The Analects are also called the Analects of Confucius, the Sayings of Confucius, or the Lun Yu, and are an old Chinese book written of a wide collection of ideas and sayings credited to the Chinese philosopher Confucius and his peers. It is believed to have been compiled and written by Confucius's followers. It might have been written during the Warring States period (477-221 BC), and it reached its final structure during the mid-Han dynasty (206 BC-220 AD). By the early Han dynasty, the Analects were thought of as simply a commentary on the Five Masterpieces, but the situation with the Analects developed to be one of the central texts of Confucianism toward the end of that dynasty. His essential goal in teaching his students was to produce ethically well-mannered men who might convey themselves with gravity, talk accurately, and demonstrate perfect integrity in all things.
Confucius, Chinese Kongfuzi or K'ung-fu-Tzu, (551 BC-479 Lu), was an Ancient Chinese teacher, political theorist, and philosopher. He was born into a poor family. He maintained stables and worked as a bookkeeper while teaching himself about mastery of the six arts. Music, ritual, charioteering, calligraphy, arithmetic, and familiarity with poetry and history empowered him to start a brilliant teaching career in his thirties. Confucius saw education as a process of consistent personal growth and held that its primary function was the preparation of noblemen. He considered public service to be the normal outcome of education and tried to rejuvenate Chinese social institutions, including the family, school, community, state, and kingdom. He held government positions, eventually becoming a minister of justice in Lu, but his methods drew little attention. Following a 12-year self-inflicted exile during which his circle of students extended, he got back to Lu at age 67 to teach and write. His life and thoughts are kept in the Lunyu (Analects).
