During the cycle of lectures inaugurated in 2008-2009 and entitled " Confucius revisited : old texts, new discourses ", the starting point of which was the phenomenon of the " return of Confucius " currently being observed in mainland China and now taking on a global dimension, we set out to retrace the first two phases of Confucius globalization (the European phase at the time of the Enlightenment, then the American phase in the last century). This lengthy genealogical work has enabled us not only to broaden our historical perspective over the long term, but also to become aware of the lens through which we are now accustomed to reading the Lunyu , whose title is conventionally translated as Confucius' Talks. In the course of last year , we went a step further, endeavouring to reconsider this text without the glasses of canonical tradition or philosophical interpretation, a deconstructionist effort which, as we have seen, has also been widely globalized, and which has had the effect of revealing a completely different text whose relationship with Confucius is even now being called into question.
This work of textual deconstruction, carried out mainly by historians and philologists from English-speaking cultural areas, has helped to cast doubt on three major presuppositions of the most widespread vulgate. Firstly, contrary to what has often been claimed, the Lunyu is far from being the only reputedly authentic source on the teachings of Master Kong (known in Europe under the Latinized name of Confucius since the Jesuit mediation of the 17th century). Moreover, it is not certain that the words reported in direct speech and introduced by the canonical formula " The Master says "(Zi yue 子曰) are necessarily attributable to him. Consequently, contrary to an idea that has been peddled for two millennia, the Lunyu may not have been originally conceived as a collection of dialogues or " entretiens " between Master Kong and his disciples. Finally, it has become impossible to assert that such a collection is the result of direct, continuous transmission through lines of disciples. In short, what is being dismantled piece by piece here is nothing less than the unity, coherence and continuity of a text considered by the entire Chinese tradition to be foundational. This work is akin to that of critical exegetes of biblical texts, particularly the Gospels. However, the title of this year's lecture, " Confucius ressuscité ? ", refers to the famous resurrected figure known as Jesus Christ, with the emphasis on the question mark and the few hypotheses to which we can limit ourselves, given the current status of the " Confucius site ".