Page:The sayings of Confucius; a new translation of the greater part of the Confucian analects (IA sayingsofconfuci00confiala).pdf/41



The proper names occurring in the Analects present some difficulty to the European reader, as one and the same person is often referred to in several different ways—by his surname and personal name, by his "style," or by a combination of the two, while among intimates the personal name only is employed. Mr. Ku has on this account eliminated almost all proper names from his translation, using a periphrasis instead. But by this method one misses much of the characterisation which is such an attractive feature of the Analects. I have judged it better to give the names of the principal disciples exactly as they appear in the Chinese, and to provide a table of their various appellations for easy reference. An asterisk denotes the name most frequently used.