Sacred Text · The Analects
The Analects 15:23
Book 15, chapter 23 · the sayings of Confucius
Translation: James Legge, The Chinese Classics: Confucian Analects (1861, revised 1893), public domain, via Project Gutenberg (ebook 3330). Reproduced in full and in context; the sayings 15:23 (the negative Golden Rule), 6:28 (ren), 4:15 (the one thread) and 2:4 (the stages of life) were validated against the source before publishing. References follow Legge’s standard book:chapter numbering.
How this connects to Jesus
Confucius gave the rule of a lifetime in a single word, reciprocity: what you do not want done to yourself, do not do to others. Jesus taught the same rule and turned it toward action: whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets (Matthew 7:12). A remarkable meeting of two teachers on the heart of how we are to treat one another; the Gospel states it as a positive command to love.
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