DELINQUENT FATHERS AND PHILOLOGY LUN YU 13.18 AND RELATED TEXTS. (8th August 2014)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Weingarten, Oliver
• Is Part Of: Early China. Volume 37(2014)
• Page Start: 221
• Page End: 258
• Publication Date: 2014-08-08
• Subjects: Confucius, -- Socrates, -- Philology, -- Intertextuality; 孔子, -- 蘇格拉底, -- 文獻學, -- 互文性; China -- Periodicals; China -- Antiquities -- Periodicals; China -- Study and teaching -- Periodicals; 931.005
• DOI: 10.1017/eac.2014.13
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0362-5028

Abstract

Abstract: 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. 提要: 本文探討《論語．子路》「父為子隱，子為父隱」章與諸如《韓非子．五蠹》、《呂氏春秋．當務》等先秦文獻之間所存在的互文性關係，下論「父為子隱」章蓋由《呂氏春秋》中的一篇軼聞衍生而來。這對《論語》的學術詮釋而言會有兩重意義：其一、證明《論語》所收諸篇章極為博雜，其來源未必限於純粹儒家文獻；其二、同時也表明欲研讀《論語》，則應以同時代文獻中重出語句為研究重點。 此後，本文討論學界以往對「父為子隱」章與柏拉圖《游敘弗倫》篇的比較研究，提出「父為子隱」章雖與後者有相似之處，然因文筆過簡，故其異同到底何在卻難以說明。因此，與其比孔子於蘇格拉底，寧以「父為子隱」章與先秦兩漢法律史、社會史之關係為研究對象。