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Secondary sourceBookc. 480 BCE – 2nd century BCE

Analects

c. 480 BCE – 2nd century BCE

A collection of sayings and conversations of Confucius recorded by his disciples, the most direct source for his teachings.

The Analects records Confucius's own sayings as remembered and compiled by his disciples after his death.

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Scan of a page from a Japanese woodblock-printed edition of the Analects (Rongo), in vertical columns of Chinese characters. The header reads 論語 and 卷二八 (volume two). The page has yellowed paper, a central fold, and a printed page number at the bottom.
Analects, vol. 2 (Hachi-itsu), Japanese woodblock-printed edition.

About this source

What it is

The Analects is a collection of short sayings and dialogues attributed to Confucius and his contemporaries. It was compiled by his disciples and their followers after his death, taking final shape over the following centuries. Today it survives in many old printed editions, including woodblock-printed copies from Japan and China.

Why it matters

This is the closest thing we have to Confucius's own voice. It records his ideas about ren (humaneness), li (ritual propriety), filial piety, and good government. For over two thousand years it shaped education and politics across East Asia, and it reveals how his students remembered and interpreted him.

Look closer

  • Why might disciples, not Confucius himself, have written these sayings down?
  • What does it mean that scholars still debate which parts are oldest?
  • What might be left out if only short remembered sayings survive, rather than full conversations?

This book is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Confucius on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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Front cover of a bound Chinese book with blue-grey patterned silk brocade of cloud scrolls. A tan label on the left bears large black brush characters reading 聖蹟圖 and a smaller 前頁, with a red seal impression below. The cover edges are worn.Book

Secondary source

Pictures of the Sage's Traces

Unknown · 1758

Book

Secondary source

Records of the Grand Historian, Vol. 47: Hereditary House of Confucius

Sima Qian · c. 94 BCE

Black and white photograph of an interior hall with a carved wooden altar and incense burners on a long table, flanked by large pillars with Chinese characters on the walls and red-framed inscriptions; the view looks toward a shrine niche with ornate wooden canopy.Photograph

Primary source

Temple of Confucius, Peking (Interior)

John Thomson · 1871

Two facing pages of a classical Chinese manuscript in black ink brush calligraphy on aged, yellowed paper, written in vertical columns with some smaller annotation characters between lines. The text is a commentary on a historical chronicle, with the handwriting appearing in a regular, cursive-influenced style.Document

Secondary source

Spring and Autumn Annals

Confucius · 5th century BCE

Sepia photograph of a seated, painted statue of Confucius in a dim shrine. The figure wears an ornate embroidered robe and a tall headdress, with hands clasped at the chest, on a carved wooden throne atop a stone plinth.Photograph

Primary source

Statue of Confucius, Canton

Felice Beato · April 1860

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