The Morals of Confucius

[xiv], 142 pp. The first appearance of any of Confucius' writings in English, 'basically a translation of La Morale de Confucius' (1688), itself a translation of the Latin edition of Three Books of Confucius (1687) by Prospero Intorcetta, et al.; but, '[t]he English edition includes passages not found in the French original….' This is the true first edition in English, not to be confused with the circa 1780 reprint that contains a false imprint; that later edition is 183 pages and contains a folding frontispiece that was not issued with this 1691 edition. The anonymous English translator here has contributed an 'Advertisement' (pp. [3]-[16]) and the volume includes a lengthy essay on Confucius and ancient Chinese thought (pp. 1-114); the balance of the volume is given over to a translation of the eighty 'Maxims' from the Analects. This [1691] edition … is interesting in several respects. It shows an awareness of Eastern ideas that one would not normally associate with 17th century England. Additionally, the author of this work attempts to put Confucius' ideas into a Western/Christian context. In the Advertisement at the front, it is stressed that though Confucius was a pagan, his ideas are not inconsistent with the teachings of the Bible and his desire for achieving virtue and morality is certainly consistent with the beliefs of 17th century Christian philosophers. He even goes so far as to say that some of Confucius ideas are superior to these contemporaneous philosophers 'who abound with so many false, or over-subtile Thoughts; who almost every where surpass the Bounds of their Duty, and who give themselves up to their own Fancy, or ill Humour...' In all, this edition shows an unexpected openness to other ideas, but a need to modify that and put it into a uniquely English and, more importantly, Christian context." (Early English Books Online). The favor that Confucius found with the English deists is reflected in the fact that Locke had the 1688 French translation in his library (Harrison & Laslett 835). Confucianism also received a cordial reception among the landed gentry. Mungello calls this '[o]ne of the most famous books' that first introduced English speakers to the thought of Confucius. Many cultivated country gentlemen of England saw affinities between themselves and the land-based scholar-officials of China. The breadth of Confucian education was extolled: neither the English landed gentleman nor the Chinese literatus was narrowly specialized and the Chinese examination system was praised for the way it rewarded intellectual achievement with official positions. China was vaunted as a living confirmation of a learned meritocracy. Not only was this an idealized image of conditions in China, but these English interpreters had subsumed Confuciannism to English needs…. — 'Confucianism in the Englightenment….' in Lee, China and Europe: Images and Influences in the Sixteenth to Eighteenth Centuries (Chinese University Press, 1991). Leites, Confucianism in Eighteenth-Century England: Natural Morality and Social Reform in Philosophy East and West (Univ. of Hawaii Press), Vol. 28, No. 2, (April 1978), pp. 155-56. For a sketch of the significant impact that Confucionism had on European thought in the 17th century, see Mungello, 'European Responses to Non-European Culture: China' in the first volume The Cambridge History of Seventeenth Century Philosophy (2 vols, 1998), edited by Garber & Ayers.