The Analects (ed. 2)
- Language:
- English
- Status:
- Complete work
- Authorship:
- Recorded or compiled by others
- Condition of the text:
- Clean text
- Extent:
- ~30,100 words · 143 passages
Cite this work
- APAConfucius. (n.d.). The Analects (ed. 2). SigPhi. https://sigphiai.com/en/works/confucius/the-analects-of-confucius-from-the-chinese-classics
- MLAConfucius. "The Analects (ed. 2)." SigPhi, https://sigphiai.com/en/works/confucius/the-analects-of-confucius-from-the-chinese-classics.
- ChicagoConfucius. The Analects (ed. 2). SigPhi. https://sigphiai.com/en/works/confucius/the-analects-of-confucius-from-the-chinese-classics.
What it is about
Conversations and sayings of Confucius gathered by his disciples: how an upright person is formed, what a child owes, how a ruler should rule, and why ritual and study make virtue.
Context and history
Confucius (551-479 BC) did not write this book: generations of disciples compiled it after his death, during the Warring States period. Hence its air of fragments — brief scenes, replies, silences. No book has shaped the life of a civilisation more: for centuries the Chinese imperial examinations were built on its study, and knowing it was literally the road to power. Its imprint on education, family and state across East Asia reaches to the present day.
Editorial context, not a citable source: unlike the passages of the work itself, these statements cannot be checked against the corpus.
That being established, all practical courses naturally grow up. Filial piety and fraternal submission!-- are they not the root of all benevolent actions?' CHAP. III. The Master said, 'Fine words and an insinuating appearance are seldom associated with true virtue.' CHAP. IV. The philosopher Tsang said, 'I daily examine myself on three points:-- whether, in transacting business for others, I may have been not faithful;-- whether, in intercourse with friends, I may have been not sincere;-- whether I may have not mastered and practised the instructions of my teacher.' CHAP. V. The Master said, To rule a country of a thousand chariots, there must be reverent attention to business, and sincerity; economy in expenditure, and love for men; and the employment of the people at the proper seasons.' CHAP. VI. The Master said, 'A youth, when at home, should be filial, and, abroad, respectful to his elders. He should be earnest and truthful. He should overflow in love to all, and cultivate the friendship of the good. When he has time and opportunity, after the performance of these things, he should employ them in polite studies.' CHAP. VII. Tsze-hsia said, 'If a man withdraws his mind from the love of beauty, and applies it as sincerely to the love of the without truthfulness is to get on. How can a large carriage be made to go without the cross-bar for yoking the oxen to, or a small carriage without the arrangement for yoking the horses?' CHAP. XXIII. 1. Tsze-chang asked whether the affairs of ten ages after could be known. 2. Confucius said, 'The Yin dynasty followed the regulations of the Hsia: wherein it took from or added to them may be known. The Chau dynasty has followed the regulations of Yin: wherein it took from or added to them may be known. Some other may follo