 The Analects of Confucius ( 论语 ) is a record of the words and acts of the central Chinese thinker Confucius and his disciples, as well as the discussions they held. Written during the Spring and Autumn Period ( 春秋时期 ) through the Warring States Period ( 战国时期 ) , the Analects is the representative work of Confucianism and continues to have a huge influence on Chinese and East Asian thought and values today.
The Analects is believed to have been written over a period of 30 to 50 years. Begun sometime during the Spring and Autumn Period, it was probably finished during the Warring States Period, though the exact publication date of the first complete Analects cannot be pinpointed. Analects was almost certainly penned and compiled by disciples and second-generation disciples of Confucius, albeit being mostly about Confucius himself and his thought.
Chapters in Analects are grouped by individual themes. However, the chapters are not arranged in any way so as to carry a continuous stream of thought or idea. In fact, the sequence of the chapters could be said to be completely random, with the themes of adjacent chapters unrelated to each other at all.
Moreover, certain vital themes keep resurfacing in different chapters, sometimes in exactly the same wording and sometimes with small variations. This further proves that the book was the collective effort of many. However, the final editors of the Analects were likely disciples of Zengzi ( 曾子 ) , who was one of the most established students of Confucius.
When it came to the Han Dynasty ( 汉朝 ) , there existed three versions of Analects – Lu Analects ( 鲁论语 ) , Qi Analects ( 齐论语 ) and Ancient Text Analects ( 古文论语 ) .Lu Analects and Qi Analects were mostly similar, but Qi Analects had two extra chapters – Question the King ( 问王 ) and Know ( 知道 ) – on top of the twenty both versions shared. On the other hand, the Ancient Text version divided the chapter Zizhang ( 子张 ) into two chapters, and therefore had twenty-one chapters. Its arrangement of chapters and text were also different from the former two versions to a large extent.
Towards the late Western Han Dynasty, Zhang Yu ( 张禹 ), who was a teacher of Emperor Cheng, combined the Lu and Qi versions of Analects but kept to the number of chapters in the Lu Analects . Zhang's version then came to be known as the Marquis Zhang Analects , which is largely the version as we know it today.
Since Confucius' time, the Analects has heavily influenced the philosophy and moral values of China and later other East Asian countries as well. Together with the other three volumes of the Four Books, it taught the basic Confucian values including propriety ( 礼 ), righteousness ( 义 ), loyalty ( 忠 ) and filial piety ( 孝 ), all centered about the central thought of Confucius – humanity ( 仁 ).
For almost two thousand years, the Analects had also been the fundamental course of study for any Chinese scholar, for a man was not considered morally upright or enlightened if he did not study Confucius' works. The imperial examination ( 科举考试 ) , started in the Jin Dynasty ( 晋朝 ) and eventually abolished with the founding of the Republic of China ( 中华民国 ) , emphasized Confucian studies and expected candidates to quote and apply the words of Confucius in their essays.
Simon Leys, who recently translated Analects into French and English, said that the book may well have been the first in human history to describe the life of an individual, historic personage. |
