JINAN, March 12 (Xinhua) -- China will publish the Analects of Confucius -- a collection ofideas and sayings from the Chinese philosopher -- in five languages for Belt and Roadcountries this year.
China Confucius Foundation and Qingdao Publishing Group in east China's ShandongProvince, will jointly complete the translation and publication of the collection in the Arabic,Mongolian, Czech, Portuguese and Spanish languages.
The translations will be distributed to countries along the Belt and Road through thefoundation and global Confucius institutes, said Wang Daqian, president of the ChinaConfucius Foundation.
"The thoughts of Confucius constitute the root of Chinese traditional culture and haveprofoundly influenced Chinese society over the past 2,500 years," said Wang.
"Confucianism has contributed much to mankind's culture," he added.
Born near the present-day town of Qufu, Shandong, Confucius (551-479 BC) founded aschool of thought that influenced later generations and became known as Confucianism. Heis believed to be the first person to set up private schools in China and enroll students fromall walks of life.
The Analects is a collection of his famous sayings, reflecting his political views, moralprinciples and educational ideas. "How happy we are to have friends from afar" and "Donot do to others what you don't want to be done to you" are among the classic sayings.
The Analects has already been translated into English, Japanese, Russian, Korean, Frenchand German.
China proposed the Belt and Road Initiative in 2013, aiming to build a trade andinfrastructure network connecting Asia with Europe and Africa along ancient Silk Roadtrade routes.