Engraving of Confucius. The Chinese characters read "Portrait of the First Teacher, Confucius, Giving a Lecture".

The Analects (Chinese: ; pinyin: Lún Yǔ), also known as the Analects of Confucius, are a record of the words and acts of the central Chinese thinker and philosopher Confucius and his disciples, as well as the discussions they held. The Chinese title literally means "discussion over [Confucius'] words." Image File history File links Confucius_02. ... Confucius (Chinese: ; pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: Kung-fu-tzu), lit. ... Pinyin, more formally called Hanyu Pinyin (Simplified Chinese: ; Traditional Chinese: ; Pinyin: ), is the most common variant of Standard Mandarin romanization system in use. ... Confucius (Chinese: ; pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: Kung-fu-tzu), lit. ... A disciple (from the Latin discipulus, a pupil) is one who receives instruction from another; a scholar; a learner; especially, a follower who has learned to believe in the truth of the doctrine of his teacher, and implies that the pupil is under the discipline of, and understands, his teacher...

Written during the Spring and Autumn Period through the Warring States Period (ca. 479 BC - 221 BC), the Analects is the representative work of Confucianism and continues to have a tremendous influence on Chinese and East Asian thought and values today. The Spring and Autumn Period (Chinese: ; Pinyin: ) was a period in Chinese history, which roughly corresponds to the first half of the Eastern Zhou dynasty (from the second half of the 8th century BC to the first half of the 5th century). ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... 479 pr. ... Centuries: 4th century BC - 3rd century BC - 2nd century BC Decades: 270s BC 260s BC 250s BC 240s BC 230s BC - 220s BC - 210s BC 200s BC 190s BC 180s BC 170s BC Years: 226 BC 225 BC 224 BC 223 BC 222 BC - 221 BC - 220 BC 219 BC... A Confucian temple in Wuwei, Peoples Republic of China. ... East Asia Geographic East Asia. ...

History and versions

The Analects were written over a period of 30 to 50 years. Begun some time during the Spring and Autumn Period, the work was probably finished during the Warring States Period, though the exact publication date of the first complete Analects cannot be pinpointed. Much as the Republic purports to be a collection of Socrates' discussions but actually contains original material from his disciple Plato, the Analects were almost certainly penned and compiled by disciples and second-generation disciples of Confucius, albeit being mostly about Confucius himself and his thought. The Spring and Autumn Period (Chinese: ; Pinyin: ) was a period in Chinese history, which roughly corresponds to the first half of the Eastern Zhou dynasty (from the second half of the 8th century BC to the first half of the 5th century). ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... The Republic (Greek: ) is an influential work of philosophy and political theory by the Greek philosopher Plato, written in approximately 360 BC. It is written in the format of a Socratic dialogue. ... This page is about the Classical Greek philosopher. ... For other uses, see Plato (disambiguation). ... Confucius (Chinese: ; pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: Kung-fu-tzu), lit. ...

Chapters in the Analects are grouped by individual themes. However, the chapters are not arranged in any way so as to carry a continuous stream of thought or idea. In fact, the sequence of the chapters could be said to be completely random, with the themes of adjacent chapters completely unrelated to each other.

Moreover, central themes recur repeatedly in different chapters, sometimes in exactly the same wording and sometimes with small variations. This has led some to believe that the book was not written by a single individual, but was the collective effort of many. However, the final editors of the Analects were likely disciples of Zengzi, who was one of the most established students of Confucius. Zengzi (曾子; also called Zeng Shen, 曾參; or Ziyu, 子輿) (505 BCE - 436 BCE) was a philosopher and student of Confucius. ...

An early version of the analects written on bamboo strips from before 55 BC was discovered at Dingzhou/Dingxian in Hebei province in 1973 and published in 1997. Although fragmentary, the version could shed considerable light on the textual tradition of the Analects if its readings were ever fully employed in a critical edition. Dingzhou (定州市; pinyin: Dìngzhōu Shì) is a city in the Hebei province of China. ... Hebei (Chinese: 河北; pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: Ho-pei; Postal System Pinyin: Hopeh) is a northern province of the Peoples Republic of China. ...

Towards the late Western Han Dynasty, Zhang Yu, who was a teacher of Emperor Cheng, combined the Lu and Qi versions of Analects but kept to the number of chapters in the Lu Analects. Zhang's version then came to be known as the Marquis Zhang Analects, which is largely the version we know today. The Han Dynasty (Traditional Chinese characters: 漢朝, Simplified Chinese characters: 汉朝, pinyin Hàncháo 202 BC - AD 220) followed the Qin Dynasty and preceded the Three Kingdoms in China. ... Phil Chang (Chinese: ; Pinyin: ) (born 30 April 1967 in Taipei) is a male Chinese singer-songwriter from Taiwan. ... Emperor Josh Lin (51 BC–7 BC) was an emperor of the Chinese Han Dynasty ruling from 33 BC until 7 BC. Under Emperor Cheng, the Han dynasty continued its slide into disintegration while the Wang clan continued its slow grip on power and on governmental affairs as promoted by...

E. Bruce Brooks and Taeko Brooks in their work The Original Analects suggests an alternative interpretation of the chapters' organization, based on language usage patterns within the text. This work suggests that the text of the Analects as we have received them is heavily accreted, and represents the additions of many generations of school heads. Due to the changing political, social, and cultural environments, different heads of the Confucian school chose to praise or denigrate different of their predecessors, and even described very different social practices and ritual environments. Brooks and Brooks view a subset of Analects 4 as representing the ideas of the original Confucius, who lived during a time when the traditional bonds of a warrior-based, personality-based society were breaking down to change to a more mediated society with a broader nobility from the old military elite and with less direct access to the king: these early chapters represent the old military ethic of extreme faithfulness to superiors and paternal care for inferiors, with almost no emphasis on mannered ritual, as chronologically later chapters might suggest.

Influence and significance

Since Confucius' time, the Analects has heavily influenced the philosophy and moral values of China and later other East Asian countries as well. Together with the other three volumes of the Four Books, it taught the basic Confucian values including propriety (禮/礼), righteousness, loyalty and filial piety, all centered about the central thought of Confucius – humanity . East Asia Geographic East Asia. ... The Four Books of Confucianism (Traditional Chinese: ; pinyin: ) (not to be confused with the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature), are Chinese classic texts that Zhu Xi selected, in the Song dynasty, as an introduction to Confucianism: the Great Learning, the Doctrine of the Mean, the Analects of Confucius...

For almost two thousand years,the Analects had also been the fundamental course of study for any Chinese scholar, for a man was not considered morally upright or enlightened if he did not study Confucius' works. The imperial examination, started in the Jin Dynasty and eventually abolished with the founding of the Republic of China, emphasized Confucian studies and expected candidates to quote and apply the words of Confucius in their essays. Download high resolution version (968x720, 236 KB) This image has been released into the public domain by the copyright holder, its copyright has expired, or it is ineligible for copyright. ... The Imperial examinations (Traditional Chinese: ; pinyin: ) in Imperial China determined who among the population would be permitted to enter the states bureaucracy. ... The Jin Dynasty (晉 pinyin: jìn, 265-420), one of the Six Dynasties, followed the Three Kingdoms and preceded the Southern and Northern Dynasties in China. ... For the Chinese civilization, see China. ...

The Analects of Confucius has also been translated into many languages, most notably into English by Arthur Waley, Charles Muller and William Edward Soothill. Portions were translated into Latin by Western Christian missionaries in the late 16th century. Look up translate in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Arthur David Waley (August 19, 1889 – June 27, 1966) was a noted English Orientalist and Sinologist. ... Charles Muller is a translator specializing in East Asian philosophical texts. ... William Edward Soothill (1861 – 1935) was a Professor of Chinese at Oxford University and a leading British sinologist. ... For other uses, see Latin (disambiguation). ... The history of the missions of the Jesuits in China in the early modern era stands as one of the notable events in the early history of relations between China and the Western world, as well as a prominent example of relations between two cultures and belief systems in the... (15th century - 16th century - 17th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 16th century was that century which lasted from 1501 to 1600. ...

A particular point of interest lies in Chapter 10 of the book, which contains detailed descriptions of Confucius' behaviors in various daily activities. This has been pointed at by Voltaire and Ezra Pound to show how much Confucius was a mere human. Simon Leys, who recently translated the Analects into English and French, said that the book may well have been the first in human history to describe the life of an individual, historic personage. For the singer of the same name, see Voltaire (musician). ... Ezra Pound in 1913. ... Pierre Ryckmans (born 28 September 1935, in Brussels, Belgium), who also writes as Simon Leys, is a writer, sinologist, essayist and literary critic. ...

See also

• Chinese classic texts
• Sacred text
• Virtue jurisprudence

Chinese classic texts or Chinese canonical texts are the classical literature in Chinese culture that are considered to be the best or the most valuable. ... Many religions and spiritual movements believe that their sacred texts (or scriptures) are the Word of God, often feeling that the texts are wholly divine or spiritually inspired in origin. ... In the philosophy of law, virtue jurisprudence is the name given to theories of law related to virtue ethics. ...

External links

Wikisource has original text related to this article:

The Analects

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to:

Analects

Original Chinese text at Chinese Wikisource (維基文庫) :

論語

• Analects.Org Confucius and selected readings on strategy
• English Translation of the Analects by Charles Muller
• Multilingual edition of the Analects in Chinese, English and French
• An English Translation from the University of Adelaide Library
• Translations of the Analects in over 20 languages. With footnotes.

This article contains Chinese text. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Chinese characters.

--121.208.209.114 (talk) 08:58, 21 November 2007 (UTC) Image File history File links Zhongwen. ... Japanese name Kanji: Hiragana: Korean name Hangul: Hanja: Vietnamese name Quốc ngữ: Hán tá»±: A Chinese character or Han character (simplified Chinese: ; traditional Chinese: ; pinyin: ) is a logogram used in writing Chinese, Japanese, sometimes Korean, and formerly Vietnamese. ...