Confucian humility in the Analects

There is a growing literature on humility in general and humility in early Chinese thought specificallyFootnote1.Footnote2 This paper aims to provide an account of Confucian humility in the Analects. I argue for a conceptualization of Confucian humility as consisting of three strands, vigilance rooted in love of learning, acknowledgement of others via li, and devotion based on historic conscience. The first two strands form a general kind of Confucian humility, while the last strand is seen only in Kongzi 孔子, who exhibits an idiosyncratic and impressive development of Confucian humility. The three strands are united by their common enemy of self-importance and common goal of moral progress. To argue for my view, I first provide an overview of relevant scholarly work. Then I develop my own view, and revisit scholarship to clarify features of my account and how it differs. In the conclusion section, I briefly address the scope of Confucian humility and where it does not apply.