Delinquent Fathers and Philology Lun Yu 13.18 and Related Texts

0440492 - OÚ 2015 RIV GB eng J - Journal Article
Weingarten, Oliver
Delinquent Fathers and Philology Lun Yu 13.18 and Related Texts.
Early China. Roč. 37, č. 1 (2014), s. 1-38. ISSN 2325-2324
Institutional support: RVO:68378009
Keywords : Confucius * Philology * Intertextuality * Socrates
OECD category: Specific literatures

Investigating textual parallels between pre-Qin writings such as Han Feizi and Lüshi chunqiu and Confucius's statement in Lun yu 13.18 that “a father covers up for his son and a son for his father,” this article argues that the Lun yu passage is most likely derived from the version in Lüshi chunqiu or a closely related version. This has several consequences for scholarly interpretations of the Lun yu. It serves as a reminder that the Lun yu is a heterogeneous collection of textual units drawn from sometimes unexpected sources. It also demonstrates that the Lun yu should be read not in isolation but against the widest possible background of pre-Qin and Han parallels. In the final part, the article reviews some of the comparisons between Confucius in Lun yu 13.18 and Socrates in Plato's “Euthyphro,” cautioning against over-interpretations of the extremely terse statement attributed to Confucius. A more fruitful way of reading Lun yu 13.18, it is argued, would be to historicize the passage by contextualizing it within the social and legal history of the late Warring States and Han periods.
Permanent Link: http://hdl.handle.net/11104/0243630