An Existential Reading of the Confucian Analects
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An Existential Reading of the Confucian Analects By Andrew Zhon ...

Chapter 1:  The Rationale for Reading the Analects Existentially
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Thus this is undoubtedly why he once had the title of master. From the record we currently possess, Master Zeng died last. From this, I know the truth. Probably Yuezheng Zichun and Zisi did the work.” Others say, “Confucius’s disciples once recorded his words in mixed fashion and the ones who put the work in final form were Zeng’s disciples.”28

Liu’s argument is supported by the fact that there are many more chapters in the Lunyu relating to Master Zeng than there are about any other disciples. Liu’s conclusion is accepted implicitly or explicitly by modern scholars who have undertaken a study of the Lunyu, such as Yang Bojun, D. C. Lau, Chen Daqi, Benjamin Schwartz, and Roger Ames; I also agree with them. However, before fully embracing this point of view, other viewpoints must be taken into account—perspectives that could be termed evolutionist, for they tend to see the Analects as having evolved through different time periods before reaching its final form.

Hu Yin and Ito’s Observations

The first scholar to propose such an implicitly evolutionary view was Hu Yin (; 1098–1156). Hu suggested that the text should be divided into two parts, because the last ten sections are less well organized than the first ten; thus the last sections surely date later than the first sections.29 This bipartite theory is further elaborated by the Japanese scholar Ito Jinsai (; 1627–1705), who argued from another angle that the last ten books are separable from the first ten. His argument must be taken seriously.




The twenty sections of the Lunyu are traditionally divided into upper and lower sections. Does it resemble what later generations call a series of the Lunyu in three collections? Probably, the Lunyu compilers first recorded the first ten sections for circulation among themselves and added another ten sections as a