I woud like some clarification on the description given of Confucius as the “wooden tongue in the bell of the age”. I haven’t been able to find one.
I understand it as comparing Confucius to the tongue of a bell that strikes the metal, producing a reverberating clanging sound that we associate with a call to gather, meet. or listen up. So Confucius’ teachings are like the “bell of the age”,ringing out to get our attention/get us to heed his teachings. I look forward to your feedback.
davidmich
Do you have some context you can give us for this? It is not a standard English idiom. I should have thought that a wooden (as opposed to metal) tongue in a bell would have produced a rather poor sound, so perhaps it is meant to be a metaphor disparaging of Confucius in some way. Perhaps it is saying that Confucius sent the wrong message to his age, or perhaps had the right message, but failed to rally his intended audience to hear it as well as he might have.
But this is guesswork, and it is impossible to say with any certainty without more context. Who wrote this,and what is their overall message? It may be praising Confucius. Perhaps there are Chinese bells that are designed to have wooden tongues, and sound best with them, and perhaps the intended audience would know this.
It’s used in Simon Sebag Montefiore’s “Titans of History” .
But Confucius’ influence on the king and his strict moral principles alienated him from the rest of the court, who conspired to obstruct him. Realizing that his message was going unheeded, Confucius left the court and went into self-imposed exile. During the twelve years of his absence, Confucius toured the states of Wei, Song, Chen and Cai, teaching and developing his philosophy.His reputation as the “wooden tongue in the bell of the age” began to spread.
Confucius’ thinking was partly a reaction to the extreme lawlessness of his age, a time of unrest in which neighboring warlords were constantly in conflict with one another"
It seems to refer to Confucius’ twighlight years.
The author seems to borrow an asian idiom, and well this is apt as he is talking about Confucius’ reputation among the people… its an example of the the sort of thing they’d say.
Imagine a wooden tongue in a bell.
Is it going to last for ever ?.. Whats it going to do ?
“A guardian of a border post once characterized him as the “wooden tongue for a bell” of the age, sounding heaven’s prophetic note to awaken the people (Analects, 3:24). Indeed, Confucius was perceived as the heroic conscience who knew realistically that he might not succeed but, fired by a righteous passion, continuously did the best he could.”
Isilder, I think you’re right.
Why say "wooden tongue"rather than a metal tongue? Perhaps because it is ephemeral. It will eventually decay. So Confucius is the “wooden tongue in the bell of the age” because he is in his 60s (In the traditional method of counting life years, he died at the age of 73, but according to the modern method of counting the first year after birth, he died aged 72) and hasn’t much time left to spread his teachings.
The original quote is “‘wooden tongue for a bell’ of the age.” The way you keep writing it without the quotes sort of changes the meaning a bit.
You need to parse that it’s a “wooden tongue for a bell” by itself, and it is explained within the passage. It wakes people up. “Of the age” then expounds on the wooden part like you’ve decided - it’s not forever.
He is the thing that wakes people up. For now.
A metal tongue for a bell would not last for an age but for the life of the bell.