Confucianism

Confucius' World and His Life

 In the West we tend to have a cartoon - like view of Confucius: as a man who churned out dull
maxims –the “dictum coining sage,” says the Lonely Planet travel guide 2 –or as a conservative
old fogy whose sayings show up in fortune cookies.
 Birthplace - the Chinese city of Qufu with three million visitors a year mainly from Korea, Japan,
and elsewhere in China
 Most people in modern China do not know who Confucius is because it is not his true name
 Confucius’ true name is Kong Fuzi
 Confucius is a Latin term coined by Catholic missionaries from the name Kong Fuzi
 Family name: Kong
 First name: Zi which means “Master” or “Teacher”
 Fu is an honorary addition put after the family name in Chinese instead of in front like in English
 Westerners tend to view Chinese philosophy as mystical and Western philosophy as rational

Confucius’ World: Looking Back to a Long, Unified Civilization

 Confucius was born in 551 BCE where a civilization was believed to have existed for 1,500 years
in China and possibly longer than that
 Confucius and his contemporaries looked back to the reign of the sage-kings who were thought
of as the ones who brought arts of civilization in the government of China
 The sage-kings are regarded as the great rulers of China because of their virtues and skills as
leaders and for inventing everything from farming to flood control.
 The great sage kings were Emperors Yao, Shun, and Yu
 For Confucius and those of his time, the sage - kings represented the best of rulers and the
heritage of Chinese civilization.

The Zhou Dynasty

 King Wu was one of the founders of the Zhou Dynasty

 King Wu’s brother, the Duke of Zhou prayed to their ancestors that he be taken instead of his
brother
 King Cheng, King Wu’s son succeeded his father after he died, but because he was still very
young, the Duke ruled in his behalf as regent and when King Cheng was old enough the Duke
handed over the throne to him.
 The Duke rejected the noble’s suggestion that he should kill the child and have the throne for
himself
 The Duke rule was a model of good government
 When the Duke retired, he wrote the hexagrams of the Book of Changes and ritual texts.
 The Zhou Dynasty defeated the Shang rulers in 1027 BCE and ruled both Western and Central
China
 The Zhou government was a feudal state where the King owned the lands and parceled
territories to the lords who pledged allegiance to him
 Government offices were hereditary among noble families by birth and not by merit.
  When we use the word “feudal” we should not think of a king and his few advisors sitting about
in a castle.
 The Zhou government structure was complex. There was a prime minister, a minister of the
household, a minister of justice, and a director of public works whose job it was to build and
repair dykes, bridges, irrigation channels, and water reservoirs. There was a minister of war and
ministers who were in charge of fortifications. The ministry of religion carried out divination,
interpreted dreams and celestial phenomena, and saw to sacrificial offerings. Other
departments dealt with everything from entertaining foreign guests, directing the music
conservatory, overseeing and storing the harvest, hunting, and crafts. Other officials advised the
ruler on the law, rewards for service to the crown, and proper conduct.
 Noble families were defined by kinship ties and each great family had its own estate, temples,
and military forces. Nobles lived on their own estates and on the wealth they produced there.
Commoners and farmers were like serfs, working on the estates and called on for military
service by their local lord.
 When an elite is defined by prowess in war, manhood is defined by military courage and honor
is central. Nobles saw themselves as obliged to take vengeance on anyone who took liberties
with their honor; any small slight had to be avenged to preserve one ’s honor. Courage, loyalty,
honor, family name, and sacrifices to the ancestors who founded the lineage were central to the
nobility ’s understanding of who they were.

Ancestors and Spirits

 The ancestors of those nobles were powerful. They were thought to control success in war,
hunting, and agriculture. They were capable of punishing the living for any neglect in the regular
offerings that were made to them; the ancestors might also appear to punish their enemies, and
to cause trouble for the living.
 Yellow Spring – the place where the dead ancestors of both the noble and commoners go which
is a gloomy place in the underworld where what was left of their life force gradually disappears.
 Unknown dead persons with no family members to offer them sacrifices become dangerous
spirits or vengeful spirits just like in the Korean drama “Along with the Gods” that bring disease,
death or calamity.
 The spirits of ancestors that they call gods are gods of natural phenomena in particular areas
such as fire, childbirth, or rain.
 Later texts refer to all these kinds of beings as “ghost spirits”
 Religious ceremonies for ancestors were performed by their noble descendants.
 Shamans heal the sick with ritual and herbal medicine; exorcize evil spirits; and opened up
communication with the through divination. They can also foretell the future in a number of
ways.
 Divination is the art and practice that seeks to discover hidden knowledge by the interpretation
of omniscient information given by the no ordinary, all-knowing compassionate helping
spirits. (Don Hazletine, Shaman)
 Shamans are mostly women and hold the official positions in court.

Heaven and the “Choice of Heaven”

 The concept of heaven was central to the religious thinking of the Zhou Dynasty
  Heaven for them is not a place where dead people go, as what many of us think of.
 Heaven for them may be a god but not the God referred to in the Bible, but a central deity or
concept that was understood as the primary supernatural power.
 There are some ancient texts that talk about Heaven as a god, and a god with a personality, who
is pleased or angered by the actions of human beings and who then blesses or punishes based
on Heaven ’s standards. On the other hand, Heaven is sometimes described as being something
closer to nature, an impersonal and automatic force not at all like human beings.
 Their concept of a god is different from the Christian’s concept of a God.
 The Zhou dynasty made use of the idea of Heaven in what began as a neat bit of propaganda
called the “choice of Heaven” (sometimes translated as the “mandate of Heaven”).
 The theory behind the choice of Heaven is simple: Heaven dislikes bad rulers and sends sign of
displeasure –drought, earthquakes, or floods. If the bad ruler ignores these signs and does not
reform, Heaven chooses an upstanding and moral man to replace the bad and corrupt ruler.
With Heaven ’s support, the upstanding man will overthrow the corrupt ruler and become the
new ruler. So, if you are the ruler, you have the choice of Heaven; if you are overthrown, you
have lost Heaven ’s favor and the new ruler now has it.
 The leaders of the Zhou Dynasty used the Choice of Heaven theory for overthrowing the Shang
Dynasty saying that they were able to do it because they possess the choice of heaven.
 What began as an effort of self justification by the early Zhou dynasty rulers continued on
throughout Chinese imperial history where emperors were thought to have the choice of
heaven by virtue of being emperor.

The Decline of the Zhou Dynasty and the Rise of the Warring States

 For almost three hundred years, the Zhou Dunasty used the choice of heaven to justify their rule
and ruled successfully over China.
 However, in 771, the Zhou Capital in the west was invaded by non-Chinese enemies and the
Zhou king was killed.
 Some of the royal family memebers escaped and established their new capital to the further
east, the present-day city of Luoyang.
 Because of what happened, the Zhou’s political power declined and the people began to doubt
them.
 With that, the local lords set up their own governments and established independent states.
 Unlike the Zhou’s political power which was believed to be given to them through the choice of
having the power of the local Lord came from his ability to go up man I’ll assemble a strong
army. The bigger the territory, the Mormon award would have to go on.
 Because the lords did not have the legitimacy to rule over their territories, they faced a lot of
threats both from inside and outside their families, especially from other noble families.
 States attack each other
 The lability the time we frequently corrupt, immoral, interested in extravaganza luxury, and
often not very bright.
 Noble families were replaced by salaried appointed officials, and these bureaucrats were
inillegent.
 Positions in the army was given by virtue of their skills, and not for their noble birth.
  A once unified China was divided in small warring states because of the breakdown of the Zhou
Dynasty

The life of Confucius

 Born in 551 BCE and died in 479 BCE

 Two versions of the story about Cunfucius’ life: religious and scholarly

Hagiography, the pious stories of Confucius’ life

 Father: Kong Shu Lianghe -died when he was 3

 Mother: Yan Zhizai – died when he was 17
 His mother either alone or with her husband, went to Mount Niqiu to pray for a son and
received the spirit of heaven.
 At a very young ages, Confucius could perform even the most ancient rituals, and he was very
talented.
 At 20 – minor official
 Previous positions: police commissioner, Minister of Public Works, Minister of Justice, Prime
Minister
 Traveled throughout China for 14 years (497-484 BCE) teaching students and advising rulers.
 If Confucius was such an accomplished sage, why did rulers not take his advice?
1. In order to follow Confucius advice, rulers would have had to exact Confucius criticism
of their behavior and reform themselves; they would then have been required to
govern with care and restraint.
2. Other government officials are envious of Confucius in fear him; they did their best to
for kids plans they slandered Confucius to their rulers undercut his authority, and
encourage their rulers to behave badly in the hope that Confucius would become
disgusted and leave. The corruption of the time and that Confucius was not able to find
a job in many states he traveled to.
3. People of the time were in capable of really understanding what Confucius was
teaching. Drawers and officials of the state of blue, then he returns of the zoo tradition,
really understood and follow that Confucius advice, they would have attained of the
choice of having them become founders of a new dynasty that unified China.
 Upon coming back to the city of Lu, Confucius spent his time teaching and writing the ancient
texts, The Book of History, The Book of Poetry, the Spring and Autumn Annals, and the Book of
Changes.
 Themes of the stories about Confucius:
 Confucius had a special person, complete with supernatural figures and events. His birth
and death or rounded by appearances of unicorns; Confucius failure to reform the times
is presented by a dead unicorn just before conclusions own death.
 Confuse abilities, even at a young age, or noted by the wise men of his time.
 It is clear to someone that Confucius is the greatest sage and he gathers around his
thousands of students eager to learn from him
 Despite recognition by some of the people of his time, Confucius is not recognized for
what he is by any of the rulers. He fails, not through any fault of his own, but because of
the authorities at the time could not understand his own vision. Confucius is the
 frustrated missionary who is always right, but never listen to. Had he been listening to,
history would have been different. Confucius was the “uncrowned king” of the era. He
was the Sage who ,attained the choice of heaven, but he was never given the chance to
rule.

Scholarly versions of Confucius’ life

 Confucius was born in the village of Zou or Zouyi in the state of Lu, near the modern city of Qufu
in Shandong province.
 His name was Kong Qui but he had a second given name which was Zhong Ni
 His father Kong Shu Lianghe was a well-known military figure in the army of Lu
 Confucius’ immediate family was of noble lineage but they were very poor. According to him, “ I
was of lowly status when I was young. That is why I am skilled in many things.”
 Confucius was skilled in the 6 accomplishments: rites, music, archery, Charioteering, the study
of history and literature, on the study of mathematics.
 Confucius taught his students and received payment from them.
 He gave a description of his own inner journey: “At the age of 15, I set my mind on study. At
the age of 30, I established myself; at 40, I had no doubts. At 50 I knew the choice of Heaven;
at 60, my ears were tuned to it; and, at 70, I could follow the desires of my heart without
going beyond the bounds of proper behavior.
 He criticized his own behavior: “ when I fail at cultivating virtual, but I do not put into practice
what I have learned, when I know what is right and still cannot follow it, but I am not able to
change what is not good with me – these are the things that worry me.”

Confucius’ Teachings II: The Foundation of a Good Person

 Filial Piety – respect and reverence for one’s parents – this is then extended to one’s teachers
and elders
 this was central to Confucius thought to those who follow him. It is not surprising that
they emphasize filial piety, given that, in their time, sons were rebelling against fathers
and family relations were often deadly – certainly in the families of rulers. Confucius
saw filial piety as an antidote to his times.
 When asked about filial piety, Confucius answered tersely, “do not disobey”
 Confucians argue that the bond between parent and child is the most fundamental of
human relationships
 The required ways to show filial piety our service and respect while parents are alive,
the provision of funerals, and the veneration of the dead.
 Dutifullness or Loyalty
 private conditions must be subordinated to the loyalty one feels
 The virtue of dutifulness royalty is implied in filial piety. Just like a son or a daughter
honors his or her parents the same should be done towards superiors.
 Conditions described the government minister as “dutiful” because, when the minister
was dismissed from his position three times, he showed no resentment and fully briefed
his successor of the affairs of his office.
 Like filial piety, discussions of dutifulness were meant as antidotes to people’s behavior
at the time
 Honesty and Sincerity
 honesty is more than telling the truth, though that, of course, is required.
 Honesty is living up to what one says one will do. It means keeping your promises.
 Sincerity or integrity is closely allied honesty. It means there should be no distance
between what we think, what we say, and what we do.
 A sincere person think say and do the same thing rather than calculating their own
advantage.
 Rightness and Knowledge
 to be sincere, we need to know what is right.
 Brightness is knowing what is proper, what is right, what is moral.
 Confucius did not teach Ruby’s behavior, so what is right is based on one status, once
role, and the specifics of the situation.
 Right now is the standard of behavior, requires knowledge. Knowledge or wisdom is
something that we may not be born with, but, for Confucius, it is always something that
we can work to achieve.
 “ people who are born with knowledge or the highest level; second or those who
attain a ledge by studying; third or people who continue to study even though they
find it difficult; at the bottom are those who find study difficult and do not even try to
learn.”
 Confucius often described himself as being in the second or third level, saying that he
was not born with knowledge, but, because of this fondness of antiquity, was keen to
learn; he says that he looked for the good in what he studied and tried to retain it.
 “To say you know when you do know, and to say that you do not know when you do
not know – this is wisdom.“ Knowledge then is related to honesty and sincerity: we
should know that what we say is honest because it is something we can do.
 Courage
 it is all very well to have knowledge, practice filial piety, be loyal, dutiful, honest, and
sincere, and know what is right, but in order to act on these virtues, we must have
courage.
 In the early Zhou dynasty courage was attributed with physical courage. The audacious
warrior who disobeyed orders to show his courage can become a problem, not an asset.
Still, courage was associated generally with physical courage, bravado, and honor.
 If you just took the concept of courage, made it a virtue, and put it in the service of
moral behavior.
 “To see what is right, but not to do it, this shows a lack of courage.”
 For Confucius, courage is moral courage.
 Understanding, Sympathy, Compassion
 The richest we have looked at so far are very much in your virtues. But, In Confucius
thought, virtues are not waited for our private amusement or heavenly salvation.
Moreover choose are meant to Act out into the world; morality is not nearly a private
achievement. The last virtual on our list moves us outside of our private universe and
has to do directly with dealing with other people.
 Confusion startled her students one day by saying that always teaching us to be home
together on a single thread. Zengzi, One of his brighter students, explain to the others
 that this thread consisted of two things: loyalty/dutifulness and
understanding/sympathy/compassion. In other passages Confucius defines what he
means by the term show, which we translate as understanding, sympathy, or
compassion.
 “Negative golden rule” “not doing to others what one does not want done to oneself”
 The golden rule “do unto others as you would have them do unto you”
 For Confucius, the message is simple: treat the other person as you yourself would like
to be treated.
 This means putting yourself in other’s shoes to understand their situation and act
accordingly.
 Humanity
 What we have seen a moral virtue so far sounds a bit like the Scout Law: be thrifty,
clean, and helpful. Confucius tells us to be still, honest, sincere, dutiful, wise,
courageous, sympathetic, and so on, but there seems nothing exceptional this: many
traditions say much the same. But for Confucius all of these virtues are just the building
blocks to bring us to a moral attitude. This is ren.
 The word ren was originally used to mean something like handsome manly or a man’s
man nothing to do with morality. Confucius rephrase the word to mean a moral rather
than macho or strength.
 Ren has been translated as benevolence, humanity, “humanity, love, altruism,
goodness, the good, authoritative person, and self. However, the author chose the word
humanity as the translation for ren because it is the most common one and comes
closest to expressing what he means.
 Humanity is a moral attitude. Humanity is the umbrella that includes all the virtues Dash
being honest, sincere, wise, courageous, practicing filial piety and sympathy towards
others.
 Having a manatee requires that we overcome the greed and egocentricity of the self.
Humanity is defined as the opposite of self interest, profit, and looking for possessions.
 Ritual
 I would base needs the word “ritual”, We use it in three ways.
 First, we talk about religious ritual – baptism or funeral rituals, for example.
 Second, we often use the word “ritual“ in place of the word “habit” code: so it is my
morning ritual to first drink a cup of coffee before I do anything else.
 Finally, we often say some thing is just “empty a ritual, “meaning that the form has no
content. For example, when someone asks how we are, we ritually respond and say that
we are fine. We may not be fine at all, but we will, nevertheless, make the ritual
response.
 Most of us tend to think that this kind of empty ritual is insincere and there’s no real
meaning. As Confucius will show us, we are wrong to think that.
 Confucius used the two forms of ritual ( religious ritual and noble etiquette), and then
expanded his own definition of ritual.
 Because carrying out rituals requires reverence, for the ancestors, and respect, for the
duke or lord. Confucius expanded this to explain ritual as reverence and respect for all
 the people one deals with in social situations. Confucius concluded that ritual id a moral
action that ensures a proper, civilized society.
 Things to note when it comes to ritual:
 First, rituals are almost always balanced: even when one person is superior, they are
required to play some part in the ritual for it to work.
 Second, ritual is learned. This also means that ritual will vary from culture to culture:
some shaking hands with meeting, others bowing.
 Third, ritual teaches us proper behavior: Confucius sees rituals as the ways in which we
practice civilized behavior.
 Finally, rituals are actions outside of us. Ritual is an external action that does not require
internal commitment. This means that we can carry on a ritual even when we do not like
the ritual, do not like the person we are being polite to, and desperately wish we were
somewhere else and not visiting great uncle Henry
 Rituals channel our emotions too.
 The Gentleman
 A person who can practice both humanity and ritual is called a “gentleman.”
 Originally this was a title of nobility referring to the younger sons of the Lord. They
would’ve been part of the novel, wiring, class. Gentleman was a title based on birth, not
merit.
 Confucius, however, re-defined the word “gentlemen quote to make it a goal one wants
to reach. A “gentleman” is someone with ethical and ritual training and a good
education, and is an example of moral behavior.