Yu Dan

In the autumn of 2006, Yu Dan, a professor of media studies at Beijing Normal University, gave a series of lectures entitled 'Yu Dan's Insights into the Analects' which was broadcast for seven days on China Central Television. Her highly personal interpretation of Confucian thought was rapturously received, An edited transcript of the lectures sold 10,000 copies on the day it was published in book form and by September the following year the book had sold 4.2 million legal copies in China and an estimated 6 million pirated ones, remaining at the top of the Chinese bestseller lists today. Simply written, and with a view to taking the wisdom of Confucius out of the hands of the academics and the philosophers and making it accessible to the general reader, "Confucius From the Heart" gives us a contemporary Confucius, one who can teach us how to attain spiritual happiness, adjust our daily routines and find our place in modern life. Yu Dan argues that his sayings, or Analects - far from being merely interesting quotes from ancient lore, of little use in our hectic, stress-filled world.Instead, they are simple truths that can speak to each and every one of us and help us lead better, happier, calmer lives.

Según Yu Dan, Confucio nos puede enseñar a ser felices. Las enseñanzas de Confucio, que los chinos memorizan en la escuela sin ya casi comprenderlas, se convierten aquí en una guía para enfrentarse al mundo de hoy y a sus problemas. La autora sostiene que las Analectas no se escribieron para los eruditos, sino para ayudar a cualquiera a encontrar la armonia. Y va traduciendo las maximas confucianas a la mentalidad moderna, de la que las separaban veinticinco siglos. Segun ella, las palabras de Confucio, que hoy resultan oscuras, ofrecen en realidad principios sencillos para entender cosas tan vigentes como las relaciones entre amigos, el trato con la sociedad o las virtudes que debemos cultivar; sus enseñanzas componen una especie de manual de comportamiento que nos enseña que podemos hacer para ser mas felices.