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：其身正，不令而行；其身不正，雖令不從。The Master said: If he himself is correct, things are done without orders; if he himself is not correct, even with orders they are not obeyed.
What this chapter says
一孔按：自身端正，不下令也能行；自身不正，下了令也没人从。为政先正己。常有人问：“其身正，不令而行”，为政的人自身怎样，政令才行得动？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，自己端正，不下命令，事情也能推行；自己不正，即使下命令，人也不服从。
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
- Same line elsewhere
- Analects 13.13 苟正其身矣，於從政乎何有？不……
- Other books
- Read alongside (Yikonglu)Daodejing 43: "Teaching without words" (不言之教) is teaching by example. Confucius says that if you yourself are upright, things get done without orders.
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
“其身正，不令而行”，为政的人自身怎样，政令才行得动？
见Cross-references
- 子曰：其身正，不 Elsewhere in the Analects：子曰：苟正其身矣，于从政乎何有？不能正其身，如正人何？（《论语》集注分章13.13（底本第 179 页））
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
“云其身正不令而行者，如直形而影自直。”……
Compared with Zhu Xi
| Commentary | Point | Relation | Confidence | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 杨伯峻《论语译注》 | same | settled | 身正则人从，身不正虽令不行；朱本章无另注，不能补作其已详说某种具体制度。 | |
| 钱穆《论语新解》 | same | fairly sure | 同以正身先行才有不令而行的感化，身不正虽发令不从；钱与政者正、正其身两章连参，朱此章不另加注。 |
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