The Authentic Confucius: A Life of Thought and Politics

With the ascendancy of New Age religion and metaphysics, if one can even bear to grace them those names, it has been increasingly difficult to discern the scholarly from the hogwash, the learned from the those whose aimless spirits are drawn to the next universal panacea. The problem is only compounded when we see the convergence of these ideas with those in Buddhism, Hinduism, and other Asian traditions. Thankfully, Annping Chin provides us with a carefully thought out perspective, a deep reverence for the history of both China and Confucius' life in particular, and the much-appreciated scholarly credentials. After studying mathematics, she received her Ph.D. in Chinese Thought from Columbia, and has taught at both Wesleyan and Yale. show more Her husband, renowned author and sinologist Jonathan Spence, who is also at Yale, wrote one of my favorite books, "The Memory Palace of Matteo Ricci." (Incidentally, Ricci, a sixteenth-century Italian Jesuit priest, was the first to Latinize Confucius' name from the original Chinese Kung Fuzi, and would also later translate much of the Confucian corpus into Latin.)

Chin does a sublime job at contextualizing Confucius' political thought. He was born in the time commonly referred to as the Spring and Autumn period, spanning some three-and-a-half centuries, when China was in a state of existential crisis, riven by familial conflict and discord. Matters came to such a head that he spent 14 years, from 497 to 484 B. C., in exile passing from feudal state to feudal state. Only later does he return to his home state of Lu as a reluctant political advisor. In such a mess, the principle concerns of Confucius' thought make much more sense. In emphasizing the rites, customs, and social mores that he saw as the fabric of Chinese society, he thought that he could restore order, propriety, and that piety that had been lost in all of the fighting. These inherently conservative ideas (in the purest sense of the word) were utterly essential to work one's way into Chinese civil service up until the end of the Qian Dynasty, which fell in 1912 (with a moribund resurgence five years later). While that is no longer the case, the ripples of his influence are still very noticeable Chinese culture.

Chin's ability to marshal the gaps in ancient Confucian historiography is just as remarkable. Her primary sources are small in number, almost wholly limited to the Analects, the Zuo Zhuan, and Sima Qian's biography, all of which date anywhere from one hundred to five hundred years after the Confucius' death. The hagiographic nature of a lot of these materials, especially those written by his students, makes painting an accurate portrait even more difficult. Ping uses these sources not only to create a biography, but to provide illustrative vignettes that shed a lot of insight into what Confucius considered the most important in both the individual and the state.

This is a highly reliable introduction to the history, thought, and influence of Confucius, all couched nicely within the political context he was continually at odds with, and should come highly recommended for anyone interested in the historical Confucius or the history of the Warring States period. show less

I enjoyed parts of the book and many of her quotes from the Analects, but felt in the end only marginally closer to understanding who he was. Maybe that's actually closer to the truth anyway - how close can you get to understanding someone in a biography without oversimplifying. A good sign is that I want to read the Analects. Good read.

Confucius was a master of the rites and a gentleman counselor
Confucius was born in 552 BC, in Lu, a province in China’s central plain, during the “Spring and Autumn Period”. This was during a period of waning central power, the second half of the Zhou dynasty. The Duke of Zhou held a regency, and there were several states in the central plain, ruled by powerful dukes and entrenched families. Confucius was born a gentleman, but was not part of the ruling families. He spent most of his early life studying literature, music, the “rites” and good conduct, seeking an office in government. In 497 he was the Minister of Crime (justice) in Lu, and by repute formidably effective, but he abruptly left his post and wandered through the show more states vying for leadership, before returning to Lu. This is when he acquired followers and students, becoming revered for his righteous conduct and mastery of the “rites”, the rites being the appropriate rituals and attitudes for all occasions. The rites were primarily concerned with filial piety.
The author assembled the facts of Confucius’ life from the Analects, a collection of stories and debates among his students, and from histories by Mencius and others. The later parts of the book are historiography, and concern how Confucius became the center of Chinese life.
The author was born and raised in Taiwan, and her prose is serviceable but sometimes inelegant. She repeats quotes and stories, and I was often uncertain where the narrative was going. The history of the period was generally interesting.
I bought this volume new in 2007, and I am disappointed at the yellowing of the paper edges. show less