The Analects

The Analects are a collection of short sayings and conversations of Confucius, the teacher who lived in China between 551 and 479 BC, gathered by his disciples after his death. In brief exchanges he talks about how to become a good person, how to govern, how to honour one's parents and how to learn, returning again and again to humaneness, sincerity and proper conduct.

For two thousand years this small book shaped education, government and family life across East Asia. Many sayings are only a line or two long, so it rewards slow reading; set it beside The Art of War and the sayings of Lao Tzu for the other great voices of ancient Chinese thought.

Kong Qiu, known as Confucius (551–479 BC), was born in the state of Lu, in today's Shandong, into a family of modest means. He held minor official posts, then spent some fourteen years travelling from state to state looking for a ruler who would put his ideas of good government into practice, without success.

He devoted himself to teaching, and tradition says he had three thousand students. His conversations, recorded by his disciples in The Analects, put humaneness, learning, family duty and proper conduct at the centre of life, and shaped Chinese civilisation for more than two thousand years.