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：南人有言曰：人而無恆，不可以作巫醫。善夫！不恆其德，或承之羞。子曰：不占而已矣。The Master said: The southerners have a saying: 'A man without constancy cannot even be a shaman or a doctor.' Well said! 'If one is not constant in his virtue, he may meet with disgrace.' The Master said: Such a man simply need not divine.
What this chapter says
一孔按：南方人说人而无恒，连巫医也做不了，孔子称善。又引《易》“不恒其德，或承之羞”，说这话不用占卜也知道。无恒之人连小技都做不成。常有人问：“人而无恒，不可以作巫医”，人没有恒心会怎样？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，南方有句话，人没有恒心，连巫医也做不了，说得好；又引易辞说，德行不能恒久，就会招来羞辱。孔子说，不过是不占问罢了。
Draft plain-Chinese rendering following Zhu Xi; it will be checked when the chapter is covered.
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Connections
- Other books
- Cited by commentatorsDaodejing 16: Emperor Xuanzong of Tang, explaining “not knowing the constant, one acts rashly, and misfortune follows” (不知常，妄作，凶), cites this line: a person without constancy will meet with disgrace.
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
“人而无恒，不可以作巫医”，人没有恒心会怎样？
注Key words in the commentary
南人，南国之人。恒，常久也。巫，所以交鬼神。医，所以寄死生。故虽贱役，而尤不可以无常。孔子称其言而善之。
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：南人有言曰 | “南人，南国之人。恒，常久也。巫，所以交鬼神。医，所以寄死生。故虽贱役，而尤不可以无常。孔子称其言而善之。” | page 183—184 |
| 不恒其德，或承之 | “此《易·恒卦》九三爻辞。承，进也。” | page 183—184 |
| 子曰：不占而已矣 | “复加子曰，以别《易》文也。其义未详。” | page 183—184 |
| 子曰：不占而已矣 | “君子于《易》苟玩其占，则知无常之取羞矣。其为无常也，盖亦不占而已矣。意亦略通。” | page 183—184 |
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 七
“云子曰云云者，南人，南國人也。”……
Compared with Zhu Xi
| Commentary | Point | Relation | Confidence | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 杨伯峻《论语译注》 | differs | settled | 巫医杨作一词指禳祷治病者，朱分交鬼神之巫与寄死生之医；无恒难成事同，朱坦记不占句义未详。 | |
| 钱穆《论语新解》 | differs | fairly sure | 巫医须恒同旨；末句不同，钱谓无恒者不宜为之占、占亦不准，朱取人不思占戒而仍无恒，非占者弃其人。 |
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