Introduction

Abstract

Few texts in any cultural or philosophical canon are as influential as the Lunyu 論語, or Analects. The text has been received as one of the earliest and most authoritative accounts of the life and thought of Confucius, Kongzi 孔子, and thus as a founding document in the tradition associated with him. The Analects has inspired generations of readers, informed the work of myriad philosophers, literati, and critics, and exercised considerable power over the cultural imagination. Likewise, Confucius, the thinker and moral exemplar at the heart of the text, enjoys an uncommon stature in both Chinese history and in the world’s wisdom traditions. He is, as the Analects tells us, akin to sun and moon, achieving heights of learning and sagacity others simply cannot approach (19.24). It is difficult to overstate the sweeping and profound influence of this text and its protagonist. The work assembled in this volume aspires to provide an orientation to the Analects and to the thought of Confucius as it ostensibly features in that text. This brief introduction, then, simply provides short sketches of the history of the text, of Confucius, and of the structure of the volume itself.