First Analects

It is not known precisely when Surak’s First Analects were published, but he began to write down his thoughts in 312, the year his family and his friend Senet were killed, but he did not start to write for the Nets until five years later when he returned from the deep desert. It would have taken a few more years for his musings to gain any interest from the general population, so we might speculate that the First Analects made their appearance as a  monograph around 322, and certainly no sooner than 320. Publication schedules at that time normally required a year for material preparation, and given the disruption of constant war, schedules were often greatly delayed. Scholars today usually concur that the First Analects date to 320-324.