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.
大宰問於子貢曰：夫子聖者與？何其多能也？子貢曰：固天縱之將聖，又多能也。子聞之，曰：大宰知我乎？吾少也賤，故多能鄙事。君子多乎哉？不多也。牢曰：子云，吾不試，故藝。The Grand Steward asked Zigong: Is your Master a sage? How many skills he has! Zigong said: Heaven has indeed endowed him to be nearly a sage, and he has many skills as well. Hearing this, the Master said: Does the Grand Steward know me? When young I was of low station, so I became skilled in many humble things. Does a gentleman need many skills? Not many. Lao said: The Master said, 'I was not given office, so I learned the arts.'
What this chapter says
一孔按：大宰说孔子多能所以是圣。孔子说我小时贫贱，所以会做许多粗活；君子不在多能。多能是境遇逼出来的，不是圣的标志。常有人问“大宰说孔子多能所以是圣，孔子为什么不认”，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
太宰问子贡：你们老师是圣人吧？怎么会有那么多本领？子贡说：这本来是上天放手成就他，几乎要成为圣人，同时又多才多艺。孔子听说后，说：太宰了解我吗？我小时候出身低微，所以学会了许多粗活杂事。君子需要会那么多吗？不需要多。琴牢说：老师说过，“我没被朝廷任用，所以学会了些技艺。”
Draft plain-Chinese rendering following Zhu Xi; it will be checked when the chapter is covered.
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Connections
- Same line elsewhere
- Analects 1.10 子禽問於子貢曰：夫子至於是邦……
- People
- Textual variants
- Base text reads 大宰; the received text reads 太宰
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
大宰说孔子多能所以是圣，孔子为什么不认？
注Key words in the commentary
与者，疑辞。大宰盖以多能为圣也。
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 |
|---|---|---|
| 大宰问于子贡曰： | “与者，疑辞。大宰盖以多能为圣也。” | page 119 |
| 子贡曰：固天纵之 | “纵，犹肆也，言不为限量也。将，殆也，谦若不敢知之辞。圣无不通，多能乃其余事，故言又以兼之。” | page 119 |
| 吾少也贱，故多能 | “言由少贱故多能，而所能者鄙事尔，非以圣而无不通也。且多能非所以率人，故又言君子不必多能以晓之。” | page 119 |
| 牢曰：子云，吾不 | “牢，孔子弟子，姓琴，字子开，一字子张。试，用也。言由不为世用，故得以习于艺而通之。” | page 119—120 |
| 牢曰：子云，吾不 | “弟子记夫子此言之时，子牢因言昔之所闻有如此者，其意相近，故并记之。” | page 119—120 |
见Cross-references
- 大宰问于子贡曰： Elsewhere in the Analects：子禽问于子贡曰：夫子至于是邦也，必闻其政，求之与？（《论语》集注分章1.10（底本第 19 页））
异Textual variants
Where the base edition differs from the common text; the original follows the base edition.
| Base edition | Common text | Note |
|---|---|---|
| 大宰 | 太宰 | 底本PDF119大宰；杨本9.6太宰 |
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
“云大宰問於子貢云云者，大宰，大夫官名也。”……
Compared with Zhu Xi
| Commentary | Point | Relation | Confidence | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 杨伯峻《论语译注》 | same | settled | 杨9.6：同解：圣与多能非一事，少贱所以能鄙事；太宰身份两注均未确定，不能擅标吴太宰嚭；杨9.7：同解：试为用、不见用故多艺；牢身份杨拒定琴张等，朱释弟子姓琴名牢字子开，人物考定不同。 | |
| 钱穆《论语新解》 | same | fairly sure | 同解太宰以多能为圣，孔子多鄙事因少贱而非圣必多艺；太宰国属均未定，钱列吴陈鲁宋、朱列吴宋。 |
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