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.
子曰：後生可畏，焉知來者之不如今也？四十、五十而無聞焉，斯亦不足畏也已。The Master said: The young are to be held in awe. How do we know those to come will not equal those of today? But one who at forty or fifty has made no name — he is not worth holding in awe.
What this chapter says
一孔按：后生可畏，怎知后来的人不如现在的人？但到四五十岁还没有声名，也就不足畏了。可畏在他们还有时间，要及时勉学。常有人问：孔子说“后生可畏”，后生为什么可畏？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
孔子说：后辈不可小看，谁能说将来的人赶不上今天的人？不过一个人活到四十、五十岁仍旧默默无闻，那也就没什么可敬畏的了。
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
- Read alongside (Yikonglu)Three Character Classic 2: “What will one do when old?” (老何为): if one does not study when young and has made no progress by forty or fifty, one is not worth being in awe of.
- Read alongside (Yikonglu)Three Character Classic 34: Child prodigies were ones “people called marvels” (人称奇). Confucius says the young deserve awe, but he also warns that anyone still unknown at forty or fifty does not.
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
孔子说“后生可畏”，后生为什么可畏？
注Key words in the commentary
孔子言后生年富力强，足以积学而有待，其势可畏，安知其将来不如我之今日乎？然或不能自勉，至于老而无闻，则不足畏矣。
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 |
|---|---|---|
| 子曰：后生可畏， | “孔子言后生年富力强，足以积学而有待，其势可畏，安知其将来不如我之今日乎？然或不能自勉，至于老而无闻，则不足畏矣。言此以警人，使及时勉学也。” | page 126 |
| 四十、五十而无闻 | “五十而不以善闻，则不闻矣。” | page 126 |
| 四十、五十而无闻 | “少而不勉，老而无闻，则亦已矣。自少而进者，安知其不至于极乎？是可畏也。” | page 126 |
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
“可畏謂有才學可服畏者也。”……
Compared with Zhu Xi
| Commentary | Point | Relation | Confidence | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 钱穆《论语新解》 | same | fairly sure | 同以年少积学来日长故可畏、四五十无闻则不必畏，劝及时自勉。钱主无声闻于世，不取无闻于道的另一解。 |
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