The Analects of Confucius
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In the translation that follows, the word dao has usually been rendered as “the Way,” with a capital “W” to signal its importance. Confucius gives various instructions on how to behave when “the Way prevails in the world” or when it does not. He clearly believed that it did not prevail in his time, as evidenced by the wars, usurpations of power, and departures from correct ritual practice that marked the age. But he also makes clear that he believes it can be restored at any time. China is not fated to suffer chaos and misrule. The common people are the same as those of the halcyon periods of the past; it is only the rulers who have gone astray. With a return to the principles of correct government, the Way can once more be made to prevail.
The ideal rulers of the past are customarily described as sheng, or “sages,” a term that occurs at times in the Analects. Confucius denied that he himself was a sage or that he had ever encountered a sage, though his compatriots in later centuries would dismiss these disclaimers as mere modesty.
If Confucius has little to say about sages, he spends a great deal of time describing those whom he calls the junzi. The word originally meant “lord’s child” and referred to offspring of the ruling elite. But Confucius, as we have seen, denied that birth alone entitled one to rulership and reinterpreted the term junzi to mean someone whose moral standards and superior understanding entitled him, if not to actual rulership, at least to high official position under a hereditary ruler. Other translators have rendered it as “gentleman,” “superior man,” or “noble person.” I have translated it as “gentleman,” with the understanding that the word here refers not to birth or class but to moral stature. That it refers to men and not women is clear from what we know of early Chinese society. Women had no legitimate role in politics and, in fact, make almost no appearance in the Analects.
Somewhat similar in meaning in the Analects is the term shi, mentioned earlier as a designation for the lowest level of the aristocracy. It is sometimes translated as “knight,” since men of this class were permitted to ride in the war chariots and fight alongside the nobles of higher rank. Confucius, however, who belonged to the shi class, disclaims any knowledge of military affairs and places all emphasis on cultural and peaceful pursuits. When he uses the term shi, it seems to be virtually synonymous with junzi. I have translated it as “man of station,” once more with the understanding that it refers primarily to moral stature rather than to class distinction alone.
Ancestor worship played a vital role in ancient China, and the Analects makes frequent mention of sacrifices and other rites performed for the spirits of the dead, as well as for nature deities of the mountains and rivers. Occasionally we find mention of a higher being or entity known as tian, translated here as “Heaven.” The word may mean simply “sky” and refer to the impersonal forces of nature. More often, it seems to be a synonym for “fate” or “destiny,” at times personalized, as when Confucius in a moment of deep grief exclaims, “Heaven is destroying me!” (11:9). Although Confucius speaks reverently of Heaven and the concept had profound significance for him, he has little to say about religious faith in general. In one famous passage, he advises one of his disciples to “respect the gods and spirits but keep them at a distance” (6:22). In trying to guess what he may have meant by this, one should keep in mind that Confucius’s overriding concern was with the political conditions of his time and the degree to which they could be remedied by teaching people to pay stricter attention to moral standards. Rulers of the period, and of later eras in Chinese history as well, were often greatly influenced by religious figures who claimed to be able to put them in contact with the spirit world or teach them the secrets of immortality. Confucius’s attitude toward the supernatural was probably not agnostic, as has sometimes been claimed. But, as he said on another occasion, “When you don’t yet know how to serve human beings, how can you serve the spirits?” (11:12). He wished first of all that his listeners would keep their attention focused on the ills of society.
As one might expect, the Analects abounds in terms designating the various ethical values that Confucius wished to encourage in the persons whom he addresses. Most of these, I hope, will be clear enough in meaning from the English renderings used for them in the translation: “trustworthiness,” “courtesy,” “respect,” “reciprocity,” and “loyalty,” particularly in the sense of loyalty to another person’s best interests. Special attention is given to rites, because it was believed that by performing the actions prescribed by ritual one could summon forth in the mind the emotions and attitudes appropriate to the occasion.
Readers might perhaps be surprised to observe the amount of emphasis on the term xiao, or “filial obedience or devotion.” But Chinese religion at this time, particularly among the upper classes, revolved mainly around veneration of the family ancestors, expressed through periodic sacrifices to them in an ancestral temple or at a family altar. Moreover, the family was envisioned as the inculcator of moral values in the young: one learned first how to pay proper respect to parents and ancestral spirits and how to live in harmony with siblings and other kin. Only after these patterns of behavior had been mastered in the circle of the family could they be extended to the other members of society.
One moral concept—in some respects the most important one in the Analects—poses considerable problems for both the translator and the reader. This is the principle referred to as ren. It is written in Chinese with a character consisting of the elements for “person” and “two” and is pronounced the same way as the word for “person,” allowing speakers at times to create puns based on this similarity. In order to make such puns understandable, and because I believe it to be the best choice, I have translated the term as “humane” when it is used as an adjective and as “humaneness” when in noun form. Other translators have rendered it variously as “benevolence,” “supreme virtue,” or “the Good.”
Confucius employs the word ren frequently in his remarks, without ever clearly defining it. His disciples, puzzled, repeatedly question him about it, but he appears reluctant to discuss the term at length. Although numerous passages in the Analects refer to ren, the text at one point states: “The Master seldom spoke about … humaneness” (9:11). This seeming anomaly is usually explained as resulting from the fact that, although the disciples were careful to preserve whatever comments the Master made on the subject of humaneness, they were dissatisfied that the sum of such comments was not greater.
At times, Confucius seems to imply that humaneness is quite close at hand, not that difficult to achieve; at other times, he pictures it as the loftiest of ideals and repeatedly denies that this or that person of his own time can be said to have achieved it. Perhaps he saw it as a kind of summation of all the other traits that he believed desirable in human relations, an ideal easily envisioned in the abstract, but all but impossible to achieve. Perhaps he believed that defining it too rigorously would only detract from its validity.
Probably because the Analects was compiled over a considerable period and represents the views of several different groups among the followers of the Confucian school, it is not always consistent in its presentation of the teachings. Some passages are of only historical interest; others are obscure in meaning or exasperatingly vague. But because Confucius’s thinking centers mainly on questions of politics, education, and human relations, the vast majority of his pronouncements and those of his associates remain of vital interest to readers today. Indeed, the very vagueness of the wording has allowed the text to be reinterpreted or readily adapted to fit the changed circumstances of later ages—for example, by interpreting the term junzi to apply to women as well as men. As stated earlier, the Analects has in the past exercised a profound influence on the development of the culture of China and that of its immediate neighbors. One cannot hope to understand the history of those cultures without a knowledge of its contents. At the same time, it reflects not only a particular set of ideas that occupied one particular era of the past but an embodiment of se
ntiments and ideals that are relevant to all of human society. That is no doubt why the Analects has retained its validity for more than two thousand years and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future.
A NOTE ON THE TEXT AND INTERPRETATION
There are two main versions of the Analects: the Lu and Ku texts. They do not differ greatly, but I have noted in my translation one place where there is an important difference. The exact numbering of the individual passages differs slightly in different editions, and my own numbering may therefore not always coincide with that of other translations.
Commentaries fall into two groups: those dating from the Han and Six Dynasties periods, and later ones by Song dynasty Neo-Confucian scholars. My translation for the most part follows the interpretations that have been most commonly accepted over the centuries in China, the Analects as most readers in the past have known it. Where interpretations differ markedly and the differences are of significant interest, I have offered more than one translation of a passage.
In my translation, I have tried as much as possible to follow the wording and word order of the Chinese. The language of the translation, however, is in no way intended to reflect the antiquity of the text. It is in the colloquial English that would be used if these conversations took place today.
OTHER TRANSLATIONS OF THE ANALECTS
AMES, ROGER T. The Analects of Confucius: A Philosophical Translation. New York: Ballantine Books, 1999.
BROOKS, E. BRUCE, AND A. TAEKO BROOKS. The Original Analects: Sayings of Confucius and His Successors (0479–0249). New York: Columbia University Press, 1998.
DAWSON, RAYMOND. The Analects. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1993.
HINTON, DAVID. The Analects. Washington, D.C.: Counterpoint, 1998.
LAU, D. C. The Analects. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1979.
LEGGE, JAMES. The Analects. Vol. 1 of The Chinese Classics. 1861. Reprint, Hong Kong: University of Hong Kong Press, 1960.
POUND, EZRA. Confucius. New York: New Directions, 1951.
SLINGERLAND, EDWARD. Confucius Analects: With Selections from Traditional Commentaries. Indianapolis: Hackett, 2003.
WALEY, ARTHUR. The Analects of Confucius. London: Allen & Unwin, 1938.
In addition to these complete translations, selected translations from the Analects are in the following:
BLOOM, IRENE. “Confucius and the Analects.” In Wm. Theodore de Bary and Irene Bloom, eds., Sources of Chinese Tradition, vol. 1, pp. 41–63. 2nd ed. New York: Columbia University Press, 1990.
CHAN, WING-TSIT. “The Humanism of Confucius.” In Wing-tsit Chan, trans. and comp., A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy, pp. 588–653. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1963.
Book One
1 The Master said, Studying, and from time to time going over what you’ve learned—that’s enjoyable, isn’t it? To have a friend come from a long way off—that’s a pleasure, isn’t it? Others don’t understand him, but he doesn’t resent it—that’s the true gentleman, isn’t it?
2 Master You said,1 A man filial to his parents, a good brother, yet apt to go against his superiors—few are like that! The man who doesn’t like to go against his superiors but likes to plot rebellion—no such kind exists! The gentleman operates at the root. When the root is firm, then the Way may proceed. Filial and brotherly conduct—these are the root of humaneness, are they not?
3 The Master said, Clever words and a pleasing countenance—little humaneness there!
4 Master Zeng said, Each day I examine myself on three matters. In making plans for others, am I being loyal to them? In my dealings with friends, am I being trustworthy? Am I passing on to others what I have not carefully thought about myself?
5 The Master said, Guiding a state of a thousand chariots,2 be attentive to affairs and trustworthy, frugal in expenditures and sparing of others. Employ the common people only at proper times.3
6 The Master said, Young people should be filial at home, brotherly with others, circumspect, and trustworthy. Let them act kindly toward the populace in general and befriend those of humane character. If, after that, they have energy left over, let them study the arts.4
7 Zixia said, If he treats worthy persons as worthy and is respectful to them, does all in his power to serve his father and mother, gives his best in the service of the ruler, and in dealings with friends is faithful to his word, though some may say he lacks learning, I would surely call him learned!
8 The Master said, If the gentleman lacks gravity, he won’t command respect. If he studies he will avoid narrow-mindedness. Put prime value on loyalty and trustworthiness, have no friends who are not your equal,5 and, if you make mistakes, don’t be afraid to correct them.
9 Master Zeng said, Tend carefully to death rites, and pay reverence to those long departed, and the people will in the end be rich in virtue.
10 Ziqin questioned Zigong, saying, When the Master goes to a particular state, he is certain to learn about its government. Does he seek such information? Or do others just give it to him?
Zigong said, The Master goes about it by being cordial, forthright, respectful, modest, and deferential. The Master’s way of seeking is different from that of others.
11 The Master said, While his father is alive, observe his intentions. After his father is dead, observe his actions. If after three years he hasn’t changed his father’s way of doing things, then you can call him filial.
12 Master You said, What ritual values most is harmony. The Way of the former kings was truly admirable in this respect. But if in matters great and small one proceeds in this manner, the results may not always be satisfactory. You may understand the ideal of harmony and work for it, but if you do not employ ritual to regulate the proceedings, things will not go well.
13 Master You said, Trustworthiness is close to rightness—it ensures that people will live up to their word. Courtesy is close to ritual decorum—it ensures that people will give wide berth to shame and disgrace. When one makes no mistakes in what he favors, he can serve as a leader.6
14 The Master said, A gentleman when he eats doesn’t try to stuff himself, when he chooses a dwelling is not overly concerned about comfort. He is attentive to affairs, careful of his words, and looks to those who have the Way to correct himself. He’s the kind who can be called a lover of learning.
15 Zigong said, Poor but free of obsequiousness, rich but free of arrogance—how would that do?
The Master said, All right. But not as good as poor but happy in the Way, rich but a lover of rites.
Zigong said, When the Odes says:
As something cut, something filed,
something ground, something polished7
is that what it’s talking about?
The Master said, Si (Zigong), now I can begin to talk to you about the Odes. Someone tells you the first step, and you understand the step that comes after!
16 The Master said, Don’t worry about whether other people understand you. Worry about whether you understand other people.8
1 For the identity of Master You and other persons mentioned in the text, see the glossary. A few of Confucius’s more distinguished disciples are addressed as “Master.”
2 The domain of a feudal lord.
3 Call them up for forced labor or military service only when they are not busy with farm work.
4 Literature, rites, music, and so on.
5 That is, in moral character.
6 The sentence is obscure and open to widely differing interpretations.
7 Book of Odes, no. 55, which describes a man of elegant bearing. Zigong takes the lines to refer to moral training.
8 That is, judge them correctly.
Book Two
1 The Master said, Conduct government in accordance with virtue, and it will be like the North Star standing in its place, with all the other stars paying court to it.
2 The Master said, The three hundred poems of the Book of Odes may be summed up in a single phrase: Think nothing base.1
4 The Master said, At fifteen I set my mind on learning; by thirty I had found my footing; at forty I was free of perplexities; by fifty I understood the will of Heaven; by sixty I learned to give ear to others; by seventy I could follow my heart’s desires without overstepping the line.
5 Meng Yi Zi asked about filial devotion. The Master replied, Never break the rules.
When Fan Chi was driving the carriage, the Master reported this to him, saying, Meng Sun (Meng Yi Zi) asked me about filial devotion. I told him, Never break the rules.
Fan Chi said, What did you mean by that?
The Master said, While they are alive, serve them according to ritual. When they die, bury them according to ritual, and sacrifice to them in accord with ritual.
6 Meng Wu Bo asked about filial devotion. The Master said, Your father and mother should have to worry only about your falling ill.
[Or, according to another interpretation of the last clause:] In the case of one’s father and mother, one just worries about their falling ill.
7 Ziyou asked about filial devotion. The Master said, Nowadays it’s taken to mean just seeing that one’s parents get enough to eat. But we do that much for dogs or horses as well. If there is no reverence, how is it any different?
8 Zixia asked about filial devotion. The Master said, The difficult part is the facial expression.2 As for young people taking on the heavy work when there’s something to be done, or older people going first when there’s wine and food—can this be called filial devotion?