The Analects of Confucius
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Metamorphosis: the Problem and Potential of Classical Chinese Poetry
Studia Antiqua Volume 4 Number 1 Article 7 April 2005 Metamorphosis: The Problem and Potential of Classical Chinese Poetry Rich Torgerson Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/studiaantiqua Part of the Classics Commons, and the History of Art, Architecture, and Archaeology Commons BYU ScholarsArchive Citation Torgerson, Rich. "Metamorphosis: The Problem and Potential of Classical Chinese Poetry." Studia Antiqua 4, no. 1 (2005). https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/studiaantiqua/vol4/iss1/7 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Journals at BYU ScholarsArchive. It has been accepted for inclusion in Studia Antiqua by an authorized editor of BYU ScholarsArchive. For more information, please contact [email protected], [email protected]. Metamorphosis: The Problem and Potential of Classical Chinese Poetry RICH TORGERSON .if'nt poetry is a window into the soul of ancient culture Out of necessity, most of us approach great poetry through English translations. However, giants such as the Homeric epics, the Hyakunin Isshu court poetry of Japan, and the Book of Poetry from ancient China are often introduced in our literature and culture classes through the myopic lens of only one translation. With regard to the Homeric epics, Harris has suggested that "we are in the process of consigning the "real" Homer to the scrap-pile of unread documents, while we exploit the Epic Tradition in translation for those who sit in our classes, who can hear only the faint echo of a proud and mighty voice."1 Harris concludes that the power of Homer can be accessed, "but only if approached authentically and through the process of very hard and often frustrating study of the original Greek words."2 While I agree with this approach to classical literature to some extent, Harris has established a demanding and largely impractical standard. -
Inscriptional Records of the Western Zhou
INSCRIPTIONAL RECORDS OF THE WESTERN ZHOU Robert Eno Fall 2012 Note to Readers The translations in these pages cannot be considered scholarly. They were originally prepared in early 1988, under stringent time pressures, specifically for teaching use that term. Although I modified them sporadically between that time and 2012, my final year of teaching, their purpose as course materials, used in a week-long classroom exercise for undergraduate students in an early China history survey, did not warrant the type of robust academic apparatus that a scholarly edition would have required. Since no broad anthology of translations of bronze inscriptions was generally available, I have, since the late 1990s, made updated versions of this resource available online for use by teachers and students generally. As freely available materials, they may still be of use. However, as specialists have been aware all along, there are many imperfections in these translations, and I want to make sure that readers are aware that there is now a scholarly alternative, published last month: A Source Book of Ancient Chinese Bronze Inscriptions, edited by Constance Cook and Paul Goldin (Berkeley: Society for the Study of Early China, 2016). The “Source Book” includes translations of over one hundred inscriptions, prepared by ten contributors. I have chosen not to revise the materials here in light of this new resource, even in the case of a few items in the “Source Book” that were contributed by me, because a piecemeal revision seemed unhelpful, and I am now too distant from research on Western Zhou bronzes to undertake a more extensive one. -
The Analects of Confucius
The analecTs of confucius An Online Teaching Translation 2015 (Version 2.21) R. Eno © 2003, 2012, 2015 Robert Eno This online translation is made freely available for use in not for profit educational settings and for personal use. For other purposes, apart from fair use, copyright is not waived. Open access to this translation is provided, without charge, at http://hdl.handle.net/2022/23420 Also available as open access translations of the Four Books Mencius: An Online Teaching Translation http://hdl.handle.net/2022/23421 Mencius: Translation, Notes, and Commentary http://hdl.handle.net/2022/23423 The Great Learning and The Doctrine of the Mean: An Online Teaching Translation http://hdl.handle.net/2022/23422 The Great Learning and The Doctrine of the Mean: Translation, Notes, and Commentary http://hdl.handle.net/2022/23424 CONTENTS INTRODUCTION i MAPS x BOOK I 1 BOOK II 5 BOOK III 9 BOOK IV 14 BOOK V 18 BOOK VI 24 BOOK VII 30 BOOK VIII 36 BOOK IX 40 BOOK X 46 BOOK XI 52 BOOK XII 59 BOOK XIII 66 BOOK XIV 73 BOOK XV 82 BOOK XVI 89 BOOK XVII 94 BOOK XVIII 100 BOOK XIX 104 BOOK XX 109 Appendix 1: Major Disciples 112 Appendix 2: Glossary 116 Appendix 3: Analysis of Book VIII 122 Appendix 4: Manuscript Evidence 131 About the title page The title page illustration reproduces a leaf from a medieval hand copy of the Analects, dated 890 CE, recovered from an archaeological dig at Dunhuang, in the Western desert regions of China. The manuscript has been determined to be a school boy’s hand copy, complete with errors, and it reproduces not only the text (which appears in large characters), but also an early commentary (small, double-column characters). -
The Rituals of Zhou in East Asian History
STATECRAFT AND CLASSICAL LEARNING: THE RITUALS OF ZHOU IN EAST ASIAN HISTORY Edited by Benjamin A. Elman and Martin Kern CHAPTER FOUR CENTERING THE REALM: WANG MANG, THE ZHOULI, AND EARLY CHINESE STATECRAFT Michael Puett, Harvard University In this chapter I address a basic problem: why would a text like the Rituals of Zhou (Zhouli !"), which purports to describe the adminis- trative structure of the Western Zhou ! dynasty (ca. 1050–771 BCE), come to be employed by Wang Mang #$ (45 BCE–23 CE) and, later, Wang Anshi #%& (1021–1086) in projects of strong state cen- tralization? Answering this question for the case of Wang Mang, how- ever, is no easy task. In contrast to what we have later for Wang Anshi, there are almost no sources to help us understand precisely how Wang Mang used, appropriated, and presented the Zhouli. We are told in the History of the [Western] Han (Hanshu '() that Wang Mang em- ployed the Zhouli, but we possess no commentaries on the text by ei- ther Wang Mang or one of his associates. In fact, we have no full commentary until Zheng Xuan )* (127–200 CE), who was far re- moved from the events of Wang Mang’s time and was concerned with different issues. Even the statements in the Hanshu about the uses of the Zhouli— referred to as the Offices of Zhou (Zhouguan !+) by Wang Mang— are brief. We are told that Wang Mang changed the ritual system of the time to follow that of the Zhouguan,1 that he used the Zhouguan for the taxation system,2 and that he used the Zhouguan, along with the “The Regulations of the King” (“Wangzhi” #,) chapter of the Records of Ritual (Liji "-), to organize state offices.3 I propose to tackle this problem in a way that is admittedly highly speculative. -
Chapter Three – the Zhou Dynasty and the Warring States
CHAPTER THREE – THE ZHOU DYNASTY AND THE WARRING STATES THE OVERTHROW OF THE SHANG As our archaeological record has proven, outside of Shang territory there existed a myriad of other kingdoms and peoples – some were allied to the Shang, others were hostile. Between the Shang capital at Anyang and the territory of the Qiang peoples, was a kingdom named Zhou. A nomadic peoples who spoke an early form of the Tibetan language, the Qiang tribes were often at war with the Shang kingdom. Serving as a buffer zone against the Qiang, this frontier kingdom of Zhou shared much of the Shang’s material culture, such as its bronze work. In 1045 BCE, however, the Zhou noble family of Ji rebelled against and overthrew the Shang rulers at Anyang. In doing so, they laid the foundations for the Zhou dynasty, China’s third. In classical Chinese history, three key figures are involved in the overthrow of the Shang. They are King Wen, who originally expanded the Zhou realm, his son King Wu, who conquered the Shang, and King Wu’s brother, known as the duke of Zhou, who secured Zhou authority while serving as regent for King Wu’s heir. The deeds of these three men are recorded in China’s earliest transmitted text, The Book of Documents.The text portrays the Shang kings as corrupt and decadent, with the Zhou victory recorded as a result of their justice and virtue. The Zhou kings shifted the Shang system of religious worship away from Di, who was a personified supreme first ancestor figure and towards Tian, which was Heaven itself. -
The Teachings of Confucius: a Basis and Justification for Alternative Non-Military Civilian Service
THE TEACHINGS OF CONFUCIUS: A BASIS AND JUSTIFICATION FOR ALTERNATIVE NON-MILITARY CIVILIAN SERVICE Carolyn R. Wah* Over the centuries the teachings of Confucius have been quoted and misquoted to support a wide variety of opinions and social programs ranging from the suppression and sale of women to the concerted suicide of government ministers discontented with the incoming dynasty. Confucius’s critics have asserted that his teachings encourage passivity and adherence to rites with repression of individuality and independent thinking.1 The case is not that simple. A careful review of Confucius’s expressions as preserved by Mencius, his student, and the expressions of those who have studied his teachings, suggests that Confucius might have found many of the expressions and opinions attributed to him to be objectionable and inconsistent with his stated opinions. In part, this misunderstanding of Confucius and his position on individuality, and the individual’s right to take a stand in opposition to legitimate authority, results from a distortion of two Confucian principles; namely, the principle of legitimacy of virtue, suggesting that the most virtuous man should rule, and the principle of using the past to teach the present.2 Certainly, even casual study reveals that Confucius sought political stability, but he did not discourage individuality or independent *She is associate general counsel for Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania. She received her J.D. from Rutgers University Law School and B.A. from The State University of New York at Oswego. She has recently received her M.A. in liberal studies with an emphasis on Chinese studies from The State University of New York—Empire State College. -
ABSTRACT Title of Document: the ANTI-CONFUCIAN CAMPAIGN
ABSTRACT Title of Document: THE ANTI-CONFUCIAN CAMPAIGN DURING THE CULTURAL REVOLUTION, AUGUST 1966-JANUARY 1967 Zehao Zhou, Doctor of Philosophy, 2011 Directed By: Professor James Gao, Department of History This dissertation examines the attacks on the Three Kong Sites (Confucius Temple, Confucius Mansion, Confucius Cemetery) in Confucius’s birthplace Qufu, Shandong Province at the start of the Cultural Revolution. During the height of the campaign against the Four Olds in August 1966, Qufu’s local Red Guards attempted to raid the Three Kong Sites but failed. In November 1966, Beijing Red Guards came to Qufu and succeeded in attacking the Three Kong Sites and leveling Confucius’s tomb. In January 1967, Qufu peasants thoroughly plundered the Confucius Cemetery for buried treasures. This case study takes into consideration all related participants and circumstances and explores the complicated events that interwove dictatorship with anarchy, physical violence with ideological abuse, party conspiracy with mass mobilization, cultural destruction with revolutionary indo ctrination, ideological vandalism with acquisitive vandalism, and state violence with popular violence. This study argues that the violence against the Three Kong Sites was not a typical episode of the campaign against the Four Olds with outside Red Guards as the principal actors but a complex process involving multiple players, intraparty strife, Red Guard factionalism, bureaucratic plight, peasant opportunism, social ecology, and ever- evolving state-society relations. This study also maintains that Qufu locals’ initial protection of the Three Kong Sites and resistance to the Red Guards were driven more by their bureaucratic obligations and self-interest rather than by their pride in their cultural heritage. -
China's Nationalism and Its Quest for Soft Power Through Cinema
Doctoral Thesis for PhD in International Studies China’s Nationalism and Its Quest for Soft Power through Cinema Frances (Xiao-Feng) Guo University of Technology, Sydney 2013 Acknowledgement To begin, I wish to express my great appreciation to my PhD supervisor Associate Professor Yingjie Guo. Yingjie has been instrumental in helping me shape the theoretical framework, sharpen the focus, and improve the structure and the flow of the thesis. He has spent a considerable amount of time reading many drafts and providing insightful comments. I wish to thank him for his confidence in this project, and for his invaluable support, guidance, and patience throughout my PhD program. I also wish to thank Professor Wanning Sun and Professor Louise Edwards for their valued support and advice. I am grateful for the Australian Postgraduate Award that I received via UTS over the three-and-half years during my candidature. The scholarship has afforded me the opportunity to take the time to fully concentrate on my PhD study. I am indebted to Yingjie Guo and Louise Edwards for their help with my scholarship application. I should also thank UTS China Research Centre, the Research Office of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at UTS, and UTS Graduate Research School for their financial support for my fieldwork in China and the opportunities to present papers at national and international conferences during my doctoral candidature. Finally, my gratitude goes to my family, in particular my parents. Their unconditional love and their respect for education have inspired me to embark on this challenging and fulfilling journey. -
Sacred Heritage Making in Confucius' Hometown: a Case of The
Sacred Heritage Making in Confucius’ Hometown: A Case of the Liangguan Site Bailan Qin Department of Chinese Studies School of Languages and Cultures University of Sydney A thesis submitted in fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Philosophy at the University of Sydney ©2018 This is to certify that to the best of my knowledge, the content of this thesis is my own work. This thesis has not been submitted for any degree or other purposes. I certify that the intellectual content of this thesis is the product of my own work and that all the assistance received in preparing this thesis and sources have been acknowledged. Signature Bailan Qin Abstract For over two thousand years, Qufu – the hometown of Confucius – has maintained numerous heritage sites where ancient Chinese elites revered Confucius and studied Confucianism. The sites, known as sacred places, have been exerting significant impact on Chinese culture and society. However, since the early 1930s, many of these sites in non-protected areas have been forgotten and even transformed in such a way that their original heritage meanings have dissipated. Following President Xi Jinping’s visit to Qufu on 26 November 2013, Qufu has been attracting unprecedented attention in both mass media and the academia, contributing to China’s ongoing Confucian revival in the post-Mao era. Against this background, the thesis aims to explore Confucian discourses deeply rooted in traditions of Chinese studies to inform heritage researchers and practioners today of sacred heritage-making process theoretically and practically. The study has investigated how a widely known sacred place – Liangguan was produced, preserved, interpreted and transmitted as heritage by examining historical texts associated with Qufu. -
Sun Tzu the Art Of
SUN TZU’S BILINGUAL CHINESE AND ENGLISH TEXT Art of war_part1.indd i 28/4/16 1:33 pm To my brother Captain Valentine Giles, R. C., in the hope that a work 2400 years old may yet contain lessons worth consideration to the soldier of today, this translation is affectionately dedicated SUN TZU BILINGUAL CHINESE AND ENGLISH TEXT With a new foreword by John Minford Translated by Lionel Giles TUTTLE Publishing Tokyo Rutland, Vermont Singapore ABOUT TUTTLE “Books to Span the East and West” Our core mission at Tuttle Publishing is to create books which bring people together one page at a time. Tuttle was founded in 1832 in the small New England town of Rutland, Vermont (USA). Our fundamental values remain as strong today as they were then—to publish best-in-class books informing the English-speaking world about the countries and peoples of Asia. The world has become a smaller place today and Asia’s economic, cultural and political infl uence has expanded, yet the need for meaning- ful dialogue and information about this diverse region has never been greater. Since 1948, Tuttle has been a leader in publishing books on the cultures, arts, cuisines, lan- guages and literatures of Asia. Our authors and photographers have won numerous awards and Tuttle has published thousands of books on subjects ranging from martial arts to paper crafts. We welcome you to explore the wealth of information available on Asia at www.tuttlepublishing.com. Published by Tuttle Publishing, an imprint of Distributed by Periplus Editions (HK) Ltd. North America, Latin America & Europe www.tuttlepublishing.com Tuttle Publishing 364 Innovation Drive, North Clarendon Copyright © 2008 Periplus Editions (HK) Ltd. -
The Zhou Dynasty Around 1046 BC, King Wu, the Leader of the Zhou
The Zhou Dynasty Around 1046 BC, King Wu, the leader of the Zhou (Chou), a subject people living in the west of the Chinese kingdom, overthrew the last king of the Shang Dynasty. King Wu died shortly after this victory, but his family, the Ji, would rule China for the next few centuries. Their dynasty is known as the Zhou Dynasty. The Mandate of Heaven After overthrowing the Shang Dynasty, the Zhou propagated a new concept known as the Mandate of Heaven. The Mandate of Heaven became the ideological basis of Zhou rule, and an important part of Chinese political philosophy for many centuries. The Mandate of Heaven explained why the Zhou kings had authority to rule China and why they were justified in deposing the Shang dynasty. The Mandate held that there could only be one legitimate ruler of China at one time, and that such a king reigned with the approval of heaven. A king could, however, loose the approval of heaven, which would result in that king being overthrown. Since the Shang kings had become immoral—because of their excessive drinking, luxuriant living, and cruelty— they had lost heaven’s approval of their rule. Thus the Zhou rebellion, according to the idea, took place with the approval of heaven, because heaven had removed supreme power from the Shang and bestowed it upon the Zhou. Western Zhou After his death, King Wu was succeeded by his son Cheng, but power remained in the hands of a regent, the Duke of Zhou. The Duke of Zhou defeated rebellions and established the Zhou Dynasty firmly in power at their capital of Fenghao on the Wei River (near modern-day Xi’an) in western China. -
The Story of the Duke of Zhou
Indiana University, History G380 – class text readings – Spring 2010 – R. Eno 1.6 THE STORY OF THE DUKE OF ZHOU Next to Confucius himself, the greatest hero of ancient China, as viewed through the perspective of the later Confucian tradition, was a man known as the Duke of Zhou, one of the founders of the Zhou Dynasty. The Duke of Zhou is celebrated for two reasons. The first concerns his formidable political achievements. The texts tell us that two years after the conquest of the Shang, the Zhou conqueror King Wu died, leaving only one very young son to succeed him. While it was the Shang custom to pass the throne from older to younger brother within one generation, the tradition of the Zhou people had been that their throne should pass only from father to son. Upon the death of King Wu, his younger brother, the Duke of Zhou, seized power, claiming that it was his intention to preside only as an emergency measure until his nephew came of age and could properly receive the Mandate of Heaven. A number of the other brothers believed instead that the Duke was seizing the throne in the manner of former Shang kings and they raised a rebellion. The Duke not only put down the rebellion, but followed this forceful confirmation of his claim to ultimate power by actually doing what he had promised all along – when his nephew, the future King Cheng, came of age, the Duke ceded to him full authority to rule and retired to an advisory role. This sacrifice of power on the Duke’s part immeasurably enhanced the stature of the Zhou throne and the religious power of the concept of Heaven’s mandate.