The Analects

Author: Ma Hengjun
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2007-01-01
Features: The Analects is a book that records the words and deeds of Confucius and his disciples, and it relativelyly reflects Confucius's thoughts. Confucius (551 BC–479 BC), named Qiu, styled Zhongni, was a native of Zouyi (now Qufu, Shandong) in the state of Lu during the Spring and Autumn Period. Confucius's teachings were regarded as a prominent discipline during the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods but were always considered one of the "Hundred Schools of Thought." Amid the intellectual ferment, history chose Confucius, and by the Han Dynasty, his teachings rose to the status of "exclusive supremacy," revered for over two thousand years, influencing every aspect of China. Confucius became one of ancient China's most renowned thinkers, statesmen, and educators. Confucius was a descendant of the Shang Dynasty royal family, tracing back to Song Duke Wei. After the Zhou Dynasty conquered the Shang, Wei Ziqi was enfeoffed as Duke of Song. Confucius's ancestor, Kong Fanji, was killed in aristocratic conflicts by Huadu. To escape Hu's persecution, Kong Fangsun moved to the state of Lu. Fangsun had a son named Boxia, who had a son named Shulianghe. Shulianghe and Yan Zhenzai had a son named Confucius. Confucius lost his father at the age of three and lived in poverty with his mother. In his youth, Confucius held humble positions such as Weili (warehouse manager) and Chengtian (herdsman), but he was not recognized. He then began teaching and lecturing. During the reign of Duke Ding of Lu, Confucius served as the magistrate of Zhong, the minister of works, and the Grand Minister of Justice. At the age of fifty-two during the tenth year of Duke Ding's reign, Confucius served as the acting prime minister in the role of Grand Minister of Justice, reaching the peak of his political career. However, this period was short-lived, as he resigned due to disagreements with the ruling faction of the Ji family in Lu. He then traveled to various states, including Qi, Wei, Song, Chen, Cai, and Chu, hoping to realize his political ambitions elsewhere but was not given significant roles. In his later years, he returned to Lu to focus on education and the compilation of texts. The texts compiled by Confucius include the Book of Songs, the Book of Documents, the Book of Rites, and the Book of Music. He also collected historical records from various states and wrote the Spring and Autumn Annals. His disciples numbered over three thousand, among whom seventy-two were particularly renowned. This was Confucius's most glorious contribution in history.
Feeling the chaos of his time, Confucius strove to establish a rational social order. Based on historical research, he proposed a complete moral system. The "benevolence" (ren) he advocated was essentially a concept of public welfare. According to this principle, he judged what was morally right, which he termed "righteousness" (yi). The order of righteousness was embodied in the "rites" (li). He believed that the fundamental moral virtues were filial piety and sincerity. Extending filial piety to relationships between people is loyalty (zhong), while extending sincerity to relationships is trustworthiness (xin). Of course, as times change, Confucius's views on what constitutes "righteousness" may differ from our modern understanding, but his advocacy of public welfare and reasonable principles was not wrong, and his teachings still have a positive role in establishing modern civilization.
If there are shortcomings in Confucius's thought, there are mainly two: first, he was limited by feudal patriarchal systems, with a strong sense of hierarchy, and second, his views on women were overly radical. Modern readers of The Analects should pay particular attention to these two points. The Analects was compiled by Confucius's disciples and their second-generation disciples. By the Han Dynasty, there were three versions in circulation: the Lu Analects, the Qi Analects, and the Classical Analects. During the Eastern Han Dynasty, Zheng Xuan used the Lu Analects as the basis, cross-referencing other versions and adding annotations, which became a widely accepted edition. Many scholars later commented on The Analects, with some of the most influential works including He Yan's Collected Explanations of the Analects () and Huang Kan's Annotations and Explanations of the Analects (). In the Song Dynasty, Xing Bing compiled the achievements of predecessors with his own insights into The Analects, which was included in the Annotations and Explanations of the Thirteen Classics. Additionally, Zhu Xi's Collected Annotations of the Analects () was influential. In the Qing Dynasty, Liu Bao'an synthesized the strengths of various works to write The Correct Interpretation of the Analects.
My interpretation of The Analects is based on the Annotations and Explanations of the Thirteen Classics and Liu Bao'an's The Correct Interpretation of the Analects. In the feudal society, The Analects was regarded as the golden rule for scholars, so some annotations inevitably contained exaggerated praise. This reinterpretation aims to remove the textual barriers for modern readers and to strip away the biases added by old annotations. Modern commentaries on The Analects include Yang Bojun's Translation and Annotation of the Analects, which has had a significant impact. Yang's annotations are meticulous, and most of his interpretations are acceptable. In this reinterpretation, the division of chapters follows the traditional practice without change. However, Yang noted in his Preface that "the arrangement of chapters may not follow any logical order, and there may not be any connection between consecutive chapters." This does not align well with the actual structure of The Analects. Misunderstandings in the annotations of The Analects throughout history may stem largely from this. The true situation must be more reliably determined by the internal evidence of The Analects itself. Regardless of who interprets The Analects, Confucius's true image is the most valuable goal. As for some works that derive topics from The Analects and expand on them in a comprehensive and profound manner, those are another kind of valuable masterpiece. China originally had the tradition of "annotating the Five Classics," which is understandable. Readers can choose for themselves.