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：剛毅、木訥，近仁。The Master said: Firm, resolute, simple, slow to speak — these are close to humaneness.
What this chapter says
一孔按：刚、毅、木、讷近于仁。刚毅不被物欲所屈，木讷不至外驰，四种质朴的品性离仁就近。常有人问：孔子说“刚毅木讷近仁”，话少迟钝为什么反倒离仁近？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，刚强坚毅、质朴少言的人，接近仁。
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)Daodejing 45: "Great eloquence seems tongue-tied" (大辩若讷): Confucius too says those slow of speech are close to ren.
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“刚毅木讷近仁”，话少迟钝为什么反倒离仁近？
注Key words in the commentary
木者，质朴。讷者，迟钝。四者，质之近乎仁者也。
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 |
|---|---|---|
| 子曰：刚毅、木讷 | “木者，质朴。讷者，迟钝。四者，质之近乎仁者也。” | page 185 |
| 子曰：刚毅、木讷 | “刚毅则不屈于物欲，木讷则不至于外驰，故近仁。” | page 185 |
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
“言此四事與仁相似，故云近仁。”……
Compared with Zhu Xi
| Commentary | Point | Relation | Confidence | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 杨伯峻《论语译注》 | same | settled | 刚强毅决、木朴讷慎近仁，未即全仁；朱以不屈物欲不外驰说明，不是赞任性固执。 | |
| 钱穆《论语新解》 | same | fairly sure | 同以刚毅不屈物欲、木讷不外驰为天质近仁，并非已有全仁；钱将之与巧言令色鲜仁对照。 |
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