A Study Of Zhu Xi’s Annotation Of The Analects Centred On The Formation Of Variorums Of The Analects

In its capacity as a vessel for the thought,words and actions of Confucius and his disciples,the Lun-yu-chi chu has been the focus of the attention and veneration of generations of scholars in subsequent dynasties,becoming an important textual basis for elucidation of principles,and the subject of semantic and exegetical scrutiny.The Neo-Ruist School of Li(li xue)arose during the Song Dynasty,and during this period of internal anxieties and external threats in which the Neo-Ruists also faced ideological crisis due to the flourishing of both Taoism and Buddhism,the Neo-Ruists enthusiastically expounded the principles implicit in the Analects through the mode of annotation,and in doing so furthered the li-centred thought of their own school.The accomplishments of the School of Li reached their completion in the person of Zhu Xi,who after having absorbed the import of the commentaries made on the Analects by the scholars of previous dynasties,finally returned to reflection on the original text of the Analects themselves,and himself embarked on a comprehensive project of explanation,annotation and elucidation of the principles implicit in the Analects.Zhu Xi fully expended a lifetime of energies on the completion of six works on the Analects.The final of these works was the exegetically brilliant and theoretically profound Variorums of the Confucian Analects,which subsequently not only became Zhu Xi’s most authoritative work on the subject,but also became one of the most monumental works across the developmental history of Analects studies.Lun-yu-chi chu nor abandons the customary rule of emphasizing exegesis on texts since Han and Tang Dynasty,but develops the tradition of attaching importance to the ration since the Northern Song Dynasty,Furthermore,reflects the note characteristic of comprehensive through in Han and Song Dynasty.Zhu Xi’s semantic and exegetical scrutiny on the Analects is bound together inextricably to the construction of his’Li’(often translated ’principle’ in English).On the one hand,Lun-yu-chi chu cites and develops the category scrutiny of Lun-yu jing-yi on several core concepts,such as ’heaven’,’original nature’,’propriety’ and’ren(often translated ’benevolence’ in English).On the other hand,while analyzing,absorbing and developing the category scrutiny of Lun-yu jing-yi with interpreting Lun-yu-chi chu,Zhu xi attempts to correct the inaccurate explanatory note on the Analects made by other Confucian scholar in Song Dynasty.After continuous thinking and exploration,Zhu Xi fill ’Li’ to the full in his Lun-yu-chi chu.He infiltrates neo-confucianism into the explanation of ’heaven’,’original nature’,’ren’ and’propriety’.Ultimately,he sums up thesis,which is filled with strong Confucianism characteristics,but also has a strong pertinence interpretation.For instance,’the heaven is rational’,’original nature is the rational that human is following ’,’ren is the original nature of love and the virtue of soul’,’Li is the reflection of the heaven,which guides human to following the norm’.In a word,the works of Zhu Xi’s notes on the Analects has an important position in the history of the study of the Analects of Confucius.The Lun-yu jing-yi,which is finally completed,has a deep meaning and accurate exegesis.It has become milestone works in the history of the Analects development,and still have important reference value on the current research of Analects.