¡°Analects of Confucius¡± records sayings of Confucius, which were recorded by the disciples of Confucius and their students. The books was listed as official teaching material during the reign of Emperor W¨¦n of H¨¤n (179 B.C.-157 B.C.).
A. Important Comments on the Analects:
1. Ancient Comments
Zh¨¤o Q¨ª (ÕÔáªapprox. 108-201) regarded The Analects of Confucius as the key to the Five Classics and a general link of the Six Arts.
T¨¢ng Y¨¤n (ÌÆêÌ1857-1920£©held that ever since Confucian thoughts became the official learning in the Western H¨¤n Dynasty, The Analects of Confucius had been studied almost by every house as the core in Chinese learning, and this had not been changed in the last two thousand years.
A Portrait of Confucius
2. Modern Comments
(1) Comments by Li¨¢ng Q¨«ch¨¡o (1873-1929):
¡°The Analects of Confucius has been the fountainhead of Chinese thought for two thousand years. From the time of the S¨°ng Dynasty, The Book of Mencius has become as important as The Analects of Confucius. These two books have been the dominant factor throughout the entire life the Chinese people. I, therefore, hope that you can get acquainted with them and are able to memorize these texts. Even if you cannot memorize, you should thumb through them very often, and quote important contents when necessary, and for the purpose of cultivation, you may wish to keep in mind the parts that you want to put into practice.¡±
(2) Comments by Qi¨¢n M¨´ (1895-1990): ¡°All scholars in today¡¯s China have two responsibilities. The first is to read ¡®The Analects of Confucius¡¯; the second is to persuade others to read ¡®The Analects of Confucius¡¯¡±
(3) Comments by Li¨¢ng Sh¨´m¨ªng (1893-1988):
¡°Confucius is the centre of Chinese culture. Without Confucius, there is no Chinese culture. We relied on Confucius as a way of inheriting the culture of thousands of years before him and we shall rely on him to develop our culture for thousands of years after him.¡±(4) Comments by M¨u Zh¨ngji¨¤n (1939- ):
¡°Confucius set the spiritual orientation for the Chinese nation. He epitomized the achievements of the Five-Emperor period and those of the Xi¨¤, Sh¨¡ng and Zh¨u dynasties. He created the theories of benevolence and propriety on the basis of expounding the Six Classics. He set benevolence and harmony as the humanistic orientation for the development of the Chinese nation. He proposed universal ethical values for society and human life. All of his theories constitute our nation¡¯s cultural vein, gene, basic character, leading thoughts in the Chinese culture and core values of the Chinese nation.¡±
Lectures on Confucius by the Spring City Confucian School
B. Chronology of Confucius
September 28, 551 B.C. Confucius was born at Ch¨¡ngp¨ªng town of Z¨uy¨ª in the State of L¨³.
550 B.C. in the State of L¨³.
549 B.C. His father Sh¨±li¨¢ng H¨¦ died, his mother Y¨¢n Zh¨ªz¨¤i moved to Ju¨¦l¨« of Q¨±f¨± where they led a hard life.
548 B.C. He was 4 years old and stayed in L¨³.
547 B.C. He was 5 years old. His disciple Q¨ªn Sh¨¡ngsh¨¥ng was born in L¨³.
546 B.C. He was 6 years old. His disciple Z¨¥ng Di¨£n (father of Z¨¥ng S¨¥n) was born.
545 B.C. He was 7 years old. His disciple Y¨¢n Y¨¢o (father of Y¨¢n Yu¨¡n) was born.
A book recorded the date of birth of Confucius.
544 B.C. He was 8 years old. His disciple R¨£n G¨¥ng was born.
543 B.C. He was 9 years old. In that year, Z¨«ch¨£n was in power in the State of Zh¨¨ng, ¡°who formulated laws and regulations for the fiefs, the senior and junior had distinguishing outfits, farming land had ditches and bordrs and every five household had one well.¡± Confucius highly appraised Z¨«ch¨£n¡¯s achievements.
542 B.C. He was 10. His disciple Zh¨°ng Y¨®u (adult name Z¨« L¨´) was born. Duke Xi¨¡ng passed away, his son took over as Duke Zh¨¡o.
541 B.C. He was 11 and stayed in L¨³.
540 B.C. He was 12. His disciple Q¨© Di¨¡ok¨¡i was born.
539 B.C. He was 13 and stayed in L¨³.
538 B.C. He was 14 and stayed in L¨³.
537 B.C. He was 15 and realized one has to learn how tobe a Person and what to live on, as he said ¡°At the age of fifteen I made up my mind to give myself to serious studies.¡± (Paragraph 4, Chapter 2, Analects of Confucius)
536 B.C. He was 16. A tripod bearing the criminal law was made at the State of Zh¨¨ng. His disciple M¨«n S¨³n wasborn.
535 B.C. He was 17, his mother passed away. The J¨¬ family was hosting a dinner for ¡°Sh¨¬¡± level nobility, yet he went and was refused at the entrance.
533 B.C. He was 19 and married the daughter of Q¨ª Gu¨¡n family.
532 B.C. He was 20, his son was born. It so happened that Duke ZH¨¡o was sending a carp to him, so he named his son Carp. He began to look after awarehouse this year.
531 B.C. He was 21. He changed his job to management of livestock. As he said, ¡°When I was young, I was a low position in life: therefore I had to acquire knowledge in many things.¡±
525 B.C. He was 27. When Viscount of T¨¢n was calling on Duke of L¨³, Confucius asked him about the official system in T¨¢n. In this year, Confucius began to run a school.
522 B.C. He was 30. He has established himself in the society, As he said, ¡°At thirty I took my stand.¡± He had a meeting with Duke J¨«ng of Q¨ª to discuss why Duke M¨´ of Q¨ªn claimed to be the leading power. Several of his disciples were born in that year.
A Image of Yan Hui, a disciple of Confucius.
518 B.C. He was 34. M¨¨ng Y¨ªz¨« and N¨¢ng¨ng J¨¬ngsh¨± began to learn propriety from Confucius. It has been said Confucius and N¨¢ng¨ng J¨¬ngsh¨± went to L¨£o Z¨« and asked him questions about propriety, and then they went to Ch¨¢ngH¨®ng to ask about music.
517. B.C. He was 35. Civil unrest broke out in L¨³. Duke Zh¨¡o faught against the three families of J¨¬, M¨¨ngs¨±n and Sh¨±s¨±n but failed and fled to Q¨ª. Confucius also went to Q¨ª.
516 B.C. He was 36. Duke J¨«ng of Q¨ª asked Confucius about government. Confucius replied: ¡°A monarch is a monarch, a minister is a minister; a father is a father and a son is a son.¡± Duke J¨«ng of Q¨ª wanted to grant a fiefdom to Confucius with lands at N¨ªx¨©, but Y¨¤nz¨« stopped it. Confucius thoroughly enjoyed the Sh¨¤o music so much that for three consecutive months he didn¡¯t know the taste of meat.
515 B.C. He was 37. Some middle level officials in Q¨ª intended to kill Confucius. He returned to L¨³. He admired the Prince of W¨², J¨¬ Z¨¡ and went \to watch the funeral service for J¨¬¡¯s son.
513 B.C. He was 39. A tripod bearing criminal law was made in the State of J¨¬n. Confucius remarked, ¡°The fall of J¨¬n is caused by lack of laws.¡±
512 B. C. He was 40. As he said, ¡°At forty he is no longer puzzled.¡±
Confucius called on Lao Zi.
504 B.C. He was 48. This was a time when the family servant Y¨¢ng H¨³ was in power, to which Confucius remarked, ¡°when subordinate officers have the power of the government in their hands they generally lose their authority in the course of three generations.¡± As a matter of fact Y¨¢ng H¨³ asked Confucius to work for him, to this request, Confucius didn¡¯t reply. He concentrated him time on revising ¡°The Book of Songs¡±, ¡°The Book of Documentation¡±, ¡°TheBook of Rites¡± and ¡°The Book of Music¡±.
501 B.C. He was 51. He was appointed the Chief of Zh¨ngd¨± County and did a good job. A year later, other counties wanted to learn from him.
500 B.C. He was 52. He was promoted to a Deputy Minister of Water Conservancy and Construction, and then to the Minister of Justice. In the summer he accompanied Duke D¨¬ng to meet with the Marquis of Q¨ª in a valley. Because Confucius was highly on guard against the possible plots by the Q¨ª, he frustrated their attempt to kidnap the duke and forced them to return some land they took away from L¨³.
499 B.C. He was 53. The state was well governed with Confucius as the Minister of Justice.
498 B.C. He was 54. He tried to reduce the power of three families and had to give up half way.
497 B.C. He was 55. The State of Q¨ª sent 80 beauties to L¨³. The monark accepted them and was infatuated with songs and dances and paid little attention to state affairs. Confucius was in discord with him. He departed from L¨³ and went to W¨¨i. He was forced to leave W¨¨i for Ch¨¦n in October He was besieged at Ku¨¡ng and P¨³ on his way, and had to return to the capital of W¨¨i.
Confucius giving his lecture.
496 B.C. He was 56. He went to see the wife of Duke L¨ªng of W¨¨i¡ªN¨¢n Z¨«. His disciple Z¨« L¨´ criticized this action. Confucius was very sad at the death of Z¨« Ch¨£n of Zh¨¨ng, Confucius praised him as ¡°the left love by the ancient people.¡±
495 B.C. He was 57. Confucius stayed in L¨³. Duke D¨¬ng of L¨³ passed away and Duke ?i succeeded as the new monarch.
494 B.C. He was 58. Confucius stayed in L¨³. The State of W¨² sent some one to L¨³ and asked Confucius about the ¡°a piece of bone that was as long as a cart.¡±
493 B.C. He was 59. Confucius came to the State of W¨¨i again, Duke L¨ªng of W¨¨i asked him about formations in battlesHe said he never learned about military affairs, and he left W¨¨i for the west and reached the State of S¨°ng via the State of C¨¢o. The Minister of Defense at S¨°ng wanted to kill Confucius. Confucius had to run away in disguise.
492 B.C. He was 60. When he was passing through the State of Zh¨¨ng, he lost his disciples and was waiting for themat the east gate of Zh¨¨ng and was laughed at as ¡°a deserted dog¡±, to which he replied, ¡°right! Right!¡±
491 B.C. He was 61. He left Ch¨¦n for C¨¤i.
490 B.C. He was 62. He went to Y¨¨ from C¨¤i. Duke of Y¨¨ discussed with him issue of government and integrity and moral standard. On the way returning to C¨¤i, he met with a hermit.
489 B.C. He was 63. He and his disciples were enclosed at a place between Ch¨¦n and C¨¤i, food supply was stopped, some students became ill because shortage of food. Some from Ch¨³ saved them. On his way to W¨¨i from Ch¨³, he met with the hermit again.
488 B.C. He was 64. He stayed in W¨¨i. He proposed that one¡¯s cause has to be justified if the person wanted to be in the government.
487 B.C. He was 65. He stayed in W¨¨i. The State of W¨³ staged a war against L¨³, but failed.
486 B.C. He was 66. He stayed in W¨¨i.
485 B.C. He was 67. He stayed in W¨¨i and his wife passed away.
484 B.C. He was 68. The State of Q¨ª waged a war against L¨³. His disciple R¨£n Y¨¯u of the commander of the L¨³ troops and won the war. When asked from where he got his commanding skills, R¨£n Y¨¯u replied that he got it from Confucius. The ruler of L¨³ welcome Confucius for his return with presents, by then Confucius ended his tours to 14 states.
483 B.C. He was 69. He still wished to work in the government. But the ruler didn¡¯t want to use him. He then concentrated on education and sorting of documents. His son K¨¯ng L¨ª died.
A Gallery of the Headquarters of the Confucius School
482 B.C. He was 70. As he said, ¡°at seventy, I followed my heart¡¯s desire without overstepping.¡± He was sad at the loss of Y¨¢n Hu¨ª, one of his disciples.
481 B.C. He was 71. Confucius thought it was not a good sign to have a unicorn captured. He stopped revision of ¡°The Annuls of the Spring and Autumn¡±. His request to fight against Q¨ª, whose duke was murdered, was turned down.
480 B.C. He was 72. He was sad at the loss of Z¨« L¨´, who was killed in W¨¨i.
479 B.C. He was 73. He died of illness on April 11. Some of his disciples looked after him tomb for three years, Z¨« G¨°ng for six years. His residence was altered into a temple for people to offer sacrifices.
