The Analects of Confucius Read online

  The Analects of Confucius

  TRANSLATIONS FROM THE ASIAN CLASSICS

  Analects of Confucius, stone stele fragment. Imperial scholars, using a special style of calligraphy called li, inscribed the Analects and other classical texts on stone stele, which they erected in the Imperial Academy in A.D. 175. The stones were destroyed soon after during the wars that brought the dynasty to an end, and the fragments were buried for protection. They were later unearthed during the Song dynasty. This fragment depicts a section of the Analects and measures 52 by 35 centimeters.

  PHOTOGRAPH AND PERMISSION COURTESY OF THE NATIONAL LIBRARY OF CHINA, BEIJING.

  The Analects of Confucius

  TRANSLATED BY BURTON WATSON

  COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY PRESS NEW YORK

  COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY PRESS

  Publishers Since 1893

  New York Chichester, West Sussex

  cup.columbia.edu

  Copyright © 2007 Columbia University Press

  All rights reserved

  E-ISBN 978-0-231-51199-5

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Confucius.

  [Lun yü. English]

  The Analects of Confucius / translated by Burton Watson.

  p. cm.—(Translations from the Asian classics)

  Includes bibliographical references.

  ISBN 978-0-231-14164-2 (cloth : alk. paper)

  ISBN 978-0-231-14165-9 (pbk. : alk. paper)

  ISBN 978-0-231-51199-5 (electronic)

  I. Watson, Burton, 1925– II. Title. III. Series.

  PL2478.L3 2007

  181′.112—DC22

  2007005401

  A Columbia University Press E-book.

  CUP would be pleased to hear about your reading experience with this e-book at [email protected].

  Contents

  INTRODUCTION

  Book One

  Book Two

  Book Three

  Book Four

  Book Five

  Book Six

  Book Seven

  Book Eight

  Book Nine

  Book Ten

  Book Eleven

  Book Twelve

  Book Thirteen

  Book Fourteen

  Book Fifteen

  Book Sixteen

  Book Seventeen

  Book Eighteen

  Book Nineteen

  Book Twenty

  GLOSSARY OF PERSONS

  AND PLACES

  Introduction

  Lunyu, or The Analects of Confucius, has probably exercised a greater influence on the history and culture of the Chinese people than any other work in the Chinese language. Not only has it shaped the thought and customs of China over many centuries, but it has played a key role in the development of other countries that were within the Chinese cultural sphere, such as Korea, Japan, and, later, Vietnam.

  Readers encountering the text for the first time might wonder how this rather brief collection of aphorisms and historical anecdotes could have been so influential. The text, probably compiled in stages some time during the fourth century B.C.E., was at first only one of many philosophical works that embodied the teachings of this or that school of early Chinese thought. The followers of the teachings of Confucius were referred to collectively as the Ru school, which denotes persons who devote themselves to learning and the peaceful arts (as opposed to martial matters).

  Some centuries later, when Emperor Wu (r. 141–87 B.C.E.) of the Han dynasty declared Confucianism the official doctrine of the state, the Analects and other texts associated with Confucius assumed enormous importance. They were regarded as repositories of knowledge of how the empire had been governed in the model eras of antiquity and how the Chinese government system, and society as a whole, should be ordered. In still later centuries, the Analects was treated as a beginning text in the study of classical Chinese, to be committed to memory and, when students were more advanced, studied exhaustively and with its lessons examined in depth.

  CONFUCIUS

  According to tradition, Confucius was born in 551 B.C.E. His family name was Kong; his personal name, Qiu; and his polite name (the name by which most persons would have addressed him), Zhongni. The name Confucius is a Latinized form of Kong fuzi, or Respected Master Kong, a title commonly used to refer to him in Chinese.

  Confucius was born in the small feudal state of Lu, situated in northeastern China in the area of present-day Shandong Province. His father, who was a member of the shi class, the lowest rank of the nobility, died when Confucius was very young. It is clear from the Analects that Confucius grew up in considerable poverty, an experience that seems to have made him particularly sensitive to matters of wealth and class. At an early age, as he tells us, he devoted himself to learning, and the importance of education is a major theme in the Analects.

  The extent to which this “learning” related to written texts and to which it was based on oral traditions is unclear. The Analects refers frequently to two texts, the Book of Odes and the Book of Documents, both of which Confucius, according to legend, had some hand in editing. A third early text, the Book of Changes, is mentioned in one version of the Analects. These constitute three of what later became known as the five Confucian Classics, the other two being the Spring and Autumn Annals, a chronicle of the state of Lu said to have been edited by Confucius, and the Book of Rites, a collection of texts on ritual.

  Whether Confucius’s learning derived from written texts or from oral traditions, he appears to have been intensely concerned with those that reflected the early culture of China, particularly that of the sage rulers Yao and Shun of high antiquity and of the early rulers of the Xia, Yin, and Zhou, the so-called Three Dynasties, when China was believed to have enjoyed exemplary eras of peace and social order. He was especially interested, it would seem, in the rites, music, and other cultural elements that distinguished these periods.

  Confucius’s ambition, it would appear, was to gain official position in his native state of Lu so that he could put his ideals on morality and good government into practice. Later legend depicts him as, in fact, holding fairly high public office in Lu, but there is little or no evidence in the Analects to support such a supposition. To understand the problems that Confucius faced in his search for office, we must review the social and political situation in the China of his time.

  The Zhou people, founders of the dynasty under which Confucius lived, came originally from a region in western China. Kings Wen and Wu, who founded the dynasty, probably around 1040 B.C.E., had their capital in the area of present-day Xi’an. Under their rule and that of their immediate successors, China was divided into a vast number of feudal domains whose leaders acknowledged fealty to the Zhou king (or Son of Heaven) and aided him in repelling the attacks of non-Chinese peoples living on China’s borders. One such attack in 771 B.C.E., however, forced the Zhou rulers to abandon their original capital in the west and move east to the area of Luoyang, a step that marked the beginning of the era known as Eastern Zhou (771–256 B.C.E.).

  By this time, the Zhou kings had ceased to wield any real authority but were allowed to continue occupying the throne because of their religious significance as heads of the ruling clan. Actual power had meanwhile passed into the hands of the rulers of the larger feudal states, such as Qi on the Shandong Peninsula and Jin in northeastern China. In the Analects, Confucius is depicted as speaking favorably of the leaders of these two states because of their ability, at least for a time, to restore order and unity to the nation and protect it from foreign invasion.

  Because the Zhou kings were no longer strong enough to enforce conditions of order and stability, as they supposedly had in earlier centuries, the more
powerful feudal states were able to swallow up their weaker neighbors and ally themselves with one another to advance their aims. Thus the era was marked by almost constant warfare, the feudal lords, who lived in walled cities, venturing forth in cumbersome war chariots to attack this or that foe, accompanied by foot soldiers enlisted from the peasantry, who ran alongside the chariots. Confucius himself disclaimed any knowledge of military matters and deplored the warlike tenor of the age, but it is reflected in numerous passages of the Analects.

  In addition to the threat of incursion from predatory neighbors, many of the feudal domains of the time were troubled by succession disputes. Although the principle of primogeniture was recognized in general, rulers at times disregarded it or delayed making clear their choice of an heir. Sons of the ruler, often by different mothers, vied for favor or fled or were exiled from the state entirely, taking up residence in neighboring states where they could gather supporters and, in time, attempt to enforce their claim to rulership. Such a situation is reflected in the Analects in the power struggle that ensued after the death of Duke Ling of the state of Wei between his son Kuai Kui and his grandson Che, a struggle in which one of Confucius’s leading disciples, Zilu, was killed in combat.

  The ruling family of Confucius’s native state of Lu traced its descent to Dan, the duke of Zhou, a younger brother of King Wu, the founder of the Zhou dynasty. It was thus of ancient and distinguished lineage, and Confucius looked on the duke of Zhou with particular awe and veneration. But by Confucius’s time, the dukes of Lu had lost much of their actual power and authority. As had happened or was in the process of happening in other states, power had passed into the hands of ministerial families—in Lu, three cadet families descended from sons of Duke Huan of Lu and referred to in the Analects as the “three Ji families.” Powerful ministerial families such as these at times posed a serious threat to the rulers of the feudal domains and, in some cases, eventually overthrew and replaced them or brought about the partitioning of the states.

  These, then, were the political conditions that confronted Confucius while he was growing up in Lu and acquiring the knowledge of Chinese history, culture, and ritual practice that allowed him to become a distinguished teacher. Because of such knowledge and his status as a member of the lower aristocracy, he was permitted to take part in rituals of the ruler’s court and, judging from the Analects, was at times consulted by the ruler on matters of government. But, as stated earlier, it is doubtful that he ever held a government post of any distinction.

  Meanwhile, he gathered around him a number of disciples, some of whom held posts in the service of the Ji families, and these he endeavored to imbue with his standards of moral conduct and political ideals. Failing to gain a hearing from the dukes of Lu, in his middle years he journeyed, together with some of his disciples, to nearby states in the hope of finding a more sympathetic reception for his ideas. But such wanderings proved for the most part disappointing and, at times, even exposed him and his followers to hardship and hostility.

  His political ambitions unrealized, Confucius returned to Lu and devoted his remaining years to teaching. According to legend, in these later years he gave himself to the editing and transmission of the five so-called Confucian Classics, though in fact it is uncertain whether some of these texts were even in existence at this time.

  According to the Analects, he had a daughter, whose marriage he arranged, and a son, Boyu, who died some years before his father. Confucius is said to have died in 479 B.C.E. In Analects 14:40, one contemporary of his, clearly not very favorably disposed toward him, describes him as “the one who knows there’s nothing that can be done but keeps on trying.” That may have been the general assessment of Confucius and his teaching at the time of his death.

  THE ANALECTS

  Lunyu means “Conversations,” but the book is customarily referred to in English by the term Analects, which refers to a selection from the writings or sayings of a particular person—in this case, Confucius. It consists of a large number of brief passages, some only a sentence or two in length, arranged in twenty sections, or “Books.” There appears to be little or no logic to the arrangement of the material. Many of the passages record sayings attributed to Confucius, “the Master”; others report the words of his disciples or describe historical incidents in which he or his followers figure, while a few passages seem to have little or no connection with Confucius at all.

  Understanding of the work is made difficult by the fact that it is among the earliest extended prose works in Chinese and one that attempts to represent the conversational style of the period. It makes frequent use of parallelisms and the carefully balanced style typical of ancient Chinese and often cites rhymed “sayings” or lines of poetry to emphasize a point. At the same time, it employs a variety of particles that lend a conversational tone to the utterances.

  It was probably a hundred years or more after the death of Confucius before the Analects assumed anything like its present form. Linguistic studies of the text and considerations of content suggest that some parts are of later date than others and that the text represents an amalgam of views held by different groups among the followers of the Confucian school. Readers interested in learning more about these theories regarding the dating of the different sections of the Analects may consult works such as E. Bruce Brooks and A. Taeko Brooks’s The Original Analects. But for those encountering the text for the first time, it is best to read it as a unified whole and in its present order, which is how it has traditionally been read and understood over the centuries in China and the other countries within the Chinese cultural sphere.

  The Chinese have shown a marked fondness for pithy sayings and the belief that the most important truths can best be expressed, or at least conveniently summed up, in aphoristic form, a conviction that clearly permeates the wording of the Analects. Moreover, they have believed, as evidenced by their abiding concern with the keeping and study of historical records, that ideas are best understood and remembered in the form of events tied to actual historical times and personages. In the Analects, therefore, the reader will find no lengthy discussions of terminology or expositions of ideas. Instead, moral and political concepts are presented in terms of particular individuals, the teacher Confucius and the disciple or other person with whom he is conversing, and the particular circumstances under discussion. And because the participants and circumstances vary in different passages, the manner in which the ideas are conveyed varies accordingly. The reader of the Analects should be prepared to encounter not a formal treatise but conversations that seek to illuminate or grapple with important concepts, sometimes in clear and succinct form, at other times in more oblique fashion, colored by the sort of surprise, misunderstanding, pleased reaction, displeased reaction, humor, or sarcasm that characterize conversations in real life. The Analects endeavors to present insights into the actual exchange of ideas between teacher and student, the activity that was at the core of Confucius’s life and importance as an individual.

  THE CONFUCIAN TEACHINGS

  The best way to approach an overall discussion of the Confucian teachings as they are reflected in the Analects may be to examine some of the key terms that Confucius and his disciples employ in their pronouncements.

  As stated earlier, we are not certain which texts and oral traditions were available to these persons to provide them with an understanding of early Chinese history. Confucius several times speaks of Yao and Shun, ideal sovereigns who were believed to have ruled the empire in very ancient times. Although the Analects makes no clear reference to the fact, Yao was traditionally believed to have passed over his own son and chosen Shun, a man of great virtue but unrelated to him by blood, as his successor. And Shun in time did likewise, it was said, ceding the throne to Yu, because of his moral worth, rather than to his own son. This “ceding” principle, the belief that wisdom and moral stature rather than birth alone are what qualify one for rulership, seems to underlie much of Confucius’s thinking in the
Analects. Nowhere does he actually advocate such acts of ceding or openly challenge the idea of hereditary rule. But in discussing the ruler’s ministers, he makes clear that, in his view, it is moral standing rather than birth that qualifies one for official position; he stresses that in matters of education there should be no class distinctions; and he indicates that as a teacher he is ready to give instruction to anyone, regardless of the person’s social background, who sincerely desires to learn.

  According to legend, Shun’s successor, Yu, the founder of the Xia dynasty, encouraged agriculture, carried out flood-control measures, and ensured peace and stability within the realm. His reign, and those of his immediate successors, like those of Yao and Shun, were models of good government. But in time, the virtue of the Xia rulers declined until the throne passed to Jie, an evil tyrant. At that point, at least according to later belief, Heaven (a term discussed later) withdrew its support, the so-called Mandate of Heaven, from the dynasty and bestowed it elsewhere. A virtuous leader, King Tang, arose to overthrow the Xia regime and found a new dynasty, the Shang or Yin, and once again China enjoyed wise and benevolent rule. The virtue of the new dynasty, however, followed the same pattern of decline, ending in the reign of another tyrant, Zhou (written with a different character from the name of the dynasty that supplanted him). Claiming that they were acting on the Mandate of Heaven, a new group of leaders emerged to challenge the Yin’s rule: King Wen, the Cultured King, who began the undertaking, and his son King Wu, the Martial King, who overthrew the Yin, established a new dynasty, the Zhou, and initiated a new era of peace and upright government.

  In the Analects, Confucius frequently employs the term dao, which means “a path or way” and, by extension, “a method of doing things.” In some contexts, such as the writings of the Daoist school, the word has more metaphysical connotations. But in Confucius’s pronouncements, it refers specifically to the characteristics of peaceful, benevolent, and culturally distinguished government typical of the periods of ideal rule, particularly that of the early years of the Zhou dynasty.