Democratic Primaries

I am quite fond of the Confucian 'Analects' and have read as well in the more recondite 'Spring and Autumn Annals'. The name derives from Latinization of Kong Fuzi (there are some diacriticals beyond the fonts here), meaning 'Master Kong', Kong being the family name. That comes first in Chinese style. Our ambassador to China towards the end of WWII was apparently unaware of this, and spoke of Chiang Kai-Shek as 'Mr. Shek', roughly equivalent to using 'Mister Joe' in addressing Mr. Biden.

The italicized quote I often append in this forum to my posts is the signature line I have used here for ages, and shows in posts outside this forum still. It is a slightly condensed presentation of a key speech in the 'Analects', when Master Kong is asked by a pupil why the first thing he would do as ruler was attend to 'the rectification of names'. I have substituted 'people become uneasy' for 'rites and rituals cannot be performed properly' because the latter would convey little meaning to most people reading it here, and uneasiness among the people was a consequence of poor ritual performance, which interfered with their proper relation to Heaven.





"When things are not called by their right names, what is said cannot make sense. When what is said does not make sense, what is planned cannot succeed. When plans do not succeed, people become uneasy. When people are uneasy, punishments do not fit crimes. When punishments do not fit crimes, people cannot know where to put hand or foot."