On the Derivative Genealogy of Confucian Works and the Nature of Confucius’ Quotations in Chu Bamboo Slips——From the Perspective of “Public Speeches”

Initially,Confucius’ teachings to his disciples were mostly passed down orally,which resulted in a considerable number of “public speeches” among the disciples of Confucius’ school:a combination of vertical multi generational inheritance and horizontal multi-point distribution.Many of the statements made by disciples ultimately stem from Confucius’ speeches,which have special significance in the study of historical materials and the chronology of ancient books.Due to the initial oral transmission characteristics,the expressions implemented in the simplified book are actually vastly different,indicating that traceability research sometimes needs to go beyond “texts”.As the first collection of works by the Confucian School,the Analects was not only the earliest to be written,but also has a clear sense of “boundary” with the later works of the Confucian.In the current research on the materials of Confucius’ quotations from Chu bamboo slips,this is the fundamental timeline that needs to be recognized.Some of the works of Confucian scholars mainly focus on preserving the speeches of Confucius,which are almost imitations of the Analects;Some works are based on the “public speeches” of Confucius,forming works with a very clear sense of writing consciousness.The awakening of the “class” consciousness in works by Confucian scholars such as Zengzi and Zisi became the origin of later Confucian works.