Old Sage, New Robes: A Fresh Perspective on the Confucian Analects

Confucius’ students included political advisors, military strategists, educators, businessmen, philosophers, warlords, and kings. How could he possibly teach his way so calmly and gracefully through states and kingdoms of hegemons vying for regional power? Who was this man!?
This is a book by two masters, one ancient and one contemporary, both enigmatic. The lives of Confucius and Master Nan Huai-Chin (Nan Huaijin), in many ways, parallel each other. Both lived through tumultuous times, both had to leave their home state and wander only to return in old age to their birthplace. They were teachers, learned in many fields and arts and in life itself, but not scholars in the traditional sense; rather, they were masters of all they engaged in. They had students from all walks of life, were advisors of statesmen of all ranks and were flanked by loyal followers. They both seamlessly wove together the worldly and the spiritual. And both were most concerned about the decline of people’s virtue, the deterioration of the culture, and of the general order of society. I believe this is why Master Nan could go beyond the words of the ancient texts to see the man who spoke them, to understand the events of those ancient times, and to grasp the significance of his life’s work.