| 
  • If you are citizen of an European Union member nation, you may not use this service unless you are at least 16 years old.

  • You already know Dokkio is an AI-powered assistant to organize & manage your digital files & messages. Very soon, Dokkio will support Outlook as well as One Drive. Check it out today!

View
 

The-Analects-of-Confucius

Page history last edited by Bhupati Barman 2 years, 9 months ago

The Analects of Confucius

 

What exactly is it?

 

The ancient Chinese book is a compilation of sayings and thoughts ascribed to Confucius. The Analects, with their infrequent references to persons Confucius encountered, provide rare glimpses into the life of China's greatest philosopher.

  

Confucius is known as "the king without a crown" and is said to have been born around 551 BC during the Warring States era. Confucius is claimed to have taught 3,000 students, but only 72 of them are supposed to have grasped his ideas. Following the philosopher's death in 479 BC, his followers composed the Analects, which took more than a quarter of a century to complete. Confucianism became the predominant ideological philosophy of the Middle Kingdom during the Han Dynasty (206 BC – 220 AD), and the book became obligatory reading for intellectuals.

 

 

What is the significance of the book?

 

Over the previous two millennia, the Analects have molded traditional values.

 

Given the Han Dynasty is considered as a great age for Chinese civilisation (which is why China’s greatest ethnic group name themselves Han), its endorsement of the Analects was important to the book’s rising impact throughout time - it was often the first textbook students read in school. Its essential moral principles, such as compassion, filial piety, and loyalty, formed the foundation of Chinese civilization.

 

Scholars who excelled in Confucian classics were given the opportunity to join the governmental administration. This eventually became a civil service test and a procedure that favored meritocracy above aristocratic ties, allowing strong local governors to rise from lowly beginnings. For over 2,000 years, learning Confucianism and its basic beliefs was the only way to advance in society.

  

What did Confucius truly say?

 

The Analects frequently begin with the words "Confucius says," yet the precise origins of Confucian ideals have been a source of scholarly controversy for thousands of years.

 

This began with the unification of the Middle Kingdom by Qin Shi Huang, China's first emperor, in 221 BC. The emperor ordered the wholesale burning of books, according to Sima Qian's Records of the Grand Historian – called Shiji, China's earliest book of general history, covering the 2,500-year period leading up to the Han empire's formation — ostensibly to unite his new kingdom's languages (and thus most of its political opinions). Many Confucian texts (carved on bamboo slips) were lost as a result of this draconian censoring.

 

As a result, a controversy erupted between the "New Text School" and the "Old Text School." The term "New Text" referred to scriptures produced from memory by modern academics. The "Old Text" was compiled from the few older works that had survived Qin Shi Huang's prohibition, including those rumored to be concealed behind the walls of Confucius' previous residences. Both sides claimed credit for inventing Confucian theories. 

 

Even now, the controversy rages on...

 

What about today's relevance?

 

In recent years, Confucianism has had a resurgence. His beliefs were prohibited by China's governing Communist Party as a source of feudal "backwardness" in the 1960s and 1970s, a low point for Confucian intellectuals. However, thanks to the state's unspoken support, the writer has had a reputation makeover during the last decade or two. Confucius Institutes, for example, are a network of government-backed organizations that educate Chinese language and culture overseas. 

 

President Xi Jinping's push for a "great rejuvenation" of the country coincides with China's renewed embrace of Confucianism, an attempt that capitalizes on the Middle Kingdom's strengths throughout the most famous Chinese dynasties (such as the Han). If Xi's theme is one of resurrecting previous glory, who better to attach to the campaign than Confucius, a guy who epitomizes China's civilisation's durability.

 

Xi's admiration for Confucius was evident soon after he became president, when he stated that Confucianism was the key to "understanding the national characteristics of the Chinese" and "the cultural soil that feeds the Chinese people." Confucianism is now connected with themes such as stability and prosperity, reverence for elders, and the elevation of officials through meritocratic procedures, as seen from government circles.

 

Summary of Confucius' Analects

 

The Analects of Confucius are a collection of short passages that portray Confucius' and his followers' remarks, define Confucius as a man, and record some of his life's events. The Analects is a collection of twenty volumes, each of which has a sequence of chapters containing Confucius quotes recorded by his pupils after his death.

 

Book I provides as a broad overview of the work's numerous followers. The majority of Book II is devoted to concerns of government. Confucius' ideology is outlined in Books III and IV, which are considered key writings. The Tao, or Way, the chun-tzu, or gentleman, Li, or ceremony, Te, or virtue, and Jen, or kindness, are all significant themes in the book. There are a few more keywords throughout the work, but these are the most important ones. They constitute the backbone of Confucian ideas when taken collectively.

 

The Tao, often known as the Way, is a literal route or road. It refers to the manner in which something is done in the workplace; a technique or ideology. Confucius frequently refers to the Tao beneath Heaven, which refers to a good route or road to morally better aims. This might involve personal behavior or how a kingdom is governed.

 

Jen is most commonly interpreted as "humanity" or "goodness." This attribute is possessed by the gentleman, or chunt-tzu. Its English translation is a little difficult to convey exactly, but the language gives a lot of background when addressing gentlemanship and virtue. It's useful to think of the phrase not just in terms of "goodness," but also in terms of how it fits together with the other phrases to make a larger picture of Confucius' definition of goodness and other beneficial human attributes. Words like "altruistic" and "humane," for example, can help you comprehend this concept.

 

Te is the term that most nearly resembles the term "virtue," however there is significant debate among experts about its translation. Some experts argue that a better definition is to conceive of it as "character" or "prestige," qualities that would have been desirable in a human being.

 

The gentleman, or chun-tzu, is the major figure in The Analects, and all of the other names are used to refer to him. As a result, summarizing the gentleman is tough, but evaluating the phrase in context of the other concepts in the text is beneficial. The gentleman is someone who follows the Way and acts in accordance with a set of ideals and values that are not shared by most people. The choice of the term "gentleman" to describe the chun-tzu is problematic in and of itself, as it conjures up notions of aristocratic life. Some academics compare the phrase to Nietzsche's concept of the Ubermensch, however there is disagreement over this as well. Another possible translation of the word is "superior guy." When the other words are considered, a more full understanding of the chun-tzu emerges.

 

Another important notion in the literature is li, or ritual. The relevance of ritual traditions is described as important in the growth of te and a grasp of the Tao, despite the fact that the text does not go into great depth on what they involved. Much of what this phrase entails is the broad standards of behaviour. Moral efforts take precedence over historical knowledge in this case. In other words, a gentleman was defined as someone who practiced what we now term excellent manners and conducted himself in a moral and fair manner. A proper mindset was also required: deference and regard for one's elders, as well as ceremonies and cultural standards passed down down the centuries.

 

The historical background in which Confucius lived and the events that accompanied his quest to promote his theory are also crucial to examine when reading The Analects. During the sixth century, strong warriors and families took control of Lu, eventually weakening and marginalizing the ducal line. As a result, much to Confucius' chagrin, the typical structure and function of government and social customs were disrupted. Confucius advocated for the recovery of Chou traditions, which were previously the norm in Lu. He considered these methods to be genuinely beneficial to society. The term li is the best way to comprehend the Chou traditions that Confucius was so keen to revive.

 

Confucius and his pupils eventually sought an audience with various officials in Lu in order to help restore these traditions. Confucius' scheme, however, failed, and he departed Lu after realizing that the kind of rulers he wanted to get on his side were not present. As a result, a protracted era of searching neighboring states for such a monarch started. The text captures some of this time period. Confucius finally returned to Lu on Jan Ch'iu's request and spent the rest of his life teaching Chou customs to young men. However, he was unable to establish a state based on his deeply held beliefs.

 

The Analects' structure makes it a difficult work to grasp. On first glance, the paragraphs appear to be arranged in a random manner. There is more dispute than agreement among academics on how to appropriately translate and display the text for a current reading audience.

 

 

The strangest figure that meets us in the annals of Oriental thought is that of Confucius. To the popular mind he is the founder of a religion, and yet he has nothing in common with the great religious teachers of the East. We think of Siddartha, the founder of Buddhism, as the very impersonation of romantic asceticism, enthusiastic self-sacrifice, and faith in the things that are invisible. Zoroaster is the friend of God, talking face to face with the Almighty, and drinking wisdom and knowledge from the lips of Omniscience. Mohammed is represented as snatched up into heaven, where he receives the Divine communication which he is bidden to propagate with fire and sword throughout the world. These great teachers lived in an atmosphere of the supernatural. They spoke with the authority of inspired prophets. They brought the unseen world close to the minds of their disciples. They spoke positively of immortality, of reward or punishment beyond the grave. The present life they despised, the future was to them everything in its promised satisfaction. The teachings of Confucius were of a very different sort. Throughout his whole writings he has not even mentioned the name of God. He declined to discuss the question of immortality. When he was asked about spiritual beings, he remarked, “If we cannot even know men, how can we know spirits?”

Confucius, "The Analects of Confucius", i.1

 

Discount Link: http://bit.ly/wr-discount

 

Comments (0)

You don't have permission to comment on this page.