Confucius Analects

For anyone interested in China—its past, its present, and its future—the Analects (Lunyu) is a must-read. This new translation by renowned East Asian scholar Moss Roberts will offer a fresh interpretation of this classic work, sharpening and clarifying its positions on ethics, politics, and social organization. While no new edition of the Analects will wholly transform our understanding of Confucius’s teachings, Roberts’s translation attends to the many nuances in the text that are often overlooked, allowing readers a richer understanding of Confucius’ historic and heroic attempt to restore order and morality to government. This edition of the Analects features a critical introduction by the translator as well as notes on key terms and historical figures, a topical index, and suggestions for further reading in recent English and Chinese scholarship to extend the rich contextual background for his translation. This ambitious new edition of the Analects will enhance the understanding of specialists and newcomers to Confucius alike.

A new translation and commentary of the Analects for contemporary audiences. The Analects of Confucius is arguably the single most influential work of China’s cultural heritage. In this new English translation, Peimin Ni accomplishes the rare feat of simultaneously providing a faithful translation of the text, offering his own reading based on gongfu (practice) perspective, and presenting major alternative readings to help the reader understand how diverse interpretations and controversies arise. In addition to the inclusion of the original Chinese text, Ni adds a comprehensive introduction, a discussion of key terms, annotations, and extensive cross-references. In doing so, Ni makes the text accessible and engaging for today’s audience. “Understanding the Analects of Confucius is an outstanding work of sinological scholarship.” — Henry Rosemont Jr., author of A Reader’s Companion to the Confucian Analects “Peimin Ni’s translation of the Analects has many virtues that make it stand out as an exemplary version of this most important Chinese text. Ni has chosen to present the text as a living document, embedded in two thousand years of commentarial conversation over its meaning, with today’s readers very much part of that ongoing conversation.” — Stephen C. Angle, author of Contemporary Confucian Political Philosophy

The Analects are also called the Analects of Confucius, the Sayings of Confucius, or the Lun Yu, and are an old Chinese book written of a wide collection of ideas and sayings credited to the Chinese philosopher Confucius and his peers. It is believed to have been compiled and written by Confucius's followers. It might have been written during the Warring States period (477-221 BC), and it reached its final structure during the mid-Han dynasty (206 BC-220 AD). By the early Han dynasty, the Analects were thought of as simply a commentary on the Five Masterpieces, but the situation with the Analects developed to be one of the central texts of Confucianism toward the end of that dynasty. His essential goal in teaching his students was to produce ethically well-mannered men who might convey themselves with gravity, talk accurately, and demonstrate perfect integrity in all things.

The complete twenty books of philosophic discussion by the superb Chinese sage Confucius are presented here anew. Originally, these sayings and conversations were penned during the Warring States period of Chinese antiquity. The subjects range from wise behavior in times of crisis to instruction upon how to live a peaceful life characterized by serenity, humility and good work. The importance of family life and community cooperation are alluded to, offering insight into the mores and customs of ancient China. The politics of the time, rife with infighting between noble families and dukedoms, attract consideration of Confucius and his companions. To better illustrate his points, examples and analogies are readily offered by Confucius, who engages with other philosophers through the course of the twenty named books comprising the core text. This edition's translator is James Legge, a Scottish Sinologist who spent his lifetime in China translating the philosophical and artistic classics.

'The Master said, "If a man sets his heart on benevolence, he will be free from evil"' The Analects are a collection of Confucius's sayings brought together by his pupils shortly after his death in 497 BC. Together they express a philosophy, or a moral code, by which Confucius believed everyone should live. Upholding the ideals of wisdom, self-knowledge, courage and love of one's fellow man, he argued that the pursuit of virtue should be every individual's supreme goal. And, while following the Way, or the truth, might not result in immediate or material gain, Confucius showed that it could nevertheless bring its own powerful and lasting spiritual rewards. Translated with an Introduction and Notes by D. C. Lau

In Confucius Beyond the Analects, Michael Hunter challenges the standard view of the Analects as the earliest and most authoritative source of the teachings of Confucius. Arguing from a comprehensive survey of the thousands of extant sayings and stories from the early period, Hunter situates the compilation and rise of the Analects in the Western Han period (206 BCE-9 CE), roughly three centuries after the death of Confucius. As a study of the growth and development of the Confucius figure over the course of the early period, the book is also meant to serve as a roadmap for those interested in exploring the wealth and diversity of Confucius material beyond the Analects.

In this study, Olberding proposes a new theoretical model for reading the Analects. Her thesis is that the moral sensibility of the text derives from an effort to conceptually capture and articulate the features seen in exemplars, exemplars that are identified and admired pre-theoretically and thus prior to any conceptual criteria for virtue. Put simply, Olberding proposes an "origins myth" in which Confucius, already and prior to his philosophizing knows whom he judges to be virtuous. The work we see him and the Analects' authors pursuing is their effort to explain in an organized, generalized, and abstract way why pre-theoretically identified exemplars are virtuous. Moral reasoning here begins with people and with inchoate experiences of admiration for them. The conceptual work of the text reflects the attempt to analyze such people and parse such experiences in order to distill abstract qualities that account for virtue and can guide emulation.

Surprisingly, this volume is the first and only anthology to address the worldwide influence of Confucius and the Analects in English. Here, contributors apply a variety of different methodologies (including philosophical, phililogical, and religious) and address a number of important topics, from Confucius and Western "virtue ethics" to Confucius' attitude toward women to the historical composition of the text of the Analects. Scholars will appreciate the rigor of these essays, while students and beginners will find them accessible and engaging.

For the first time in one volume, The Analects illustrated by bestselling cartoonist C. C. Tsai C. C. Tsai is one of Asia's most popular cartoonists, and his editions of the Chinese classics have sold more than 40 million copies in over twenty languages. This volume presents Tsai's delightful graphic adaptation of The Analects, one of the most influential books of all time and a work that continues to inspire countless readers today. Tsai's expressive drawings bring Confucius and his students to life as no other edition of the Analects does. See Confucius engage his students over the question of how to become a leader worth following in a society of high culture, upward mobility, and vicious warfare. Which virtues should be cultivated, what makes for a harmonious society, and what are the important things in life? Unconcerned with religious belief but a staunch advocate of tradition, Confucius emphasizes the power of society to create sensitive, respectful, and moral individuals. In many ways, Confucius speaks directly to modern concerns--about how we can value those around us, educate the next generation, and create a world in which people are motivated to do the right thing. A marvelous introduction to a timeless classic, this book also features an illuminating foreword by Michael Puett, coauthor of The Path: What Chinese Philosophers Can Teach Us about the Good Life. In addition, Confucius's original Chinese text is artfully presented in narrow sidebars on each page, enriching the books for readers and students of Chinese without distracting from the self-contained English-language cartoons. The text is skillfully translated by Brian Bruya, who also provides an introduction.