The Confucian Analects

"I wanted to focus my mind on some literary project that might help me govern my thoughts and forget that I was growing old. But the Six Classics The foundational texts of Confucianism, including the Book of Songs, Book of Documents, and others had all been explained and carefully clarified by earlier scholars. Of all the thinkers of the orthodox school, only Mencius—broad and profound, detailed and refined, yet sometimes obscure and difficult to fully grasp—seemed to me to deserve being properly organized and summarized. At this point, I brought forward everything I had learned, collected supporting evidence from the classics and other books, and divided the author's work into chapters and sentences. My annotations are included alongside the original text, and I have separately indicated the purpose of every chapter. I have divided the Books into two parts, the first and the second, making fourteen sections in all.
"Overall, regarding my labor, I do not dare to think it displays the hand of a great man; but as a gift to the student, it may dispel some doubts and resolve confusion. It is not for me, however, to judge its merits or flaws. Let discerning people who come after me note its errors and omissions and correct them—that will be a kind service."^13

SECTION III.

OTHER COMMENTATORS.

1. All the commentaries on Mencius written before the Song original: Sung dynasty (975 CE)^1 have been lost original: perished, except for that of Zhao Qi original: Chaou K'e. Therefore, I will not attempt to list them all in detail. Only three names deserve mention, as they are frequently referenced in critical introductions to our philosopher. They were all from the Tang original: T'ang dynasty, which—if we include what is called the "Later Tang" original: The after T'ang—lasted from 624 to 936 CE. The first is Lu Shenjing original: Luh Shen-king,^2 who declined to follow Zhao Qi’s division of the work into fourteen sections. Many of his interpretations, which differ from those of the older authority, have been accepted

1 Some date the start of the Song original: Sung dynasty to 960 CE.       2 Lu Shenjing original: 陸善經.