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

This deep sense of loneliness is caused by the fact that even Confucius’s disciples did not fully understand his vision. Inhabitants of the modern world experience something similar when family and friends simply do not understand their concerns, motivations, and goals. In times of deep loneliness, Confucius sometimes simply chose to remain silent. In 17:19, for instance, Confucius reportedly said that he planned to give up speech. His disciples protested that then there would be nothing for them to transmit, and Confucius responded, “What does Heaven ever say? Yet there are the four seasons going around and there are [one] hundred things coming into being. What does Heaven ever say?” Confucius again appealed to Heaven. Because Heaven was considered a model for human beings on earth, by appealing to Heaven, Confucius justified himself for being silent. On the deep level, loneliness was something that one had to bear alone.

Faith

The world that human beings inhabit is not always orderly: natural and human disasters are frequent. This was also very true in Confucius’s time. Is there any meaning in this disorderly world? According to Confucius, behind the disorderly human world there is a divine order, called Dao, the Way. It is an order that requires faith for proof of its existence, and its realization demands commitment.

The faith in this order is very well captured in Analects 4:8, where Confucius said, “He has not lived in vain who dies the day he is told about the Way.” This divine order, therefore, is much greater in value than the life of a person. In other words, the sacrifice of one’s life to the realization of this order is worthwhile. The required commitment of faith is further illustrated in the words of Confucius’s disciple Zizhang ( Tzu-chang): “How can a man be said either to have anything or not to have anything who fails to hold on to virtue with all his might or to believe in the Way with all his heart?” (19:2)