Confucius and His Community

Abstract

In spite of the sagely status he acquired and the cultural icon he became long after his death, Confucius repeatedly professed that he was a quiet yet unrelenting learner. His reiteration does not only suggest that the master was proud of his unassuming efforts in making continuous progress on his lifelong self-cultivation, but also that his contemporaries failed to recognize him as such. This essay focuses on the historical Confucius as he is ostensibly recorded in the Analects and examines the master as a learner and how that role could help explain his philosophy and its evolution.