The History of the Analects
The Analects was a number of books that contained political and philosophical documentation written by the followers of Confucius that attributed to what he believed in his life. They were written with respect to teach all human beings, not limited by any such limiting factor. His teachings, as noted by his followers, were spread throughout the land during his time, spreading across all of East Asia to what is now China. Confucius’ teachings and ideologies, specifically talked about in the Analects rely on three major talking points: the effects of self-cultivation & proper order on its people , the autobiography of Confuicus,
Confucius spread the word of both self-cultivation and proper order (Maganga “The Analects”). Self-cultivation was considered the major theme within the Analects because the idea was established in the writings of the Analects because according to his teachings, it was dependent of the human being to maintain themselves at a state of responsibility. According to Confucius, it was even considered a moral responsibility of the human to maintain self-cultivation. Similarly of what was said was that it’s the responsibility of the human being to understand what self-cultivation was, because according to him, it defined whether or not you were considered a genuine human. This gap separation between whether or not you were a human being also stemmed from as soon as you are brought into this life. The idea was that you’re technically not considered a full human being when you are born, rather a partial or incomplete human being in the eyes of Confucius. It is, as mentioned earlier, the responsibility of the human to utilize the concepts of self-cultivation in order for the human to become wholesome: a fully developed, mature, and complete being. According to Dr. Maganga in his lecture “The Analects,” there was no true difference or gauging comparison in human beings from his beliefs. It was also said that much is learned comparing the knowledge you have when you are brought to this world, and what you know leaving it. This growth between incomplete and complete human being utilized self-cultivation in order to bring oneself into a more flourished life.
When thinking of ideology brought upon by Confucius, the idea of proper order comes to mind. With that being said, it’s important to note the timing in which Confucius had his influence on his followers. Specifically, the time era that Confucius lived in was particularly right after the Zhou dynasty. This is significant because much of what was experienced in this era was and had an effect to Confucius and his teachings that would later be acknowledged by his followers and thus found in the context of the Analects. The Zhou dynasty has a history of being important in East Asia not only for its rule in time, but for their leadership influences it had on Confucius. The role the Zhou dynasty had on Confucius and later influencing his teachings, was the ideology of proper order (Maganga “The Analects”). With this, proper order was considered the most physically accepting, and approachable theme of order, that to Confucius made the most sense. Confucius believed that proper order was literally what it meant, the proper way to approach leadership roles in society and it heavily opinionated his leadership from this.
With this, it’s key to remember that Confucius found these themes to go hand-in-hand in order to establish an even greater people and society. The influences of non-ideal rule, one where order is not in the favor of its people, but focused and oriented elsewhere, heavily impacts and stunts the growth of a society and their plans to utilize self-cultivation. On the other hand, self-cultivation really needs proper order as the backbone in order to properly behave and learn. One of Confucius’ biggest interests for his followers that is the result of harmony between self-cultivation and proper order was the idea of rituals. Confucius heavily advised his followers to practice rituals. To him, rituals was the practice of being able to observe and understand the meaning of life and to be respectful of its rules. The time spent practicing gives time for those to seek themselves within their soul and gives the human to get in touch with their responsibilities and understand the effects of proper order and self-cultivation. Practicing rituals not only oriented oneself to observe principles and values, but taught those to who did practice how to radiate oneself in different aspects in life (Maganga “The Analects”). Rituals allowed those to learn life in the presence of others. Another benefit practicing rituals Confucius found beneficial was the fact that it wasn’t limited or exclusive to anyone. It gives those who were unable to be literate to join those in the practice of rituals to better themselves.
The followers of Confucius understood his teachings and believed his understanding of leadership is the next best step to maintaining proper order. As said earlier, proper order leads to a better opportunity for self-cultivation. Confucius had his people, who approximately ran in numbers of 71, developed a network of socialization to grasp a true understanding of Confucius’ teachings. The people that did follow in the beliefs that Confucius brought, came from all walks of life in his era. They ranged in social class and wealth. Whether they were kids, merchants, blacksmiths, or even war people, it was never ever women (Maganga “The Analects”). Although this might be surprising, but Confucius never had the intention of focusing or specifying one group with the writings of the Analects. Historically, no bias was ever intended for the writings of the Analects. It was written to serve as a guideline to all human beings, all walks of life to understand the meaning of living with proper order and self-cultivation with balance.
Confucius in his lifetime believed that if given the opportunity to hold a governing position, he would take advantage of his influence and be able to spread the word of Dao, and essentially spread his lifetime of teaching to the masses. According to Dr. Maganga in his lecture “The Analects,” Confucius never achieved a high official position. Now, although his influences would have reached the masses if the opportunity rose in his era, the important part to gain from this time was that he was still capable of reaching many more people beyond the 71 and allow them to gain the belief system Confucius was teaching. The ability for him to lead and teach 71 in this era allowed others to spread the word of his wisdom. This leads into the next topic of how his influence was influenced by because of his spirituality.