Exploring Confucius' Teaching Philosophy Through Questions and Answers With Zigong.

This study analyzed themes from the Analects to present the particularities of Confucius' teaching. The main discussion is about Zigong, who appears the most frequently in the Analects. This paper contains two parts: the form and theme of the questions and answers; a glimpse of Confucius' teaching philosophy. The question- answer format in the Analects is simple. This is not only due to difficulty of recording Confucius' words but also because Confucius' "practice-oriented" teaching was expressed in the form of simple words, expressed as roundabout prompts and suspenseful questions. The three themes in the questions and answers of the Analects include: 1) gentlemen "putting actions first", 2) the "holistic view of man", and 3) suspenseful questions which lead students into their inner experience and achieve the ultimacy in man. The analysis shows that, Confucius, as a teacher, is both a forerunner, a discerner of people and characters, a waiter, a timely redirector, and a consistent "non-dualist". These concepts and teachings are still inspiring even today. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]