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As education and literacy spread in China and scholars became
influential as ministers of rulers,
philosophers also began to
flourish.
In the late sixth century BC two of the greatest philosophers
of all time emerged
in China - Lao-zi, the founder of Daoism,
and Confucius, whose philosophy
and religion came to dominate
China for more than two millennia.
Confucius is the Latinized form of Kong Fu-zi, which means
Kong the master.
Confucius was born in the small state of Lu in
551 BC and died in 479 BC.
This was a time of turmoil, political
intrigue, and numerous
small wars in the last part of the Spring
and Autumn era.
Assassinations, bribery, adultery, and other crimes
were common
even though punishments were severe.
In Lu three families
contended for the hereditary rulership, while numerous
educated
aristocrats sought positions in the government, and many suffered
poverty.
Confucius was brought up as a gentleman, who took up music,
archery, and fishing,
although he said he fished without a net
and would not shoot at a bird at rest.
He was so absorbed in music
that once he did not know the taste of meat for three months.
He also learned to do practical jobs of humble people
such as
keeper of the stores and head of the pastures.
However, most of
the time Confucius was not able to find an official position
though
he was willing to do anything that did not involve wrong-doing.
Perhaps it was his ethical concerns that prevented him from being
useful to the rulers of his time.
Instead he occupied his time
in what he loved the most - the pursuit of learning.
By the age of fifteen Confucius had set his heart on learning;
by thirty he felt that he was firmly established; at forty he
was no longer confused;
by fifty he had a sense of mission in
following the will of heaven;
at sixty he was at ease with whatever
he heard; and when he was seventy,
he felt he could do whatever
he liked without violating moral principles.
No single teacher
had a great influence on Confucius, as he tried to learn from
everyone.
His model, however, was the ancient Duke of Zhou,
who
had helped to establish the Zhou dynasty.
The spiritual connection
he felt with the ancient duke is indicated by his regret
once
that it had been a long time since he had dreamed of the Duke
of Zhou.
Confucius studied thoroughly the classics of history,
poetry, propriety,
and especially the Book of Changes (Yi
Jing).
He believed that if he could spend fifty years studying Changes,
he might yet be free of great mistakes.
Confucius became an orphan at an early age.
He married and
had a son and a daughter,
and he also took care of his older brother,
who was crippled.
Confucius claimed little for himself except
that
he never neglected proper mourning nor was he ever overcome
by wine.
Confucius was perhaps the first professional teacher
of adults we know of in China.
He accepted any student bringing
any gift at all even if they were poor.
When he was fifty, Confucius
was finally given a position in the government,
though his advice
was not often valued.
He advised Ji Kang-zi, who became head of
the ruling families, to show piety toward
his parents and kindness
toward his children, promote the worthy, and train the incompetent.
Here we see the important emphasis on education and ability rather
than heredity.
Several of Confucius' students did attain important
positions in government,
as Confucius recommended Zilu for efficiency,
Zigong for understanding, and Ran Qiu for versatility.
In his late fifties Confucius used a ceremonial impropriety
to leave Lu
so that he could see if other states might put his
principles into practice.
In Wei he was not afraid to meet with
the notorious Nan-zi,
a woman involved in incest, adultery, and
political intrigue.
When the Duke of Wei asked his advice on military
strategy,
Confucius declared that he had knowledge of sacrificial
vessels but had not studied warfare.
The next day he left Wei
and went to Chen.
While he was traveling through Song, Huan Tui,
the Song Minister of War,
tried to have him assassinated; but
Confucius said, "Heaven produced the virtue that is in me.
What do I have to fear from such a one as Huan Tui?"1
This
did not prevent Confucius from accepting Huan Tui's brother Sima
Niu as a student,
although Sima Niu did renounce his dastardly
brother.
Confucius was also trapped at Kuang and thought his favorite
student, Yen Hui, was dead.
When they got to Chen, they were weak
and short of supplies.
The Duke of Chen was involved in war at
the time; but Confucius did speak with the
Minister of Crime about
propriety before going back to Lu, because he was concerned
that
his students were becoming headstrong and careless.
The only ruler
who seemed to agree with Confucius that
virtue was important was
the Duke of She in the small state of Cai.
He was invited there
once; but Zi-lu pointed out they were in rebellion then,
and so
Confucius decided not to go, though he felt like
a gourd that
was only fit to hang up but not to eat.
Confucius also rejected
an offer in a similar situation from the Bi castle
even though
he believed that he might be able to "make a Zhou in the
east."2
Confucius returned to Wei to advise the prime minister Kung
Yu, who was willing to listen to him.
Kung forced one of his nobles
to divorce his wives to marry his daughter; but when he kept a
concubine, and Kung asked Confucius how to attack him, Confucius
told him not to attack.
When Kung went ahead anyway, Confucius
prepared his chariot to leave.
Kung apologized, and Confucius
was ready to change his mind;
but then messengers arrived from
Lu inviting him to return to his home state.
Confucius spent his
last five years in Lu.
Once Ran Qiu was sent by Ji Kang-zi to
ask the master's opinion about raising taxes.
Confucius stood
with the people against this;
when Ran Qiu collected the increased
taxes,
Confucius declared that he was no disciple of his.
Although
Confucius did advise Duke Ai to support the common people,
advance
the upright, and punish a usurper, he was ignored and felt that
he never really had a chance to show what he could do.
In addition to teaching, Confucius is credited with editing
the Book of Odes
and the Spring and Autumn Annals,
revising the music and ceremonies,
and writing commentaries on
the Book of Changes.
The main source of his teachings describing
his conversations with his students
in the Analects (Lun Yu)
was apparently written by his students.
From these accounts we
can see not only what Confucius taught
but how he taught and what
his attitudes and manners were like.
He was said to be free of
having forgone conclusions, dogmatism, obstinacy, and egotism.
His manner was affable but firm, commanding but not harsh,
while
he was polite and completely at ease.
Zigong said Confucius could
get information in a foreign state
by being cordial, frank, courteous,
temperate, and deferential.
Zigong added that this was not the
way inquiries were usually made.
Confucius had a gentle sense
of humor and did not mind being corrected by his own students.
Confucius was particularly respectful of those in mourning
and made filial piety or respect for one's parents a cardinal
virtue.
He said,
In serving his father and mother a man may gently remonstrate with them.
But if he sees that he has failed to change their opinion,
he should resume an attitude of deference and not thwart them;
may feel discouraged, but not resentful.3
Confucius cared most about people and was perhaps the first
great humanist in history.
When the stables burned down, he asked
if any person had been hurt;
but he did not inquire about the horses.
He recognized the free will of every individual, believing that
the commander of three armies
could be removed, but the will of
even a common person could not be taken away.
He spoke of the
way (dao), as when he said,
"In the morning hear the
way; in the evening die content;"4 yet he believed that
it
was humans who made the way great, not the way that made humans
great.
Confucius believed that he could even live among the barbarians,
because virtue never dwells alone and will always bring good neighbors.
He believed that a gentleman should help the needy, not make the
rich richer still.
Confucius criticized Yuan Si for rejecting
his salary of nine hundred measures of grain
as governor, because
he could have given it to his neighbors.
Confucius never gave up and believed that he was serving by
being filial
even if he was not in the government.
He never expected
to meet a faultless person but hoped that he might meet someone
of fixed principles even though he saw many examples of nothing
pretending to be something.
He greatly disliked sham and deceit.
He felt he could not stoop to clever talk, a pretentious manner,
and a reverence that was only of the feet.
He could not bear to
see high offices filled with men of narrow views,
ceremonies performed
without reverence, and mourning forms observed without grief.
He hated seeing sharp mouths overturning states and clans.
Confucius believed that his mission was to spread the culture
that had been passed on to him
by King Wen, and trusting that
this was the will of heaven he did not even fear an assassin.
He must have believed in prayer, because he said that
whoever
turns away from heaven has no one to pray to.
He hoped that even
if he was not recognized in the world, he would be known in heaven.
When Confucius became ill, some of his students dressed up as
retainers;
but the master reprimanded them for this pretense,
because he knew he could not deceive heaven.
He preferred to die
in the arms of his disciples anyway.
Although he believed there
were others as honest as himself,
Confucius felt that no one loved
learning as much as he did.
Any situation could be a lesson.
When
walking with others he could emulate the good qualities he saw
in others
and correct the bad qualities in himself.
Confucius
did not believe himself to be a sage or even perfectly virtuous,
but he did claim unwearying effort to learn and unflagging patience
in teaching others.
Confucius believed that people were similar by nature but became
different by practice,
and thus there are some one can join in
study,
others one can join in progress along the way,
others again
beside whom one can take one's stand,
and finally some whom one
can join in counsel.
Confucius was willing to teach and learn with anyone who came
to him;
once he even accepted an uncapped youth, though he stated
that
he was not responsible for what the youth did when he left.
He once struck a man in the shins with his staff,
because he was
waiting for him in a sprawling position;
he said that youths who
show no respect for their elders achieve nothing,
and those who
merely get older are useless pests.
He observed that one youth
seemed to be more interested
in growing up quickly than in improving
himself.
He expected his students to desire learning and think
for themselves.
As long as the student was making effort, regardless
of his progress he would help him.
He even encouraged them to
compete with him in goodness.
However, he found that most of them
were looking for the rewards of a career.
He was glad when students
stayed with him rather than accepting the first position offered,
though he did emphasize that the model sayings were to be carried
out in practice.
The rational Confucius did not act without knowing
why;
he heard much and selected what is good to follow,
calling
it the second type of knowledge.
He once spent a whole day meditating
without food and all night without sleep,
but he found that it
was better for him to learn.
Confucius thought of himself as a transmitter of the ancient
culture, not a creator of new ideas.
He held nothing back from
his students and consulted with them as friends on every step.
Yet he realized it is useless to speak of higher things to those
who are below average.
Listening silently and learning and teaching
untiringly were natural to Confucius.
The thought that I have not properly cultivated virtue,
that what is learned has not been thoroughly discussed,
that knowing what is right I have not moved toward it,
that what is wrong I have not been able to change -
these are the things which bother me.5
Confucius observed and related to the individual characteristics
of his students,
but he did not know if any of them were truly
good.
When Zigong quoted back to the master his version of the
golden rule:
"What I do not want others to do to me, I do
not want to do to them"6
Confucius pointed out he had not
lived up to that yet, because he was often criticizing others.
Confucius said Zigong was fortunate to have time for that, but
he himself did not.
Confucius usually brought issues back around
to self-knowledge and self-improvement.
The ruler Ji Kang-zi complained
about all the thieves; but Confucius said that
if he were free
of desire, they would not steal even if he paid them.
Asked about
the treatment of parents, Confucius gave four different answers
to four men,
recommending obedience, behavior that does not make
the parents anxious,
sincere feeling of respect, and proper demeanor.
Questions and answers enabled Confucius to refine his teachings.
He differentiated the good and the wise.
The good love people,
are tranquil like water, and enjoy long life.
The wise know people,
are active delighting in mountains, and enjoy happiness.
When
asked if injury should be repaid with virtue, Confucius said that
injury should be repaid with justice so that virtue could be repaid
with virtue.
When asked about the true gentleman, Confucius said
that
he cultivates himself carefully so as to help other people.
In government one ought to lead by example and work hard for the
people.
Honesty and sincerity were essential for Confucius,
and he
insisted on the correct use of language.
Yet a lazy student helped
Confucius himself to learn that he must
not only listen to what
people say and but also watch to see what they do.
He suggested
caution in speech: "Do not be too ready to speak of it,
lest
the doing of it should prove to be beyond your powers."7
Yet Confucius often used metaphors to express his meaning and
liked to quote poetry as well.
When the bold and daring Zilu asked
him whom he would take with him to command an army,
Confucius
replied, "Not the man who is ready to 'attack a tiger bare-handed
or swim across a river' not caring whether he lived or died,
but
I should take someone who approaches difficulties with due caution,
who likes to plan precisely and carry it out."8
The brash Zilu could not believe the answer of Confucius
that
the first measure in administering a government is to correct
the language.
So Confucius explained that if what is said is not
in accordance with the truth of things,
affairs cannot be carried
out to success;
propriety and music will not flourish, and punishments
will go astray.
When punishments go astray, people do not know
how to move hand or foot.
The Analects concludes with the
statement by Confucius that
a gentleman must understand the will
of heaven, the rules of propriety,
and be able to understand words
in order to understand people.
Confucius liked to use the examples of men to illustrate his
lessons.
He often referred to the legendary emperors Yao, Shun,
and Yu
to show how one could rule virtuously.
He also admired
those who humbly refused the sovereignty
and renounced violence
despite their sufferings.
He cited the historical examples of
Duke Wen of Jin for rising to an emergency
but not following propriety
and Duke Huan of Qi
for following propriety but failing in an
emergency.
Confucius credited Guan Zhong for helping Duke Huan
to unite the states' rulers
without using war-chariots, but he
still did not necessarily consider him good.
Yet if it had not
been for Guan Zhong,
they might be folding their clothes in the
manner of the barbarians.
In history as in personal life, Confucius
tended to focus on the ethical questions.
In his own time he felt that one change could bring Qi to the
level of Lu,
and a single change would bring Lu to the way.
He
believed that the common people could be made to follow the way
even if they were not able to understand it.
He pointed out the
virtues of ministers but never found anyone who was truly steadfast.
Confucius believed that if the people were led by governmental
measures that kept order
by laws and punishments, they would try
to avoid them but would lose all self-respect.
Yet if they were
led by virtue with order kept by propriety,
they would keep their
self-respect and set themselves right.
Confucius observed that
if one's actions were motivated by profit,
one would have many
enemies.
Confucius did not like competition and pointed out that
even in an archery match
the contenders were gentlemen at the
drinking-bout afterward.
He believed that the ancients studied
for self-improvement,
but that now people learn in order to impress
people.
The goal of education for Confucius was not merely to get a
salary
nor was it to learn and remember as many things as possible.
He said there was a thread which runs through all his teachings.
The single saying he believed could be practiced all the time
was the saying
about consideration known as the golden rule
of
not doing to others what you do not want them to do to you.
Confucius
was said to have taught culture, conduct, loyalty, and truthfulness.
Through culture one may be stimulated by poetry,
established in
character by the rules of propriety, and perfected by music.
The
extensive study of literature helps one not to violate the way.
However, before culture came moral education.
Confucius said,
"Set your heart upon the way.
Support yourself by its virtue.
Rely on goodness.
Find recreation in the arts."9
After a
youth had learned to behave well toward parents and elders,
to
be cautious in giving promises and punctual in keeping them,
to
overflow in love to all, and to cultivate the friendship of the
good,
if one had energy to spare, then the cultural arts could
be studied.
A passage from the later text of the Li Ji has Confucius
explaining the values
of studying each of the classics as well
as the dangers of superficial exposure.
When one is kind and gentle and simple-hearted,
and yet not ignorant,
we may be sure one is deep in the study of poetry.
When one is broad-minded and acquainted with the past,
and yet not filled with incorrect legends or stories of events,
we may be sure one is deep in the study of history.
When one is generous and shows a good disposition
and yet not extravagant in one's personal habits,
we may be sure one is deep in the study of music.
When one is quiet and thoughtful
and shows a sharp power of observation,
and yet is not crooked,
we may be sure that one is deep in the study of philosophy.
When one is humble and polite and frugal in one's personal habits
and yet not full of elaborate ceremonies,
we may be sure one is deep in the study of propriety.
And when one is cultivated in speech,
ready with expressions and analogies
and yet is not influenced by the picture of the prevailing moral chaos,
we may be sure that one is deep
in the study of the Spring and Autumn Annals.10
Poetry not only stimulated the mind, but Confucius also said
it helped self-contemplation,
taught the art of sociability, and
showed how to regulate feelings of resentment;
from it one learned
the duties of serving parents and the ruler
as well as the names
of birds, beasts, and plants.
For Confucius propriety enabled the ancient kings to establish
harmony and beauty.
Without propriety courtesy becomes tiresome,
caution becomes timidity,
daring insubordination, and straightforwardness
rudeness.
It is better to be sparing than extravagant in ceremonies,
and funerals are to be observed with deep sorrow not fear.
A gentleman
properly blends substance and refinement,
for too much of the
first is rude and of the latter pedantic.
Yet Confucius believed
that anyone who followed
the rules of propriety completely would
be thought a sycophant.
Confucius always kept in mind the practical goals of education.
He asked if one could recite the three hundred Odes but
did not know
how to act in government or answer specific questions
on a mission,
of what use was extensive knowledge?
The first step
is for one to correct one's own conduct,
then one may assist in
governing others.
But if one cannot rectify oneself, how could
one ever rectify others?
Wisdom may bring one into power, but
goodness is needed to secure that power.
Without dignity one will
not be respected by the common people,
and the rules of propriety
must also be followed.
With sincere faith and the love of learning
one should not be afraid to die in pursuing the way.
Dangerous
and chaotic states should be avoided.
If the way does not prevail,
it is better to hide,
and the wealthy and honored ought to be
ashamed.
When the way does prevail, one may show oneself and be
bold in speech and action.
When Ji Kang-zi asked Confucius if he should kill those who
do not have the way,
the master said, "You are there to rule,
not to kill.
If you desire what is good, the people will be good."11
In loving their children and people parents and rulers must exact
some effort from them,
and in being loyal to parents and rulers
children and the people
should not refrain from admonishing the
object of their loyalty.
In addition to attending strictly to
business and punctually observing promises,
Confucius said an
administrator is economical in expenditure, loves the people,
and uses the peasants' labor only at the proper seasons of the
year.
Though religious, Confucius rarely discussed supernatural phenomena
or spirits.
"Until one has learned to serve humans, how can one
serve ghosts?" he asked.
Till one knows about the living, how can
one know about the dead?
Nevertheless when he did offer sacrifices
to his ancestors,
he felt their spirits were present.
Like Lao-zi,
Confucius believed in following the way.
How else could one get
out of the house except through the door
or find one's way into
the Inner Room?
Knowing the way leads to loving it, and loving
it to taking delight in it.
The Chinese word for virtue (de) implies power
and something
that can be built up within oneself.
Confucius said he never found
anyone whose desire for virtue
was as strong as the sexual desire
for beauty.
Virtue can be gained by doing the work first before
considering the reward
and by attacking the evil within oneself
rather than the evil in others.
One of the great threats Confucius
saw to virtue was the confusion of clever talk,
just as small
impatiences can ruin great projects.
For Confucius the good are
never unhappy,
the wise never confused, and the brave never afraid.
Courage, however, must not take priority over justice
or else
an aristocrat would become an insurgent and a common person a
thief.
The higher knowledge of wisdom is to know when one knows
something
and when one does not.
"Whoever learns but does
not think is lost;
but whoever thinks but does not learn is in
danger."12
Love of learning is essential to the virtues, and Confucius
explained
how love of the six virtues can degenerate without the
love of learning.
Love of goodness degenerates to simple-mindedness,
love of knowledge to lack of principle,
love of faithfulness to
injurious disregard of consequences, love of uprightness to harshness,
love of courage to insubordination, and love of strong character
to mere recklessness.
People's characters can be penetrated by
looking at their aims,
how they pursue them, and what brings them
content.
Yet the ultimate value of observing others is to learn
how to equal those of worth and to examine the faults of others
in ourselves.
Confucius said he never found a single person
who
could see one's own faults and bring the charge against oneself.
To have faults and not be trying to correct them is really to
have faults.
Confucius advised people not to be afraid of admitting
mistakes and amending their ways.
He recommended friendships with
the upright, sincere, and well-informed,
but he warned against
those who flatter, have weak principles, and talk cleverly.
Beneficial
pleasures are studying ceremonies and music,
discussing good points
in others' conduct, and in having many wise friends.
Detrimental
are profligate enjoyments, idle gadding about, and feasting.
Confucius taught the middle way between extremes in regard
to most virtues
and considered moderation transcendent and rare
in his time.
Lavishness may lead to presumption and frugality
to meanness,
though the latter is a less serious fault.
The Confucian
middle way was later elaborated on in the treatise called
the Doctrine of the Mean or The Center of Harmony (Zhong
Yong).
The greatest concept of virtue for Confucius was ren,
which has been translated here
as goodness but also means humanity
or human-heartedness.
A good person does not worry about not being
known by others but rather seeks to know them.
The good know how
to like and dislike people,
although the one whose heart is set
on goodness will dislike no one, according to Confucius.
Without
goodness one cannot endure adversity for long nor enjoy prosperity
for long.
The good are also courageous, but the brave are not
necessarily good,
just as the virtuous are eloquent, though the
eloquent may not be virtuous.
Confucius observed that faults fell
into patterns,
and that one looked for faults only in order to
recognize goodness.
Confucius said he did not know whether Ran
Yung was good,
but he saw no need for him to be a good talker.
Confucius felt that goodness meant courtesy in private life,
diligence
in public life, and loyalty in relationships.
The good establish
their own character and then help others to establish theirs.
To be able to see others by what is within ourselves Confucius
called the art of goodness,
and a ruler who could benefit the
people and bring salvation to all he called a divine sage.
The Chinese term zhun-zi originally meant the son of
a ruler and thus an aristocrat,
but in the time of Confucius and
perhaps due to his influence it came to imply
a moral quality
and has been translated a superior man or a gentleman.
Thus one
could attain higher social status through moral and educational
development.
For Confucius a good man was always a gentleman,
but not all gentlemen were good.
A gentleman considers loyalty
and faithfulness fundamental
and is not afraid of correcting his
mistakes.
We must acknowledge that as a male term this does indicate
sexism,
which seems to have been the case since there is no evidence
that
Confucius had any female students, though he did speak to
the notorious Nan-zi.
For Confucius the main concern for the gentleman was self-improvement.
He is distressed at his own lack of capacity,
never at the failure
of others to recognize his merits.
Confucius warned that the gentleman
should guard against lust
when one's physical powers are not settled,
strife when they are full of vigor, and avarice when they are
declining.
A gentleman's nine cares are to see clearly, hear distinctly,
be kind in looks,
respectful in manner, sincere in words, and
diligent in work.
When in doubt, he asks for information; when
angry, he considers the consequences;
and when he sees a chance
for gain, he considers whether the pursuit would be right.
A gentleman
is cautious with words and diligent in action lest his words outrun
his deeds.
The superior person does not promote someone merely
because of what one says
nor does one reject sayings because of
who said them.
Sometimes Confucius contrasted the superior person to the inferior.
The superior sets one's heart on virtue, the inferior on comfort.
The superior think of sanctions, the inferior of favors.
The superior
person looks at a question from all sides without bias;
the inferior
is biased and can see only one point of view.
The superior are
not for or against anything but follow what is right;
the inferior
understand only profit.
The gentleman calls attention to the good
points in others;
the small person points out their defects.
A
gentleman makes demands on himself; the small person makes them
on others.
The superior people can influence those above them,
but the inferior only those below them.
The gentleman is calm
and at ease; the inferior frets and is ill at ease.
The gentleman
is dignified but not proud; the inferior are proud but not dignified.
For Confucius the gentleman thinks of the way and its progress,
not how he is going to make a living.
He warns against dehumanization,
saying that a gentleman is not an implement.
A gentleman considers
justice essential, practices propriety, is modest and faithful.
A gentleman acts before he speaks and then speaks according to
his action.
Confucius warned against hypocrisy when he said that
one with
clever words and a pretentious manner is seldom good.
He did not
consider himself truly good, wise, or courageous.
He said he was
not concerned that he had no office,
only that he make himself
qualified for one.
Confucius believed that a gentleman can withstand
want;
only a small person is swept away by it.
Rather than give
up his principles Confucius could be satisfied with coarse rice
to eat,
water to drink, and a bent arm for a pillow.
He considered
wealth and honor obtained through injustice to be
as remote from
him as clouds in the sky.
Confucius claimed that he could try
a civil suit as well as anyone,
but that it was better to bring
it about so that there are no civil suits.
Not given the opportunity
to put his teachings into practice on a large scale,
Confucius
learned and taught others instead.
As one of the most influential
ethical teachers in history,
the results of those teachings have
been immeasurable.
Once a border guard at I asked to see Confucius,
because he
was always allowed to see any true gentleman who was passing by.
After talking with Confucius he told the disciples not to be disheartened
at their
master's lack of office, because the way has not prevailed
in the world for a long time.
Yet he prophesied that heaven was
going to use their master as a bell with a wooden tongue.
Confucius praised Yen Hui (521-481 BC) more than any of his
students
for his cheerfulness in poverty and his mind's attention
to goodness.
Yen Hui never said much, but the master knew
he was
not stupid from the quality of his conduct.
Unfortunately Yen
Hui died at a young age,
and Confucius felt that no others were
really fond of learning.
Ji Kang-zi became head of the administration of Lu in 492 BC
and asked Confucius
if Zilu, Zigong, and Ran Qiu were fit for
office.
The master recommended each of them.
Zilu (542-480 BC)
appointed a student Confucius considered slow as steward,
and
the master said that it would ruin him.
Zilu replied that one
does not have to study books to be learned,
to which Confucius
responded that such talk made him detest glib talkers.
Confucius
predicted that the bold and daring Zilu would not die in bed,
and in fact he bravely refused to flee Wei in loyalty to the Kung
family
and was killed trying to save the prince who had hired
him.
Confucius said that Ran Qiu (b. 522 BC) could be charged with
the duty of
managing the military levies of a town with a thousand
households
or for a family of a hundred chariots, but he could
not say whether he was good.
Confucius advised Ran Qiu to act
immediately,
because he had a tendency to hold himself back.
Yet
he cautioned Zilu against immediate action, because he tended
to be rash.
When Ran Qiu collected higher taxes for the wealthy
Qi family,
Confucius had him drummed out of his circle of students.
Ran Qiu continued to serve the Qi family successfully for many
years.
Zigong (b. 520 BC) was eloquent,
and Confucius described him
as a sacrificial vessel of jade.
In 487 BC a rebellion in Qi led
to some families attacking Lu.
Confucius refused permission to
Zilu and two others to go out to Qi
but granted the request of
Zigong.
Zigong persuaded Tian Chang that because of the probable
rebellion
it would be better for him to attack the stronger state
of Wu than the weaker Lu.
Zigong then went to the King of Wu and
convinced him to attack Qi without fearing Yue,
because he went
there to get Yue to join Wu in the attack on Qi.
Zigong then went
to Jin to warn them to be prepared
for an attack from Wu if they
defeated Qi.
This all came to pass; but then Yue launched a surprise
attack on Wu,
killed their king and prime minister, and by 470
BC he had become protector.
Although in a few years all of these
states and Lu were undone,
Zigong had preserved Lu for a while.
Zigong was one of the first to go from state to state persuading
rulers which policy to follow,
a practice that became common in
the ensuing Warring States Period.
Zigong also became wealthy
buying and selling in accordance with market changes
and was once
prime minister in Lu and Wei before he died in Qi.
Zigong is an
example of a common man who rose to fame and wealth
through education
and his own abilities.
According to Mencius, after Confucius died,
Zigong went back to the religious sanctuary
near his master's
grave, built a house and mourned for an additional three years
after the traditional three-year mourning period,
showing himself
to be perhaps the most devoted disciple.
Zeng Shen (505-436 BC) was described as dull-witted by Confucius;
Mencius wrote that when his house was going to be attacked,
he
ordered his steward not to let anyone stay in the house,
because
he did not want the plants and trees harmed.
Zeng was obviously
not the humanist that Confucius was,
and he seems to have emphasized
filial piety even more than the master;
the Classic of Filial
Piety is often attributed to him.
Zeng refused to join other disciples
in rendering the same respect to Yu Ro
that they had given to
Confucius even though he and Yu Ro were the only others
besides
Confucius to be referred to as masters in the Analects.
Confucius considered Ziyu (506-443 BC) well versed in culture
and learning,
though once when he heard Ziyu singing and playing
a string instrument,
he said in jest that it was not necessary
to use an ox-cleaver to kill a chicken.
Ziyu replied that a gentleman
learns from the way to be kind,
while an inferior person becomes
easier to command.
When Ziyu was warden of the castle of Wu, Confucius
asked him
if he had got hold of the right people there.
Later
Ziyu criticized the school of Zi Xia (507-425 BC) for practicing
unimportant things
like sprinkling and sweeping the ground, answering
summons,
replying to questions, and coming forward and retiring.
Zi Xia defended his method of education by saying that the
way of a gentleman
must not be transmitted before the student
is ready.
Confucius once found that he could discuss the odes
with Zi Xia, but in evaluating him
he said Zi Xia had not reached
worthiness yet.
Confucius told Zi Xia to practice the ru
of the gentleman, not that of the common people.
The original
meaning of this term ru is unclear.
Waley suggested that
it may have meant unwarlikeness
in contrast to the cowardice of
the inferior.
Eventually this was the term that was used to refer
to the followers of the Confucian philosophy.
In the first chapter
of the Analects Zi Xia is quoted as saying that
one who
treats betters as betters, serves father and mother with all his
strength
and his prince with his life, and with his friends is
true to his word may be called educated.
Zizhang (503-447 BC) was from a humble family in Lu,
studied
with Confucius and traveled with him in spite of the difficulties.
He wrote one of the master's maxims down on his sash so as to
always have it with him.
The writing down of Confucius' teachings
in the Analects is what enabled
his philosophy to be passed
on, but the authorship of that work is unknown.
The historian
Sima Qian listed the names of seventy-seven disciples of Confucius
that he did not consider dubious.
Though there is no indication
that Confucius ever spoke to great crowds,
it is clear that his
teachings took hold among some devoted disciples.
A document from
the third century BC lists the names of six men
who improved their
lives through education:
two had studied with Confucius, one with
Zi Xia, and two with Mo-zi.
Confucian tradition credits Zisi,
the grandson of Confucius,
with writing the Da Xue (Higher
Education) and the Zhong Yong (Center of Harmony),
but there is no evidence these texts appeared for at least two
centuries.
The only other person in China to have his name commonly Latinized
besides Confucius
is Meng-zi (Mencius), who is thought to have
lived from 371 to 289 BC.
His father died when he was three, and
his mother was said to have moved from
the vicinity of a cemetery
and a market to a school, because her son imitated their activities.
Another story tells how Mencius had walked in on his wife in a
private room
as she was sitting in an improper way; when Mencius
complained,
his mother persuaded him not to leave his wife,
because
he had not announced his coming or kept his eyes down when entering.
In his one-page biography of Meng Ke (Mencius), Sima Qian wrote
that
he was from the state of Zuou, studied under a disciple of
Zisi (grandson of Confucius),
and having mastered the way went
to Qi to serve King Xuan.
Mencius also went to Liang, where King
Hui found the views of Mencius
impractical and remote from reality
before he fully listened to them.
This was when Qin had enhanced
its wealth and military strength
by putting Lord Shang in power.
Chu and Wei had also won wars by putting Wu Qi in charge of their
governments.
King Wei and King Xuan made Qi dominant by employing
Sun-zi, Tian Ji and others.
This was the middle of the Warring
States period when military alliances
were
continually being formed
and changed in relation to the powerful western state of Qin.
Mencius preached the traditional virtues of the three dynasties
but never received a sympathetic hearing.
According to the historian
he then retired and with the help of
his disciple Wan Zhang and
others wrote the Mencius in seven books
and commented on
the classical books of Odes and Documents
while
developing the ideas of Confucius.
The first book of Mencius begins by describing his visit
to King Hui of Liang in Wei;
he ruled from 370 to 319 BC.
The
aged king assumed that Mencius came a long way
because he believed
he could profit his state.
Mencius replied that concern for profit
is what imperils a state;
all that matters is what is good and
right.
King Hui said he had worked hard in governing
and asked
why his population had not increased.
Mencius told him that he
was too fond of war.
If he did not interfere with the busy seasons
in the fields,
then the people would have more grain to eat.
If
he did not allow nets with too fine a mesh to be used in the large
ponds,
there would be more fish to eat.
If the cutting down of
trees with axes was limited, there would be enough timber.
By
caring for education in village schools and teaching proper human
relationships,
humans would respect each other and their king.
But failing to garner surplus food or distribute it when people
are starving,
saying it is the fault of the harvest,
is like killing
a man and blaming it on the weapon.
Good government reduces punishment
and taxation,
gets the people to plow deeply and weed promptly,
and helps the able to learn.
The king of Liang asked Mencius how the empire could be settled,
and he replied that one who is not fond of killing could unite
it;
but among the shepherds of people at that time there was not
one doing so.
Mencius said that King Hui could become a true king
by bringing peace to the people;
but he was failing because, he
did not practice kindness.
It was not that he lacked the ability,
but he had refused to act in the proper way.
Mencius knew that
the king wanted to extend his territory, rule over the central
kingdoms,
and bring peace to the barbarians on the borders;
but
his way of going about it was like looking for a fish by climbing
a tree.
Not only was it unlikely he would find it; but in his
case it was worse,
because his way caused disaster as well.
If
he practiced good government, the office seekers would want to
be in his court,
the farmer to till his land, the merchants to
use his marketplace,
the travelers to go by his roads, and all
those who hate their rulers
would come to him with their complaints.
Mencius said that only a gentleman can keep a constant heart;
the people tend to lose constancy and go astray, falling into
excesses.
To punish them then is like setting a trap for them.
A bright ruler makes sure they have what they need
before he drives
them toward the good;
thus it is easy for them to follow him.
To accomplish this he must go back to the fundamentals
of nurturing
the people's needs and providing education.
When King Hui died, his successor seemed to Mencius to lack
dignity;
so he went to advise Xuan, who had become King of Qi
in 320 BC.
Mencius suggested that King Xuan share his enjoyments
with his people;
for when a king's park is open to the people,
they consider it small;
but when they are prohibited from entering
it, they naturally think it is too large.
King Xuan asked how
to promote good relations with other states.
Mencius said that
by submitting to a state smaller than his
one delights in heaven
and enjoys possession of the empire,
and in submitting to a larger
state one is in awe of heaven
and enjoys the possession of one's
own state.
Mencius told how Duke Jing followed wise advice and
opened his granaries for the poor;
another ruler cared for the
aged and orphans.
Although King Xuan said these things were well spoken,
he could
not put them into practice, because he loved money and women.
When Mencius asked the king what should be done
if someone entrusted
his wife and family to the care of a friend,
and they were allowed
to suffer cold and hunger,
the king said he should break with
his friend;
if the marshal of the guards could not control his
guards, he should be replaced.
Yet when Mencius asked what should
be done if the whole realm is ill-governed,
the king turned to
his attendants and changed the subject.
Mencius advised that when
the attendants all give the same recommendation
and the counselors
and everyone else does also,
it still should be investigated to
see if what they say is true.
In this way good and wise men may
be appointed,
and unsuitable officers may be removed.
King Xuan asked if regicide was permitted, since Shang founder
Tang banished Jieh,
and King Wu marched against the last Shang
king;
but Mencius responded that these rulers so mutilated humanity
that they should be called outcasts not kings.
In 315 BC the king
of Yen abdicated and appointed his prime minister,
causing a revolt
in Yen.
Mencius was asked if it was all right to march on Yen.
He said yes, because the king had no right to give Yen to another;
but he explained that he was not encouraging Qi to invade Yen,
because only a heaven-appointed officer had the right to do so.
After Qi invaded Yen, King Xuan asked Mencius if he should annex
Yen.
Mencius said that if annexing it would please its people,
then it could be done;
but if annexing it antagonized its people,
then he should not.
Qi annexed Yen, and most of the feudal lords
planned to aid Yen.
King Xuan asked Mencius how he should meet
the threat.
Mencius referred to the example of Tang, founder of
the Shang dynasty,
and then gave the following advice:
Now when you went to punish Yen
which practiced tyranny over its people,
the people thought
you were going to rescue them from water and fire,
and they came to meet the army,
bringing baskets of rice and bottles of drink.
How can it be right for you to kill the old and bind the young,
destroy the ancestral temples and appropriate the valuable vessels?
Even before this, the whole Empire was afraid of the power of Qi.
Now you double your territory without practicing good government.
This is to provoke the armies of the whole Empire.
If you hasten to order the release of the captives, old and young,
leave the valuable vessels where they are,
and take your army out
after setting up a ruler in consultation with the men of Yen,
it is still not too late to halt the armies of the Empire.13
Mencius later explained that he never intended to stay long
in Qi;
but he was unable to leave because the war broke out.
Duke
Mu of Zuou asked Mencius what he should do
after thirty-three
of his officers died without the people helping them.
Mencius
recalled that in the years of bad harvest nearly a thousand of
his people
had suffered in spite of full granaries, because his
officials had not informed him
of what was happening. Zeng-zi's
warning that
what you mete out will be paid back to you came to
pass.
Mencius said the Duke should not hold a grudge against the
people,
because if he practices good government,
they will love
their superiors and even die for them.
Mencius advised Duke Wen of the small state of Teng
to do good
and hope that heaven will grant success.
In starting an enterprise
a gentleman can only leave behind a tradition that can be carried
on.
He cited the case of a leader of Pin, who told his people
that the Di tribes wanted their land,
and so rather than bring
harm to them he was leaving.
The people of Bin realized that he
was a good man and flocked after him as if to market.
Others decided
to stay and defend their land.
These were the two choices.
Mencius declared that the appearance of a true king was never
more overdue
than in his time when the people suffered under such
tyrannical governments.
He did not just admire the ancients;
he
believed that twice as much could be done in his time with half
the effort.
For Mencius ethical good was at the center of the
vital force in the human body called qi.
The will directs
this energy and when it nourishes it with integrity,
the qi
unites what is right and the way.
He recommended a middle path
between too much meddling and negligence.
He told of a man who
urged his rice plants to grow by pulling them out too soon.
The
other extreme is not even bothering to weed.
Mencius could read
character from one's words.
He could see the blind in their biased
words, the ensnared in their immoderate words,
those who have
strayed in their heretical words,
and those at their wits' end
in their evasive words.
Along with the legendary sages, Bo Yi and Yi Yin, he admired
Confucius most of all.
They were capable of winning the homage
of the feudal lords,
but if they had to kill one innocent person
in order to gain the empire,
none of them would have consented
to do so.
People only submit to force unwillingly, because they
are not strong enough to resist;
but when they submit to the transforming
influence of ethics,
they do so sincerely with admiration in their
hearts.
Goodness brings honor, but cruelty disgrace.
When the
good and wise rule, the able are employed;
in times of peace the
laws can be explained to the people,
but the ruler indulging in
pleasures and indolence courts disaster.
If the good and wise
are honored and the able are employed,
gentlemen will come to
the court.
If goods are exempted from taxation in the marketplace
and premises are exempted from land taxes, traders will come.
If there is no fee at border stations, travelers will come.
If
tillers pay no land tax but help in the public fields, farmers
will come.
Mencius believed that no one is devoid of a heart sensitive
to the suffering of others
and used the example of a baby about
to fall into a well.
Anyone will naturally be moved by compassion
to prevent the tragedy,
not to get into the good graces of the
parents nor to win praise
nor because one dislikes to hear a child
cry.
Whoever is devoid of a heart of compassion and shame and
right or wrong is not human.
From this heart comes goodness, duty,
courtesy, propriety, and wisdom.
Anyone lacking these is a slave.
Practicing the good is like archery:
when one fails to hit the
mark, one must correct oneself.
If others do not respond to your
love, look into your own humanity.
If others fail to respond to
your governing, consider your own wisdom.
If others do not return
your courtesy, look into your own respect.
In other words, whenever
you fail to achieve your purpose, look into yourself.
The best person, like the great Shun, is not afraid to learn
from others,
and after doing good oneself goes on to help others
do good.
Mencius believed that the good and talented ought to
help those who are less so.
Only one who will not do some things
is capable of doing great things.
He warned people to think of
the consequences
before pointing out the shortcomings of others.
Doing what is right was paramount for Mencius, as he believed
that
a great person might not always keep one's word or see actions
through to the end, if these were not right.
A superior person
finds the way in oneself, is at ease with it,
and draws deeply
from it, finding its source wherever one turns.
Those who follow
the way have many supporters; those who do not have few.
At court
rank is exalted, and in the village age is respected;
but for
assisting the world and governing people virtue is best.
Mencius
accused the governor of Ping Lu of refusing to report to duty
several times,
because he allowed his people to starve during
a famine.
Mencius recommended that if farmers help each other to keep
watch,
and nurse each other in illness, they will live in love
and harmony.
The way cannot be bent to please others.
No one has
ever straightened others by bending oneself.
Mencius mentioned
that the current teachings in the empire
were those of Yang Zhu
and Mo-zi.
Yang Zhu taught everyone for oneself,
and Mo-zi advocated
love without making any preference for family.
Mencius felt this
was no better than beasts.
Mencius believed that love of one's
parents was the first step,
which could lead to peace in the empire.
Pleasing one's parents begins by being true to oneself,
which
depends on understanding goodness.
By pleasing one's parents one
can win the trust of friends,
the confidence of superiors, and
thus govern the people.
Mencius referred to Confucius criticizing Ran Qiu for agreeing
to raise taxes.
How much more would he reject those who wage war
on behalf of rulers
to gain land and fill the plains with the
dead!
Mencius called this showing the land how to devour human
flesh.
For Mencius a great person retains the heart of a child.
He felt that even goodness could not be used to dominate people.
One can only succeed by using goodness for the welfare of the
people,
and one can never gain the empire without their heart-felt
admiration.
The good retain their hearts and love others, and
the courteous respect others.
Sages may live in retirement or
in the world,
but they always keep their integrity intact.
The
heart of compassion is good; the heart of shame is dutiful;
the
heart of respect appropriate; and the heart of right and wrong
wise.
Mencius said, "Seek and you will find it; let go and
you will lose it."14
People become different because of what
ensnares their hearts.
The sage is merely the one who discovers
what is right and reasonable in the heart.
Mencius observed that once the trees had been luxuriant on
Ox Mountain;
but being near a city, they were constantly lopped
by axes.
With rain and dew new shoots came out;
but then cattle
and sheep grazed upon the mountain, leaving it bald.
Is this the
nature of the mountain?
Similarly humans lose their true hearts,
just as the trees were lopped off day by day.
Humans rest at night,
but each day dissipates what has been gained.
When what was original
is no longer preserved, they become like animals.
Anything will
grow with the right nourishment, but without it anything will
wither away.
Goodness is the heart, and conscientiousness is the
correct road.
When the heart strays, people often fail to go after
it;
yet when chickens stray, they will retrieve them.
For Mencius
the sole concern of learning is to go after this strayed heart.
People love all the parts of their person.
However, the small
person harms the more important in seeking what is less valuable,
while the great person nurtures the parts of greater importance.
The heart can think and tell the difference.
This is what heaven
has given humans.
But if one does not think, one will not find
the answer.
Mencius compared goodness to water, which can overcome the
cruelty of fire.
Some try to put out a cartload of burning wood
with a cup of water
and then say water cannot overcome fire.
To
do this is to place one on the side of the most cruel; in the
end they perish.
The way is like a broad road that is not difficult
to find.
The problem is that people simply do not look for it.
Those who do look for it will find enough teachers.
Once Mencius
met a man, who was going to Chu to persuade them that war was
unprofitable.
Mencius commended his purpose but suggested that
by putting profit first ethics may be excluded, and the result
will be chaos.
By placing the ethics of what is best for all before
them
all human relationships can be made mutually beneficial.
Mencius explained how morality had degenerated from the three
ancient emperors
to the five protectors of the feudal lords to
the current feudal lords and their counselors,
each of which offended
against those who came before.
The emperor used to inspect the
domain, and the feudal lords reported on their duties.
Those who
needed it were given aid.
In the feudal system lords were rewarded
with land.
If the land was neglected, the good and wise overlooked,
and grasping men put in power, then the lord was reprimanded.
Thus the emperor punished but did not attack,
while the feudal
lords attack but do not punish.
The protectors then intimidated
the feudal lords to attack other feudal lords.
The most illustrious of the protectors, Duke Huan of Qi,
got
the feudal lords to agree to a pledge which included
first, not
punishing dutiful sons nor putting aside heirs nor elevating concubines;
second, honoring the good and wise and training the capable;
third,
respecting the aged and being kind to the young, guests, and travelers;
fourth, not making offices hereditary, nor letting one man hold
more than one office
nor allowing a feudal lord to execute a counselor
solely on his own authority;
and fifth, not allowing diversion
of dikes nor prohibiting the sale of rice.
Today, complained Mencius,
the feudal lords violate all of these five injunctions.
Yet Mencius
concluded that the crime of encouraging a ruler to evil deeds
is small compared to the pandering to his unspoken evil desires.
Thus the counselors of the time offend against the feudal lords.
Mencius held that a good person would not even take from one
person to give to another,
let alone seek territory at the cost
of human lives.
To enrich a ruler, who is neither attracted to
the way nor good to the people,
is like enriching a tyrant.
When
about to place a great responsibility on a person,
heaven may
test one with hardship and frustrated efforts
in order to toughen
one's nature and shore up deficiencies.
People usually only mend
their ways after making mistakes.
Those whose minds are frustrated
learn how to innovate.
Mencius believed that those who understand their own nature
will know heaven;
by retaining the heart and nurturing their nature
they serve heaven.
He found no greater joy than finding upon self-examination
that he is being true to himself.
He taught the golden rule of
trying your best to treat others
as you would wish to be treated
yourself as the shortest path to goodness.
The best person does
not abandon what is right in adversity
nor depart from the way
in success.
In obscurity one can perfect one's own person;
in
prominence one can perfect the whole empire as well.
For Mencius
good government was not as important as good education,
because
the people fear good government; but they love good education.
Good government wins their wealth, but good education wins their
hearts.
Mencius believed it contrary to goodness to kill even
one person
and contrary to justice to take what one is not entitled
to.
The wise person knows everything but considers urgent only
what demands attention.
The good person loves everyone but devotes
oneself
in close association with the good and wise.
Mencius pointed out how Duke Hui of Liang extended his ruthlessness
from those he did not love to those he did
by sending to war even
the young men he loved,
whereas a good person extends one's love
to those one does not love.
Mencius could find no just wars in
the Spring and Autumn Era
but only peers trying to punish one
another by war.
He considered those who thought of themselves
as military experts as grave criminals.
The trouble with people,
he thought, was that they leave their own fields
to weed others'
fields, being exacting toward others but indulgent toward themselves.
Like the sages of India, he recommended nurturing the heart
by
reducing the number of one's desires.
Xun-zi (Hsun-tzu) was born about 310 BC in the state of Zhao,
but at the age of fifteen he went to study in a center of learning
in Qi.
There Xun-zi probably wrote his books criticizing the ideas
of Shen Buhai,
Shen Dao, Zhuang-zi, Mo-zi, and the "Rectifying
Theses" aimed at the logicians.
After Qi attacked and absorbed
the state of Song in 286 BC,
Xun-zi tried to persuade King Min
and the Lord of Mengchang
that their policies were excessive and
would lead to doom if they persisted in them.
The Lord of Mengchang
turned against King Min, and Qi was invaded by the armies of Yen,
Qin, Wei, and Zhao in 284 BC.
The scholars of the academy in Qi
had to flee.
Xun-zi went to the southern state of Chu,
which was suffering
under the domination of the powerful Qin state.
As Qin took over
portions of Chu, Xun-zi learned that
power must be tempered with
justice, and his writings there emphasized education.
After about
eight years in Chu, Xun-zi returned to the academy in Qi,
where
he became the most honored scholar.
Xun-zi's writing in this period
seems to have been influenced by Daoism,
though he criticized
some of Lao-zi's ideas.
About 265 BC Xun-zi was slandered and
began to travel to other courts such
as Qin and Zhao to give advice
as a scholar, though he was never allowed to govern.
Xun-zi left
Qin when he was about fifty.
About a year after Qin's devastating defeat of Xun-zi's native
Zhao in 260 BC
in which 400,000 soldiers were buried alive, Xun-zi
had a discussion
with the Lord of Linwu in the presence of King
Xiaocheng of Zhao.
Xun-zi argued that what was most important
is winning the support
of the people so that they can be unified.
He claimed that military deception is of no use against a good
person
and a state that is not torn apart.
He observed that Qin
used a system of rewards and punishments to build up
their strength
and expand their territory with repeated victories in the last
four generations.
Xun-zi believed that people are deceived by
using such military means and profit motivations,
while the way
to unite them is by principles of propriety and moral education.
When deception meets deception, the battle may go either way;
but when deception meets unity, unity is sure to win.
Xun-zi recommended practical arts for regulating military commands
through authority,
consistent and appropriate rewards and punishments,
alert troop movements, complete reports
on the enemy, and proceeding
in battle only on the basis of thorough understanding.
The five
expedients are not worrying about one's rank, not pressing too
hard for victory,
not being too stern with the men nor despising
the enemy,
not thinking only of gain but of loss as well, and
using supplies liberally.
The general may refuse to obey the command
of his ruler if he is told to take up
an untenable position, attack
without hope of victory, or deceive the common people.
The king's
army should not kill old men and boys nor destroy crops nor seize
those who retire without a fight, but it does not forgive those
who resist.
It does not punish the common people but those who
lead them astray.
A true king according to Xun-zi does not make war but carries
out punitive expeditions.
He does not lay siege to a guarded city
nor attack soldiers who resist strongly.
He does not massacre
a city nor move his army in secret,
and he does not keep his soldiers
in the field for more than one season.
When the king asked him
why a good man would take up arms at all if it is only
to contend
for spoil, Xun-zi replied that
a good person loves others and
hates to see men do them harm.
He only takes up arms to put an
end to violence
and do away with harm, not to contend for spoil.
Li Si, who studied with Xun-zi and later became prime minister
for Qin and helped
to establish its empire, said to Xun-zi that
Qin won victories
not by goodness and justice but by taking advantage
of opportunities.
Xun-zi responded that Qin lives in terror and
apprehension
lest the rest of the world unite to defeat them.
This superficial model is the way to bring disorder to the world
in a degenerate age.
Xun-zi summarized his policies this way:
Lead the people by magnifying the sound of virtue,
guide them by making clear ritual principles,
love them with the utmost loyalty and good faith,
give them a place in the government
by honoring the worthy and employing the able,
and elevate them in rank by bestowing titles and rewards.
Demand labor of them only at the proper season,
lighten their burdens, unify them in harmony,
nourish them and care for them as you would little children.
Then, when the commands of government have been fixed
and the customs of the people unified,
if there should be those who depart from the customary ways
and refuse to obey their superiors,
the common people will as one man turn upon them with hatred,
and regard them with loathing,
like an evil force that must be exorcised.
Then and only then should you think of applying penalties.15
Xun-zi explained how a neighboring state may be annexed by
virtue, by force, or by wealth.
In using virtue the customs of
the people are respected
so that the people follow willingly,
and power is increased.
But using force wastes strength on military
means and weakens the state,
while using wealth depletes the material
resources of the state.
He pointed out that Qi annexed Song but
could not hold on to it, as Wei took it over;
Yen managed to annex
Qi but lost it to Tian Dan, the Qi general;
part of Han joined
Zhao, but Qin took it away.
Xun-zi arrived at the court of Zhao just after the Lord of
Pingyuan's state
had been rescued by the Lord of Xinling and his
army from Wei and also an army
from Chu in a defeat of Qin that
delayed for thirty years their imperialist conquest.
The prime
minister of Chu, the Lord of Chunshen, appointed Xun-zi magistrate
of Lanling
but was persuaded to remove the philosopher from office
because of the fear
that his good government would lead to a mandate
from heaven
for him to rule larger areas, threatening the Lord
of Chunshen's own power.
However, another rhetorician convinced
this prime minister that he should
ask Xun-zi to return to his
post, because he is one of the worthiest men in the world.
In
reply Xun-zi sent a letter saying that a leper pities a king,
because a ruler who has robbed and murdered suffers mental anguish,
while a leper suffers only physically.
Xun-zi composed a poem
complaining of one who considers the blind clear-sighted,
the
deaf keen of hearing, and who considers danger security, asking
finally
"Why did I ever have anything in common with him?"16
Nevertheless Chunshen invited him to return once more,
and Xun-zi
took up his post in Lanling until Chunshen was assassinated in
238 BC.
His two most famous students, Li Si and Han Fei-zi, had left
him by then;
Li Si sought an office in Qin in 247 BC, and Han
Fei-zi soon after
went to present his views to the king in Qin,
where he died in 233 BC.
Li Si persuaded the king of Qin not to
banish all foreigners,
and after Qin conquered all of China in
221 BC
he was a high minister two years later and chancellor by
213 BC.
Li Si offered his old teacher a nominal position, but
Xun-zi was now in his nineties;
foreseeing that he would fall
into unfathomable disasters,
Xun-zi declined the position and
died in his late nineties.
Xun-zi's book is organized into discourses on various topics
with some poetry.
He began by encouraging learning, which the
gentleman says should never cease.
By studying widely and examining
oneself wisdom becomes clear,
and conduct can be without fault.
For Xun-zi there is nothing more spiritual than transforming oneself
with the way.
The gentleman is not different by birth but knows
how to make use of things as a traveler uses carriages and horses
or a boat to cross rivers.
Everything has a cause, and human glory
or shame is nothing but reflection of one's virtue.
When one is
careless and lazy and forgets oneself, disaster occurs.
Evil and
corruption invite the anger of others.
Virtue can be created by
piling up good deeds,
and then spiritual understanding will come
of itself. Achievement results from never giving up.
Xun-zi's learning program begins with the classics of history,
poetry,
and the annals and ends with the books of propriety.
The
learning of the best is manifest in action,
but what the small
people hear comes right out the mouth.
It is best to associate
with the learned and love them.
Xun-zi warned against speaking
to the gross or arguing with the contentious,
but the way may
be discussed with a respectful person
and its principles with
a reasonable person.
The best person trains oneself to see, hear,
and think only what is right even more than the objects of the
senses.
The best are not subverted by power or the love of profit
nor swayed by the masses or the world.
Through constancy in virtue
one can order oneself and then respond to others.
Xun-zi emphasized self-improvement.
Whoever censures you is
your teacher; whoever approves you is your friend;
but whoever
flatters you is your enemy.
Clinging to profit and turning aside
from what is right Xun-zi called depravity.
If your will is well
disciplined, you may hold up your head before wealth and eminence.
A person of breeding loves the law and puts it into effect.
A
gentleman has a firm will and embodies it in conduct.
A sage has
keen insight that never fails.
If you treat old people well and
do not press the already hard pressed
and do good in secret and
seek no reward for kindness,
both sages and unworthy people will
be with you,
and would heaven leave such a person to perish?
Though
poor and hard pressed, the gentleman is benevolent;
though rich
and eminent, he is respectful; though at ease, he is not indolent;
though weary, he still values good form;
he does not take away
too much in anger nor give too much in joy.
Xun-zi contrasted the gentleman and the petty person.
When
the gentleman is courageous, he reveres heaven and follows its
way.
When faint-hearted, he follows moral duty.
When knowledgeable,
he understands the interconnections of phenomena.
When ignorant,
he is honest, diligent and follows a model.
When followed, he
restrains himself with respect.
When not followed, he regulates
himself.
When he is happy, he harmonizes with others.
When sad,
he maintains inner peace.
When successful, he maintains good form.
When encountering hardship, he is frugal and careful.
When courageous,
the petty person is indolent and haughty;
when faint-hearted,
lecherous and subversive;
when knowledgeable, predatory and clandestine;
when ignorant, malicious and rebellious; when followed, imperious;
when not followed, resentful and underhanded;
when happy, frivolous;
when sad, despondent;
when successful, proud and unfair;
and when
encountering hardship, negligent and lazy.
Xun-zi described how a person may nurture one's mind with truthfulness,
uphold the principle of humanity, and behave with justice.
Thus
giving humanity form, it produces transmutation in accord with
natural order.
But those who lack truthfulness will not be individuals;
their characters will not be given form;
and the common people
will never follow them unless with suspicion.
The wise through
truthfulness may transmute the people;
but without it fathers
and sons drift apart, and rulers are considered base.
Xun-zi delineated six productions.
Public spirit produces clear
understanding, but partisanship produces obscurity.
Straightforward
diligence produces success, but deceit produces obstructions.
Honesty produces perspicacity, but boasting produces self-delusion.
Like the Epicureans, Xun-zi found that the desirable may also
bring what is detestable,
and what is beneficial may eventually
involve harm.
Therefore one must maturely calculate the relative
merits and liabilities in choosing.
Human calamities tend to result
from prejudices.
For Xun-zi the courage of the gentleman is staying
with what is just,
not being swayed by the exigencies of the moment,
not looking for one's own profit,
but considering the interests
of the whole state and assisting in realizing them,
and weighing
the threat of death by upholding moral duty.
Xun-zi wrote that Mo-zi knew how to elevate merit and utility,
frugality and economy,
but he ignored gradations of rank and status,
which Xun-zi considered essential to social order.
He also criticized
those who follow Zi-si and Mencius as deluded.
Xun-zi believed
that one may develop inner power (virtue)
by not using honor to
be arrogant nor intelligence to place others in difficulty
nor
intellect to gain precedence over others nor courage to cause
injury.
When not knowing, ask others; when lacking ability, study;
and even when having ability, yield to others.
For Xun-zi learning
means not only understanding but carrying it out in action.
The
wise base their conduct on goodness and justice,
making one's
speech accord with action.
In governing Xun-zi recommended promoting the worthy, dismissing
the incompetent,
punishing the incorrigibly evil, and teaching
the average people.
Proposals ought to be weighed in terms of
justice and harmoniousness,
but to show favoritism and partisan
feeling is the worst thing one can do.
Xun-zi believed that if
everyone is treated equally, conflict will result from insufficient
goods.
Distinctions were set up so that those above could watch
over those below,
but he did not seem to rationalize this with
the principle of justice.
Nevertheless he believed that the common
people should be treated
with kindness by capable governors, encouraging
filial piety and brotherly affection
by looking after orphans
and widows and assisting the poor.
When this is done, the gentlemen
may occupy their positions in safety.
However, if the state's
coffers are heaped up while the people are impoverished,
the state
will not be able to protect itself at home nor fight its enemies
abroad.
A king works to acquire people, a dictator to acquire allies,
and a despot to acquire territory.
The militarist, who uses might
to conquer cities,
inflicts great injury on people in other states,
who will want to fight him; but he also harms his own people,
who will hate him and will not want to fight for him.
Thus he
lives in constant peril.
Xun-zi did not believe that secrecy was
beneficial to the way of the ruler,
because the superior should
elucidate the standard,
be correct, diligent, impartial, and honest.
Xun-zi warned against cutting down trees and injuring plants
and fishing in the lakes
at the wrong time lest life be destroyed
and growing things be injured.
Foreseeing an ecological vision,
he concluded that the wise found every move on unity.
Those who
choose well control others,
but those who choose badly will be
controlled by others.
Xun-zi held that war is caused by desire
for fame or territory or by anger;
but a good ruler may gain fame
or territory without fighting,
and no one is angry with him.
The
wicked arise, because the rulers do not honor justice.
The just
person is in accord with people inwardly and things outwardly,
at peace with those above and in harmony with the people below.
Perhaps influenced by the mysticism of Lao-zi, Xun-zi saw the
work of heaven
as bringing to completion without acting and obtaining
without seeking.
When the work of heaven is established,
then
the human form is whole and one's spirit is born,
resulting in
the emotions of love and hate, delight and anger, sorrow and joy.
The heart dwells in the center and governs the five senses.
The
wise cherish heavenly nourishment, obey heavenly dictates,
nourish
heavenly emotions, understanding what is to be done and what is
not to be done.
The gentleman does not stop acting, because the
petty carp and clamor,
any more than heaven suspends winter, because
people dislike cold.
The gentleman focuses on what is in his power,
living in the present and remembering the past, refined in purpose,
rich in virtuous action, and clear in understanding.
The petty
put aside their own power and long for heaven's power.
Xun-zi
was skeptical of heavenly portents,
fearing rather human portents
such as poor plowing, bad weeding, and evil government.
To set
aside human concerns and long for what
belongs to heaven is to
mistake the nature of all things.
Xun-zi considered ceremonies
as markers of the way to guide the people.
Xun-zi offered this succinct critique of some other philosophers:
Shen-zi could see the advantages of holding back,
but not the advantages of taking the lead.
Lao-zi could see the advantages of humbling oneself,
but not the advantages of raising one's station.
Mo-zi could see the advantages of uniformity,
but not those of diversity.
Song-zi could see the advantages of having few desires,
but not of having many.
If everyone holds back and no one takes the lead,
then there will be no gate to advancement for the people.
If everyone humbles himself and no one tries to improve his station,
then distinctions between eminent and humble become meaningless.
If there is only uniformity and no diversity,
then the commands of government can never be carried out.
If there is a lessening of desires and never an increase,
then there will be no way to educate and transform the people.17
Xun-zi placed great importance on li (propriety, ceremonies,
ritual).
He explained that the ancients found desires led to conflict
and disorder
if they were not regulated by principles of propriety
and justice.
He believed that social distinctions need to be made
between the eminent and humble,
elder and younger, rich and poor,
and the important and unimportant.
The wise know how to think
and be steadfast,
but he also felt they have a love of ritual.
Both the outer form and inner meaning must be considered
along
with the inner feelings and outer practical use.
A gentleman would
be ashamed to treat even a slave in a way that offends the heart.
He wrote, "Rites trim what is too long and stretch out what
is too short,
eliminate surplus and repair deficiency, extend
the forms of love and reverence,
and step by step bring to fulfillment
the beauties of proper conduct."18
Xun-zi also loved music, which he called joy.
Bad music he
felt could be a source of danger and disgrace.
The wise kings
found joy in proper music,
because it could make the hearts of
people good
by deeply influencing them and reforming their ways.
Xun-zi was concerned that people become obsessed
by a small
corner of truth and fail to comprehend its over-all principles.
He believed that people sincerely seek what is proper,
but they
are led astray by their prejudices and bad habits.
He criticized
Mo-zi for being obsessed by utilitarian considerations,
Shen Buhai
for being obsessed by the power of circumstance,
and Zhuang-zi
for being obsessed by thoughts of heaven.
Utilitarian considerations
make the way wholly a matter of material profit;
thinking only
of circumstance makes it wholly a matter of expedience;
and thinking
only of heaven makes the way wholly a matter of harmonizing with
natural forces.
However, he considered Confucius good, wise, and
free of obsession.
People understand the way by using the mind
to understand
through its emptiness, unity, and stillness.
Yet
the mind also stores things up, is diversified, and constantly
moving.
The intellect can use memory, which does not hinder new
impressions.
The mind is the ruler of the body and the master
of its intelligence.
By its own will it prohibits or permits,
rejects or accepts, goes or stops;
the mind decides what is right.
In a time of much logical debate, Xun-zi attempted to "rectify
names" by defining his terms.
What comes from birth he called
nature.
Likes and dislikes, delights and angers, griefs and joys
of nature he called emotions.
When emotions arise, the mind makes
a choice among them through thought.
Applied decisions he called
conscious activity.
Action based on profit is business, and action
based on duty is moral conduct.
Knowledge that is applied practically
is called ability.
Injuries to one's nature are sickness, and
unforeseen occurrences are fate.
Clarifying terms so that they
correspond to reality he considered essential to social order.
Because he believed that everyone does what they think is good
and rejects
what they think is bad, anyone who understands the
way will abide by it.
Anyone who would exchange the desires of
countless years
for a momentary gratification simply cannot do
arithmetic.
Those who endanger their bodies, afflict their minds,
and behave recklessly,
when they want health, joy, and honor,
have allowed the self to become the slave of things.
The main difference Xun-zi had with Mencius was that he believed
that
human nature is evil and that goodness is the result of conscious
activity.
Desire for profit comes from the nature of the emotions,
but one can be transformed by instruction from a teacher and guidance
by propriety.
Courtesy and humility are contrary to the emotional
nature
and must be learned by conscious action.
Thus the wise
transform their nature by conscious activity
to set up ritual
principles and regulations.
Xun-zi feared that if the authority
of the ruler was eliminated so that
the order of ritual principles
and laws and standards with their punishments were rejected,
then
the powerful would exploit the weak,
the many would terrorize
the few,
and the whole world would become chaotic and mutually
destructive.
Nevertheless he believed that everyone could understand
goodness, justice, and ritual principles and put them into practice
if one associates with good people and is properly taught.
In one of his poems Xun-zi lamented that the world is not well
ordered.
The military is promoted in the name of military preparedness.
Those who follow the way and its virtue are slandered by many.
The humane are degraded and reduced to poverty,
while proud and
violent men usurp and tyrannize at will.
Xun-zi believed that
when a country is about to flourish it is certain to value its
teachers
and give great importance to education, and its laws
and standards will be preserved;
but when it is on the verge of
decay, teachers are treated with contempt,
the people are smugly
self-satisfied,
and the laws and standards will be allowed to
go to ruin.
In the final eulogy at the end of Xun-zi's book,
a
commentator explained that Xun-zi had a harder time than Confucius,
because he was oppressed by a chaotic age that was intimidated
by threats of stern punishment, as rulers faced the aggression
of Qin.
Ritual and moral principles were not observed;
the humane
were degraded and constrained or ridiculed and derided;
and the
transforming effects of teaching were not brought to completion.
In addition to the five ancient classics of Confucius' time,
from the fourth to the first centuries BC many shorter Confucian
writings were
collected together in the Li Ji,
which became
the most important classic of Li (propriety, rites).
In
addition to the Analects of Confucius (Lun Yu) and
the books of Mencius and Xun-zi,
another minor Confucian classic
was the Book of Filial Piety (Xiao Jing),
which was traditionally
ascribed to Zeng-zi,
the disciple of Confucius who emphasized
this virtue.
However, scholars believe it was compiled from Confucian
teachings
in the same period when the Li Ji was being formed.
The Xiao Jing consists of conversations between Confucius
himself and Zeng-zi.
In this text filial piety (xiao) is
heralded as the basis of virtue and the source of culture.
Confucius
explains that since all of our bodies are given to us by our parents,
filial piety should make sure that no harm comes to our parents.
This loyalty begins with the parents but moves on to service of
the sovereign
and is completed by the establishment of one's own
personality.
From our parents we learn how to love,
and one who
loves one's parents does not dare to hate others.
Love and reverence
in service to one's parents gives one a moral influence
that transforms
people and becomes a model for all.
The filial feudal lord is not proud and arrogant but frugal
and prudent
in order to keep his wealth and dignity.
Filial officers
do not presume to use words or act contrary to the early kings.
Filial scholars have equal love for their mothers and fathers
and their prince;
they show love to their mothers, reverence to
their prince, and both to their fathers.
The common people are
filial by supporting their parents through
using the soil of the
earth and being prudent and frugal in their expenditures.
Government
by filial piety means not neglecting the ministers
of small states
nor ignoring widows nor mistreating servants and concubines,
much
less the aristocrats, scholars, people, wives, and children.
No bond is greater than the life parents give one.
No kindness
is greater than their care for the children in their upbringing.
Thus filial piety loves one's parents before all by revering them,
making them happy, taking care of them in sickness,
showing sorrow
over their death, and sacrificing to them solemnly.
Whoever really
loves one's parents will not be proud in a high position
nor rebellious
in an inferior position nor contentious with the people.
Another
duty is for the son to admonish the parents even if it means disobedience.
In case of gross wrong, the son should admonish the father
just
as the minister should admonish his sovereign and a friend admonish
a scholar.
If ministers admonish the ruler, a state will not be
lost even if the ruler is not virtuous.
Three books of rituals served as the Li Jing (Ritual Classic).
The oldest is the I Li, which was discussed in the last
chapter.
The Zhou Rituals (Zhou Li) is ascribed to the
famous Duke of Zhou;
but scholars believe it was a work of the
fifth or fourth centuries BC,
although some believe it was entirely
forged by Han scholars.
The six parts of the Zhou Li describe
what came to be the six departments
of Chinese government for
the next two thousand years.
The Institute of Heaven is the prime
ministry that
supervises all governmental activities and controls
and appoints all the officials.
The Institute of Earth covers
education and social welfare,
especially agriculture and marriage.
The Institute of Spring is concerned with ceremonies and protocol,
including divination and astrology.
The Institute of Summer manages
defense and security, training the troops.
The Institute of Autumn
is the department of justice and punishment, administering the
laws.
The last section of the book on the Institute of Winter
was lost
but was replaced by the "Record of the Inspection
of Works"
on the department of public works and economic
production.
The collection of texts known as the Li Ji was composed
by followers of Confucius
and became an important compendium of
Confucian teachings by the first century BC
when it was compiled
by Dai De and his nephew Dai Sheng.
The rules of propriety are
discussed in detail for funeral rites and mourning,
sacrifices,
archery and chariot-driving contests, capping ceremonies
for the
initiation into adulthood, marriage ceremonies, audiences,
drinking
and banquet festivities, and friendly missions.
The Li Ji
begins with the following summary of the rules of propriety:
Always and in everything let there be reverence;
with the deportment grave as when one is thinking,
and with speech composed and definite.
This will make the people tranquil.
Pride should not be allowed to grow;
the desires should not be indulged;
the will should not be gratified to the full;
pleasure should not be carried to excess.
Men of talents and virtue can be familiar with others
and yet respect them;
can stand in awe of others and yet love them.
They love others and yet acknowledge the evil that is in them.
They accumulate and yet are able to part with it;
they rest in what gives them satisfaction
and yet can seek satisfaction elsewhere.
When you find wealth within your reach,
do not get it by improper means;
when you meet with calamity,
do not escape from it by improper means.
Do not seek for victory in small contentions;
do not seek for more than your proper share.
Do not positively affirm what you have doubts about;
and do not let what you say appear as your own view.19
What is right for the time and circumstances should be followed.
In a mission to another state, its customs are to be observed.
One should not try to please others in an improper way nor be
lavish with one's words.
Good conduct is when one cultivates one's
own person
and fulfills one's words in accordance with the right
course.
Virtue, goodness, and justice cannot be fully carried
out without the rules of propriety,
nor can training and lessons
be complete, quarrels cleared up,
duties between ruler and minister,
high and low, father and son,
elder brother and younger be determined,
nor can majesty and dignity
be shown at court nor official duties
carried out
nor offerings to spiritual beings be presented without
the rules of propriety.
Respect and reverence make humans different
from beasts.
The rules of propriety value reciprocity.
Propriety
is seen in humbling oneself and honoring others.
In the chapter on the evolution of propriety Confucius recalls
the Grand Unity
when a public and common spirit ruled everywhere.
Those with talents, virtue and ability were chosen.
Words were
sincere, and harmony was cultivated.
People did not only love
their parents or sons but everyone's.
The aged were provided with
security until death, the able-bodied with employment,
and the
young with the means of growing up.
Kindness and compassion were
shown to widows, orphans, and the disabled.
Men had proper work,
and women had their homes.
Selfish schemings found no development,
and stealing did not show itself.
When this Grand Union fell into disuse, the kingdom became
hereditary,
and now everyone loves their own parents and cherishes
their own children,
working for their own advantage.
The rules
of propriety were used by great men of power and position
to drive
away rulers who did not follow them, having recourse to arms.
In this less spontaneously good age, ancient kings used the rules
of propriety
to represent the ways of heaven and regulate human
feelings.
The seven feelings are joy, anger, sadness, fear, love, disliking,
and liking.
The ten virtues that are right are kindness of the
father and filial duty of the son,
gentleness of the older brother
and obedience of the younger,
justice of the husband and submission
of the wife,
kindness of elders and deference of juniors,
and
benevolence of the ruler and loyalty of the minister.
Truthfulness
in speech and cultivation of harmony are called advantageous,
while quarrels, plundering, and murder are disastrous.
The excellence of two short texts in the Li Ji was so
recognized
by Neo-Confucian scholars of the twelfth century CE
that
they made them two of the four Confucian classics (along
with the Analects and Mencius),
and for six centuries
they were the basis of civil service examinations.
These two texts
are the Da Xue, which has been
translated as "The Great Learning"
and which I call
"Higher Education" because
it means learning for adults,
and the Zhong
Yong, which has been translated as "The Doctrine
of the Mean"
and "Central Harmony" and which I
call "The Center of Harmony."
The first part of the Da Xue
is attributed to Confucius,
and scholars divide on the authorship
of the commentary
and editing between the disciple Zeng-zi and
the grandson of Confucius,
Zisi, who is also generally considered
the author of the Zhong Yong.
The Da Xue begins with the
three aims of the way of learning as manifesting
clear character,
loving the people, and living in the highest good.
These enable
one to achieve directing purpose, calm clarity, peaceful poise,
careful deliberation, and success.
The eight steps begin with
the investigation of things and proceed to extending knowledge,
a sincere will, setting the heart right, cultivating the personal
life,
making families harmonious, government orderly, and result
in peace in the world.
Cultivating the personal life is considered
the root.
Such is the essential text attributed to the great Confucius.
In the commentary Confucius is quoted as saying
that he could
handle litigations as well as anyone,
but what is needed is for
people not to have litigations at all.
Making the will sincere
means not allowing any self-deception.
Thus the best people always
watch over themselves when they are alone.
Zeng-zi said that wealth
may make a house shine, but virtue makes a person shine.
Saying
that cultivation of the personal life depends on rectifying the
mind
means that when one is affected by anger, fear, fondness,
worries and anxiety,
the mind will not be correct.
One must cultivate
the personal life in order to regulate the family
or else
one
will be partial toward those they love, dislike, fear, revere,
pity, and respect.
Few in the world know what is bad in those
they like
and what is good in those they dislike.
The family must be regulated before the state can be governed,
because no one who cannot teach his own family can teach others.
When families become good and compliant, then the whole state
will become so.
Yet when one man becomes greedy, the whole country
will be disordered.
A gentleman must have good qualities in himself
before he can require them in others.
No one who does not have
altruism oneself can teach other people.
When the ruler treats
the elders with respect and the young with compassion,
then the
people will be aroused to filial piety and find peace in the world.
Virtue is the root that produces the fruit of wealth.
Yet when
wealth is gathered in the ruler's hand,
the people will scatter
away from him; but when wealth is scattered,
they will gather
around him.
Evil words uttered will be uttered back to one.
When
wealth is acquired in an evil way, it will be taken away in an
evil way.
But when the ruler loves humanity,
the people will love
justice and carry the affairs of the state to completion.
"The Center of Harmony"
(Zhong Yong), which is influenced
by mystical Daoism,
begins by defining human nature as what is
given by heaven,
which when followed is called the way.
Cultivating
the way is education.
The best people look into their hearts and
watch the unseen and apprehend the unheard.
Before the feelings
of pleasure, anger, sorrow, and joy are aroused,
one is in what
is called the center.
When these feelings are aroused and attain
their due measure and degree,
it is called harmony.
The center
is the supreme foundation of the universe,
and harmony is its
universal expression.
When the center and harmony are fully realized,
order and happiness abound in heaven and earth, and everything
flourishes.
Confucius said that the best people always maintain the center,
but others do not watch the center in their hearts.
The smart
go beyond it; the stupid do not come up to it.
Confucius regretted
that the way was not being pursued.
The legendary emperor Shun
avoided the extremes and found the center.
Confucius also saw
the good embraced by his student Hui.
Even when states are put
in order, honors and rewards are declined,
and naked weapons are
trampled on, the center of harmony is still not being followed.
Only the wise who are in accord with the center of harmony retire
from the world
and are unknown to their age with no regret.
Yet
even the wise do not know the way nor practice it completely.
The way finds its simple beginnings in the relationship between
a man and a woman,
but in its ultimate extent it illuminates heaven
and earth.
For Confucius the way is not far from people;
what is removed
from people cannot be considered the way.
The best govern people
according to human nature.
Conscientiousness and reciprocity mean
not doing to others
what you do not wish them to do to you.
The
best do what is proper to their position and do not go beyond
this.
The way is like a long journey that must begin with what
is near.
In a religious moment Confucius praises the power of
invisible spiritual beings.
Next Confucius praises the founders
of the Zhou Dynasty for their virtue.
The way is cultivated by human goodness,
and its greatest expression
is in loving relations.
Justice is the principle of setting things
right,
and its greatest expression is honoring the worthy.
These
two give rise to the rules of propriety.
To cultivate their personal
lives rulers must serve their parents and know people,
and then
they will know heaven.
The three universal virtues are wisdom,
love, and courage,
and the way by which they are practiced is
one.
These three virtues come from love of learning,
practicing
vigorously, and a sense of shame.
The nine rules for governing
the world, states, and families are cultivating the personal life,
honoring the worthy, loving the relatives, respecting the great
ministers,
identifying oneself with the welfare of all the officers,
treating the common people as one's own children,
promoting all
the useful arts and crafts, being kind to strangers from far countries,
and taking interest in the princes of the world.
Understanding what is good leads to sincerity, which is the
way of heaven.
Thinking how to be sincere is the human way and
is choosing the good and holding to it.
Sincerity may be studied
extensively by inquiring into it accurately,
thinking it over
carefully, discerning it clearly, and practicing it thoroughly.
Do not give up even if it takes a thousand efforts.
Enlightenment
results from sincerity.
Those who are absolutely sincere develop
fully their own nature,
the nature of others and things, and by
forming a trinity with heaven and earth
are able to assist in
the transforming and nourishing process.
This is done by the expression
and manifestation of sincerity
so that it is full of light, moves
others, changes and transforms them.
Absolute sincerity can even
foreknow and understand omens.
Sincerity completes the self in
goodness and things in wisdom,
uniting the internal and external.
Absolute sincerity is ceaseless, eternal, manifest, infinite,
extensive and deep, transcendental and brilliant.
By this bridge the Confucians get to the Daoist way of accomplishing
without acting.
Yet for the Confucians the process begins with
study and learning
and results in respecting the rules of propriety.
Confucius is credited with transmitting the ancient doctrines
of Yao and Shun
harmonized with the adaptations of Wen and Wu.
The Confucians look to the perfectly wise,
who can rule all people
with quick apprehension, intelligence, insight, and wisdom;
embrace
all people with greatness, generosity, kindness, and a tender
heart;
maintain everything with energy, strength, steadiness,
and resolution;
command reverence with balance, seriousness, centeredness,
and correctness;
and exercise discrimination with order, refinement,
concentration, and penetration.
The best people of this Confucian ideal expressed in the Zhong Yong
examine their hearts
so that nothing is wrong there
and so can observe what others
do not see,
be reverent without moving, truthful without speaking,
encourage good without rewarding, awe people without showing anger
in perfect virtue.
Thus we find here a synthesis of Confucian
and Daoist philosophy.
The philosopher-scholar who helped to bring about the triumph
of Confucianism
in the Han dynasty, Dong Zhongshu, lived in the
second century BC.
Dong Zhongshu wanted to unify the empire culturally
by teaching the Confucian classics.
In 136 BC he urged Emperor
Wu to open an imperial university
for the study of the five traditional
classics
(Documents, Odes,
Changes, Rites
and the Spring and Autumn Annals).
His own book, Luxuriant Gems of the Spring and Autumn Annals,
integrates the currently popular yin-yang cosmology with Confucian
philosophy.
Dong Zhongshu treated the universe as an organic whole
in which
heaven, earth, and humans all influence each other.
He
would subject the people to the ruler and the ruler to heaven.
Dong Zhongshu believed that heaven's will could be discerned
by
correlating catastrophes and anomalies with warnings in one's
heart.
This philosophy led to a more superstitious attitude toward
such things as eclipses and weather patterns.
Dong Zhongshu believed that humans are the only creatures capable
of practicing goodness and justice, but they can also be greedy.
For Dong one must rectify oneself to be just, and love others
to be good.
Love needs the discrimination of wisdom,
and wisdom
needs love to be translated into action.
Dong Zhongshu taught
that the good person loves people,
harmonizes likes and dislikes
in human relations,
does not harbor hatred or a desire to hurt,
does not conceal or evade,
is not jealous, does not let desires
lead to sadness or worry,
and does not do anything treacherous,
cunning, or depraved.
Confucius and his followers, in my opinion, offered a marvelous
ethical philosophy
in warring and chaotic times that mostly ignored
their advice.
Although sexist and patriarchal as their times,
the universal ethical values
and methods of attaining them are
well thought out and available to everyone.
The detailed regulations
of the rules of propriety could become rigid and tyrannical
to
free expression if they are slavishly followed,
and the emphasis
on the traditions of past heroes and excessive respect for elders
could also lead to a rigid social culture dominated by tradition
and the older generation.
Yet this tendency was already in Chinese
culture before Confucius,
whose ethical principles at least provided
an opportunity to moderate such dominance.
The Confucian influence
in Chinese culture was to be immense,
but how it was practiced
in the coming centuries still needs to be examined.
1. Analects tr. Arthur Waley, 7:22.
2. Ibid. 17:5.
3. Ibid. 4:18.
4. Ibid. 4:8.
5. Ibid. 7:3.
6. Ibid. 5:11.
7. Ibid. 14:21.
8. Ibid. 7:10.
9. Ibid. 7:6.
10. Li Chi 26: "Ching Chieh" in Wisdom of
Confucius by Lin Yutang, p. 191-192.
11. Analects tr. Arthur Waley, 12:19.
12. Ibid. 2:15.
13. Mencius tr. D. C. Lau, 1B:11, p. 70.
14. Ibid. 6A:6, p. 163.
15. Basic Writings of Hsun Tzu tr. Burton Watson, p. 74
16. Hsun-tzu 26:8 in Xunzi tr. John Knoblock, Vol.
3, p. 204.
17. Basic Writings of Hsun Tzu tr. Burton Watson, p. 87-88.
18. Ibid., p. 100.
19. Li Chi (Book of Rites) 1:1 tr. James Legge, p. 61-62.
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