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：吾有知乎哉？無知也。有鄙夫問於我，空空如也，我叩其兩端而竭焉。The Master said: Do I have knowledge? I do not. If a common man asks me something, and I am completely empty, I lay out both ends of the matter and exhaust it.
What this chapter says
一孔按：孔子说我有知吗？没有。有个乡下人来问，我心里空空的，只从问题的两头反复问，把它问尽为止。知不在自己装了多少，在肯不肯把对方的问题问透。常有人问：孔子说“吾有知乎哉？无知也”，又怎么能把道理说尽？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：我有什么知识吗？其实没有。有个乡下人来问我，脑子里空空的，我便抓住他所问之事的正反两端，反复叩问，直到把话说尽。
Draft plain-Chinese rendering following Zhu Xi; it will be checked when the chapter is covered.
看Watch this chapter
The video for this chapter is in production and will appear here. Follow Yikonglu to see it first:YouTubeBilibili
Connections
- Other books
- Read alongside (Yikonglu)Daodejing 10: “Clear and reaching in all four directions, can you be without knowing?” (明白四达，能无知乎). Confucius too says he is “without knowledge,” and when someone asks him, he probes the question from both ends.
- Read alongside (Yikonglu)Daodejing 71: Confucius calls himself ignorant, which fits neatly with Laozi's "knowing that one does not know."
- 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
孔子说“吾有知乎哉？无知也”，又怎么能把道理说尽？
注Key words in the commentary
孔子谦言己无知识，但其告人，虽于至愚，不敢不尽耳。叩，发动也。两端，犹言两头。言终始、本末、上下、精粗，无所不尽。
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 |
|---|---|---|
| 有鄙夫问于我，空 | “孔子谦言己无知识，但其告人，虽于至愚，不敢不尽耳。叩，发动也。两端，犹言两头。言终始、本末、上下、精粗，无所不尽。” | page 120 |
| 有鄙夫问于我，空 | “圣人之教人，俯就之若此，犹恐众人以为高远而不亲也。圣人之道，必降而自卑，不如此则人不亲；贤人之言，则引而自高，不如此则道不尊。观于孔子、孟子，则可见矣。” | page 120 |
| 有鄙夫问于我，空 | “圣人之言，上下兼尽。即其近，众人皆可与知；极其至，则虽圣人亦无以加焉，是之谓两端。如答樊迟之问仁知，两端竭尽，无余蕴矣。若夫语上而遗下，语理而遗物，则岂圣人之言哉？” | page 120 |
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
“云吾有知者，知謂有私意於其間之知也。”……
Compared with Zhu Xi
| Commentary | Point | Relation | Confidence | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 钱穆《论语新解》 | differs | fairly sure | 空空均可指来问之鄙夫；钱重孔子反叩两端使问者自开悟，朱重尽告其始终本末，教学作用的表达焦点不同。 |
Found an error in this chapter? Email us; once checked, it goes on the errata page under your username: 
