250 word summary

“The Master said: ‘When the father is alive, watch the son’s aspirations. When the father is dead, watch the son’s actions. If three years later, the son has not veered from the father’s way, he may be called a dutiful son indeed’” (1335)

 Author

 Time/Date of Composition

Contextual Information

 Form

Major Themes

Preview

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Author

 Lived 551 – 479 BCE

 “Confucius” is the English version of his Chinese name, Kong Qiu

 Born in northeastern state of Lu (today = Shandong Province) into the lower ranks of hereditary nobility (Norton 766)

(Rubbing on paper of Confucius engraved Stone Slab from Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy)

 Confucius traveled throughout China sharing his

political vision… Unsuccessfully  retired to Lu and spent the rest of his life as a teacher (Norton 767)

Virtually unknown at the time of his death (Norton 766)

 Important: the Analects are not actually written by Confucius. They were collected and written by his disciples (Norton 768)

Author

  Probably 200 – 100 BCE, “when Confucius’s ideas

were gaining influence and it became necessary to create a representative collection of his sayings out of the vast body of Confucius lore that circulated in various other books” (Norton 768)

 Note: this means the Analects came to their current form about 279 years after Confucius’s death!

Time/Date of Composition

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Contextual Information

Confucius deeply admires the Zhou Dynasty, particularly King Wen, King Wu, and the Duke of Zhou (Norton 767)

Quick note: King Wen was King Wu’s father

(King Wen of the Zhou Dynasty via Wikipedia)

 King Wu was known for instituting a system of

government that took care of its people and developed “wise policies” (Norton 767)

 The Duke of Zhou was known for defending the country and defending King Cheng’s (King Wu’s son) right to the throne  the Duke of Zhou was important to Confucius because he was someone who cared more for “the welfare of the dynasty” than for his own ambitions (Norton 767)  Represents the themes of social roles and efficient

action

Contextual Information

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Form

 Recorded by brush and ink on thin strips of bamboo (The Analects of Confucius by R. Eno)

 Collection of “brief quotations, conversations, and anecdotes” (Norton 768)  divided into 20 “books”

 The “books” are basically chapters

(Rongo Analects, Vol 2 via Wikipedia)

  1. Ritual: “everything we do in life is a ritual…

Rituals are thus used… to make social life meaningful” (Norton 768). A person must learn ritual within the context of their own community through practice and self-cultivation. (Norton 768)

A person who masters this idea of ritual is a junzi, or “superior person”/ “gentleman” (Norton 768)

Major Themes

  Example of ritual: “The Master said: ‘To Learn

something and then to put it into practice at the right time: is this not a joy? To have friends coming from afar: is this not a delight? Not to be upset when one’s merits are ignored: is this not the mark of a gentleman?’” (1.1 Norton 770)

Major Themes

  2. Social roles: humans owe each other ren, meaning

reciprocal goodness or humanity (Norton 769)  how people should treat one another

 Establishes a hierarchical order of relationships, the most important of which is the relationship between parent and child (esp father and son)

 The ruler considered “father” of the country

Major Themes

  Example of social roles: “Duke Jing of Qui asked

Confucius about government. Confucius replied: ‘Let the lord be a lord; the subject a subject; the father a father; the son a son.’ The Duke said: ‘Excellent! If indeed the lord is not a lord, the subject not a subject, the father not a father, the son not a son, I could be sure of nothing anymore—not even of my daily food’” (12.11 Norton 777)

Major Themes

  3. Efficient action: maintains social order and

“effects change in the world” (Norton 769)  especially when the junzi (aristocrat / gentleman) is the one engaging in efficient action

 “The notion that the moral charisma of a sage ruler can be so powerful that there is no need to resort to lowly means of war and violence became the basis of the traditional Chinese view of rulership” (Norton 769)

Major Themes

  Example of efficient action: “The Master wanted to

settle among the nine barbarian tribes of the East. Someone said: ‘It is wild in those parts. How would you cope?’ The Master said: ‘How could it be wild, once a gentleman has settled there?’” (9.14 Norton 775)

Major Themes