其意再惜失言。文质俱重均同。 |
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