Analects

Compiled by his followers in the generations after his death, this is the closest record we have of Confucius, the teacher whose thought shaped Chinese civilization for more than two thousand years. It gathers his sayings, brief exchanges with students, and small scenes from a life spent trying to reform the rulers of a fractured age. Out of these fragments comes a whole vision of the good life, built on ren, a deep humaneness toward others, on li, the rituals and manners that hold society together, and on the ideal of the junzi, a person of integrity who leads by example rather than force. James Legge’s careful Victorian translation carries it into English. Free PDF and EPUB editions are available here.