AUTHOR: CONFUCIUS
DATE: COLLECTED FIFTH–THIRD CENTURIES BC
The Analects are the collected sayings and thoughts of the great Chinese philosopher, Confucius. The book post-dates Confucius himself (551–479 BC), and was likely initially compiled by his followers at some stage during China’s Warring States Period (475–221 BC) before taking the form with which we are familiar today under the Han dynasty (202 BC–AD 220). Often characterized as the epitome of ‘Eastern wisdom’, Confucianism revolutionized Chinese – and wider Asian – civilization by promoting a code of conduct demanding correct behaviour in both the public and private spheres. His teachings continue to wield significant influence today.
He was born Kong Qiu at Qufu in the Lu state of China in 551 BC. The name ‘Confucius’ is in fact a Europeanization of one of his later official titles, Kong Fuzi – Master Kong. His life coincided with a period of upheaval as the relative calm of China’s so-called Spring and Autumn Period gave way to the more troubled Warring States Period. His family enjoyed moderate wealth and prestige, and when he was still not yet twenty years old, he became a civil servant in the Lu court, where he emerged as a diplomat of rare skill. There he developed a model of secure, moral, centralized government that would underpin much of his wider philosophy. However, he was unable to entirely sidestep the constant wave of dynastic disputes brewing between the leading aristocratic families, and he eventually went into voluntary exile in 497 BC, during which time he travelled widely and worked as a teacher before returning to Qufu, where he died in 479 BC. This almost two decades away from home ensured that few of his ideas came to fruition in his own life, so it fell to later generations to take up his mantle.
In pursuit of fair and just government, Confucius emphasized the links between personal conduct and the wider social good. He confronted Chinese tradition by disputing that power and virtue are divinely bestowed on an elite. Instead, he regarded humanity as an agent of divine will, charged with creating moral order. Virtue, he said, is not given but cultivated. He argued that everybody, regardless of their social station, could behave with virtue and benevolence and thus have a role to play in developing the social structure. Moreover, he believed that judgement and wisdom are more important than unthinking obedience to rules, and that those with power ought to set a moral example. ‘Exemplary persons,’ he said, ‘help out the needy; they do not make the rich richer.’
For a region long used to living with a strict social hierarchy, such theories were inflammatory. That is not to say, though, that he was entirely a radical. Many aspects of his outlook on social affairs were highly conservative. For example, he demanded observance of traditional rituals and ceremonies (such as ancestor worship) and the practice of filial piety, while also urging individuals at every social level to accept their status and fulfil their role to the best of their abilities. He envisaged a society based on reciprocal relationships: where a sovereign should be benevolent, his subject must be loyal; a parent loving, and a child respectful; a husband fair, his wife understanding. Take, for instance, his following aphorism: ‘At home, a young man should be a good son, when outside he should treat others like his brothers, his behaviour should be trustworthy and proper, and he should love the multitude at large and keep himself close to people of benevolence and morality. If after all these activities, he has any energy to spare, he should read widely to stay cultivated.’ By doing right, Confucius argued, we shall be treated rightly in return, and thus society becomes intrinsically fairer. In the words of his ‘Golden Rule’: ‘Do not do to others what you would not have done to yourself.’
Key to the Confucian belief system is the idea of sincerity, of which he said it is ‘the end and beginning of things; without sincerity there would be nothing’. ‘Sincerity becomes apparent,’ he taught. ‘From being apparent, it becomes manifest. From being manifest, it becomes brilliant. Brilliant, it affects others. Affecting others, they are changed by it. Changed by it, they are transformed. It is only he who is possessed of the most complete sincerity that can exist under heaven, who can transform.’
The ‘Doctrine of the Mean’, a key text of Confucianism probably written by his grandson Zisi, put it like this: ‘Sincerity is the way of Heaven. The attainment of sincerity is the way of men. He who possesses sincerity is he who, without an effort, hits what is right, and apprehends, without the exercise of thought; he is the sage who naturally and easily embodies the right way. He who attains to sincerity is he who chooses what is good, and firmly holds it fast.’
Confucius was also interested in questions of knowledge and wisdom. ‘To know what you know and know what you do not know – this then is wisdom,’ he concluded. He considered education bred confidence, which in turn bred hope, which itself brought peace. He also urged that we learn from mistakes and, crucially, rectify them since by not doing so is to commit another mistake. ‘By three methods we may learn wisdom,’ he claimed. ‘First, by reflection, which is noblest; second, by imitation, which is easiest; and third by experience, which is the bitterest.’
ENDURING APPEAL
Confucius may represent the wisdom of the ancients but he continues to attract new followers. In 2009 the Holy Confucian Church was founded by Zhou Beichen, a student of the noted modern-day Confucian disciple Jiang Qing. The first church was based in Shenzhen, one of China’s largest cities. A national entity, the Holy Confucian Church of China, appeared six years later with the ultimate aim of establishing Confucianism as a state religion.
In the centuries immediately after Confucius’s death, great weight was given to the so-called Five Classics that Confucius was held to have written and edited (although their authorship is now much disputed). These were the Classic of Poetry, the Book of Documents, the Book of Rites, the I Ching (or Book of Changes) and the Spring and Autumn Annals. The Analects were long thought of as rather secondary, serving as a mere commentary on these other works. But over time, it is the Analects that have been most widely absorbed. The oldest-known extant copies, both dating to c. 50 BC, were discovered at locations in Hubei Province and Pyongyang in North Korea, in 1973 and 1992 respectively.
Their influence extended to Europe in the seventeenth century when they were introduced by Jesuit missionaries working in China. Voltaire was among those to take notice, commenting: ‘Confucius has no interest in falsehood; he did not pretend to be a prophet; he claimed no inspiration; he taught no new religion; he used no delusions; flattered not the emperor under whom he lived …’ But it is in East Asia that Confucius’s ideas have had most impact (even when out of favour for a large part of the twentieth century under China’s communist regime) – not only in China, but in Japan, Korea, Singapore, Vietnam and elsewhere.