Author Bio: Confucius created the most influential philosophy in world history, Confucianism. He lived from 551 B.C.E. to 479 B.C.E., and his family was most likely of the knight class. Not much is known about Confucius's life, although he taught the sons of the nobility his own philosophy. Many of his students went on to have distinguished careers in government. During his life, Confucius created the Analects which are his teachings of Confucianism, which is more of a moral rather than religious philosophy. Confucius believed that people should respect their elders and try to possess Goodness. When Confucius died, he was elevated to the status of Divine Sage.
Date/Context: The Analects were created around 500 B.C.E., and emerged around a time in China when many religions, like Buddhism and Daoism, began to be practiced. The Analects are the teachings of Confucius, and demonstrate his morals and philosophies. They demonstrated the most influential philosophy in history, so people use them to create morals to follow. The Analects are very important to how people want to behave and live.
Summary: The Analects say that people should look up to their elders and be respectful to them, and possess Goodness in their life. The teachings say that one who rules with moral force is respected and followed by others. The "Master" starting at age fifteen started learning and by age seventy could follow his heart. People are supposed to never disobey their parents and never cause them to have anxiety. A gentleman should practice something himself before demonstrating to others. One should try to possess Goodness, but no man has learned to be completely good. No man has been completely wicked either. Wealth and rank are desired by all men, but should only be received through work. One should look to a good man, and turn from a wicked man. Moral is never alone and will always be accompanied by friends. People should demonstrate Goodness, respect their parents, and be gentlemen/gentlewomen.
Key Quotation: "One who really cared for Goodness would never let any other consideration come first. One who abhorred wickedness would be so constantly doing Good that wickedness would never have a chance to get at him."
The "identifying characteristics"of this document are located at the beginning in the title and the first paragraph. The author of this book is Confucius, who was a well known philosopher credited with inventing Confucianism. The time period this was created is stated as 500 BCE and the location this document was created in is most likely in parts of China because of how Confucius grew up and lived in China for the majority of his life. Keegan's does an excellent job describing who Confucius is and when this document was most likely created in. For the summary, he also does an excellent job explaining what the Analects were. He does an exceptional job when actually describing the different characteristics and actions that you should do that include being "benevolent" to others, respecting your family members and treating others with dignity. The only thing I would change would be to focus on interpreting the summary in your own words rather than restating exactly what the text actually says. Also, I would focus a bit more on what "filial" means because it was significant to the text and to Confucianism as a whole. Other than that, Keegan did an excellent job summarizing the Analects and characteristics Confucianism encourages.
ReplyDelete