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Contents

The twenty books of the Analects. Begin anywhere — each saying stands on its own.

  1. I 學而 To Learn Xué Ér The keynote of the whole work: the joy of learning, the roots of virtue in the family, and the daily examination of the self. 16
  2. II 為政 To Govern Wéi Zhèng Government by virtue rather than by force — and the Master's own life in six famous lines, from setting his heart on learning at fifteen to following it freely at seventy. 24
  3. III 八佾 Eight Rows Bā Yì On ritual and music, and the outrage of those who usurp the forms of their betters. Ceremony without reverence is nothing. 26
  4. IV 里仁 Where Virtue Dwells Lǐ Rén A dense chapter on benevolence: choosing where to live, the single thread that runs through all the Master's teaching, and the difference between the superior and the mean man. 26
  5. V 公冶長 Kung-ye Ch'ang Gōngyě Cháng Confucius weighs his disciples and the men of his age — who is fit for office, who is truly virtuous, and who only seems so. 27
  6. VI 雍也 There is Yung Yōng Yě More appraisals of character, the matchless virtue of Hui in his poverty, and the wise who delight in water, the good who delight in hills. 28
  7. VII 述而 Transmitting Shù Ér Confucius on himself — 'a transmitter and not a maker' — eating coarse rice with joy, refusing none who came to learn, silent on the marvellous. 37
  8. VIII 泰伯 T'ai-po Tài Bó The supreme virtue of the ancients who yielded the throne, the heavy burden the scholar carries, and praise of the sage-kings Yao, Shun, and Yu. 21
  9. IX 子罕 The Master Seldom Zǐ Hǎn Glimpses of the Master in danger and in age — free of foregone conclusions and egoism, mourning that the phoenix does not come, urging that the work not stop one basketful short. 30
  10. X 鄉黨 In the Village Xiāng Dǎng An intimate portrait of how Confucius actually lived: his bearing at court and at home, his dress, his food, his care in small things. 18
  11. XI 先進 Those of Former Times Xiān Jìn The circle of disciples drawn close — their gifts and faults, and the grief of the Master at the death of Hui: 'Heaven is destroying me!' 25
  12. XII 顏淵 Yen Yuan Yán Yuān What is benevolence? what is government? The answers given to different disciples — subdue the self and return to propriety; do not do to others what you would not wish done to yourself. 24
  13. XIII 子路 Tsze-lu Zǐ Lù The practice of rule: lead by example, set the people an example before you weary them, and first of all rectify the names of things. 30
  14. XIV 憲問 Hsien Asked Xiàn Wèn On shame, on the complete man, and on the famous question — recompense injury with kindness? 'Recompense injury with justice, and kindness with kindness.' 47
  15. XV 衛靈公 Duke Ling of Wei Wèi Líng Gōng The superior man tested by want and adversity, the one word to be the rule of a life — reciprocity — and the duty of dying, if need be, to keep one's virtue whole. 41
  16. XVI 季氏 The Chi Family Jì Shì Power decaying from the centre out: three friendships that profit and three that harm, three things the superior man guards against, the nine subjects of his thought. 14
  17. XVII 陽貨 Yang Ho Yáng Huò A darker book of a failing age: 'By nature men are nearly alike; by practice they get to be wide apart,' and the Master's wish at last to say nothing, as Heaven says nothing. 26
  18. XVIII 微子 Wei Tsze Wēi Zǐ The worthies who withdrew from a disordered world, and the recluses who mock the Master for not joining them — yet 'I cannot herd with birds and beasts.' 11
  19. XIX 子張 Tsze-chang Zǐ Zhāng The Master is gone; now the disciples speak. Tsze-hsia, Tsze-chang, Tsze-kung, and Tsang carry the teaching, and defend it against detractors. 25
  20. XX 堯曰 Yao Said Yáo Yuē A brief and solemn close: the charge handed down from sage-king to sage-king, and the last counsel — without knowing the decrees of Heaven, the rules of propriety, and the force of words, one cannot be a superior man. 3