一孔录季氏使闵子骞为费宰。闵子骞曰：善为我辞焉。如有复我者，则吾必在汶上矣。The Ji family wanted to make Min Ziqian steward of Bi. Min Ziqian said: Decline it for me tactfully. If anyone comes for me again, I shall surely be on the far side of the Wen.
Tap any sentence of the original to copy it with its source.
白Plain Chinese
季氏派人请闵子骞去做费邑的长官。闵子骞对来人说：请好好替我推掉吧。要是再来找我，那我一定已经跑到汶水北边去了。
A plain modern-Chinese rendering following Yikonglu's reading.
常The common reading
Invited to take office, why did he say he would run away?
注Key words in the commentary
“费，音祕” — “费” is read bì; “汶，水名，在齐南鲁北竟上” — the Wen is a river on the border, south of Qi and north of Lu; “闵子不欲臣季氏，令使者善为己辞；言若再来召我，则当去之齐” — Minzi did not wish to serve the Ji family, so he asked the messenger to decline well on his behalf, saying that if they summoned him again he would leave for Qi.
家What other commentators say
Master Cheng: “仲尼之门，能不仕大夫之家者，闵子、曾子数人而已” — in Confucius's school, those able not to serve in a grandee's house were only Minzi, Zengzi and a few others. Xie: “学者能少知内外之分，皆可以乐道而忘人之势……刚则必取祸，柔则必取辱” — if a learner knows a little the difference between inner and outer, he can delight in the Way and forget others' power … too hard and he will surely bring disaster, too soft and he will surely bring disgrace; “然则闵子其贤乎” — so was Minzi not worthy?
读How Yikonglu reads it
He would not become the Ji family's retainer, yet he asked the messenger to decline kindly for him, and if they came again he would cross the river to Qi. Neither defying them head-on nor giving in: too hard invites disaster, too soft invites disgrace.
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
“云季氏使閔子騫為費宰者，費，季氏邑也。”……
Compared with Zhu Xi
| Commentary | Point | Relation | Confidence | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 钱穆《论语新解》 | same | fairly sure | 同解闵子辞费宰是不欲臣季氏，若再召将北去齐；汶水为齐南鲁北界，汶上表示北渡离鲁。 |
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 |
|---|---|---|
| “费，音祕……则当去之齐” | Zhu Xi's commentary | page 80 |
| “程子曰：仲尼之门……数人而已。谢氏曰：学者能少知内外之分……岂其心哉” | 朱注引程子、谢氏 | page 80 |
| “在圣人则有不然者……然则闵子其贤乎” | 朱注引谢氏（续） | page 81 |
音Pronunciation
| Character | In the line | Read as |
|---|---|---|
| 费 | 费宰、费，季氏邑 | bì |
| 为 | 善为我辞、为己辞 | wèi |
| 汶 | 汶上、汶，水名 | wèn |
| 复 | 如有复我者 | fù |
页Pages of the base edition
Yikonglu, Analects 雍也第六 6.7 “Offered an office, why would he flee?”, https://yikonglu.com/en/lunyu/yong-ye/7.html, version 2026-11-05.Last checked: 2026-11-05. Changes are logged on theerrata page.
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