Outline Lecture Eight—Cultivating Ren: Confucius

I) Wisdom in a Social Context

a) Intelligence vs. Wisdom
i) Intelligence a faculty that tends to be more self-centered, non-social
(1) Maximize our profit, outwit other people, find loopholes that minimize costs to
ourselves
ii) Whereas, wisdom seems to reflect an intrinsic communal interest
Aimed outside ourselves, reflects an intrinsic communal interest
The wise ask ‘how can I get along with others better’
(1) From perspective of “other-centeredness”
(2) Wisdom of empathy understood as the “Golden Rule”
(a) Similar to the Western Christian thought of the Golden Rule (Jesus and his
followers all spoke about it
(b) In the philosophy of Confucius this idea is called Ren (also written as jen)
b) The Meaning of Ren
Hard to define. None of the descriptors are wrong but all fail to fully encompass the
meaning of the word
i) Goodness? Benevolence? Humaneness? Co-humanity?
ii) Meaning through the Chinese character itself: 仁
(1) “The quality through which any two people should treat each another”
(a) Chinese characters are made up of a radical on the left and a sound on the
right
(i) 仁 Character of person on the left and character of two on the right: It
means the quality through which any two people should treat each other –
also called reciprocity and/or empathy
(ii) This character is also a homonym for the character of ‘human’ reflecting
the Confucius idea that to be human is to be ren
(b) Using Confucius to illustrate the meaning of the word ren because he devoted
his whole life trying to teach people how to be ren – he devoted his life to
learning and becoming the personification of this idea he taught, idea of ren

II) China’s Philosophical Revolution in 6th century B.C.E.

a) The Historical Background of Confucius
i) The Disintegration of Zhou Rule
(1) Fall of the Western Zhou capital at Haojing (modern city of Xi’an) in 771 B.C.E.
(a) Nomads from the West came and overran the city of Haojing and it was then
blamed on the ineffective and unpopular king: but he had a favored concubine
for which he would do anything she wanted
(i) She loved seeing all the soldiers gathered in the city square
(ii) When invaders actually came and he called his soldiers no one came
because they thought that he was just trying to please his concubine again
and the city was then overrun
(2) Eastern Zhou Period—capital at Luoyang
Divided into two phases: Spring and autumn period and warring states period
(a) Spring and Autumn (722-481)
 (i) Confucius wrote the history of that period Spring and Autumn though the
entire period of 722 to 221 was filled with instability and war
(ii) Zhou rulers during this time were incompetent and powerless, the real
rulers were the warlords that were always fighting and trying to steal
power from the Zhou rulers
(iii) State of Lu was one of the weakest and smallest states of the time
1. But had symbolic prestige
(b) Warring States (403-221)
ii) The Symbolic Importance of the State of Lu
(1) Performing the old Zhou ancestral rites
(2) Descendants of the 11th century sage-minister, the Duke of Zhou
Duke of Zhou (Zhou-ghung) and the leaders of Lu claimed direct descent from
this leader who was very important
(a) Now, why was he so important to Confucius?
(i) Important to Confucius because this man was the epitome of what every
minister should be
(ii) Zhou served as the regent to a child king during his time and was very
loyal and raised him as the king instead of taking over power. He made
sure to only be a regent and not take over even when people slandered his
name for not taking over
(iii) Confucius was so obsessed with this figure that if he did not
dream of him for a few nights he would start to panic and believe that this
ancient figure had left his side
(b) Why such obsessive nostalgia? Because Confucius was always anxious about
things in his own time falling apart (loyalty, order, stability – all things Zhou
epitomized)
iii) The Demise of Rituals (why Confucius was so worried about the loss of these
qualities)
(1) Three powerful merchant barons overshadowing the ruling house of Lu
(a) The lords no longer had the ability, resources and skill to perform sacred
rituals so the merchants start performing them
(b) The merchants hired eight teams of dancers and eight teams of musicians and
holds the ritual in his own home instead of the palace
(2) Blatant acts of sacrilege and mockery
This makes Confucius horrified and he sees this sacrilege – he also sees
disloyalty around the region (treachery, corruption, self-serving warleaders,
sons killing fathers etc)
(3) A world in which treachery and cruelty prevailed
This background is important because his teaching and writings came out of
this world of treachery that he was horrified with

III) The Way of Confucius

a) Life of Confucius (551-479)
i) Native of Lu, probably from an aristocratic yet impoverished family
(1) Similar to the ruling family of Lu
(2) Most likely part of the lower nobility
 (3) Father died when he was young and he was raised by his relatives – his
environment of no family most likely bullied or disrespected etc cultivated a sense
of need for empathy and learning
ii) As a young man, aspirations as a civil servant (very common honorable aspiration)
(1) Saw learning as the most important thing
(2) Wanted to bring honor to his ancestors and his family name
(3) Travelled extensively searching for this position but his beliefs and ideas were so
different and unpalatable for kings and lords that no one wanted that
(a) Like asking to lessen burdens of taxing and punishment on his people
(b) Being less war-like and caring more about their people
(4) He failed in this career – early part of his life defined by failure and because of
this failure he had time to think and make himself into a teacher
“Those who can’t do, teach”
Other lesson: the silver lining within failure. If he hadn’t failed we wouldn’t know
about him – because of failure he became something else and something better
iii) A philosophy borne of “grief and frustration”
(1) Karen Armstrong: “his kindness and brilliance drew students to him like a
magnet”—over 3000 students in his lifetime, 72 close disciples
(a) Teacher of academics and how to be a good person
(b) 3000 at that time was an incredible number
iv) What was so appealing or charismatic about him? Apparently he wasn’t very
charismatic
(1) Hardly ever told people how something should be done
(2) Not very dogmatic – the analects are student records of how he lived, the answers
he gave, how he acted with people – things his students remembered about him
(a) The analects at their best reflect a real person
(b) ‘Afraid, frustrated, believing, growing old, being moved by music and
friendship and the belief that all of us can be truly humane if only we tried’
b) “School of Learners” or Rujia (in China the followers are not called Confucians, they
were called the School of Learners)
i) Egalitarian roots—non-elitist or cultish orientation
(1) Challenged the system like the Buddha did by opening up the world of learning to
everyone
ii) Egalitarian re-conception of the term junzi or “gentleman”
(1) Meaning changed from “of noble birth” to “scholar”
(a) Egalitarian impulse became the basis of China’s longstanding meritocracy
(b) China was one of the few places that chose ministers based on a civil service
exam – people no matter their status could take the test
iii) Egalitarian ideal of “perfectibility through learning”
This open ideal of everyone having the capacity for learning
What set people apart to Confucius was not one’s intelligence, means or status,
people are set apart by the tireless effort to learn that they have
(1) Example of “one corner” teaching Confucius wanted to teach the students who he
could give one corner of the square the student will come up with the other three
(2) Confucius’s summary of his own life
 (a) Basically that he devoted his life to learning at 15, found out how to stand at
30, freed of doubts at 40, understood the will of Heaven (the way of nature -
natural order of things)) at 50, hearing became keen at 60 (older he got the
more he learned to listen – not necessarily literally), he could follow his hearts
desire without transgressing at 70 (meaning he didn’t have any bad desires –
his morality and his instinct had completely fused)
c) The Confucian Path to a Moral Life
i) Transmitter not Inventor?
His claim as a transmitter no inventor shows his humility
(1) Yet affirmed humanism and reason in an age dominated by superstition and fear
(a) Radical in his teachings – most others would only teach the wealthy
(b) Radical for emphasizing reason and humanity in this age of superstition and
fear – one generation before his people were still practicing human sacrifice
(2) Show reverence for ancestors but focus on improving oneself
Focus on the living and not on spirits, ghosts and gods
Very practical view
(a) Focus on the living, not the dead (XI, 11)
ii) Five Relations and Filial Piety Projected hierarchical ideas as well
(1) Lord/minister; father/son; husband/wife; brother/brother; friend/friend
(a) Clearly hierarchical but in these five relations it is also predicated not only in
hierarchy but responsibility
(b) Entire political philosophy was based on these five relations
(i) If someone is not filial to his parents or not responsible to friend, brother,
wife etc then he is obviously not trustworthy to hold public office
(ii) Everything begins with these relationships
(iii) People can pretend sometimes so that is a concern but usually it is
a good gauge
iii) Why Emphasis on Rites?
People think Confucius is too obsessed and conservative and focused on rituals and
rites – like in Korea, they still perform Confucian rituals similar to so long ago
(1) Means to curb arrogance and egotism
(a) Example: College graduation, doesn’t want to go or parents to go and fails to
recognize how important it was to family and friends and peers at the school –
arrogance blinding one from sight in this situation
(b) By submitting to a collective ritual we exercise humility – we are able to show
our respect for those around
(c) Confucius thinks about the personal cultivation possible through conforming
to outside rituals and other people (other-centeredness) and thinking about
what’s good for the group
(d) Basically rituals can teach us humility
(2) Assure that “we did not treat people carelessly or relate to them perfunctorily…
not simply driven by utility and self-interest”
(3) Learning to live life as a reverential “bow”
d) The Ren of Confucius the man
i) Mourning the death of Yen Hui
(1) He mourned heavily – similar to a parent losing a child, he was ‘devastated’
 (2) His students thought he was overreacting
ii) Describing himself in old age
(1) So intent on feeding the eager (teaching) he forgets to eat, forgets the bitterness of
his lot (payment), he loves teaching so much that he doesn’t care, so happy
teaching that he does not realize that old age is at hand
iii) The lover of life (XI, 25)
(1) Hypothetical question: imagine you are working for a person who has absolute
faith in you and he will give you whatever you want or need for what you want to
do, what would you work for? Student answers to be the leader or advisor of a
city, another says he would make sure everyone would live in relative comfort
and be fed, other make sure the rituals are done properly and reverently, another
one- at the back- Zen ji describes a tranquil life scene of bathing and walking
around and enjoying life
(a) This is the one that Confucius says embodies him the best