CONFUCIUS (CONFUCIANISM)
latinized for Kongzi
b. 551 B.C.E.
 
Qu Ding's Summer Mountains, Northern Song Dynasty (960-1127). The Met Collection
Li Kan's Bamboo and Rocks, Yuan Dynasty (1279-1368). The Met Collection
Porcelain Vase, Quing Dynasty (1662-1722). The Met Collection
 
Kongzi taught a traditional view of life, a code of manners.
Kongzi was not a philosopher or a founder of a religion but rather a gentleman who taught etiquette or propriety. He offered a political philosophy, a philosophy of governance based upon this ethic. His ethic, unlike western ethical theories, is grounded not only in a metaphysic (the notion of Ti'en) but in an aesthetic, a notion of refinement.
Confucianism is actually a term created by westerners.
The Chinese people speak of "the way of the sages" or "the way of the ancients" and tend to refer to a system of government and rules of behavior which they believe go back to time immemorial
Kongzi simply numbers as one,although a preeminent one of the sages, and perhaps the only true historical sage.
Other sages tend to be legendary Yao and Shu or like the Duke of Zhou to whom many traditions are attributed 1122.
 
The the five classics, Kongzi adds Music.
 
By the Sung dynasty, the six classics had become thirteen with additional works such as the Analects, the sayings of Kongzi and those of Mencius (371-289 B.C.E.), Kongzi's most prominent successor.
 
The Teachings of Confucius
 
Kongzi did not introduce anything new and was not a political reformer. He considered himself "a transmitter and not an originator, trusting in and loving the ancients" Analects 7.1
 
Kongzi lent his own logic or explanation of why tradition was more than arbitrary but rational and in harmony with the order of nature.
 
"The child cannot leave the arms of its parents until it is three years old. This is why the three years of morning is universally observed throughout the world" Analets 17.21
 
Three years equals an expression of gratitude.
 
He saw his purpose to bring to light neglected teachings of the Duke of Zhou and to study of ancient texts, traditions, rituals and music.
 
He laid no claim to supernatural authority or revelation.
 
Confucius' followers continued this tradition of interpretation and produced countless commentaries
 
Doctrines:
 
1. Rectificaiton of Names
 
Disciple "what would you do first if you were to rule a state?
Confucius The one thing needed first is the rectification on names 13.3
 
12.11 "Let the ruler be ruler, the minister minister, the father father and the son son."
each name contains certain implications which constitute the essence of that class of things to which the name applies rulers should act according to the essence of a ruler
 
2. Self cultivation is not a personalistic endeavor or an attempt to achieve personal redemption
but rather a necessary pre-requisite to act effectively in the public domain
(Calligraphy provided by Kelley L. Ross)
   Li refers to ritual. To act according to li is to act according to the proper social and religious rituals but also, in its broader sense, according to propriety and ettiquete. Decorum means to behave in a way that makes others comfortable. Li sets apart gentleman from barbarian. A barbarian gives spontaneous and often embarrassing expression to his emotions.
   The man of jen is a gentleman who is righteous, virtuous, human hearted, has self respect, magnanimity, acts in good faith and diligently, with benevolence and reciprocity.
 
 
Behave when away from home as though you were in the presence of an important guest
Deal with the common people as though you were officiating at an important sacrifice
do not do to others what you could not want others to do to you. Then there will be no dissatisfaction either in the state or at home. Analects
 
Li without jen is mere playacting or flattery.
Jen/Ren is the inward cultivation of one's best instincts; li is the outward cultivation of an inward state.
 
The man of jen is one who, desiring to sustain himself sustains others, and desiring to develop himself develops others. To be able from one's own self to draw a parallel for the treatment of others; that may be called the way to practice jen. 6.28
   Filial Piety
Gentility in eldest son, humility and respect in the younger
Righteous behavior in husband, obedience in the wife.
Human consideration in elder, deference in juniors.
Benevolence in rulers, loyalty in ministers and subjects.
 
D) Doctrine of the mean - Tzu Ssu grandson of Confucius
 
"What you do not like done yourself do not do to others... Serve your father as you would require your son to serve you... Serve your ruler as you would require your subordinate e to serve you... Serve your elder brother as you would require your younger brother to serve you ... Set the example in behaving to your friends a you would require them to behave to you..."
 
 
Altruism
 
 
 
Political Philosophy
 
If rulers behaved as gentlemen, if they were in fact gentlemen men and advised by gentlemen, the ideal state would naturally follow.
 
Lead the people with laws and regulate them by penalties,a and the people will try to deep out of jail, but will nave no sense of shame. Lead the people by virtue and restrain them by rules of decorum (li) and the people will have a sense of shame,a nd moreover will become good 3.3
 
If a ruler himself is upright, all will go well without orders. But if he himself is not upright, even though he gives orders they will not be obeyed. 13.6
 
Good government not necessarily efficient but rather good example
 
The state exists to meet people's needs not to profit from them.
Order without justice is like li without jen.
 
The mark of good government is the contentment of the people governed and the attraction of peoples from other places to the palace of good government.
 
The essentials of good government are sufficient foot, sufficient troops, and the confidence of the people.
 
Distinguished pupil Tzu Jund asked: Suppose you were forced to give up on of these three,w which would you give up first?
Confucius "The troops"
Tzu Kung asked again "if you are forced to give up one of the two remaining, which would you let go?
Confucius said "food" for from old, death has been the lot of all men, but a people without faith cannot serve"
 
Mencius
 
Why should men act according to righteousness?
Answer : because of the original goodness of human nature.
"If a man sees a child fall into a well, he will without exception experience a feeling of alarm and distress."
 
Whether human nature is good or bad is a controversy in Chinese philosophy.
Mencius argues that in human nature there are good elements and other morally indifferent elements which not duly controlled can lead to evil. These we share with animals. Strictly speaking they are not apart of "human nature'
 
One who lacks the feeling of commiseration is not a man.
One who lacks a feeling of shame and dislike is not a man.
One who lacks a feeling of modesty and yielding is not a man.
One who lacks a sense of right and wrong is not a man.
 
The feeling of commiseration is the beginning of human heartedness.
The feeling of shame and dislike is the beginning of righteousness.
The feeling of modesty and yielding is the beginning of propriety.
The sense of right and wrong beginning of wisdom.
 
The superior man, in his relation to things, loves them but has not feeling of human heartedness. In his relation to people, he has human heartedness, but no deep feeling of family affection. One should have feelings of family affection for the members of one's family, but human heartedness for people, human heartedness for people, but love for things.
 
Principle of Chung
Treat the aged in your family as they should be treated, and extend this treatment of the aged of other people's families. Treat the young in you family as they should be treated, and extend this treatment to the young of other people's families.
 
Political Philosophy
The state and society have their origin in the existence of the five basic human relationships.
These relationships differentiated man from beast.
For the Mohist, the state exists because it is useful.
For confucianism, it exists because it ought to exist.
One can only fully realize oneself and develop in human relationships.
 
 
Mencius describes two types of government. The first is Wang or the sage king, a moral institution that educates its people in morality. The second is Pa, the rule of a military lord who uses force and compulsion to govern his people.
 
"He who uses force in palace of virtue is a Pa. He who is virtuous and practices human heartedness is a Wang. When one subdues men by force, they do not submit to him in their hearts but only outwardly, because they have insufficient strength to resist. But when one gains followers by virtue, they are pleased in their hearts and will submit of themselves as did the seventy disciples to Confucius."
 
Wang government must be based on a sound economy.
The Well Field System - eight families, each with its own field, surround a common field and well.
 
 
Each family should plant mulberry trees around its five acre home each in is own field so that its aged members can be clothed in silk.
Each family should also raise fowls and pigs, so that its aged members may be nourished with meat.
If this is done everyone "can nourish the living and bury the dead without the least dissatisfaction, which makes the beginning of the kingly way." 1a.3
 
Only when everyone has received some education and comes to an understanding of human relationships does the kingly way become complete.
 
"As men have a mind which cannot bear to see the suffering of others. The early kings, have their unbearing mind, thereby had unbearing government"
 
 
 
Selections from Mencius
 
Legacy of Confucius:
 
 
These ideals are evident in the image of Mao as a gentleman, educated poet and author rather than a revolutionary.
 
 
 
Confucius as patron saint:
 
 
Confucius has been venerated even worshiped at times. His Birth place and ancestral home are preserved as a shrines and places of pilgrimage. Confucian temples have been built as part of ancestor worship. Hymns composed by Confucius are performed in homage to him.
 
Confucius Temple in Taichung
 
 
Indonesian Temple **Thomas Wilson's Cult of Confucius page**