| Chapter 1: | The Rationale for Reading the Analects Existentially |
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(
), the Xunzi (
), the Guoyu (
; Discourses of the States), and the Zhuangzi (
).20 There is good reason to ignore the Zhuangzi, for the work is allegorical in nature.21 But the seriousness with which Confucius is referred to in the other works leads to the conclusion that there might have been other texts—in addition to the Analects—that recorded Confucius’s messages. If Han Feizi (
; 280–233 BCE) was right to assert that sectarian movements arose after Confucius died, it is not impossible that different sects were in possession of separate transmissions of Confucius’s teachings.22
From the Analects itself, there is already some evidence suggesting that mutual criticism arose among Confucius’s disciples (19:12); schisms among them were only natural under these circumstances. In other words, it is quite conceivable that more than one recording of the master’s sayings or conversations was in circulation after his death. It must be noted that the sectarian movements did not necessarily prevent a person in one lineage from learning from the master of another lineage. Moreover, teachings of masters in different lineages may have differed only in emphasis but not in substance. And different emphases arose from the different philosophical orientations and personal temperaments of Confucius’s immediate disciples.23
Indeed, the Analects as it survives today contains many voices of Confucius’s immediate disciples. These voices represent, I believe, various aspects of the Master’s thought and should not be regarded as necessarily irreconcilable conflicts among them. To grasp the vision of Confucius’s thought, one should certainly take into account the different perspectives represented by these voices, but one should also presume a deep level of coherency even in the seemingly disjointed sayings of this great master.
Who Compiled the Analects ?
Criticism of various lineages, or traditions of transmission, of Confucius’s teaching appeared as early as the Xunzi, by the author of the same name, Xunzi, (ca. 325–235 BCE) in which the Zizhang (
), the Zixia (
), and the Ziyou (
) lineages are singled out.24 If, as Han Feizi maintains, after Confucius’s death there were eight lineages led