Confucius (K'ung Fu-tzu) was born of a
rather impoverished family of noble descent in the state of
Lu (in modern Shantung). He quickly achieved a reputation for
scholarship and learning. During his life, he witnessed the
disintegration of unified imperial rule. He was a great admirer
of the Duke of Zhou, and sought to convince various nobles to
rule according to certain social customs he associated with
early Zhou culture. These customs emphasized moral responsibility
and the concept of the chün tzu. The chün
tzu was any refined gentleman who embodied the virtue of
benevolence while he maintained traditional rites, customs,
and filial piety toward his ancestors, family, and the gods.
Stereotypically, this gentleman was marked by his white beard,
fine clothes, and long fingernails. Confucianism might be seen
as a philosophy in which politics and government are an extension
of morality and tradition. As long as the ruler remained benevolent,
the government will naturally work toward the good of the people
(Lau n. p.). A Confucian philosopher strove to be responsible,
controlled, and temperate.
Confucius spent ten years traveling through the
whole of China's various states. He had ambitions of attaining
a political position at one of the Chinese courts, but he never
succeeded in this endeavor and spent most of his life as a teacher.
Realizing that the warlike leaders paid no attention to his
philosophy, Confucius returned to Lu, and he spent the rest
of his life training a group of gifted and devoted students.
The importance of Confucius lies in having been one of China's
first great teachers as well as a political philosopher. His
policy was to accept anyone as a disciple provided that the
student was genuinely eager to learn, and this idea was revolutionary
in a society in which education was the exclusive privilege
of the aristocracy. He is also one of the first Chinese philosophers
to leave behind a collection of teachings that can be reliably
ascribed to his authorship. This is the Lun yü,
or the Analects as the work is commonly known in English.
In the Western Han, Confucianism became generally
associated with a reverence for "ancient" books and
"ancient gods." It later grew to be the official state
philosophy of the Chinese empire; it retained this preeminent
position up until the twentieth-century. Confucianism ultimately
became the basis of a state religion. While it was based on
the ancient gods and rites, it was associated closely with philosophical
ideals as well. Inevitably, the Master's teachings became modified
over the course of time. The official Confucian state religion,
organized and maintained in Han times, ruthlessly exterminated
local cults and destroyed the temples of wayside gods. All religious
authority was centralized and focused in the capital city, while
unorthodox belief was treated as mere superstition (Schafer
61). The Analects (Lun Yü) is a collection of Confucius'
sayings gathered in a single text, which is the only reliable
record of his philosophy. The other "Confucian Classics"
were compiled centuries after his death. The Analects
is one of the pillars of Chinese culture and have been widely
read across the centuries. The only other comparable book in
Western Culture is the Bible (Lau, n. p.).
Mencius: Confucius
inspired an entire school of Chinese thinkers. Probably the
most illustrious thinker in his school was Mencius. Much
like Confucius, Mencius traveled in different states for several
years attempting to persuade rulers to adopt his philosophy
with little success. He is best known for his argument that
human nature is inherently good. He argues that humans are born
with the capacity for distinguishing between right and wrong.
Individuals may not know from childhood which acts are acceptable
and which ones are not, but all children are capable of feeling
shame, and once they learn which acts are good or bad, they
have a natural tendency to approve of the former and disapprove
of the latter. His argument was aimed at countering the then-current
theory that human nature consists only of evil appetites, but
he also sought to reinvigorate the traditional idea subscribed
to Confucius that morality was decreed by heaven. Mencius successfully
broke down the rigid intellectual barrier between human tendencies
and heavenly decrees. He argued that morality is as much a part
of human nature as selfish appetites, and the biological drives
are as much a part of heavenly decree or the natural world as
morality is. Another of the Mencius' noteworthy arguments is
his idea that the function of a ruler is to further the good
of his subjects. If a ruler abuses his power, he is no longer
acting as a ruler. Instead, he is just a "fellow,"
and he has lost the mandate of heaven. The people then have
the right to rebel against him. Many of Mencius' ideas can be
found in his "dialogue" concerning the transfer of
rule from Yao to Shun.
Influences
of Confucianism: In many ways, Confucian philosophy
is a middle-ground between the harsh doctrines of the Legalist
school of philosophy and Taoism.
Legalist philosophy adheres strictly to rules and custom, but
it emphasizes punishment and discipline, and it lacks the Confucian
emphasis on kindness and contemplation. Likewise, the Confucian
emphasis on rational practicality and common sense is something
that Taoism lacks.
On the other hand, Taoist philosophy is in many
ways much more flexible than Confucianism. Taoist writers seek
to avoid being "boxed" by rules, definitions and empty
words. They encourage a sort of intuitive and non-logical way
of seeking balance in the world by resisting the desire to interfere
with normal processes of nature. Taoism emphasizes wu wei--enlightened
non-action rather than needless bustle and "busy-work"
for its own sake. Legalism emphasizes wu yu--active attempts
to modify human behavior for the better by restraining the evil
impulses of humanity in a rigid hierarchy of law. Confucianism,
while not completely incompatible with either philosophy, suggests
that thoughtful contemplation is necessary in making decisions
rather than blindly following rules (the Legalist philosophy)
or letting luck and intuition dominate human behavior (the Taoist
philosophy). Confucianism thus rejects the Taoist notion that
virtue should be an almost-instinctive and unthinking reaction
in the good man. While Confucianism shares the legalist desire
to maintain tradition and behave according to appropriate ritual
and precedent, Confucius rejects the rhetoric and imagery of
violent conformity so often founded in Legalist documents.
