And so here is an essay based on the paper with the main points minus the citations :). I wrote about translations in my previous essay on Virgil and Sophocles but the act of writing a paper allowed me to be more thoughtful and granular. Unable to obtain the leading political role he sought, he endeavored to reform society and salvage civilization through ethical debate, defining for ages to come the public mission of the intellectual.This is a staggeringly rich and beautiful work - but of course I read it in English, so what that really means is “a staggeringly rich and beautiful work by William Hutchins based on Mahfouz’s original Arabic version.” I’ve often thought, ever since, that a work in translation is really a fresh act of authorship.ĭuring the course of an ongoing learning journey, I read The Analects of Confucius in translation, and wrote a short paper about “translation effects”. Many of his observations mark a world sinking into violence and barbarity. Confucius (551-479 B.C.) lived in an age of acute cultural and political crisis. He emerges as a man of great passion and many enthusiasms, a man of bold action whose true vocation is politics. In this gem-like translation by Simon Leys, Confucius speaks with clarity and brilliance.

As the Gospels are to Jesus, the 'Analects' is the only place where we can encounter the real, living Confucius. The spiritual cornerstone of the most populous and oldest living civilization on Earth, the 'Analects' has inspired the Chinese and all the peoples of East Asia with its affirmation of a humanist ethics. Orville Schell Publisher Marketing: No other book in the entire history of the world has exerted a greater influence on a larger number of people over a longer period of time than this slim volume. 'A fresh and marvelously lucid glimpse of the Confucian mind'. In all, this volume provides new readers the perfect introduction to a classic work. Leys's Notes draw Confucius into conversation with the great thinkers of the Western tradition. He emerges a full-blooded character with a passion for politics and a devotion to the ideals of a civilization he saw in decline. Jonathan Mirsky, The Times (London) In this terse, brilliant translation, Simon Leys restores the human dimension to Confucius. 'This is the Confucius translation for our time'. Author(s): Confucius (tr/notes Simon Leys)

The analects of confucius simon leys