Abstract

This essay takes as it subject Lunyu jindu 論語今讀, Li Zehou’s “translation” from classical into modern Chinese of one of the Four Books, a classic that long-standing tradition claims was generated within the immediate circles of Master Confucius himself. Rather than blandly touting the inherent superiority of whichever brands of Chinese or Confucian “tradition” currently meet the approval of leading PRC figures in establishment politics, academia, and the media—old Daotong 道統 truisms retrofitted for nationalistic purposes 1—Li wants to deconstruct “tradition”. He wants to return our attention to aspects of...