Misplaced Pages

#662337

83-570: Pei was born in a family of officials who served in the Eastern Jin government. His grandfather, Pei Mei (裴昧), served as a Household Counsellor (光祿大夫) while his father, Pei Gui (裴珪), was a zheng yuanwailang (正員外郎). Pei was fond of reading since his childhood, and he was already very familiar with classic texts such as the Analects of Confucius and the Classic of Poetry at the age of eight. In 391, during

166-613: A xianma (洗馬) to assist the heir apparent of his dukedom. Liu Yu usurped the throne in 420 and ended the Eastern Jin dynasty. He founded the Liu Song dynasty and became historically known as "Emperor Wu of (Liu) Song". Pei took up various appointments in the Liu Song government, including Secretary of the Interior (內史) of Lingling , State Academician (國子博士) and rongcong puye (冗從僕射). In 426, Emperor Wu's son, Emperor Wen , sent officials to inspect

249-502: A corpus of excavated Warring States period bamboo slips that contained fragments of the Analects that corresponded to the received text. The manuscript featuring the Analects content was officially published by the university in 2022. During most of the Han period the Analects was not considered one of the principal texts of Confucianism. During the reign of Han Wudi (141–87 BC), when

332-430: A counterattack against Su. They invited Tao to join them, and Tao, initially refusing because of his residual anger against Yu, eventually accepted, but as Tao's forces were about to arrive, a rumor spread that Tao was going to kill Yu. Yu, hearing the rumor, decided to greet Tao and prostrate himself, apologizing for his errors. Tao's anger dissipated, and they joined forces, killing Su in battle in late 328 and defeating

415-560: A deliberate imitation of the archaic language of the Western Zhou) and bears some similarity with the language of the speeches in the Shujing . In terms of the content, the passage appears to be an admonition by Yao to Shun on the eve of Yao's abdication, which seems to be only tangentially related to Confucius and his philosophy. Moreover, there appear to be some problems with the text's continuity, and scholars have speculated that parts of

498-470: A great effort to interpret the Analects by using theories elaborated in the other Four Books, something that He Yan had not done. Zhu attempted to give an added coherence and unity to the message of the Analects , demonstrating that the individual books of the Confucian canon gave meaning to the whole, just as the whole of the canon gave meaning to its parts. In his preface, Zhu Xi stated, "[T]he Analects and

581-508: A large number of passages in the Analects begin with the formulaic ziyue , "The Master said," but without punctuation marks in classical Chinese, this does not confirm whether what follows ziyue is direct quotation of actual sayings of Confucius, or simply to be understood as "the Master said that.." and the paraphrase of Confucius by the compilers of the Analects. Chapters 3–9 may be the oldest in

664-425: A major attack north against Later Zhao . After opposing from Xi and Cai Mo , however, Emperor Cheng ordered Yu to stop his plans. After Wang died later that year, however, the government became in control of Wang's assistant He Chong and Yu Liang's brother Yu Bing , and Yu Liang resumed his battle preparations. This drew a response from Later Zhao's emperor Shi Hu , who attacked several major cities and bases on

747-523: A more comprehensive definition of ren , but assured them that he was sharing all that he could (§7.24). To Confucius, the cultivation of ren involved depreciating oneself through modesty while avoiding artful speech and ingratiating manners that would create a false impression of one's own character (§1.3). Confucius said that those who had cultivated ren could be distinguished by their being "simple in manner and slow of speech." He believed that people could cultivate their sense of ren through exercising

830-469: A part of a much larger work. This is supported by the fact that a larger collection of Confucius's teachings did exist in the Warring States period than has been preserved directly in the Analects : 75% of Confucius's sayings cited by his second-generation student, Mencius , do not exist in the received text of the Analects . According to the Han dynasty scholar Liu Xiang , there were two versions of

913-428: A person with a well-cultivated sense of ren would speak carefully and modestly (§12.3); be resolute and firm (§12.20), courageous (§14.4), free from worry, unhappiness, and insecurity (§9.28; §6.21); moderate their desires and return to propriety (§12.1); be respectful, tolerant, diligent, trustworthy and kind (§17.6); and love others (§12.22). Confucius recognized his followers' disappointment that he would not give them

SECTION 10

#1733085781663

996-499: A ruler's sense of de , or 'virtue', was his primary prerequisite for leadership. Confucius' primary goal in educating his students was to produce ethically well-cultivated men who would carry themselves with gravity, speak correctly, and demonstrate consummate integrity in all things. According to Ban Gu , writing in the Book of Han , the Analects originated as individual records kept by Confucius's disciples of conversations between

1079-424: A special relationship in the Analects : li manages one's relationship with one's family and close community, while ren is practiced broadly and informs one's interactions with all people. Confucius did not believe that ethical self-cultivation meant unquestioned loyalty to an evil ruler. He argued that the demands of ren and li meant that rulers could oppress their subjects only at their own peril: "You may rob

1162-462: A title may indicate a central theme of a chapter, but it is inappropriate to regard a title as a description or generalization of the content of a chapter. Chapters in the Analects are grouped by individual themes, but the chapters are not arranged in a way as to carry a continuous stream of thoughts or ideas. The themes of adjacent chapters are completely unrelated to each other. Central themes recur repeatedly in different chapters, sometimes in exactly

1245-613: Is a great-grandson of the powerful Jin regent Yu Liang . Pei Songzhi's father is Pei Gui (裴圭), son of Pei Mei (裴昧). Pei Mei's great-grandfather is Pei Kang (裴康). Pei Kang, along with his older brother Pei Li (裴黎), and younger brothers Pei Kai (裴楷) and Pei Chuo (裴绰) were famous during their time and were known as the "4 Peis". Pei Kang's daughter was the wife of Sima Yue , Prince Xiaoxian of Donghai. Pei Kang's son Pei Chun, then Administrator of Xingyang, fled to Jianye in June or July 310. Analects of Confucius The Analects , also known as

1328-498: Is never cited in the Analects as lecturing at length about any subject, but instead challenges his students to discover the truth through asking direct questions , citing passages from the classics, and using analogies (§7.8). He sometimes required his students to demonstrate their understanding of subjects by making intuitive conceptual leaps before accepting their understanding and discussing those subjects at greater levels of depth. (§3.8) His primary goal in educating his students

1411-403: Is peculiar to the Analects .) Throughout the Analects , Confucius's students frequently request that Confucius define ren and give examples of people who embody it, but Confucius generally responds indirectly to his students' questions, instead offering illustrations and examples of behaviours that are associated with ren and explaining how a person could achieve it. According to Confucius,

1494-541: Is still influential in the practice and teaching of such martial arts in contemporary time, including in relation to their social and political dynamics. Yu Liang Yu Liang (庾亮; 289 – 14 February 340 ), courtesy name Yuangui (元規), formally Marquess Wenkang of Duting (都亭文康侯), was a Chinese military general and politician of the Jin dynasty who impressed many with his knowledge but whose inability to tolerate dissent and overly high evaluation of his own abilities led to

1577-643: The Mencius are the most important works for students pursuing the Way [...] The words of the Analects are all inclusive; what they teach is nothing but the essentials of preserving the mind and cultivating [one's] nature." From the first publication of the Commentaries , Zhu continued to refine his interpretation for the last thirty years of his life. In the fourteenth century, the Ming state endorsed Zhu's commentary. Until 1905 it

1660-503: The Sayings of Confucius , is an ancient Chinese philosophical text composed of sayings and ideas attributed to Confucius and his contemporaries, traditionally believed to have been compiled by his followers. The consensus among scholars is that large portions of the text were composed during the Warring States period (475–221 BC), and that the work achieved its final form during

1743-465: The Analects and the Classic of Filial Piety , and its status as one of the central texts of Confucianism continued to grow until the late Song dynasty (960–1279), when it was identified and promoted as one of the Four Books by Zhu Xi and generally accepted as being more insightful than the older Five Classics. The writing style of the Analects also inspired future Confucian writers. For example,

SECTION 20

#1733085781663

1826-456: The Analects exist today, though fragments of the old text version were discovered at Dunhuang . The Qi version was lost for about 1,800 years, but was rediscovered during the excavation of the tomb of Marquis of Haihun in 2011. Before the late twentieth century the oldest existing copy of the Analects known to scholars was found in the "Stone Classics of the Xinping Era", a copy of

1909-415: The Analects existed, most Analects scholars believe that by the early Han dynasty (206 BC–220 AD) the book was widely known and transmitted throughout China in a mostly complete form, and that the book acquired its final, complete form during the Han dynasty. However, Han dynasty writer Wang Chong claimed that all copies of the Analects that existed during the Han dynasty were incomplete and formed only

1992-499: The Analects that existed at the beginning of the Han dynasty: the " Lu version" and the " Qi version". The Lu version contained twenty chapters, and the Qi version contained twenty-two chapters, including two chapters not found in the Lu version. Of the twenty chapters that both versions had in common, the Lu version had more passages. Each version had its own masters, schools, and transmitters. In

2075-464: The Analects was not referred to by name in any existing source before the early Han dynasty, some scholars have proposed dates as late as 140 BC for the text's final compilation. In 2015, the Anhui University acquired a corpus of excavated Warring States period bamboo strips , and they contained fragments of the Analects corresponding to the received text. Regardless of how early the text of

2158-480: The Analects which had been produced by earlier Han and Wei dynasty (220–265 AD) scholars. He Yan's personal interpretation of the Lunyu was guided by his belief that Daoism and Confucianism complemented each other, so that by studying both in a correct manner a scholar could arrive at a single, unified truth. Arguing for the ultimate compatibility of Daoist and Confucian teachings, he argued that "Laozi [in fact]

2241-399: The Analects . The Analects and its commentaries are applied in a multitude of cultural expressions throughout East and South-East Asia, in countries like China, Japan, Korea (both North and South), Thailand and Vietnam. It stands out especially in fields pertaining to education. The Analects also has a long history of having influenced traditional East Asian martial arts. The text

2324-504: The Legalistic political orientations of China's rulers, and he failed to popularize his ideals among China's leaders within his own lifetime. Confucius believed that the social chaos of his time was largely due to China's ruling elite aspiring to, and claiming, titles of which they were unworthy. When the ruler of the large state of Qi asked Confucius about the principles of good government, Confucius responded: "Good government consists in

2407-542: The Sui dynasty writer Wang Tong 's Explanation of the Mean ( 中说 ) was purposely written to emulate the style of the Analects , a practice praised by the Ming dynasty philosopher Wang Yangming . Since the Han dynasty, Chinese readers have interpreted the Analects by reading scholars' commentaries on the book. There have been many commentaries on the Analects since the Han dynasty, but

2490-513: The Administrator of Xinye , but Pei considered the dangers of joining his uncle and refused to move there. War broke out between the warlords later and Yu Kai was killed by Huan Xuan. Pei survived because he did not join Yu Kai. In the early fifth century, Pei served as a Regular Mounted Attendant (散騎侍郎) and later as the prefect (縣令) of Guzhang County . He was recalled to the imperial court later and

2573-662: The Chinese government began promoting Confucian studies, only the Five Classics were considered by the government to be canonical ( jing ). They were considered Confucian because Confucius was assumed to have partially written, edited, and/or transmitted them. The Analects was considered secondary as it was thought to be merely a collection of Confucius's oral "commentary" ( zhuan ) on the Five Classics. The political importance and popularity of Confucius and Confucianism grew throughout

Pei Songzhi - Misplaced Pages Continue

2656-478: The Confucian classics written in stone in the old Eastern capital of Luoyang c.  175 AD . Archaeologists have since discovered two handwritten copies of the Analects that were written c.  50 BC , during the Western Han dynasty. They are known as the " Dingzhou Analects ", and the " Pyongyang Analects ", after the location of the tombs in which they were found. The Dingzhou Analects

2739-747: The Dingzhou Analects or the Pyongyang Analects represent the Lu version, the Qi version, the old text version, or a different version that was independent of these three traditions. Prior to 2015, the oldest extant manuscript of the Analects were the discovered texts found in the Haihunhou Tomb in 2011; the Haihunhou Analects "circulated at least seventeen years" before the Dingzhou and Pyongyang ones. The Anhui University in 2015 acquired

2822-527: The Han dynasty, and by the Eastern Han the Analects was widely read by schoolchildren and anyone aspiring to literacy, and often read before the Five Classics themselves. During the Eastern Han, the heir apparent was provided a tutor specifically to teach him the Analects . The growing importance of the Analects was recognized when the Five Classics was expanded to the "Seven Classics": the Five Classics plus

2905-406: The Lu and Qi versions in two, so it had twenty-one chapters, and the order of the chapters was different. The old text version got its name because it was written in characters not used since the earlier Warring States period (before 221 BC), when it was assumed to have been hidden. According to the Han dynasty scholar Huan Tan , the old text version had four hundred characters different from

2988-421: The Lu version as authoritative and selectively adding sections from the Qi version, and produced a composite text of the Analects known as the "Zhang Hou Lun". This text was recognized by Zhang Yu's contemporaries and by subsequent Han scholars as superior to either individual version, and is the text that is recognized as the Analects today. No complete copies of either the Lu version or the old text version of

3071-412: The Lu version—from which the received text is mostly based—and it seriously differed from the Lu version in 27 places. Of these twenty-seven differences, the received text only agrees with the old text version in two places. Over a century later, Zhang Yu  [ zh ] , the tutor of the Analects to Emperor Cheng of Han , ( d.  5 BC ), synthesized the Lu and Qi versions by taking

3154-401: The Master and them, which were then collected and jointly edited by the disciples after Confucius' death in 479 BC. The work was titled Lunyu during the Han dynasty: in this context the character for lun means 'discuss' or 'dispute', while yu means 'speech' or 'sayings'. Lunyu therefore may mean 'edited conversations', or 'selected speeches' (thus " analects "). This broadly forms

3237-592: The Three Armies of their commander, but you cannot deprive the humblest peasant of his opinion" (§9.26). Confucius said that a morally well-cultivated individual would regard his devotion to loving others as a mission for which he would be willing to die (§15.8). Confucius' political beliefs were rooted in his belief that a good ruler would be self-disciplined, would govern his subjects through education and by his own example, and would seek to correct his subjects with love and concern rather than punishment and coercion. "If

3320-466: The age of 65 in 437. However, not long later, he was recalled back to the imperial court, and he served as Attendant Counsellor (中散大夫), State Academician (國子博士), and Palace Counsellor (太中大夫). He died of illness at the age of 80 (by East Asian reckoning) in 451. Emperor Wen of the Liu Song dynasty felt that the historical text Records of the Three Kingdoms ( Sanguozhi ) , written by Chen Shou in

3403-472: The biographical material on Confucius found in the Analects makes the Analects arguably the most reliable source of biographical information about Confucius. Confucius viewed himself as a "transmitter" of social and political traditions originating in the early Zhou dynasty ( c.  1000–800 BC ), and claimed not to have originated anything (§7.1), but Confucius's social and political ideals were not popular in his time. Confucius' discussions on

Pei Songzhi - Misplaced Pages Continue

3486-424: The chapters' creation and produced a "four stratum theory" of the text's creation. Many modern scholars now believe that the work was compiled over a period of around two hundred years, some time during the Warring States period (476–221 BC), with some questioning the authenticity of some of the sayings. Prior to 2015, no manuscript dated earlier than c.  70 BC has been discovered, and because

3569-527: The commentaries of earlier scholars (mostly from the Song dynasty), along with his own interpretations. Zhu's work took part in the context of a period of renewed interest in Confucian studies, in which Chinese scholars were interested in producing a single "correct" intellectual orthodoxy that would "save" Chinese traditions and protect them from foreign influences, and in which scholars were increasingly interested in metaphysical speculation. In his commentary Zhu made

3652-620: The disastrous revolt of Su Jun , weakening Jin's military capability for years. When Yu Liang was young, he was known for his skills in rhetoric and knowledge in the Taoist philosophies of Laozi and Zhuang Zhou . When he was just 15, he was invited by Emperor Huai 's regent Sima Yue the Prince of Donghai to be on his staff, but he declined, instead staying in Kuaiji Commandery (the southern shore of Hangzhou Bay ) with his father Yu Chen (庾琛),

3735-693: The exercise of devotion to one's parents and older siblings as the simplest, most basic way to cultivate ren . (§1.2). Confucius believed that ren could best be cultivated by those who had already learned self-discipline, and that self-discipline was best learned by practicing and cultivating one's understanding of li : rituals and forms of propriety through which people demonstrate their respect for others and their responsible roles in society (§3.3). Confucius said that one's understanding of li should inform everything that one says and does (§12.1). He believed that subjecting oneself to li did not mean suppressing one's desires but learning to reconcile them with

3818-546: The generals Tao Kan and Zu Yue – neither of whom was mentioned in the list of honors and promotions announced by Emperor Ming's will and believed that Yu had erased their names from the will – and Su Jun, who had allowed many criminals to join his army. In 326, he alienated public opinion by falsely accusing Sima Yang's brother Sima Zong (司馬宗) the Prince of Nandun of treason and killing him and deposing Sima Yang. In 327, apprehensive of Su's ambitions, Yu became intent on stripping him of his military command, and he promoted Su to

3901-509: The governor of Kuaiji . After Sima Rui the Prince of Langye was posted to Jianye as the military commander of the area south of the Yangtze in 307, he invited Yu Liang to serve on his staff, and during that time, he became impressed by Yu's abilities and solemn attitude, and he took Yu Liang's younger sister Yu Wenjun to be his son Sima Shao 's wife. It was while in Sima Rui's service that Yu

3984-477: The inverted Golden Rule : "Do not do to others what you would not like done to yourself"; "a man with ren , desiring to establish himself, helps others establish themselves; desiring to succeed himself, helps others to succeed" (§12.2; §6.28). Confucius taught that the ability of people to imagine and project themselves into the places of others was a crucial quality for the pursuit of moral self-cultivation (§4.15; see also §5.12; §6.30; §15.24). Confucius regarded

4067-457: The last five books were produced much later than the rest of the work. Itō Jinsai claimed that, because of differences he saw in patterns of language and content in the Analects , a distinction in authorship should be made between the "upper Analects " (Books 1–10) and "lower Analects " (Books 11–20). Arthur Waley speculated that Books 3–9 represent the earliest parts of the book. E. Bruce Brooks and A. Taeko Brooks reviewed previous theories of

4150-429: The life of an individual, historic personage. Elias Canetti wrote: "Confucius's Analects is the oldest complete intellectual and spiritual portrait of a man. It strikes one as a modern book; everything it contains and indeed everything it lacks is important." Chapter 20, " Yao Yue ", particularly the first verse, is bizarre in terms of both language and content. In terms of language, the text appears to be archaic (or

4233-404: The mid- Han dynasty (206 BC – 220 AD). During the early Han, the Analects was merely considered to be a commentary on the Five Classics . However, by the dynasty's end the status of the Analects had grown to being among the central texts of Confucianism . During the late Song dynasty (960–1279 AD) the importance of the Analects as a Chinese philosophy work

SECTION 50

#1733085781663

4316-529: The most important ways that a ruler cultivates his sense of de is through a devotion to the correct practices of li . Examples of rituals identified by Confucius as important to cultivate a ruler's de include: sacrificial rites held at ancestral temples to express thankfulness and humility; ceremonies of enfeoffment , toasting, and gift exchanges that bound nobility in complex hierarchical relationships of obligation and indebtedness; and, acts of formal politeness and decorum (i.e. bowing and yielding) that identify

4399-570: The nation's leadership. He believed that individuals could begin to cultivate an all-encompassing sense of virtue through ren , and that the most basic step to cultivating ren was filial piety —primarily the devotion to one's parents and older siblings. He taught that one's individual desires do not need to be suppressed, but that people should be educated to reconcile their desires via li , rituals and forms of propriety, through which people could demonstrate their respect for others and their responsible roles in society. Confucius also believed that

4482-452: The nature of the supernatural (§3.12; §6.20; §11.11) indicate his belief that while "ghosts" and "spirits" should be respected, they are best kept at a distance. Instead human beings should base their values and social ideals on moral philosophy, tradition, and a natural love for others. Confucius' social philosophy largely depended on the cultivation of ren by every individual in a community. Later Confucian philosophers explained ren as

4565-602: The needs of one's family and broader community. By leading individuals to express their desires within the context of social responsibility, Confucius and his followers taught that the public cultivation of li was the basis of a well-ordered society (§2.3). Confucius taught his students that an important aspect of li was observing the practical social differences that exist between people in daily life. In Confucian philosophy these "five relationships" include: ruler to ruled; father to son; husband to wife; elder brother to younger brother; and friend to friend. Ren and li have

4648-602: The original. Emperor Wen praised his work as "immortal". Apart from making annotations to the Sanguozhi , Pei also wrote other books such as the Jin Ji (晉紀; History of Jin ), Pei Shi Jiazhuan (裴氏家傳; Pei Family Biographies ), and Ji Zhu Sang Fu Jing Zhuan (集注喪服經傳). Pei Songzhi is a member of the Pei clan of Hedong (河东裴氏). His son is Pei Yin, father of Pei Zhaoming (裴昭明; fl. 460 - 502), father of Pei Ziye. Through his mother, Pei Songzhi

4731-400: The people be led by laws, and uniformity among them be sought by punishments, they will try to escape punishment and have no sense of shame. If they are led by virtue, and uniformity sought among them through the practice of ritual propriety, they will possess a sense of shame and come to you of their own accord" (§2.3; see also §13.6). Confucius' political theories were directly contradictory to

4814-457: The performers as morally well-cultivated. The importance of education and study is a fundamental theme of the Analects . For Confucius, a good student respects and learns from the words and deeds of his teacher, and a good teacher is someone older who is familiar with the ways of the past and the practices of antiquity (§7.22). Confucius emphasized the need to find balance between formal study and intuitive self-reflection (§2.15). When teaching he

4897-555: The post of minister of agriculture in order to do so. Su refused and rebelled, in alliance with Zu. Yu, initially believing that he could defeat Su easily, declined assistance from provincial officials, including Wen's Jiang Province (江州, modern Jiangxi ) forces, but instead Su quickly descended on the capital Jiankang (name changed from Jianye due to naming taboo of Emperor Min's name) and captured it in early 328, taking Emperor Cheng and Empress Dowager Yu and forcing Yu Liang to flee to Wen. Yu and Wen quickly prepared their forces for

4980-462: The quality of having a kind manner, similar to the English words "humane", "altruistic", or "benevolent", but, of the sixty instances in which Confucius discusses ren in the Analects , very few have these later meanings. Confucius instead used the term ren to describe an extremely general and all-encompassing state of virtue, one which no living person had attained completely. (This use of the term ren

5063-442: The reign of Emperor Jing of Han ( r.  157–141 BC ), a third " Old Text " version was discovered hidden in a wall of the home believed at the time to have been Confucius's, when the home was in the process of being destroyed by King Gong of Lu ( r.  153–128 BC ) in order to expand the king's palace. The new version did not contain the two extra chapters found in the Qi version, but it split one chapter found in

SECTION 60

#1733085781663

5146-470: The reign of Emperor Xiaowu , Pei became a Palace General (殿中將軍) at the age of 20. In 398, during the reign of Emperor An , Pei's maternal uncle, Yu Kai (庾楷), who was the Governor of Yu Province , allied with Wang Gong (王恭), the Governor of Yan and Qing provinces, to attack the imperial capital, Jiankang . They were defeated. Yu Kai fled to join the warlord Huan Xuan , after which he nominated Pei to be

5229-410: The remnants of his forces in early 329. Initially, Yu tendered many resignations to the emperor, his nephew. Wang Dao, as regent, turned those resignations down in the emperor's name and but instead commissioned Yu as the governor of Yu Province (豫州, by that point referring to modern central Anhui ). After Tao's death in 334, Yu succeeded him as the governor of Jing (荊州, modern Hubei and Hunan ); he

5312-430: The ruler being a ruler, the minister being a minister, the father being a father, and the son being a son" (§12.11). The analysis of the need to raise officials' behavior to reflect the way that they identify and describe themselves is known as the rectification of names , and he stated that the rectification of names should be the first responsibility of a ruler upon taking office (§13.3). Confucius believed that, because

5395-418: The ruler was the model for all who were under him in society, the rectification of names had to begin with the ruler, and that afterwards others would change to imitate him (§12.19). Confucius judged a good ruler by his possession of de ('virtue'): a sort of moral force that allows those in power to rule and gain the loyalty of others without the need for physical coercion (§2.1). Confucius said that one of

5478-401: The same wording and sometimes with small variations. Chapter 10 contains detailed descriptions of Confucius's behaviors in various daily activities. Voltaire and Ezra Pound believed that this chapter demonstrated how Confucius was a mere human. Simon Leys , who recently translated the Analects into English and French, said that the book may have been the first in human history to describe

5561-417: The text were lost in the process of transmission and possibly transmitted with errors in the order. The fragmentary nature of the final chapter of the received Lu text has been explained by the "accretion theory", in which the text of the Analects was gradually accreted over a 230-year period, beginning with the death of Confucius and ending suddenly with the conquest of Lu in 249 BC. Within these incipits,

5644-409: The third century, was too brief, so he commissioned Pei to make annotations to the text. Pei collected various sources, including those previously rejected by Chen Shou, and added them to the Sanguozhi , while making annotations and adding his personal commentary as well. His commentary , completed in 429, became integral to later editions of the Sanguozhi , making the joint work three times as long as

5727-452: The traditional account of the genesis of the work accepted by later generations of scholars, for example the Song dynasty neo-Confucian scholar Zhu Xi stated that Analects is the records of Confucius's first- and second-generation pupils. This traditional view has been challenged by Chinese, Japanese, and Western scholars. The Qing dynasty philologist Cui Shu argued on linguistic ground that

5810-536: The two which have been most influential have been the Collected Explanations of the Analects ( Lunyu Jijie ) by He Yan ( c.  195–249 ) and several colleagues, and the Collected Commentaries of the Analects ( Lunyu Jizhu ) by Zhu Xi (1130–1200). In his work, He Yan collected, selected, summarized, and rationalized what he believed to be the most insightful of all preceding commentaries on

5893-525: The various provinces. Pei was sent to inspect Xiangzhou (湘州). After returning from his trip, Pei drafted 24 clauses based on his observations. He was promoted to Palace Gentleman Writer (中書侍郎) and Grand Judge (大中正) of Si and Ji provinces, and was enfeoffed as the Marquis of Xi District (西鄉侯). In his later years, Pei served as the Administrator of Yongjia (永嘉太守), tongzhi sanqi changshi (通直散騎常侍), and Administrator of South Langya (南琅邪太守). Pei retired from service at

5976-493: The warlord Wang Dun 's forces in 324. However, Yu declined all monetary awards and the title of the Duke of Yongchang. As Emperor Ming neared death in 325, he entrusted his four-year-old son Crown Prince Yan , by Yu Liang's sister Empress Yu, to a number of high-level officials, including Yu, Sima Yang (司馬羕) the Prince of Xiyang, Wang Dao , Bian Kun (卞壼), Xi Jian , Lu Ye (陸瞱), and Wen Jiao. Initially, after he died later that year and

6059-542: The writer may have become aware of at least one other version of the Analects and included "extra" material for the sake of completeness. The content of the Pyongyang Analects is similar to the Dingzhou Analects . Because of the secrecy and isolationism of the North Korean government, only a very cursory study of it has been made available to international scholars, and its contents are not completely known outside of North Korea. Scholars do not agree about whether either

6142-479: Was created the Marquess of Duting. Later, after Sima Rui claimed the imperial title after Emperor Min 's death in 318 (as Emperor Yuan), Yu, along with Wen Jiao , were friends and key advisors of Sima Shao, who became crown prince . After Emperor Yuan's death and succession by Crown Prince Shao (as Emperor Ming), Yu continued to be a key advisor, and was heavily involved in his planning against and subsequent defeat of

6225-419: Was discovered in 1973, but no transcription of its contents was published until 1997. The Pyongyang Analects was discovered in 1992. Academic access to the Pyongyang Analects has been highly restricted, and no academic study on it was published until 2009. The Dingzhou Analects was damaged in a fire shortly after it was entombed in the Han dynasty. It was further damaged in an earthquake shortly after it

6308-530: Was in agreement with the Sage" (sic). The Explanations that was written in 248 AD, was quickly recognized as authoritative, and remained the standard guide to interpreting the Analects for nearly 1,000 years, until the early Yuan dynasty (1271–1368). It is the oldest complete commentary on the Analects that still exists. He Yan's commentary was eventually displaced as the definitive, standard commentary by Zhu Xi's commentary. Zhu Xi's work also brought together

6391-522: Was posted to Wuchang (武昌, modern Ezhou , Hubei ), Yu, and Jiang Provinces and the military commander of the western provinces. Even though he was not in control of the government, he continued to have great influence from his post as the emperor's uncle. In 338, angry at what he saw as Wang's overly lenient attitude and not sufficiently grooming Emperor Cheng to rule, Yu tried to convince Xi to join him in an effort to depose Wang, but Xi refused, and Yu never carried out his plans. Instead, in 339, he planned

6474-565: Was promoted to shangshu ci bu lang (尚書祠部郎; a ceremonial official). In 416, the Jin imperial court ordered Liu Yu , the Duke of Song, to lead a campaign against the state of Later Qin . Pei was serving as a registrar (主簿) then when he was ordered to join Liu Yu's army. Liu Yu was very impressed with Pei and praised him as a talented person, and then appointed him as zhizhong congshi shi (治中從事史). After Liu Yu's forces occupied Luoyang , Liu Yu appointed Pei as

6557-457: Was raised above that of the older Five Classics, and it was recognized as one of the " Four Books ". The Analects has been one of the most widely read and studied books in China for more than two millennia; its ideas continue to have a substantial influence on East Asian thought and values. Confucius believed that the welfare of a country depended on the moral cultivation of its people, beginning from

6640-547: Was read and memorized along with the Analects by all Chinese aspiring to literacy and employment as government officials. Very few reliable sources about Confucius exist besides that of the Analects. The principal biography available to historians is included in Sima Qian 's Records of the Grand Historian , but because the history contains a significant amount of material unverifiable in other sources and possibly legendary,

6723-440: Was recovered, and the surviving text is just under half the size of the received text of the Analects . Of the sections that survive, the Dingzhou Analects is shorter than the received Analects , implying that the text of the Analects was still in the process of expansion when the Dingzhou Analects was entombed. There was evidence that "additions" may have been made to the manuscript after it had been completed, indicating that

6806-456: Was succeeded by Crown Prince Yan (as Emperor Cheng), the officials were in charge together, but as Empress Dowager Yu became regent, Yu Liang became effectively the most powerful official in the administration. He changed from the lenient policies of Wang (who was prime minister during Emperor Ming's reign) to stricter applications of laws and regulations, which offended the officials accustomed to Wang's lenience. Further, he became apprehensive of

6889-649: Was to produce ethically well-cultivated men who would carry themselves with gravity, speak correctly, and demonstrate consummate integrity in all things (§12.11; see also §13.3). He was willing to teach anyone regardless of social class, as long as they were sincere, eager, and tireless to learn (§7.7; §15.38). He is traditionally credited with teaching three thousand students, though only seventy are said to have mastered what he taught. He taught practical skills , but regarded moral self-cultivation as his most important subject. The traditional titles given to each chapter are mostly an initial two or three incipits . In some cases

#662337