Confucius’ Analects – Wisdom from Ancient China

Confucius is one of the most renowned figures in history, revered by many as a man of exceptional wisdom. His Analects, a compilation of his wisdom and teachings, demonstrate the thoughts of a man who believed that analyzing the world around him could lead to a wiser, better life.

One overarching theme of Confucius’s collective work is this: that people ought to search for wisdom and try to act wisely, in order to live their lives better. Passing Confucius’s wisdom forward through time was the goal of Analects, and the goal of Confucius himself as he taught his pupils. It is summarized well in 8.13 of the Analects, one translation of which reads: “Be of unwavering good faith and love learning. Be steadfast unto death in pursuit of the good Tao (way of life).” Although a life cannot be entirely composed of wisdom, it makes sense to seek it, as wisdom is fundamentally about acting in ways that will make your own life better.

            I have not interacted in many things in modern pop culture that even have the goal of pursuing wisdom, let alone art that’s entire theme is that wisdom ought to be spread. One video game I played recently, The Talos Principle, is a philosophical sci-fi puzzle game about artificial intelligence. Although a very different demonstration of a desire to search for wisdom and understanding, The Talos Principle wants its players to ponder fundamental concepts (like what it means to be human) in order to come to a better understanding of the world around us. Playing The Talos Principle within around a month of reading Confucius created an interesting contrast, as Confucius mostly presents answers, whereas The Talos Principle wants you to find your own. Overall, both works made me think about wisdom, and both led me to value it more than I had before.

As an aspiring writer, one of my entire goals is to discover things worth writing about. Confucius’s Analects resonates with me because of its desire to seek goodness in the world, and to help people to live better. In fact, it inspired me to create this blog in the first place, and to theme my blog around finding different pieces of wisdom from various places and times. The Analects is worth reading just for its historical significance, and although not every single piece of advice is relevant, many of them are good advice.

A complete translation of the Analects, with occasional comments to give context, can be found here.

 

Works Cited

Puchner, M. (2013). The Norton Anthology of World Literature: Volume 1. New York: W.W. Norton & Company. Retrieved from https://digital.wwnorton.com/worldlit3v2 

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