Confucius: Difference between revisions

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{{quote| Tsze-lu said, "The ruler of Wei has been waiting for you, in order with you to administer the government. What will you consider the first thing to be done?"<br />

The Master replied, "What is necessary is to rectify names." "So! indeed!" said Tsze-lu. "You are wide of the mark! Why must there be such rectification?"<br />

The Master said, "How uncultivated you are, Yu! A superior man, in regard to what he does not know, shows a cautious reserve.<br />

"[[For Want of a Nail|If names be not correct]], language is not in accordance with the truth of things. If language be not in accordance with the truth of things, affairs cannot be carried on to success.<br />

"When affairs cannot be carried on to success, proprieties and music do not flourish. When proprieties and music do not flourish, punishments will not be properly awarded. When punishments are not properly awarded, the people do not know how to move hand or foot.<br />

'"[[Confucius']]" is the name given to an unknown - like Shakespeare, to take an English example - but influential Chinese philosopher who lived in the 6th century BC. After his death, his teachings were compiled in a work known in the English-speaking world as the ''[[Analects]] of Confucius'' (Chinese: ''Lún Yǔ'', lit. "discussion over Confucius' words" -- though "analects" means "a collection of excerpts from a literary work" and is thus an inaccurate translation).

{{quote| The Master said, "Is it not pleasant to learn with a constant perseverance and application? Is it not delightful to have friends coming from distant quarters? Is a gentleman not a man of complete virtue, who feels no discomposure though men may take no note of him?"}}

In Western popular culture, the name of Confucius is often attached to joke proverbs expressed in mangled English, e.g. "Confucius say: He who [[You No Take Candle|no take candle]] not very bright." It hopefully goes without saying that the genuine article's thoughts were somewhat deeper; one problem with translations into European languages is that [[Chinese Dialects and Accents|classical Chinese is a notoriously laconic and nuanced language]], as if being of a completely different language group wasn't enough. In any case, "Confucius say..." or "Wise man once say..." are prefaces to facetious 'quotes'; texts that actually reference Confucius generally begin more eloquently, e.g. "The Master said..."

* [[RetShout-GoneOut]]: -Confucius' Removedmoral fromphilosophy hiswas placefounded on the Chinese''Book curriculumof post-PRCSongs'', althoughfrom which he's beingdrew rehabilitateda bunch explanatory metaphors.