In what ways were the Analects of Confucius beneficial?

I'm into ancient Chinese history, and I am into politics. Confucius is my inspiration, as well as Socrates and Aristotle. Can I get some insight into how this book can help me? Thanks|||The Analects of China are sort of like the Republic by Plato. They describe a orderly society that is based on the family and social hierarchical order all the way up to the emperor. It is the model that justifies the current government of China and has been the ideal for most of China's history.





The defects of Confucius' ideas are that they are authoritarian and not democratic, a concept that is somewhat foreign to the Chinese.





Also Confucius's ideas are susceptible to corruption at all levels of government as Confucius saw no need for a balance of powers or ways of correcting corruption other than after the fact at lower government levels. By definition the highest level of government is never corrupt, which is, of course, a repugnant idea ot people who appreciate democracy.|||In the same way that Socrates set the `improvement of the soul' as the highest goal a human should aspire to and in the same way that Aristotle set out the `way to happiness' (Eudaimonia, in Greek, `to be possessed of a good spirit') in his Nichomachean Ethics, Confucius, in his `Analects', provides a reader with a guide to understanding one's place in the world and how to navigate the vagaries of existence to a calm, peaceful realization of how best to live.





The great contribution of Confucius is the blending of Chinese cultural belief with Objective Truth in his writings on the great Ancestor and Law. To Confucius, Law provides one with a careful guide to living the virtuous life. As with Aristotle, one becomes `excellent' by `doing excellence' and, as with Socrates, one improves the soul by concentrating on what the soul needs to attain excellence.





Whether one agrees with everything Confucius says is irrelevant - take those sections which work for you and leave those sections which do not. He's definitely worth reading carefully. All the best to you...........