The Confucius Philosophy

Paper Summary:

This paper on Confucius and his philosophy begins by explaining that it is difficult to know how much of what is attributed to Confucian thinking comes from the man himself, and how much comes from his disciples. The paper first explores the issue of the history of Confucius, explaining the situation in China at the time, and the lack of a cohesive biography of Confucius. Next, the paper explores the topic of the 'Analects,' a collection of sayings and short dialogues which are said to have been collected by his disciples. The paper explains how Christian missionaries used his texts to appeal to the Chinese, and how Confucius described his own relationship to the higher power.

From the Paper:

"The development of the history of Confucius is itself interesting. The biography of Confucius which Sse-Ma Ch'ien wrote down among the histories of individual states, was an important point of distinction, for the uncrowned king of China and this will form the foundation of all biographies of Confucius at all stages of history. There was no chronologically arranged biography of Confucius before SseMa Ch'ien wrote it. At the same time, Sse-Ma Ch'ien had his own sources to write it. The historical works from the school established by the Master himself were first considered. Apart from this were the Commentaries of K'ung Yang and Ku Liang on the spring and Autumn Annals of Confucius. Sse-Ma Ch'ien also made extensive use of the History of Tso Ch'iu. This history is divided now into the so-called Tso Chuan. This was seen by the later scholars as a commentary on the spring and Autumn Annals, and the Kuo Yu, which are Speeches from the Various States. (Danton; Danton, 71)"

More papers on The Confucius Philosophy:

• Term Paper # 116444 : "Confucius: the Virtues of Man and His Laws"
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• Narrative Essay # 74911 : "Confucius"

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