一孔录子谓仲弓曰：犁牛之子骍且角，虽欲勿用，山川其舍诸？The Master, speaking of Zhonggong, said: If the calf of a brindled ox is red and well-horned, even if people would rather not use it, would the spirits of the hills and rivers reject it?
Tap any sentence of the original to copy it with its source.
白Plain Chinese
孔子谈到仲弓，说：耕牛生的小牛，毛色纯红，两角端正，就算人们嫌它出身不想用，山川的神灵也不会不要它吧？
A plain modern-Chinese rendering following Yikonglu's reading.
常The common reading
Can a person of poor background be employed?
注Key words in the commentary
“犁，利之反” — “li” is read lí, brindled; “骍，息营反” — “xing” is read xīng, red; “舍，上声” — “she” in the rising tone; “言人虽不用，神必不舍也” — though people may not use it, the spirits will surely not reject it.
家What other commentators say
Zhu Xi: “仲弓父贱而行恶，故夫子以此譬之……然此论仲弓云尔，非与仲弓言也” — Zhonggong's father was lowly and behaved badly, so the Master used this comparison … but this is speaking about Zhonggong, not speaking to him. Fan: “以瞽瞍为父而有舜，以鲧为父而有禹……子能改父之过，变恶以为美，则可谓孝矣” — with Gusou as father there was Shun, with Gun as father there was Yu … a son who can correct his father's faults and turn bad into good may be called filial.
读How Yikonglu reads it
A calf of a brindled plough-ox, pure red with well-formed horns: even if people will not sacrifice it because of its origin, the spirits of hills and rivers will not reject it. A father's badness cannot cancel a son's goodness; Zhu Xi notes specifically that this speaks about Zhonggong, not to his face.
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 三
“此明不可以父無德而廢子之賢也。”……
Compared with Zhu Xi
| Commentary | Point | Relation | Confidence | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 钱穆《论语新解》 | 犁牛 | differs | fairly sure | 钱取耕牛，朱取杂文之牛；均认为不应因父恶废子善。钱讨论是否面告仲弓而终偏取评论仲弓，朱明确非面告。 |
核Check every citation
Every commentary line quoted in the video: the original wording, who said it, and the page in the base edition. “Paraphrase” marks our summary, not the commentator's words. About this edition
| Quoted text | Source | Page |
|---|---|---|
| “犁，利之反。骍，息营反。舍，上声。犁，杂文……言人虽不用，神必不舍也” | Zhu Xi's commentary | page 79 |
| “仲弓父贱而行恶……然此论仲弓云尔，非与仲弓言也” | Zhu Xi's commentary | page 79 |
| “范氏曰：以瞽瞍为父而有舜……则可谓孝矣” | Fan Zuyu, quoted by Zhu Xi | page 79 |
音Pronunciation
| Character | In the line | Read as |
|---|---|---|
| 犁 | 犁牛 | lí |
| 骍 | 骍且角 | xīng |
| 舍 | 其舍诸、不舍 | shě |
页Pages of the base edition
Yikonglu, Analects 雍也第六 6.4 “Can someone of bad background be employed?”, https://yikonglu.com/en/lunyu/yong-ye/4.html, version 2026-11-05.Last checked: 2026-11-05. Changes are logged on theerrata page.
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