Conversations of Confucius
The Conversations or Analects of Confucius ( Chinese 論語 / 论语 , Pinyin lún yǔ ), literally something like : Collected Sayings , is one of the thirteen classics of canonical Confucian Chinese literature . They also belong to the four books .
Age
According to tradition, the conversations of Confucius' disciples were recorded. However, recent studies date the text to the late Warring States Period (475–221 B.C.E.) or even the Western Han period (207 B.C.-9 C.E.).
The texts were written in the Qin Dynasty in the 3rd century BC. Banned, records were destroyed. A reconstruction was therefore initially difficult. The analects as we know them today come largely from Zheng Xuan , who lived in the Han Dynasty from 127–200 AD and also wrote the first commentary on the Lun Yu . For his compilation of the text, for which an imperial commission was originally appointed, essentially three original texts were available to him. A 20-chapter version is from the state of Lu , where Confucius was born and spent most of his life. The second comes from Qi , was more detailed than the first with 22 chapters and seemed to come from a later period. The third text is considered to be the most authentic and is also the oldest. The 21-chapter text called Old Lun Yu was written around 150 BC. It is said to have been discovered in Confucius' house, which is still preserved, and was written in an ancient script.
Influence on chinese culture
Confucius has had an unprecedented impact on Chinese culture and development. However, he was a practitioner, realizing early on that his teachings were not recognized in his day and therefore relied on the training of his students. For this reason there is not a single work written by Confucius himself. Confucius' teaching only gained importance after his death. The Lun Yu consists of anal ects , quotes and conversations between the master and his students. They also contain criticism of contemporaries, the description of the Confucian ideal person and instructions for personal character development. They are thus a summary of Confucianism, which is based on four foundations:
- Humanity (仁 rén)
- Righteousness (義 yì)
- Child care (孝 xiào)
- Rites (禮 lǐ)
In the Song Dynasty , the Lun Yu was combined with the work of Mengzi , the book Middle and Measure and the Great Learning to form the classical canon of the Four Books . The reputation of the conversations is also reflected in the large number of his commentators. a. Kang Youwei and Zhang Taiyan belong.
Significance in Germany
The texts translated by Richard Wilhelm were also well received in Germany . This was due to a growing fascination with Asian "works of wisdom" in the 19th century.
authenticity
In addition to the ambitious disciples of Confucius, who tried with the greatest meticulousness to secure the thoughts of their master for posterity, there were several attempts to corrupt the teaching. In addition, it has been more than 600 years since Confucius' death and the first serious summary of the conversations, in which much material has been lost. There are still some inexplicable and undeciphered passages in the Lun Yu today, but thanks to thorough research, much of the Master's conversations can be recognized as authentic.
literature
- Kungfutse: Lun Yü. Conversations. Translated from the Chinese and edited by Richard Wilhelm (Diederich's yellow series: China), Eugen-Diederichs-Verlag, Düsseldorf a. Cologne 1980, ISBN 3-424-00622-X .
- Confucius: Conversations (Lun-yu). Translated from Chinese and edited by Ralf Moritz (Reclams Universal Library Volume 888), Philipp Reclam jun., Leipzig 1988, ISBN 3-379-00004-3 ; New edition: Philipp Reclam jun., Stuttgart 1998, ISBN 3-15-009656-1 .
- Wojciech Jan Simson: The Story of the Sayings of Confucius (Lunyu). Dissertation University of Zurich, 2002 (Worlds of East Asia, Volume 10), Lang, Bern et al. 2006, ISBN 3-03910-967-7 .
Web links
- Lunyu - Chinese Text Project
- English translation from the University of Adelaide Library
- Lunyu in German by Richard Wilhelm
Individual evidence
- ↑ Wolfgang Behr: The current state of research on the etymology of rén 仁 at a glance. In: Bochum yearbook for East Asia research. Jahrbuch 38, 2015, pp. 199–224, here p. 205.
- ^ A b Ralf Moritz in: Confucius Conversations , Verlag Philipp Reclam jun. , Leipzig 1962 (2nd edition)
- ↑ Jürgen Osterhammel: The transformation of the world: A history of the 19th century . 5th edition. CH Beck, Munich 2010, ISBN 978-3-406-58283-7 , p. 1153 .