Gabriel G. Peña BSEd-English 2C TTh – 4:30 – 6:00 PM Afro Asian Lit.

THE ANALECTS OF CONFUCIOUS (A CRITICAL PAPER)

The Analects literally means selected sayings or the Analects of Confucious is an

ancient Chinese book composed of a collection of sayings and ideas attributed to the

Chinese philosopher Confucius. One of the main contributors of the Western Philosophy

is Confucious he possesses great knowledge and wisdom that’s why he has a lot of

analects made. Some of his famous analects talk about love and respect for the

parents, good leadership and willingness to learn.

Let’s take for example, these analects: “Let a ruler base his government upon

virtuous principles, and he will be like the pole star, which remains steadfast in its place,

while all the host of stars run towards it” and “To govern simply by statute and to reduce

them to order by means of pains and penalties, is to render the people evasive, and

devoid of any sense of shame”, these two analects talks about leadership and the

necessary characteristics a leader must possess. Being a good leader must have

virtuous lives so that the people under the leader respect him/her. Also, a good leader

does not allow punishments and penalties to rule discipline because if you are a good

leader, there is no need to integrate punishments because the people will follow you. In

other words, a good leader must be virtuous so that the people respect and follow

him/her.
 Let’s also take these analects for example: “Parents ought to bear but one

trouble that of their own sickness” and “The filial piety of the present day simply means

the being able to support one’s parents which even extends to the case of dogs and

horses, all of which may have something to give in the way of support”. It is very clear

that the analects aforementioned talks about filial piety which simply means that we

must have an attitude of respect towards our parents. These respect and love is due to

them because it is our matter of gratitude because they are there all the time,

supporting us moreover, they allow us to be part of this world. So, I respect my parents

especially my mother, because she’s always there when I grow up until now supporting

me to everything that I’ve done. So, I give salute to all of our parents.

Lastly these analects, “Learning without thought is a snare; thought, without

learning, is a danger” and “Shall I give you a lesson about knowledge? When you know

a thing, maintain that you know it; and when you do not, acknowledge your ignorance.

This is a characteristic of knowledge.” Based from these analects, I’ve realized that

these talks about knowledge and learning that in learning new things, you must possess

this attitude of being open-minded because you can’t absorb knowledge without it

moreover, if you learn something new about the thing you used to know, learn to accept

it and learn to correct the wrong belief. These attitudes will let you possess the

characteristic of willingness to learn.

The analects of Confucious is very important because these lead us to act in

accordance to what is expected for us to act. Even if the analects talk about, filial piety,

willingness to learn and good leadership, let us learn to open our heart and accept them

as guidance to drive the car of our lives safely.