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Zhu Xi's Reading of the Analects: Canon, Commentary, and the Classical Tradition
The Analects is a compendium of the sayings of Confucius (551-479 b.c.e.), transcribed and passed down by his disciples. How it came to be transformed by Zhu Xi (1130-1200) into one of the most philosophically significant texts in the Confucian tradition is the subject of this book.
Scholarly attention in China had long been devoted to the Analects. By the time of Zhu Xi, a rich history of commentary had grown up around it. But Zhu, claiming that the Analects was one of the authoritative texts in the canon and should be read before all others, gave it a still more privileged status in the tradition. He spent decades preparing an extended interlinear commentary on it. Sustained by a newer, more elaborate language of metaphysics, Zhu's commentary on the Analects marked a significant shift in the philosophical orientation of Confucianism--a shift that redefined the Confucian tradition for the next eight centuries, not only in China, but in Japan and Korea well.
Gardner's translations and analysis of Zhu Xi's commentary on the Analects show one of China's great thinkers in an interesting and complex act of philosophical negotiation. Through an interlinear, line-by-line dialogue with Confucius, Zhu effected a reconciliation of the teachings of the Master, commentary by later exegetes, and contemporary philosophical concerns of Song-dynasty scholars. By comparing Zhu's reading of the Analects with the earlier standard reading by He Yan (190-249), Gardner illuminates what is dramatically new in Zhu Xi's interpretation of the Analects.
A pioneering study of Zhu Xi's reading of the Analects, this book demonstrates how commentary is both informed by a text and informs future readings, and highlights the importance of interlinear commentary as a genre in Chinese philosophy.
Scholarly attention in China had long been devoted to the Analects. By the time of Zhu Xi, a rich history of commentary had grown up around it. But Zhu, claiming that the Analects was one of the authoritative texts in the canon and should be read before all others, gave it a still more privileged status in the tradition. He spent decades preparing an extended interlinear commentary on it. Sustained by a newer, more elaborate language of metaphysics, Zhu's commentary on the Analects marked a significant shift in the philosophical orientation of Confucianism--a shift that redefined the Confucian tradition for the next eight centuries, not only in China, but in Japan and Korea well.
Gardner's translations and analysis of Zhu Xi's commentary on the Analects show one of China's great thinkers in an interesting and complex act of philosophical negotiation. Through an interlinear, line-by-line dialogue with Confucius, Zhu effected a reconciliation of the teachings of the Master, commentary by later exegetes, and contemporary philosophical concerns of Song-dynasty scholars. By comparing Zhu's reading of the Analects with the earlier standard reading by He Yan (190-249), Gardner illuminates what is dramatically new in Zhu Xi's interpretation of the Analects.
A pioneering study of Zhu Xi's reading of the Analects, this book demonstrates how commentary is both informed by a text and informs future readings, and highlights the importance of interlinear commentary as a genre in Chinese philosophy.
- GenresPhilosophy
184 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2003
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October 11, 2023
In the author’s own words, "This book is both a study of the commentarial genre and an intellectual history, showing what is distinctive about Zhu Xi’s understanding of the Confucian tradition."
The problem with this approach is that Zhu Xi’s Collected Commentaries on the Analects is not an analysis of Zhu Xi’s commentarial style; it’s an outward-facing text, written by Confucians to transmit the way to would-be Confucians. It aims to influence its readers, both emotionally and intellectually, and inspire them to put the teachings into practice. And so Gardener’s book ends up entirely intellectual, distanced and clinical, and not at all like reading Zhu Xi’s famous book in the native language.
The translations are fairly accurate in terms of intellectual meaning. However, they lack the persuasive writing style that Zhu Xi used, a style that influenced billions of people in East Asia. And these translations are also nestled between the author's extensive commentary (which, although useful and insightful, alters the overall feel).
This book covers only a small portion of the 500 Analects verses, and instead of presenting them in their original order, they are grouped by topics, making navigation challenging. For each verse that is covered, both He Yan and Zhu Xi’s commentaries are presented in full, with the classical Chinese for both provided in the appendix, followed by an analysis by the author.
If you’re interested in Western academic analysis, then this might be for you.
The problem with this approach is that Zhu Xi’s Collected Commentaries on the Analects is not an analysis of Zhu Xi’s commentarial style; it’s an outward-facing text, written by Confucians to transmit the way to would-be Confucians. It aims to influence its readers, both emotionally and intellectually, and inspire them to put the teachings into practice. And so Gardener’s book ends up entirely intellectual, distanced and clinical, and not at all like reading Zhu Xi’s famous book in the native language.
The translations are fairly accurate in terms of intellectual meaning. However, they lack the persuasive writing style that Zhu Xi used, a style that influenced billions of people in East Asia. And these translations are also nestled between the author's extensive commentary (which, although useful and insightful, alters the overall feel).
This book covers only a small portion of the 500 Analects verses, and instead of presenting them in their original order, they are grouped by topics, making navigation challenging. For each verse that is covered, both He Yan and Zhu Xi’s commentaries are presented in full, with the classical Chinese for both provided in the appendix, followed by an analysis by the author.
If you’re interested in Western academic analysis, then this might be for you.
Displaying 1 of 1 review