Why is The Analects of Confucius one of China's traditional cultural classics?

I also read The Analects when I was a student. At that time, after reading it, I felt that this book was just a record of Confucius' words and deeds. How did it become a classic? When I saw your question today, I must have encountered my similar confusion.

Now that more than ten years have passed, I think I have a little experience of this book. Teenagers are usually normal and can think independently. Most of them should be disgusted with this book. The truth inside is big and empty, and it doesn't help real life at all. An old man like Confucius often behaves differently from his words, which is simply a typical example of disrespecting the old and teaching bad children.

I feel that I am a young man and still care about the truth. I hate it. This is a feature of China's classics-there are not enough words, and there are not enough words. So it is difficult to understand its meaning from school and literally. For example, Confucius said: A threesome must have a teacher. It's really three people walking together. Is there anything I can learn? The standard answer in middle school seems to be this. The Book of Changes also said: A threesome must have a teacher. Literally, which of these two statements is right and which is wrong? Confucius is a master of the Book of Changes. How can he say the exact opposite of the Book of Changes?

In fact, both sentences are correct, but the emphasis is different. Confucius is talking about tolerance, not mood. I'm talking about common sense. When I was young, my mind was full of competitive consciousness. Even if I understood it literally, I couldn't choose the best from the best and learn from it because I lacked that kind of tolerance. As a result, I hate this truth (school teachers generally don't deliberately point out that there is a problem of tolerance here, even if it is mentioned, how can we cultivate it? Normally, they don't talk about it.

Therefore, the most important thing in studying China's classics is that you must have that kind of experience first, and then see the words in the classics, so that you can feel something. This feeling is very important. In Buddhism, this feeling is the psychological preparation before enlightenment. Only in this way can we understand Zen and consciously produce that kind of understanding beyond ourselves. This kind of understanding, because it is spontaneous, will be like Mencius said: if the river is decided, it will be irresistible. In other words, you will do it the moment you realize it.

The Analects of Confucius is such a book that you have to have some experience to understand it. Moreover, the Analects of Confucius is about benevolence and kindness. This kind of goodness is a very high realm. You know, from a purely biological point of view, sexual evil is tenable, because people are animals and have animal instincts. The nature of this competition for existence is selfish and evil. Confucius insisted on benevolence, which transcends evil nature, because he realized that people are not only animals, but also human nature that other animals do not have. Pure humanity can also be attributed to divinity. Confucius' statement of benevolence was remarkable because he affirmed the meaning of human existence. Therefore, both the East and the West, no matter what school of philosophy, respect Confucius and The Analects. In addition, in the Analects of Confucius, he gave many concrete methods on how to understand benevolence through practice. We can see that although the whole Analects of Confucius talks about benevolence, Confucius did not give a vague definition of benevolence, but explained it through concrete examples, which provided a practical direction for later scholars, which is another greatness of Confucius. Based on the above two points, the status of The Analects of Confucius was established. What I said above is all my study experience over the years, not very professional. If you are interested in a deeper understanding of this issue, I recommend Mr. Mou Zongsan's Characteristics of China's Philosophy and Nineteen Lectures on China's Philosophy. I hope the above answers are helpful to you.