Good Confucianism book (pdf) - Department of Physics

208 Notes8 The Book of History , “ Da Yu Mo, Gao Yao ” ; compare James Legge, The ShooKing [Shu Jing, Book of History] , 74.9 The period of the Eastern Zhou, where the capital city is in the east, is furtherdivided into the Spring and Autumn period (named after the Spring andAutumn annals), 722 – 481 BCE, and the Warring States Era, 403 – 221 BCE.Officially, Zhou rule lasted until 256 BCE when the last Zhou ruler was killed,but effectively the Zhou had no power by 403 BCE.10 Zuo Zhuan , Duke Huan, 16th year. For more on the Zuo Zhuan , see chapter8.11 The Zuo Zhuan is full of such stories. In 548 BCE, Duke Zhuang of Qi carriedon an affair with the wife of one of his advisors. His advisor, allying himselfwith another state, surprised the duke who was visiting his lady friend andhad him killed (Duke Xiang, 25th year). King Ling of the state of Chu hadbecome ruler by murdering his nephew. He accused his grand marshal oftreason and took all of his property, seized the lands of another noble, andtook over various regions that had been fiefs of other noble families. His rulewas so corrupt and violent that three of his younger brothers revolted againsthim and killed him in 529 BCE (Duke Zhao, 12th year). Compare BurtonWatson, trans., The Tso Chuan [Zuo Zhuan]: Selections from China ’ s OldestNarrative History (New York: Columbia University Press, 1989 ), 168f.12 Zuo Zhuan, Duke Ding, 3rd year; compare Watson, trans., The Tso Chuan[Zuo Zhuan] , 178.13 Zuo Zhuan, Duke Xuan, 2nd year. Duke Ling also is described as imposingheavy taxes to decorate his buildings; compare Watson, trans., The Tso Chuan[Zuo Zhuan] , 77f.14 Zuo Zhuan, Duke Ai, 1st year.15 Zuo Zhuan, Duke Ai, 16th year. Compare Watson, trans., The Tso Chuan[Zuo Zhuan] , 206.16 Zuo Zhuan, Duke Xiang, 25th year. Compare Watson, trans., The Tso Chuan[Zuo Zhuan] , 47.17 For an excellent description of the changes in the Warring States period, seeMark Edward Lewis, Sanctioned Violence in Early China . To see the kind ofclothing people wore, the weapons they used, and the palaces royalty lived in,see the movie Hero (Zhang Yimou, 2002). The plot, however, is fantastical.18 Analects 14.38. The standard translation of the Analects is D. C. Lau ’ sConfucius: The Analects (New York: Penguin, 1979 and reprinted frequently).In the citations from the Analects I am using Lau ’ s standard numbering system;readers can compare that to other translations. Since Lau ’ s work there havebeen more scholarly translations including Roger Ames and Henry Rosemont,Jr., The Analects of Confucius: A Philosophical Translation (New York:Ballantine Books, 1998 ), which includes useful information about the formationof the text, including the partial text discovered in 1973 in Dingzhou,Hebei. See also Edward Slingerland, Confucius: Analects with Selections fromTraditional Commentaries (Indianapolis/Cambridge: Hackett Publishing,2003 ), which includes helpful commentaries to explain the terms and sometimescryptic sayings of the Analects . Two good, non - scholarly translations areDavid Hinton ’ s The Analects (Washington: Counterpoint, 1998 ) and Simon