From the Qi Analects of Confucius
The Analects of Confucius circulated in three versions during the Western Han dynasty: the Lu Analects (魯論語) in twenty chapters, the Old Text Analects (古論語) in twenty-one, and the Qi Analects (齊論語) in twenty-two. The Qi version contained two chapters absent from the others: "Knowing the Way" (知道, Zhidao) and "Asking About Kingship" (問王, Wenwang). When the scholar Zhang Yu merged the Lu and Qi versions in the late first century BCE, these two chapters were dropped. The Qi Analects vanished from history.
For 1,800 years, only a name remained. Then, in 2011, archaeologists excavating the tomb of Liu He, Marquis of Haihun (海昏侯, d. 59 BCE), in Nanchang, Jiangxi province, discovered over 500 bamboo slips of the Analects written in clerical script. On the back of one slip, the chapter title "智道" appeared — an ancient variant of "知道," Knowing the Way. The lost Qi Analects had been found.
The Haihunhou slips are still being conserved, with full publication expected by late 2026. However, the Zhidao chapter had already surfaced at another site: the Jianshui Jinguan (肩水金關) frontier post in Gansu province, where thirteen Analects slips were excavated in 1973, including eight slips (130 characters) from chapters unknown to the received Analects. Wang Chuning and Zhang Yuzheng of Fudan University published the complete transcription in 2017, identifying these as passages from the lost Qi Analects. The Haihunhou slips independently confirm these readings.
What follows is the first English translation of these eight slips. They are fragments — torn edges, broken midsentence, isolated from their neighbours. But the voice is unmistakable. After eighteen centuries of silence, the Master speaks again.
Confucius understood the Way to be easy. "Easy, easy" — he spoke of it for three days. The Master said: "The beauty of this Way — "
The Master said: "Self-love is the highest form of benevolence. Self-respect is the highest form of wisdom."
Zigong said: "Through nine transformations, one returns to the thread. To know the subtlety of words — "
Dwell in stillness and await the convergence of a loving heart. Think of the state — . The Master said: "One who thinks of the state — calls out beneath the crossbar gate."
The Master said: "One who must have wealth — a petty person. One who must have poverty — a petty person. One who must have rank — a petty person. One who must have lowliness — a petty person — a petty person. Wealth and poverty — "
The Master said: "The noble person feels no shame before others. The noble person takes joy in wealth — "
" — how can I face Pingzi again?" He praised him and made a request on his behalf. The Master said: "This — "
" — this principle. Reflect from without, and understanding can be reached — "
Colophon
Good Works Translation from Classical Chinese (Han-dynasty clerical script on bamboo slips). Translated by Neko, Secretary of the New Tianmu Anglican Church, April 2026. First English translation.
Source text: Bamboo slips excavated at the Jianshui Jinguan (肩水金關) frontier post, Jinta County, Gansu Province, 1973. Transcriptions published by Wang Chuning (王楚寧) and Zhang Yuzheng (張予正), "肩水金關漢簡《齊論語》整理" (Collation of the Qi Analects from the Jianshui Jinguan Han Slips), Fudan University Centre for Research on Excavated Texts and Ancient Characters, 2017. Cross-verified with the Haihunhou tomb slips (Nanchang, Jiangxi, 2011) as published in scholarly reports by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and Peking University.
Eight slips, 130 characters. The passages belong to the "Knowing the Way" (知道/智道, Zhidao) chapter of the Qi Analects, one of two chapters unique to that version. The second lost chapter, "Asking About Kingship" (問王, Wenwang), has not been identified on any published slip.
Note on uncertain readings: Slip Three (73EJC:608) contains several characters whose reading is debated among scholars. The translation follows the Fudan transcription where legible. The phrase "beneath the crossbar gate" (呼衡門之下) alludes to Shijing Ode 138 ("Under the crossbar gate, one may dwell at ease"), a poem about the gentleman content in humble circumstances. Slip Seven's "Pingzi" (平子) likely refers to Ji Pingzi (季平子), the powerful minister of Lu state who appears in the Zuo Zhuan.
Blood Rule compliant: independently derived from the Chinese source text. No existing English translation was consulted because none exists.
Compiled and formatted for the Good Work Library by the New Tianmu Anglican Church, 2026.
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Source Text: 齊論語·知道
Chinese source text from the Jianshui Jinguan Han bamboo slips, as transcribed by Wang Chuning and Zhang Yuzheng (Fudan University, 2017). Slip numbers from the original excavation records. □ marks illegible or missing characters at slip edges. ＝ marks a repetition mark on the original slip.
簡一 (73EJT22:6) — 20字
孔子知道之易也，易＝云者三日。子曰：此道之美也，□
簡二 (73EJT31:139) — 14字
子曰：自愛，仁之至也；自敬，知之至也。
簡三 (73EJC:608) — 35字
子贡曰：九變復貫，知言之篡。居而俟，合愛心□，念國之□。子曰：念國者□，呼衡門之下。
簡四 (73EJT14:7) — 21字
子曰：必富，小人也；必貧，小人也；必貴，小人也；必賤，小人□
簡五 (73EJC:180) — 6字
□小人也富與貧
簡六 (73EJT9:58) — 11字
子曰：君子不愧人，君子樂富□
簡七 (73EJT24:104) — 13字
□何以復見平子，贊為之請。子曰：是□
簡八 (73EJH1:58) — 10字
□之方也，思理自外可以知□
Source Colophon
Source text from the Jianshui Jinguan (肩水金關) Han bamboo slips, Jinta County, Gansu Province. Excavated by the Gansu Provincial Museum and the Jiuquan Regional Museum, 1973. Slips dated to the Western Han period (1st century BCE). Transcriptions published by Wang Chuning and Zhang Yuzheng of the Fudan University Centre for Research on Excavated Texts and Ancient Characters, August 2017. Table 2: 肩水金關漢簡所見《齊論語》失傳章句 (Lost Chapter Passages of the Qi Analects from the Jianshui Jinguan Han Slips). Freely available at fdgwz.org.cn.
Presented here for reference, study, and verification alongside the English translation above.
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