| Chapter 1: | The Rationale for Reading the Analects Existentially |
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On the existential level, Chinese and Westerners seek the same common ground on which their lives are based. The existential reading that I attempt here aims to uncover the deeper dimension of Confucius’s thought. Though it gains insights from the general philosophical trend called existentialism, my reading is existential rather than existentialist. Existential refers to the experience of life that affects the people individually and collectively, rather than to the abstract theory of thought about individuality and freedom. An existential approach has more to do with how one should respond to what life presents and with living a full existence, free from fragmentation.
Explaining Confucius’s vision of human existence requires moving beyond the semantic and reflective levels of interpretation; so far, most interpretations of the Analects have emphasized only these two levels. In order to arrive at an understanding of Confucius’s thought that is both true to his time and relevant today, it is essential that readers move on to the existential level. After all, a unitary vision of life and the world and a unified existence are ends that people in all times and places seek.
Confucius and the Text of the Analects
In order to foster a better appreciation the text of the Analects and its existential import, I begin this study by briefly narrating the life of Confucius.4 (Those readers who are familiar with Confucius’s biography may find it useful to skip to the next section.) This is followed by an overview of the textual issues associated with the Analects.
The Life of Confucius
Confucius was born in 551 BCE in present-day Qufu, Shandong Province, to a declining aristocratic family. He is said to have been interested in ritual ceremony even as a child, a subject that later became an important part of his teaching. When he became a young adult, Confucius did menial work for a living; he is said to have been appointed a minor official keeping the granary. Confucius was a very diligent student and was eager to learn, and by his own efforts he acquired all the basic skills