In the received version of the Analects, it’s quite apparent that all of Confucius’s disciples were men. So one might wonder: is this an ethics built just for men? Today we are happy to be joined by Professor Erin Cline, Tagliabue Professor at Georgetown University, to discuss this timely issue, focusing on a controversial passage that features the only woman cited by name in the Analects, Nanzi 南子. Professor Cline argues that the conventional reading of this passage is wrong and that a more plausible understanding of it is important for addressing common criticisms of patriarchy and sexism in the Analects. We also explore various pedagogical themes and strategies for teaching the Analects to students.
Please check out Professor Erin Cline’s faculty profile and list of publications here.
Key passages
Analects 6.28
子見南子，子路不說。夫子矢之曰：「予所否者，天厭之！天厭之！」
The Master visited Nanzi. Zilu was unhappy about it. The Master swore an oath to him, saying, “If I have done anything wrong, may Tian repudiate (yan 厭) me! May Tian repudiate me!”
(Analects 6.28, Erin Cline’s translation)
Sources and phrases mentioned
- Evelyn Waugh, Brideshead Revisited
- Nanzi 南子, the only woman mentioned by name in the Analects
- Erin Cline, The Analects: A Guide
- ren 仁 (humaneness, benevolence, Goodness)
- junzi 君子 (exemplary person, “gentleman”)
- ren 人 (humankind, gender-neutral term for people)
- Tian 天 (Heaven)
- Thorian Harris, “Moral Perfection as the Counterfeit of Virtue” (argues that the early Confucians rejected moral perfection as a moral ideal – see citations in this paper for Kongzi’s self-professed flaws and shortcomings)
- Emily Wilson’s translations of the Iliad and the Odyssey (texts traditionally attributed to Homer)
- Analects 8.20
- Zilu 子路 (one of Confucius’s better-known disciples)
- Duke Ling of Wey (Wei) 衛靈公 (probably Nanzi’s husband)
- Song Chao 宋朝 (the handsome man that some later historians and commentators thought to have had an affair with Nanzi)
- Kuai Kuei 蒯聵 (Duke Ling’s son)
- Mizi Xia 彌子瑕 (Duke Ling’s courtier and possible lover)
- Olivia Milburn, “Gender, Sexuality, and Power in Early China: The Changing Biographies of Lord Ling of Wei and Lady Nanzi” (describes the shifting accounts of Nanzi over the course of later Confucian history)
- Analects 5.1
- Mary Magdalene
- The Daodejing 道德經
- “The Gospel of Matthew”
- “The Chosen” (television show)
Erin’s translation has been published! https://www.wiley.com/en-au/shop/general-philosophy/the-analects-a-contemporary-translation-p-9781324097747
I have strong misgivings regarding the use of Prof Cline’s works as valid points of access to understand the role of women in the Analects. There are some serious misunderstandings in both her 2022 and 2026 books, some of which I discussed in my book review, published on August 28, 2026 in the Foreign Policy (Gift link here https://foreignpolicy.com/2026/08/28/china-confucius-analects-cline/?utm_content=gifting&tpcc=gifting_article&gifting_article=Y2hpbmEtY29uZnVjaXVzLWFuYWxlY3RzLWNsaW5l&pid=PNI6oXabXq1ydw6&fbclid=IwY2xjawUC-TpwZG9mBWV4dG4DYWVtAjEwAHNydGMGYXBwX2lkEDIyMjAzOTE3ODgyMDA4OTIAAR5G-ciYcKO6AyGxZiaZ8K4W1v2co2HtMp9Hjm_FkhQ0Fwq77d9S-tjtZ3Y-NQ_aem_ZmFrZWR1bW15MTZieXRlcw)
It’s is unclear what primary sources Prof Cline relied on in her work, if any. Footnotes will cite e.g., “Lienuzhuan (sic) 7.11” (footnote 9 page 238 of her 2022 book), but there are no edition of the 列女傳 in the bibliography. This happens throughout the book.
At the very least, this episode should be counterbalanced by a second episodes hosting experts in ancient Chinese texts, who can give listeners an expert assessment of ancient Chinese texts and their depiction of women.