What is an Author? Taking Confucius for an Example

Abstract

The proposed study is a case study of the author function by examining a famed ＂author＂-Confucius. Preliminary results are presented of an analysis based on ＂The Hereditary House of Confucius＂ in ＂The Records of the Grand Historian＂ by Sima Qian that paints a picture of Confucius as an author, as conceived in the 2nd century BCE (the Former Han dynasty). The study uses the method of qualitative content analysis to answer the following research questions: (1) What types of authorship is Confucius said to have performed according to his biography by Sima Qian? (2) What are the works related to Confucius? (3) What does each type of authorship entail? To answer these questions, a three-stage process is conducted to analyze the text: First, isolation of useful segments; then, identification and coding of relevant works mentioned in the biography; and finally, specification and analysis of the outcomes. Tentatively, the analysis has identified at least three types of authorship: writer, editor, and transmitter. As part of a larger study to examine the images of Confucius as an author over time, the primary purpose of the research reported here is to gain more understanding of the author function in Chinese culture. This study's findings are undoubtedly important for expanding research on authorship in KO. Eventually such research will lead to improved KO system design, especially in the area of author data.