Confucius Confronting Contingency in the Lunyu and the Gongyang Zhuan

Abstract

The article argues in the first part that the Lunyu is the only early text in which Confucius is not depicted as the ultimate sage authority who knows an answer to all questions. Instead the Confucius of the Lunyu leaves questions open and points out limits of possible knowledge. The second part of the article shows that in the exegesis of the Gongyang Zhuan we find exactly the same attitudes of Confucius. The article argues in the third part that the specific …