Talks with Confucius

The Talks (traditional: Zh-Hans 論語, simplified: zh-Hant 论语, Pinyin: Lúnyǔ , or more rarely Lùnyǔ ), so known under the name of Analectes , is a compilation of speech of Confucius and its disciples as well as discussions between them.

Writings during the Period of Springs and the Falls until the period of the Kingdoms combatants (of 479 av. J. - C. approximately until in 221 a. J. - C.), the Analectes are work representative of the Confucianisme and continue to have a great influence on the way of thinking and the values of Chinese and the people of the East Asia.

History and versions

The Analectes were certainly written or compiled by disciples of Confucius of second generation, and were finished during the period of the Royaumes combatants, although the date of the first complete edition of the Analectes cannot be precisely given.

The paragraphs of the Analectes are grouped by topics. On the other hand the chapters do not follow manner which involves a line of thought or continuous idea. Actually the sequence of the chapters can be regarded as random, the topics of adjacent chapters not being connected the ones to the others.

In addition certain important topics are repeated in various chapters, sometimes with the same terms and sometimes with small variations. These differences led to the conclusion which the text was not the work of only one person, but a collective work. In any event, the final editors of the Analectes were probably disciples of Zengzi (zh-Hant 曾子), which was one of the students of Confucius.

At the time of the Dynasty Han, there existed three versions of the Analectes : Lu analectes (zh-Hant 魯論語 /zh-Hans 鲁论语), analectes of IQ (zh-Hant 齊論語 /zh-Hans 齐论语) and old texts of the analectes (zh-Hant 古文論語 /zh-Hans 古文论语). the Lu analectes and the analectes of IQ were very similar, but the analectes of IQ had two additional chapters - Questionnez the king (zh-Hant 問王 /zh-Hans 问王) and To know (zh-Hans 知道) - beyond the twenty chapters that the three versions divided. In addition, the version of the old texts of the analectes divided the chapter Zizhang (zh-Hant 子張 /zh-Hans 子张) into two chapters. Its arrangement of the chapters and the text was also different on the whole of the two other texts.

Towards the end of the dynasty of Han d' Orient, Zhang Yu (zh-Hant 張禹 /zh-Hans 张禹), which was one of the tutors of the emperor Cheng, combined the versions Lu and IQ of the Analectes but preserved the number of chapters of the Analectes of Lu . The version of Zhang is that which we know most commonly today.

Influence and significance

Since the time of Confucius, the Analectes deeply influenced philosophy and the values morals of the China and later of the other countries of the East Asia. With the three other books which are Mencius (zh-Hant 孟子, Mèngzǐ), the Grande Study (zh-Hant 大學 /zh-Hans 大学, Dàxué, corresponding to a chapter of the Classique of the rites ) and the Invariable Medium (zh-Hant 中庸, Zhōngyōng, that one could also translate by median Voie , the name of another chapter of the Classique of the rites ) one taught the values basic confucéennes which included/understood the property (zh-Hant 禮 /zh-Hans 礼, lǐ ), the virtue (zh-Hant 義 /zh-Hans 义, yì ), honesty (zh-Hant 忠, zhōng ) and filial devotion (zh-Hant 孝, xiào ).

During nearly two thousand years, the Analectes were a fundamental course of study for the Chinese well-read men, because a person was not considered morally right or was not lit if she had not studied work of Confucius. The imperial examinations which began under the Dynastie Jin and which were abolished with the formation of the République of China, stressed the studies confucéennes and forced the candidates to quote Confucius in their duties.

The Analectes were translated in many languages including Latin, French, Spanish, English, etc

Chapter X contains details of the daily life of Confucius. This was noticed by Voltaire and Ezra Pound which drew the conclusion from it that Confucius was only one simple human being. Simon Leys, which recently translated the Analectes into French and in English noted that this book has can be be the first work in the human history to describe the life of an individual, historical character.

See too

Traditional Chinese

External bond

the full text, translated by Seraph Roofer
Talks with Confucius - Translation into English Chinese and

Zh-classical: 論語

Random links: