The "Analects" is a compendium of the sayings of Confucius
(551--479 b.c.e.), transcribed and passed down by his disciples.
How it came to be transformed by Zhu Xi (1130--1200) into one of
the most philosophically significant texts in the Confucian
tradition is the subject of this book.
Scholarly attention in China had long been devoted to the
"Analects." By the time of Zhu Xi, a rich history of commentary had
grown up around it. But Zhu, claiming that the "Analects" was one
of the authoritative texts in the canon and should be read before
all others, gave it a still more privileged status in the
tradition. He spent decades preparing an extended interlinear
commentary on it. Sustained by a newer, more elaborate language of
metaphysics, Zhu's commentary on the "Analects" marked a
significant shift in the philosophical orientation of Confucianism
-- a shift that redefined the Confucian tradition for the next
eight centuries, not only in China, but in Japan and Korea
well.
Gardner's translations and analysis of Zhu Xi's commentary on
the "Analects" show one of China's great thinkers in an interesting
and complex act of philosophical negotiation. Through an
interlinear, line-by-line "dialogue" with Confucius, Zhu effected a
reconciliation of the teachings of the Master, commentary by later
exegetes, and contemporary philosophical concerns of Song-dynasty
scholars. By comparing Zhu's reading of the "Analects" with the
earlier standard reading by He Yan (190--249), Gardner illuminates
what is dramatically new in Zhu Xi's interpretation of the
"Analects."
A pioneering study of Zhu Xi's reading of the "Analects, " this
book demonstrates how commentary is both informed by a text and
informs future readings, and highlights the importance of
interlinear commentary as a genre in Chinese philosophy.