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.
顏淵喟然嘆曰：仰之彌高，鑽之彌堅；瞻之在前，忽焉在後。夫子循循然善誘人，博我以文，約我以禮。欲罷不能，既竭吾才，如有所立卓爾。雖欲從之，末由也已。Yan Yuan sighed deeply and said: The more I look up to it, the higher it is; the more I bore into it, the harder it is. I see it before me, and suddenly it is behind. The Master leads people on step by step; he broadens me with culture and restrains me with ritual. I want to stop but cannot. When I have used up all my ability, it seems to stand there, towering. Though I want to follow it, there is no way.
What this chapter says
一孔按：颜渊叹老师的道越仰越高、越钻越坚，看着在前忽然又在后。老师循序诱人，以文博我，以礼约我，学到竭尽才力，仍见它卓然立在前面。常有人问：颜渊叹老师的道“仰之弥高，钻之弥坚”，他到底学到了哪里？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
颜渊长叹一声说：老师的道，越仰望越觉得高，越钻研越觉得坚实；看着好像在前面，忽然又像在后面。老师一步一步、很有次序地引导人，用典籍文献使我的见识丰富，用礼来约束我的行为。我想停也停不下来，已经用尽了我的才力，好像有个东西高高地立在眼前；想追随上去，却找不到路径。
Draft plain-Chinese rendering following Zhu Xi; it will be checked when the chapter is covered.
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Connections
- Other books
- Read alongside (Yikonglu)Three Character Classic 32: On the “lofty” (卓) in “still toiling for the lofty” (犹苦卓): Yan Yuan says Confucius's learning stands lofty before him, and however hard he follows he cannot reach it.
- 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
颜渊叹老师的道“仰之弥高，钻之弥坚”，他到底学到了哪里？
注Key words in the commentary
喟，叹声。仰弥高，不可及；钻弥坚，不可入；在前在后，恍惚不可为象。此颜渊深知夫子之道，无穷尽、无方体，而叹之也。
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 |
|---|---|---|
| 颜渊喟然叹曰：仰 | “喟，叹声。仰弥高，不可及；钻弥坚，不可入；在前在后，恍惚不可为象。此颜渊深知夫子之道，无穷尽、无方体，而叹之也。” | page 121 |
| 夫子循循然善诱人 | “循循，有次序貌。诱，引进也。博文约礼，教之序也。言夫子道虽高妙，而教人有序也。” | page 121 |
| 虽欲从之，末由也 | “此颜子称圣人最切当处，圣人教人，惟此二事而已。” | page 121 |
| 虽欲从之，末由也 | “卓，立貌。末，无也。此颜子自言其学之所至也。盖悦之深而力之尽，所见益亲，而又无所用其力也。” | page 121—122 |
| 虽欲从之，末由也 | “所谓卓尔，亦在乎日用行事之间，非所谓窈冥昏默者。” | page 121—122 |
| 虽欲从之，末由也 | “到此地位，功夫尤难，直是峻绝，又大段著力不得。” | page 122 |
| 虽欲从之，末由也 | “自可欲之谓善，充而至于大，力行之积也；大而化之，则非力行所及矣，此颜子所以未达一间也。” | page 122 |
| 虽欲从之，末由也 | “此颜子所以为深知孔子而善学之者也。” | page 122 |
| 虽欲从之，末由也 | “惟夫子循循善诱，先博我以文，使我知古今，达事变；然后约我以礼，使我尊所闻，行所知，如行者之赴家，食者之求饱，是以欲罢而不能，尽心尽力，不少休废，然后见夫子所立之卓然，虽欲从之，末由也已。” | page 122 |
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 五
“顏淵上賢，賢聖道絕，故顏致歎也。”……
Compared with Zhu Xi
| Commentary | Point | Relation | Confidence | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 钱穆《论语新解》 | same | fairly sure | 同以仰钻前后比道高坚无定体，孔子教学却循序、博文约礼；非仅赞高不可学，欲罢不能来自善诱与己力行。 |
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