Lunyu. Mengzi (Full Text with Annotations)

Author: Liu Hongzhang, Qiao Qingju
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-08-01
Features: Although we have been accustomed to and using vernacular Chinese for nearly a century, the classic texts of the Hundred Schools of Thought, especially Confucianism, still play an important role in the long river of Chinese history and culture. Zhao Kuo of the Song Dynasty used half of the Analects to govern the empire, while Mencius believed that he who wins the people wins the empire. Although the book is mostly filled with discussions on governance and peace, it still offers much benefit to our lives today. Analects is a book recording the words and thoughts of Confucius, as well as those of some of his disciples. Ban Gu said in the Book of Han·Bibliography: "The Analects are the words and thoughts of Confucius responding to his disciples, contemporaries, and the conversations between disciples that he overheard from his master. At that time, the disciples each kept records, and after Confucius' death, his disciples compiled and edited them, hence the name Analects." The character "" in Analects means "compile and edit," and "" means "words." Therefore, Analects is the result of Confucius' disciples compiling and editing the notes they took while listening to Confucius lecture, as well as the conversations between Confucius and contemporaries or disciples. The compilation of Analects occurred around the Warring States period. By the early Han Dynasty, there were three different versions: the Lu Analects, the Qi Analects, and the Classical Text Analects. The Lu Analects has twenty chapters, while the Qi Analects has twenty-two, with two additional chapters, "To the King" and "Knowing the Way," and many differences in the wording of other chapters. The Classical Text Analects was discovered in the walls of Confucius' old residence in Qufu during Emperor Jing of Han's reign. The Classical Text Analects has twenty-one chapters, also lacks the two additional chapters, but separates the "Yao's Saying" chapter into another "Zhang's Inquiry" chapter, resulting in two "Zhang's Inquiry" chapters. The Classical Text Analects was not widely transmitted at the time, so in the early Han Dynasty, only the Lu Analects and the Qi Analects were actually circulated. In the late Western Han Dynasty, Zhang Yu of Anchang combined the Lu Analects with the Qi Analects to create the Zhang Hou Lun. In the late Eastern Han Dynasty, Zheng Xuan used the Zhang Hou Lun as a basis, referencing the Qi Analects and the Classical Text Analects, to write the Commentary on the Analects, which became the standard version passed down to later generations. Many later scholars have written commentaries on the Analects, including He Yan's Collected Explanations of the Analects during the Three Kingdoms period, Huang Kan's Explanatory Notes on the Analects in the Southern Dynasties, Xing Yu's Commentary and Explanatory Notes on the Analects in the Northern Song Dynasty, Zhu Xi's Collected Explanations of the Analects' Chapters in the Southern Song Dynasty, and Liu Boren's Correct Interpretation of the Analects in the Qing Dynasty. Modern scholars include Cheng Shude's Collected Explanations of the Analects, Yang Shuda's Explanatory Notes on the Analects, Yang Bojun's Translation and Annotation of the Analects, Qian Mu's New Interpretation of the Analects, and Nan Huaijin's Alternative Interpretation of the Analects.
The Analects was considered a classic text in the Han Dynasty and a required reading for beginners. After studying the Analects and the Classic of Filial Piety, students would progress to the Five Classics (Book of Songs, Book of Documents, Book of Changes, Book of Rites, Spring and Autumn Annals). From the Song Dynasty onwards, the Analects was classified as a classic. For two thousand years from the Han Dynasty to the Qing Dynasty, the Analects remained a required reading for beginners and the most important classic of Confucianism, profoundly influencing the thought, culture, and spirit of the Chinese nation. Today, the Analects is still our primary source for studying Confucianism, especially the thoughts of Confucius.
Confucius, named Qiu and styled Zhongni, was born in the twenty-first year of King Ling of Zhou (551 BCE) and died in the forty-second year of King Jing of Zhou (479 BCE). He was a descendant of the Yin and Shang dynasties. Confucius himself said, "I am a descendant of Yin" (Record of Rites·Upper Bow, below referred to as Analects only by the chapter name). King Wu of Zhou conquered the Yin and Shang dynasties and enfeoffed Wei Ziqi, a descendant of Yin, as the ruler of Song. Confucius' ancestors were members of the Song royal family. During Confucius' great-grandfather Kong Fangsun's time, he moved to Lu to escape internal turmoil in Song. Kong Fangsun served as a minister in Lu and was known as "Rou Ren He." Confucius was born in the village of Changping in the district of Rou (now southeastern Qufu, Shandong Province). Confucius lost his father at the age of three, and his family fell into poverty, so he said, "In my youth, I was poor, which enabled me to do many humble tasks" (Analects·Zihan, below referred to as Analects only by the chapter name). Around the age of twenty, he worked as a warehouse manager ("wei li") and a herdsman ("cheng tian"), both low-ranking officials. Around the age of thirty, he became renowned for his knowledge of rites and began teaching students, making scholarship his profession. At the age of thirty-five, due to internal turmoil in Lu, he left Lu for Qi and returned after a year. At fifty-one, Confucius became the magistrate of Zhongdu and achieved notable achievements, "within a year, all the surrounding states followed his example." He was later promoted to Minister of Works and then to Chief Justice, overseeing judicial affairs. At the age of fifty-five, he resigned due to conflicts with the Ji family and left Lu for a second time, traveling among various states, including Wei, Cao, Song, Chen, and Cai. After fourteen years, at the age of sixty-eight, he returned to Lu and continued his educational work, compiling classical texts. Confucius had three thousand disciples, among whom seventy-seven were considered virtuous.
Mencius (c. 372–289 BCE), a great thinker of the Warring States period and one of the main representatives of Confucianism, was named Ke and came from Zou (now Zoucheng, Shandong). He was born around the fourth year of King Lie of Zhou and died around the twenty-sixth year of King Nan of Zhou. It is said that Mencius was a descendant of the Mengsun family, a noble clan of Lu, and lost his father in childhood. His family was poor, and he studied under Zisi, a student of Zixu. After completing his studies, he traveled as a scholar, attempting to promote his political ideas among the feudal lords of states like Liang (Wei), Qi, Song, and. At the time, the major states were focused on enriching and strengthening their armies, seeking to unify the empire through force. Mencius' theory of benevolent governance was considered "too idealistic and detached from reality," and it never had the chance to be implemented. Later, he retired to teach with his students, arranging the Book of Songs and the Book of Documents, summarizing the meaning of Confucius, and writing the Mencius, consisting of seven chapters. During Mencius' time, the Hundred Schools of Thought flourished, and the ideas of Yang Zhu and Mozi dominated the world. Mencius fiercely criticized these ideas from a Confucian perspective. Mencius inherited and developed Confucius' ideas, proposing a complete philosophical system that greatly influenced later generations, earning him the title of "Second Sage" after Confucius. Mencius inherited and developed Confucius' idea of moral governance, evolving it into the theory of benevolent governance, which became the core of his political thought. He applied the principles of "loving one's kin" and "respecting elders" to politics, aiming to ease class contradictions and maintain the long-term interests of the feudal ruling class. Mencius closely linked ethics and politics, emphasizing that moral cultivation was the foundation of good governance. He said, "The foundation of the world lies in the state, the foundation of the state lies in the family, and the foundation of the family lies in the individual." Later, the idea of "cultivating oneself, harmonizing the family, governing the state, and bringing peace to the world" in the Great Learning evolved from Mencius' thinking.
The highest category in Mencius' philosophy is "Heaven." Mencius inherited Confucius' idea of the Mandate of Heaven, removing its residual anthropomorphic connotations, and envisioned Heaven as a spiritual entity with moral attributes. He said, "Sincerity is the way of Heaven." Mencius defined sincerity as the essential attribute of Heaven, believing that Heaven is the origin of the inherent moral concepts in human nature. Mencius' philosophical system, including his political and ethical thought, is built upon the concept of "Heaven."