Category Archives: Analects

New Analects Translation

Paul van Els of Leiden University writes…

This new translation of the Lunyu, which recently came out, may have escaped the attention of Warp, Weft, and Way blog readers, as it was published by what appears to be an obscure press:

Li, Chris Wen-Chao. 2018. What Confucius Really Said: The Complete Analects in a Skopos-Centric Translation. San Francisco: Maison 174. (https://www.amazon.com/dp/1727464494/)

Purists might frown upon this translation, if only because the real Confucius could not and would not have quoted Katy Perry as saying “You’re hot then you’re cold, You’re yes then you’re no, You’re in then you’re out, You’re up then you’re down” (p. 164). Still, Li’s work is a creative take on the ancient text, and translations such as “Confucius @MasterSays: Guys who talk sweet and smile all the time are scum.” (p. 3) might strike a chord with the Twitter generation.

Survey Request on English Translations of the Analects

Message from Professor Tao:

I am a professor of translation studies at Fudan University, Shanghai. This questionnaire is designed for my Fulbright project, investigating the feedback of English readers of translations of The Analects. If you are an academic scholar (graduate students included) in the West, whose working language is English, and have read the English version of The Analects of Confucius, please help, and answer each question. There are no right or wrong answers. After you complete the survey, please send me your email address to taoyoulan@hotmail.com, and I will reward you a $20 Amazon gift card. If you could accept a further interview with me please let me know. Feel free to contact me at 0086-13671600660 (or American cellphone 15715087149) if my questions are not clear. If you visit Shanghai I hope I can meet you there someday.

https://kent.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_cRTPj5t8is2QM1T

Thank you for your expertise, and taking time to complete the survey and participating in this study!

Youlan Tao

Analects 2.13

A while back, in the now-vanished Discussions section, I proposed a new idea about Analects 2.13.  Here I’m putting it back on the record.

2.13

子貢問君子。子曰：「先行其言，而後從之。」(ctext.org)

On Tzŭ Kung asking about the nobler type of man the Master said: “He first practices what he preaches and afterwards preaches according to his practice.” (Soothill)

Continue reading →

Columbia Neo-Confucianism Seminar: Sommer on Analects

The next session of the Columbia University Seminar on Neo-Confucian Studies will convene this Friday, December 7th, from 3:30 to 5:30pm in the main board room of the Heyman Center for the Humanities at Columbia University.

The speaker will be Deborah Sommer, who will be sharing her “Reflections on a Topically Arranged Translation of the Analects,” as well as a draft of the first chapter. Please contact the Rapporteur, Zach Berge-Becker, for more information and for copies of the paper.

NYT on C. C. Tsai’s Comics / Bruya’s Translations available from PUP

The New York Times recently published an interview with C. C. Tsai, who has written and illustrated wonderful cartoon versions of the Art of War and the Analects (among others). Brian Bruya’s translated versions of both of these texts are now available from Princeton University Press.