The Complete Confucius: The Analects, The Doctrine Of The Mean, and The Great Learning

Book One: The Analects, also known as the Analects of Confucius, is an ancient Chinese book composed of a large collection of sayings and ideas attributed to the Chinese philosopher Confucius and his contemporaries, traditionally believed to have been compiled and written by Confucius’s followers. It is believed to have been written during the Warring States period (475–221 BC), and it achieved its final form during the mid-Han dynasty (206 BC–220 AD). By the early Han dynasty the Analects was considered merely a “commentary” on the Five Classics, but the status of the Analects grew to be one of the central texts of Confucianism by the end of that dynasty.Book Two:The Doctrine of the Mean or Zhongyong is both a doctrine of Confucianism and also the title of one of the Four Books of Confucian philosophy. The text is attributed to Zisi or Kong Ji, the only grandson of Confucius. It was published as a chapter in the Classic of Rites.The phrase “doctrine of the mean” first occurs in Book VI, verse 29 of the Analects of Confucius:Book Three:The Great Learning or Daxue was one of the “Four Books” in Confucianism. The Great Learning had come from a chapter in the Book of Rites which formed one of the Five Classics. It consists of a short main text attributed to the teachings of Confucius and then ten commentary chapters accredited to one of Confucius’ disciples, Zengzi. The ideals of the book were supposedly Confucius’s, but the text was written after his death.