Exploring the Analects

Side quests are in every game these days. Help Bopeep find her sheep, track down 900 Korok seeds, spend twenty hours decorating a house you'll barely visit. They can be the best part of a game — but every hour spent on...

道不同，不相為謀 — seven characters Chinese speakers still use to tell someone it's time to go their separate ways. But did Confucius mean that people on different paths can't plan together, or that they shouldn't ? In this...

What does it mean to call two countries "brothers"? Confucius said it about the ancient states of Lu and Wei — and for 2,000 years, scholars couldn't agree on what he meant. In passage 13.7, a cryptic seven-character...

<p>Clickbait is everywhere — political chaos, freak accidents, Florida Man. And Confucius, who had his own version of this problem 2,500 years ago, had a clear answer: stop feeding it entirely.</p><p>Passage 7.21...

<p>You've had an undo button on your email for years. Return policies, apologies, second chances — so much of modern life is fixable that it trains us to be casual. But you can't un-rupture an artery, and you can't...

<p>A seven-character riddle about a ritual wine vessel becomes a lesson in why names matter. In passage 6.25, Confucius picks up a 觚 (gū) — a tall, angular bronze cup designed to make you drink slowly — and finds it's...

<p>What is ritual really for? In this episode, four passages reveal why Confucius cared less about jade, silk, bells, and drums — and more about the bonds that wholehearted participation creates.</p><p>We trace the...

<p>Is Confucius against profit? Two short passages from Book 4 take on one of the most common misconceptions about Confucianism.</p><p>In passage 4.12, Confucius warns that acting purely for personal advantage leads to...

<p>When the ruthless King of Qin demands Zhao's most sacred treasure — the flawless jade disk known as the hé shì bì — in exchange for 15 cities he has no intention of giving, a humble scholar turned royal attendant...

<p>The Mohists called the Confucians lazy, self-indulgent, and greedy — were they right? In this episode, we explore two passages about wealth, work, and knowing your worth.</p><p>Confucius says he'd take an honest job...

<p>A retelling of the classic Chinese historical tale of Lord Meng Chang, a generous prince who believed every person had a talent worth cultivating — and whose unlikely band of friends ended up saving his life...

<p>Confucius spent his life trying to revive the Way of the ancient sage kings. In this episode, we explore his most famous lament — "Having in the morning heard that the Way was being put into practice, I could die...

<p>Confucius had a front-row seat to one of the messiest love triangles in ancient Chinese history. A prince so beautiful the Duke didn't care he was sleeping with his wife. A priest so smooth-tongued he reshuffled a...

<p>Ever met someone so universally liked that you can't quite figure out what they actually stand for? Someone who's nice to everyone, never ruffles feathers, and somehow has zero enemies? Confucius had a word for that...

<p>Ever played a game where the only way to win is to screw over your friends? Where the rules basically force everyone to act like animals because one person's gain is another person's loss? Confucius had some thoughts...