Sayings of Confucius

by Heian International Inc and Heian International

Book by Heian International This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 9812180184
• ISBN13: 9789812180186
• Release Date: September 1996
• Publisher: Graham Brash
• Length: 70 Pages
• Weight: 0.22 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.2" x 5.0" x 7.3"

Customer Reviews

Learning from Confucius.

THE SAYINGS OF CONFUCIUS. A New Translation by James R. Ware. 128 pp. (Mentor Religious Classic). New York : New American Library, 1955 and Reissued.The present book, after a 13-page Introduction on the historical background of Confucius, gives us an unannotated translation of a Chinese Classic that is more commonly referred to in the West 'The Analects of Confucius.' Ware rounds out his edition with a Table of Chinese Dynasties, a brief Bibliography, and an Index of Subjects.Ware's historical Introduction is the work of a sincere and genuinely concerned person, and should be of use to the newcomer to this subject. Ware sees something of great value in the Chinese tradition, something exemplified by Confucius and that the West desperately needs, although it has yet to realize this. He tells us that "Confucius has much to say to us today," both as individuals and as an entire culture or social entity. As individuals we can " receive personal encouragement for the leading of a good life." As an entire society, we could "formulate for ourselves a better Truth" (p.7).Personally I feel sure that Ware is right, although for the wrong reasons. All of us are blind to our own shadows, and those who have no experience of or deep familiarity with a foreign culture will never fully understand their own. Ware's immersion in Chinese thought has led him to see something, but I don't think he's seen it as clearly as he might have.One of the finest popular treatments of Chinese culture that we have is Lin Yutang's 'My Country and My People.' And one of the most important points that Lin makes is that, whereas China has always been characterized by "a reasonable use of reason," the West has never shown a similar restraint but has instead given itself over to "an excessive use of reason" and a worship of mere rationality and the 'scientific method.' In other words, the Chinese, as a profoundly common-sensical people, have always remained firmly grounded in reality because they have always understood that REASON CAN ONLY TAKE YOU SO FAR. But the West seems never to have never understood this. And unless it does, the Juggernaut of Reason which has been underway for centuries will continue on its ruthless and relentless course until it ends up by crushing everything.Ware's translation, though undoubtedly sincere, is characterized by a certain woodenness, a certain stiffness. Here, as an example, is his rendering of Book II, xiv :"Great Man, being universal in his outlook, is impartial; Petty Man, being partial, is not universal in outlook" (p.27) Though Ware is adequate, I was weaned on Ezra Pound's more lively and idiosyncratic version of 'The Analects,' and although I've read and compared several translations, the lines that tend to stick in my mind are invariably those of Pound. Here is how he handles the same passage :"He said : A proper man is inclusive, not sectary; the small man is sectarian and not inclusive" (Book II, xiv).For t