“The Master said: ‘When the father is alive, watch the son’s aspirations. When the father is dead, watch the son’s actions. If three years later, the son has not veered from the father’s way, he may be called a dutiful son indeed’” (1335)  Author  Time/Date of Composition Contextual Information  Form Major Themes Preview  Author  Lived 551 – 479 BCE  “Confucius” is the English version of his Chinese name, Kong Qiu  Born in northeastern state of Lu (today = Shandong Province) into the lower ranks of hereditary nobility (Norton 766) (Rubbing on paper of Confucius engraved Stone Slab from Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy) https://goo.gl/maps/M9Fuwpf3SQH2 https://www.iep.utm.edu/confuciu/  Confucius traveled throughout China sharing his political vision… Unsuccessfully  retired to Lu and spent the rest of his life as a teacher (Norton 767) Virtually unknown at the time of his death (Norton 766)  Important: the Analects are not actually written by Confucius. They were collected and written by his disciples (Norton 768) Author   Probably 200 – 100 BCE, “when Confucius’s ideas were gaining influence and it became necessary to create a representative collection of his sayings out of the vast body of Confucius lore that circulated in various other books” (Norton 768)  Note: this means the Analects came to their current form about 279 years after Confucius’s death! Time/Date of Composition  Contextual Information Confucius deeply admires the Zhou Dynasty, particularly King Wen, King Wu, and the Duke of Zhou (Norton 767) Quick note: King Wen was King Wu’s father (King Wen of the Zhou Dynasty via Wikipedia) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_Wen_of_Zhou#/media/File:King_Wen_of_Zhou.jpg  King Wu was known for instituting a system of government that took care of its people and developed “wise policies” (Norton 767)  The Duke of Zhou was known for defending the country and defending King Cheng’s (King Wu’s son) right to the throne  the Duke of Zhou was important to Confucius because he was someone who cared more for “the welfare of the dynasty” than for his own ambitions (Norton 767)  Represents the themes of social roles and efficient action Contextual Information  Form  Recorded by brush and ink on thin strips of bamboo (The Analects of Confucius by R. Eno)  Collection of “brief quotations, conversations, and anecdotes” (Norton 768)  divided into 20 “books”  The “books” are basically chapters (Rongo Analects, Vol 2 via Wikipedia) http://www.indiana.edu/~p374/Analects_of_Confucius_(Eno-2015).pdf https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Analects#/media/File:Rongo_Analects_02.jpg   1. Ritual: “everything we do in life is a ritual… Rituals are thus used… to make social life meaningful” (Norton 768). A person must learn ritual within the context of their own community through practice and self-cultivation. (Norton 768) A person .

1. “The Master said: ‘When the father is alive, watch
the son’s aspirations. When the father is dead,
watch the son’s actions. If three years later, the
son has not veered from the father’s way, he may
be called a dutiful son indeed’” (1335)
Preview
Author
– 479 BCE
version of his Chinese name,
Kong Qiu

2. (today = Shandong Province)
into the lower ranks of
hereditary nobility (Norton 766)
(Rubbing on paper of Confucius
engraved Stone Slab from Internet
Encyclopedia of Philosophy)
https://goo.gl/maps/M9Fuwpf3SQH2
https://www.iep.utm.edu/confuciu/
hroughout China sharing his
spent the rest of his life as a teacher (Norton 767)
766)
Confucius. They were collected and written by his
disciples (Norton 768)
Author
– 100 BCE, “when Confucius’s ideas
were gaining influence and it became necessary to
create a representative collection of his sayings out of

3. the vast body of Confucius lore that circulated in
various other books” (Norton 768)
form about 279 years after Confucius’s death!
Time/Date of Composition
Contextual Information
admires the Zhou
Dynasty, particularly
King Wen, King Wu,
and the Duke of Zhou
(Norton 767)
was King Wu’s father
(King Wen of the Zhou Dynasty
via Wikipedia)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_Wen_of_Zhou#/media/File:
King_Wen_of_Zhou.jpg
government that took care of its people and
developed “wise policies” (Norton 767)

4. country and defending King Cheng’s (King Wu’s
son) right to
important to Confucius because he was someone
who cared more for “the welfare of the dynasty”
than for his own ambitions (Norton 767)
action
Contextual Information
Form
ink on thin strips of
bamboo (The Analects of
Confucius by R. Eno)
quotations, conversations,
and anecdotes” (Norton
“books”
basically chapters
(Rongo Analects, Vol 2 via Wikipedia)
http://www.indiana.edu/~p374/Analects_of_Confucius_(Eno-

5. 2015).pdf
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Analects#/media/File:Rongo_Anal
ects_02.jpg
Rituals are thus used… to make social life
meaningful” (Norton 768). A person must learn ritual
within the context of their own community through
practice and self-cultivation. (Norton 768)
“superior person”/ “gentleman” (Norton 768)
Major Themes
something and then to put it into practice at the right
time: is this not a joy? To have friends coming from
afar: is this not a delight? Not to be upset when one’s
merits are ignored: is this not the mark of a
gentleman?’” (1.1 Norton 770)
Major Themes

6. how people should treat one another
a hierarchical order of relationships, the
most important of which is the relationship between
parent and child (esp father and son)
Major Themes
Confucius about government. Confucius replied: ‘Let
the lord be a lord; the subject a subject; the father a
father; the son a son.’ The Duke said: ‘Excellent! If
indeed the lord is not a lord, the subject not a subject,
the father not a father, the son not a son, I could be
sure of nothing anymore—not even of my daily
food’” (12.11 Norton 777)
Major Themes
especially when the junzi (aristocrat / gentleman) is
the one engaging in efficient action

7. can be so powerful that there is no need to resort to
lowly means of war and violence became the basis of
the traditional Chinese view of rulership” (Norton 769)
Major Themes
settle among the nine barbarian tribes of the East.
Someone said: ‘It is wild in those parts. How would
you cope?’ The Master said: ‘How could it be wild,
once a gentleman has settled there?’” (9.14 Norton
775)
Major Themes
Early Chinese Literature and Thought
· China's literary tradition has lasted over 3,000 years. The idea
of China as a country is heavily tied-into "the power of the
written word," especially the Five Classics (Links to an external
site.)Links to an external
site.(Wujing) and Confucian Analects (Norton 748)
· Confucius (551-479 BCE) looks back to the early Zhou
Dynasty (1046-256 BCE) for examples of model rulers
· Early Zhou Dynasty rulers invented "the Mandate of Heaven"
(Tianming) --> an important concept for Confucius
· The Mandate of Heaven (Links to an external site.)Links to an
external site. claims that Heaven (a god / divine force)
"transferred the mandate to rule to the Zhou because the moral
worth of the Shang [the previous dynasty] had declined and the
last Shang rulers were decadent tyrants without regard for the
people" (Norton 750)

8. · The Mandate of Heaven was used to explain the Dynastic
Cycle, or the rise and fall of dynasties in China
("Dynastic Cycle (Links to an external site.)Links to an external
site." via Jshing CC BY-SA 4.0)
· The early Zhou rulers and the Mandate of Heaven set a
precedent for "model behavior," meaning "the claim to power in
China depended on the claim to virtuous rule, which in large
meant holding to the statutes and models of the earliest sage
rulers and the virtuous early Zhou kings" (Norton 750)
· This philosophical system and the Confucian Analects thus
correlate to ethics, or the study of what is good and right. Can
you find examples of "good" or "proper" behavior in our
reading from the Analects?
Watch these website:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ylWORyToTo4&feature=yo
utu.be
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tUhGRh4vdb8&feature=yout
u.be