analects essay

Notes and study questions for The Analects

* Confucius 551 - 479 BC (latest guess at dates)

* Analects, like the Dhammapada, like the Gospels, was written by

disciples, and disciples of disciples. (Socrates, as well, wrote

nothing; only his student Plato did.) Think about this: what does this

suggest about the 'teaching' or 'lessons' contained within? What does

this suggest about the way we might educate ourselves today?

* In modern times, "many enlightened and progressive minded Chinese came

spontaneously to associate the very name of Confucius with feudal

tyranny; his doctrines became synonymous with obscurantism and

oppression…" (quotes from Leys's intro) At the same time, remember that

this is how the book has been used and misused -- not necessarily what

the book itself says. (Can you think of other misuses of classic texts?)

The modern Chinese assessment also obscures the subversiveness of

Confucius in his own time. Confucius lived in a time of transition and

cultural crisis; "he was witnessing the collapse of civilization." The

500 year old Zhou feudal order was crumbling around him. Confucius

believed that his political ideas could restore harmony (more on this

below) and stability. But politicians everywhere feared Confucius and

his new ideas; Confucius never really got a chance to exercise his

political ideas. (See 3.24) Later on, instead of remembering him as a

failed politician, Confucius was remembered as the Supreme Teacher. His

birthday (September 28) is still celebrated as Teachers Day in China.)

* Contrast also the stereotypical image (in both East and West) of The

Master as solemn, old, proper, "a bit pompous, slightly boring…" This

portion of the Analects hopefully reveals an enthusiastic, passionate

Confucius. He was a man deeply moved by loss and music; he was not frail

and bookish but an accomplished outdoorsman -- he excelled at

horsemanship and archery; he liked hunting and fishing. He was a man of

action, even if his efforts to reform society were frustrated in his

lifetime.

* POLITICS: Confucius believed that politics was an extension of ethics.

Confucius did not feel that the proper laws made society; rather it was

the ethical quality of individuals that made for a harmonious political

order. Much later, Montesquieu would echo a similar sentiment: "when a

people have (and act on) good/proper customs, the laws become simple." A

ruler leads by example, not by rules; a ruler's most valuable asset is

the trust and respect of the people; a ruler's task is to promote good

ethical behavior -- and a ruler can do so, Confucius believes, by

promoting rituals and music. (Consider this: how might literature,

music, art promote exemplary moral activity? How might rituals?)

* EDUCATION: Confucius stressed education and the two thousand years in

China in which his ideas dominated were marked with a remarkable respect

for education and learning. Confucius took the term 'gentleman" (Chinese

junzi) and redefined it; a gentleman was no longer someone born to the

monied classes -- a gentleman was any human being who had a humane and

well-educated ethical perspective.

The civil service that ruled China for two millennia was based on an

exam that anyone (any man at least) could take. This exam tested both

learning and creative talent; for part of its history, examinees had to

compose poetry. Education became *the* path to political power.

Consider 2.12: A gentleman is not a pot. The educated individual does

not have a single use. (Sometimes this is translated as 'a gentleman is

not a utensil' -- again in the same spirit.) Compare this to our notions

of liberal studies.

Consider/evaluate Leys's opinion: "Until modern times, this was

certainly the most open, flexible, fair, and sophisticated system of

government known in history (it is the very system which was to impress

and inspire the European philosophes of the eighteenth century)."

* HARMONY Early Chinese thought (and Confucius continued this tradition)

focused on the harmony of the universe and the harmony of society. What

answers do we have to these problematics?

* BOOK OF POEMS Tradition says that Confucius himself edited this

anthology of 300 classical Chinese poems. Every educated person was

expected to have memorized these poems and to be able to quote them

appropriately. The importance of this anthology is another indication of

the place of literature was in the Confucian worldview.

* HUMANITY (Chinese 'ren'): Translated variously as: goodness,

benevolence, virtue, benevolence towards one's fellow-men, a

compassionate love for humanity. This is not some sort of pale

philanthropic spirit: ren is the splendid, awesome potential of mankind;

"it puts heroic demands on every individual, and yet remains close at

hand in everyday life." Confucius himself gave this word these

connotations.

* SILENCES: Elias Canetti observed "that the Analects is a book which is

important not only for what it says but also for what it does not say."

(Think about what is left out, even though we are reading only a small

section.)

When asked "What is the supreme virtue of humanity? Confucius replied:

'He who possesses the supreme virtue of humanity is reluctant to speak.'"

[Leys, Simon. Analects of Confucius. New York: W. W. Norton, 1997]