一孔录The Analects has 20 books and 498 chapters. They look like scattered sayings, but they are connected throughout. The same line appears in two places, Confucius answers the same question differently for different people, and one disciple turns up in dozens of chapters. There are 931 links in all.
Each dot on the circle is a chapter, with the 20 books in order around the ring. Dark dots are chapters already taught. Green lines join a line that appears twice in the book (44 pairs). Ochre lines join the answers to the same question (7 groups). Tap a chapter to see what it connects to.
Tap any chapter on the circle.
The same question, answered differently for different people. This is the most important thread in the Analects: the answer follows the person.
Asking about humaneness · 8 times in the book
- Analects 6.20 Fan Chi: The humane put the hard work first and the reward after.
- Analects 12.1 Yan Yuan: To overcome the self and return to ritual is humaneness.
- Analects 12.2 Zhonggong: What you do not want for yourself, do not impose on others.
- Analects 12.3 Sima Niu: The humane are slow to speak.
- Analects 12.22 Fan Chi: Love people.
- Analects 13.19 Fan Chi: Be respectful at home, reverent in your duties, and loyal to others.
- Analects 15.9 Zigong: Serve the worthiest of its high officers; befriend the most humane of its scholars.He asked how to practice humaneness (為仁).
- Analects 17.6 Zizhang: Respectfulness, generosity, trustworthiness, diligence, kindness.
Asking about filial piety · 4 times in the book
- Analects 2.5 Meng Yizi: Do not go against it.
- Analects 2.6 Meng Wubo: Let your parents' only worry be that you might fall ill.
- Analects 2.7 Ziyou: Without reverence, what is the difference?
- Analects 2.8 Zixia: The countenance is the hard part.
Asking about government · 10 times in the book
- Analects 12.7 Zigong: Enough food, enough arms, and the trust of the people.
- Analects 12.11 Duke Jing of Qi: Let the ruler be a ruler, the minister a minister, the father a father, the son a son.
- Analects 12.14 Zizhang: Keep it in mind without weariness; carry it out with loyalty.
- Analects 12.17 Ji Kangzi: To govern is to set right.
- Analects 12.19 Ji Kangzi: You govern; what need is there for killing?
- Analects 13.1 Zilu: Go before them; toil for them.
- Analects 13.2 Zhonggong: Put your officers to work first, pardon small faults, promote the worthy and able.
- Analects 13.16 the Duke of She: Those near are pleased, and those far away come.
- Analects 13.17 Zixia: Do not seek speed; do not look to small gains.
- Analects 20.2 Zizhang: Honor the five excellences; banish the four evils.He asked how to take part in government.
Asking about the gentleman · 3 times in the book
- Analects 2.13 Zigong: He acts first, and his words follow.
- Analects 12.4 Sima Niu: The gentleman is free from anxiety and fear.
- Analects 14.45 Zilu: He cultivates himself with reverence.
Asking about the scholar (shi) · 3 times in the book
- Analects 12.20 Zizhang: Plain and upright and loving what is right, attentive to words and observant of faces, mindful to put himself below others.He asked what makes a scholar “accomplished” (達).
- Analects 13.20 Zigong: He conducts himself with a sense of shame, and when sent on missions abroad he does not disgrace his ruler's commission.
- Analects 13.28 Zilu: Earnest, encouraging, and genial.
Asking about wisdom · 2 times in the book
- Analects 6.20 Fan Chi: Devote yourself to what is right for the people; revere the spirits but keep them at a distance.
- Analects 12.22 Fan Chi: Know people.
Asking how to exalt virtue · 2 times in the book
- Analects 12.10 Zizhang: Hold to loyalty and trustworthiness, and move toward what is right.
- Analects 12.21 Fan Chi: Put the work first and the reward after.
The Analects names 197 people. Tap one: the inner ring shows the chapters they appear in, and the outer ring shows the people who most often appear in the same chapters, with the number of chapters they share.
