Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Analects, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Self-Restraint
Honesty and Integrity
The Individual vs. The Collective
Self-Mastery, Discipline, and Improvement
Summary
Analysis
The Master remarks that he takes pleasure in implementing the philosophies that he has learned into his daily life slowly and patiently. He comments that it is important to have friends from all different places, and that a gentleman doesn’t take offense when others do not recognize his talents.
The Analects begin with a quote from the Master, later revealed as Confucius himself, about the importance of hard work and patience. Over the course of the book, he continuously emphasizes the discipline required to live in accordance with the Way, the series of teachings Confucius espouses. What’s more, he suggests that gentlemen are not influenced by their egos; their actions shouldn’t be aimed at impressing others.
Themes
Yu shares that he thinks that men who are obedient sons as young boys rarely disobey their superiors later in life. Their good character prevents them from starting rebellions. Gentlemen “devote[] [their] efforts to the roots, for once the roots are established, the Way will go therefrom.” For Yu, obedience as a child and young man are the roots of anyone’s character.
In this moment, Yu touches upon another important lesson of Confucian thought: obeying and honoring one’s parents. Because it is through one’s parents that one learns about the traditional cultural practices that Confucius and his disciples so value, it is important in their school of thought that a person not break with their parents’ practices.
Themes
According to the Master, those who always seek to please others are rarely benevolent. The Master says that in positions of powerful political leadership, one should treat one’s duties with great respect, honor one’s word, avoid overspending, and make the common people work only when appropriate.
Here, Confucius highlights the value of sincerity. He suggests that only those who are honest can achieve benevolence. He also speaks to the importance of restraint when in office. The way that he advises people to govern elevates the collective over the individual; he protects the common people from being taken advantage of by leaders who would overwork them.
Themes
The Master says that one must prioritize doing what’s best for others over everything else. He says that it is important to be trustworthy and not to take on friends that are not one’s moral or intellectual equals.
Confucius’s suggestion that one should be selective about their friends shows the extent to which he values community. He believes that a lot of learning occurs through relationships, rather than alone.
Themes
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The Master advises his students to “observe what a man has in mind to do when his father is living, and then observe what he does when his father is dead.” According to the master, a good son adopts his father’s behavior for three years after his death.
Here, Confucius demonstrates his traditionalist values. By suggesting that each son should keep his father’s ways alive even after the father is dead, Confucius champions a society in which very little changes from generation to generation. This moment showcases his dedication not only to family but also tradition and preserving the wisdom of the past.
Themes
Tzu-kung suggests that he should advise people to be “Poor without being obsequious, wealthy without being arrogant.” The Master comments that it might be better to advise the poor to take delight in the Way and to advise the wealthy to continue their observance of the rites.
In this moment, the Master proposes that dedication to the Way is the most important thing in anyone’s life, whether rich or poor. Both his and Tzu-kung’s comments emphasize that material wealth, relative to following the Way, is unimportant.
Themes
