The Analects 論語 （中英對照）

Confucius is the one thinker most influential and instrumental in informing the Chinese tradition. The Analects, which is a record of the words and teachings of Confucius, is considered the most reliable source of Confucius' teachings. However, as he was looked upon as the founder of the Confucius school, his thought tended to be approached through the eyes of the Confucianists of a later age, particularly the Neo-Confucianists of the Song dynasty. This inevitably results in distortion of the original meaning.


In this monumental translation by Professor D. C. Lau, an attempt has been made to interpret the sayings as they stand. The corpus of the sayings is taken as an organic whole and the final test of the interpretation rests on the internal consistency it exhibits. In other words, The Analects is read in the light of The Analects. It is hoped that this gives a truer understanding of Confucius' thought than the traditional interpretation and paves the way for a re-assessment of its importance in the history of Chinese thought and its relevance to the present day world.


This volume also contains an introduction to the life and teachings of Confucius, and three appendices on the events in the life of Confucius, on his disciples, and on the composition of The Analects. Complete with both Chinese and English texts, this classic translation is an authoritative interpretation of Confucius' thought.

Professor D. C. Lau, a world renowned scholar on sinological studies, studied Chinese at the University of Hong Kong and philosophy at the University of Glasgow. In 1950 he began teaching classical Chinese and ancient Chinese philosophy at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. He was appointed in 1965 to the then newly-created Readership in Chinese Philosophy and in 1970 became Professor of Chinese in the University of London. His classic English translations of the Tao Te Ching, the Mencius, and The Analects of Confucius were published between 1963 and 1979. In 1978 he returned to Hong Kong to take up the Chair of Chinese Language and Literature in The Chinese University of Hong Kong. After his retirement in 1989 as Professor Emeritus, he has led a team of researchers to work on a computerized database of the entire body of extant traditional Chinese texts of the pre-Qin, the Han, the Wei-Jin and the Northern and Southern Dynasties. The work is now completed and being published in volumes.