| Chapter 1: | The Rationale for Reading the Analects Existentially |
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respectively by Zizhang (
), Zisi (
), Yan (
), Meng (
), Qidiao (
), Zhongliang (
), Sun (
), and Yuezheng (
), it is necessary to ask which lineage was responsible for compiling the Analects, the text that became a standard for Confucians of all succeeding generations.
In modern times, intellectual property rights are taken for granted, but the question of who compiled the Analects is complicated by the fact that compilers did not traditionally identify themselves. This is only natural, because the importance of a work did not stem from the skill of the compilers; rather, it was thought that the original author should receive all the credit. Indeed, the compilers for all the major works in the Warring States period are anonymous. The compilers must have understood their work as one way to express gratitude toward their masters. Therefore the compilation of Confucius’s Analects was not exceptional. The earliest record of how the Analects was compiled is found in the Yiwenzhi (
; Bibliography of the Han)section of the official history of the Han by Ban Gu (
; 32–92).
According to Zheng Xuan, the primary compilers were Zhonggong, Ziyou, and Zixia.26 Both Ban Gu and Zheng Xuan were challenged by later critics, as discussed in what follows.
Liu Zongyuan’s Observation
The passage quoted in the preceding section suggests that the Lunyu was compiled soon after Confucius’s death and that all the sayings were