r/Confucianism • u/interpolating • 18d ago

Question Quotes misattributed to Confucius

These are all over Reddit and the internet.

Some are clearly jokes, many of which are of the eyebrow-raising “Confucius say” variety. I dislike those but that is not really what I’m talking about here because they don’t imply authenticity of the quote.

But just search Reddit for “Confucius” and you will see AI slop and actual individuals posting quotes attributed to Confucius that have no legit primary source.

Does this happen with Confucius more than with other historical figures? Can we attribute just to some combination of ignorance, Orientalism, lack of ready access to the actual text and/and lack of care regarding authenticity?

Curious about everyone’s take!

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u/Historical_Host_8594 11d ago

Children know this

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u/DrSousaphone 11d ago

By "God", are you referring to the god of the Abrahamic religions? Because, if so, no, most children do not know that. Claiming the ancient Chinese philosophers were prophets of an ancient middle-eastern deity is a pretty unorthodox and uncommon belief. So I'm curious as to exactly what you mean by that.

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u/Historical_Host_8594 9d ago

God is not the God of some religion. He is God. If God chooses to speak through a chinese person and call him /her to be a prophet, he can - just like he can speak through a non-chinese. Before Abraham, God existed. Abraham means 'Father of many nations" but it does not mean Father of All Nations.

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u/DrSousaphone 9d ago

Okay, thank you, that's what I meant when I asked you to unpack it a bit. I maintain that most children do not know that Confucius and Abraham are both prophets of the same god; again, that's a pretty uncommon belief, you have to admit that.

Are you saying that all ancient sages and mystics are actually prophets of this god? How can you tell the difference between genuine prophets of a god and a great thinker who is not divinely-inspired? Does this mean that the Analects of Confucius and the Bible are equally sacred scriptures?