Books 1-3

These first three books of the Essential Analects talk alot about ones public and private values. It reminds me alot about God in the new testament and parts of the Exodus.

Confucius must have been an extremely noble and respectful man, stating that being filial is the way of life. Another point that the "master" chooses to emphasize on is your relationship with your elders. "A young person should be filial when at home and respectful of his elders when in public." (1.6). This quote coincides with one of the Exodus's ten commandments to honor thy mother and father.

From the second book, may favorite line is "One who rules through he power of virtue is analogous to the pole star: it simply remains in its place and recieves the homage of the myriad lesser stars." (2.1). In other words, you will only be looked up at by the rest from good worth.

I was born in Hong Kong and lived there for five years. From personal experience, I can say that in Asia, many people use the lessons in this book as guidelines for life, making them very different from people here in the western hemisphere.