Week 5: Confucius and Confucianism

Historical Overview
771 BCE Eastern Zhou period. Invaders from the west captured the Zhou capital
and killed the king, forcing his heir to reestablish the Zhou alongside the modern
city of Luoyang. The Eastern Zhou lasted 500 years, divided into the Spring and
Autumn Period, which ended roughly in 475 BC, at which time the Warring
States Period begins.
Spring and Autumn Period. Lasted 3 centuries. Named for a chronicle of the
times: Spring and Autumn Annals. Around 200 vassal states fought for power.
Warring States Period. At the beginning of this period there were only 7 major
states remaining. The Qin conquered them all by 221 BCE.
This is when the iron age was beginning, making the rituals of the bronze vessels
look a bit quaint. Sharper and stronger tools led to better agriculture.
Political reforms spread, with Shang Yang's reform abolishing the Zhou aristocratic
system in favor of a central bureaucracy, turning Qin into the most productive and
organized state of its time. Philosophy flourished as well: over the Dao or correct
way forward, over how to govern, over how to educate. These thinkers defined elite education for two millennia.
The greatest thinker among them was the man known as Kongzi or Zhongni, or Confucius.

The Many Faces of Confucianism

Introduction
This culture of ours resides here - Rao Zongyi, calligrapher. This refers to a passage from the Analects
when the founder of the Zhou is long gone and Confucius is under threat. He says, therefore, this is not
his culture here with me … Heaven protects me … to tell people about it. Rao Zongyi is saying that the
culture of the ancients resides within all of us, everywhere.
Another piece of calligraphy, by Dong Qichang from the late Ming, from the words of Zhou Dunyi: Can
you learn how to be a sage? The answer is yes, and the sage they mean is Confucius.
Confucius the sage: with innate knowledge, the philosopher of human nature, the paragon of education,
the reactionary. But the Confucius of the Analects is where we start.

At this point, Prof. Bol shows us around a desk with dozens of copies of The Analects, hundreds of years old, from
Japan, Korea, China, Mongolia.
The Time of Confucius
Here was Confucius in the context of the time and place he lived, when states competed for wealth and power.
When states warring with nobles on chariots transformed into states raising revenues to fund infantry with iron
weapons.
The increasing specialization in government required greater literacy to earn a place as a retainer for the
nobles. The Chinese word for this change toward literate elites is shi. Pronounced shur, see page 142.
Confucius becomes one of these bureaucrats.
He's orphaned at an early age and lacks powerful relatives. He decided against being an administrator or
military officer, or ritual specialist, in order to devote his life to learning.
When I was 15, I made my commitment to learning.
This learning has no skills to offer, it cannot make him rich or powerful. He says in the Analects 14.24 that the
learning of antiquity was for oneself while the learning of today is to please others. 17 This statement has an
important implication for individual morality, which gains great emphasis in the time of the Neo-Confucians. 18

17
So far this is my favorite Confucian quote, having trained as an engineer (to please others) and now learning
Chinese history (for myself).
18
Essentially, this means that if knowing what is right depends on me, then I cannot rely on law and government for
moral leadership. See page 168.
ChinaX Part I The Political and Intellectual Foundations of China Page 35 of 353
 Confucius is loyal to the Zhou King, who is weak. He dreams of the Duke of Zhou and the Zhou dynasty, which is
the source of models.

The Confucius of the Analects

He is asked by his students, if he had a jewel at home, wouldn't he sell it
rather than keep it locked up at home? Confucius replies that yes, he
would sell, but only at the right price, that he would decide for himself
what he was worth. To be a superior scholar, not a petty scholar.
He divides his loyalties: to himself, to family, to the state.
To be devoted to learning is to put oneself in tension with the demands of
family and state.
The quote on the left is from page 35 of Confucianism, by Dorothy and
Thomas Hoobler.

We've Lost The Way

Confucius defines the problem of the day as finding the righteous path, the Dao. They had lost their
way, but if there's a path, someone would have walked it, therefore it has a destination and you know
whether you're on the path.
According to Confucius and to Chinese philosophy, the Dao is within reach of mortal beings
(epistemological optimism, see page 41). This is in contrast with Western philosophy.
In the Judeo-Christian belief, after Eve bit the apple, mortals were condemned to lives spent begging
forgiveness for sin. Among the Greeks, Plato concludes that there are absolute ideas, the forms, that
don't exist in the real world. In the Western world, there exists that unbridgeable gap between what
is and what ought to be.
Confucius says that I was 15 when I set my will on learning and at 70, I could follow my desires
without overstepping the bounds. He eventually learned to live a life that was proper and moral,
with no need to beg forgiveness. A life that isn't possible in the West.

How to Find the Way Back

Through ritual. This is the answer Confucius gives.
For Confucius, the Way comes from the ancestors, from the antiquity of 500 years before the
founding of the Zhou dynasty, to the sage kings Yao and Shun.
I like antiquity and I'm good at seeking it.
That in each ritual, each person has a role to play in harmony with others. That these rituals of daily
practice are what keep us together and out of harm's way. The rituals are old, from well before
Confucius was born, and therefore…
I transmit, I do not innovate.19
The key to good government is to let rulers act as rulers should, fathers as fathers should, sons as sons should, and so
on. Confucius saw that if people played their roles society would work, even if it wasn't working then.

19
Analects 7.1, I transmit rather than innovate. I trust in and love the ancient ways. I might thus humbly
compare myself to Old Peng.
Peng was an elder in the Shang who was fond of telling stories and passing on the traditions.
ChinaX Part I The Political and Intellectual Foundations of China Page 36 of 353
Confucian Magic
This short video was a dramatization of how the magic of ritual influences people and objects.
Jennifer Yum and Xuan Li shake hands.
When one person extends their hand, the other extends theirs as well. That simple act, the beginning of the ritual of
shaking hands, creates a power to conform to a role. The one who begins the ritual, if she has virtue in herself and
knows how to behave, extracts virtue from another as they take their part.
Another ritual was demonstrated when the professor asked a student to close the door. Action at a distance, mind
over matter, the magic of ritual is when the student obeys.
Thus there are two kinds of magic: the lateral relationship where one person gets another to respond, and the
hierarchical relationship, where a superior authority orders subordinates to obey. These are both parts of Confucian
society.
Ritual with Attitude
In talking about the Ji family, Confucius notes that they use eight rows of dancers in the courtyard.
[3.1] If this can be tolerated, what cannot be tolerated?
In those days, eight rows of dancers were reserved for the lord, not for any nobleman. Ji was using
ritual to usurp authority. This use of ritual was hypocritical, intended to defeat ritual of its purpose
and strip it of meaning, weakening society.
If you can't restore meaning to ritual, to get rulers and subjects to act as they should, you can't get
back on the Way.
The legalists would argue, take these rituals and make them laws and therefore enforce a good society. Confucius
says that won't work, you have to bring the right attitude to rituals. He calls that attitude ren and says you can't do
ritual without it, you can't make music without it.
So what is ren? Confucius' students ask him to define it and he responds that there is a method of ren. It's not about
saving the world, feeding the poor, or bringing peace. It's benevolence, humaneness. Not self-sacrifice, but to see
your own interests in the interests of another, to see yourself as part of a community, to want others to advance to
the degree you advance yourself. To bring to your own life an attitude of concern for others.
The method of ren means we're acting in harmony, each for the other.
Junzi
To be a junzi, the son of a noble, means being a morally noble person. You don't have the right
as a matter of birth but as a matter of learning. Learning in this case doesn't mean study, it
means the true kind of learning, Confucian learning: for oneself, leading to self-transformation.
One learns to bring certain attitudes - how to serve. Confucians want to be part of the system as
moral actors, to be in public service, to sell their services, but only for the right price, which
really means a moral price. That is, the price to serve is that one will act only as a moral citizen
who travels along the Way.

Prof. Bol believes Chinese history doesn't offer any rulers who were Confucians. Instead, at their best, they were
patrons of Confucians who served beneath them.

ChinaX Part I The Political and Intellectual Foundations of China Page 37 of 353
Reading the Analects
In this section, Prof. Bol asks us to consider four questions about the Analects.
Why can the humane person abide in hardship and joy but others cannot?
Those who are clever in their words and pretentious in their appearance, yet are humane, are few indeed. [1.3]
Devote yourself to what must rightly be done for the people; respect spiritual beings, while keeping at a distance
from them. This may be called wisdom.” He asked about humaneness. The Master said, “One who is humane first
does what is difficult and only thereafter concerns himself with success. This may be called humaneness.” [6.20]
One who is not humane is able neither to abide for long in hardship nor to abide for long in joy. The humane find
peace in humaneness; the knowing derive profit from humaneness. [4.2]
Wealth and honor are what people desire, but one should not abide in them if it cannot be done in accordance with
the Way. Poverty and lowliness are what people dislike, but one should not avoid them if it cannot be done in
accordance with the Way. If the noble person rejects humaneness, how can he fulfill that name? The noble person
does not abandon humaneness for so much as the space of a meal. Even when hard-pressed he is bound to it, bound
to it even in time of danger. [4.5]
It is humaneness that brings beauty to one’s surroundings. Should one not make the choice to abide
in humaneness, how could one become known? [4:1]
The wise take joy in water; the humane take joy in mountains. The wise are active; the humane are tranquil. The
wise enjoy; the humane endure. [6:21]
Meng Wu Bo asked whether Zilu was humane. The Master said, I do not know. He asked again. The Master said,
As for You, he might be employed to manage the military levies in a state of a thousand chariots, but whether he
is humane, I do not know. “What about Qiu?” The Master said, In a town of a thousand households or a family of a
hundred chariots, he could be employed as a governor, but whether he is humane I do not know. “What about Chi?”
The Master said, As for Chi, when he puts on his sash and takes his place in court, he might be engaged in
conversation with the guests, but whether he is humane I do not know. (5.7)
My answer:
Humaneness comes from within, from the learning for oneself, and brings beauty to any place, as a light from
within. It does not come from the hedonistic pleasures without. It is this strength and beauty found inside that
nourishes one through hardship and brings one joy regardless of the world outside.
Why is benefitting the people not relevant to humaneness?
Zigong said, “What would you say of someone who broadly benefits the people and was able to help everyone?
Could he be called humane?” The Master said, How would this be a matter of humaneness? Surely he would have
to be a sage? Even Yao and Shun were concerned about such things. As for humaneness – you want to establish
yourself; then help others to establish themselves. You want to develop yourself; then help others to develop
themselves. Being able to recognize oneself in others, one is on the way to being humane. [6.28]
My answer:
Humaneness is not about acting directly and independently to benefit others, it is about learning for oneself and
seeing oneself in others and oneself in harmony with one's own place in the rituals of society. To act broadly to
benefit others isn't a bad thing, but it's not the internalization of ritual and harmony that is humaneness.
What is the Desirability of Humaneness?
Is humaneness far away? If I want to be humane, then humaneness is here. [7.29]
As for Hui, he went for three months without his mind’s departing from humaneness. As for the others, they might
persist for a day or a month, but that is all. [6.5]
I have not seen one who loved humaneness, nor one who hated inhumanity. One who loved humaneness would
value nothing more highly. One who hated inhumanity would be humane so as not to allow inhumanity to affect his
person. Is there someone whose strength has for the space of a single day been devoted to humaneness? I have not
seen one whose strength was insufficient. It may have happened, but I have not seen it. [4.6]
My answer:
If you want to be humane, you can, at any time, in any place, and each has the strength to do so. But to be humane
requires strength and persistence and many do not clothe themselves with humaneness day after day as they could.
Humaneness is not an object of desire that comes easily.

ChinaX Part I The Political and Intellectual Foundations of China Page 38 of 353
What is the Relationship between Humaneness and Ritual?
If one is human yet not humane – what can one have to do with rites? If one is human yet not humane – what can
one have to do with music? (3.3)
Yan Yuan asked about humaneness. The Master said, Through mastering oneself and returning to ritual one
becomes humane. If for a single day one can master oneself and return to ritual, the whole world will return
to humaneness. Does the practice of humaneness come from oneself or from others? Yan Yuan said, “May I ask
about the specifics of this?” The Master said, Look at nothing contrary to ritual; listen to nothing contrary to ritual;
say nothing contrary to ritual; do nothing contrary to ritual. Yan Yuan said, “Though unintelligent, Hui requests
leave to put these words into practice.” [12.1]
My answer
Without humaneness, one cannot participate in ritual or make music. This is what Confucius meant when he said it
was intolerable for Ji to have eight rows of dancers. That one's appropriate participation flows from one's attitude.
Correspondingly, one obtains humaneness through the precise and appropriate participation in ritual, where nothing
is seen, heard, said, or done that is outside the precise performance of ritual.
Interview With Professor Puett
I thread everything on a single strand.
What single strand, what coherent theory can we divine from all the disparate passages in The Analects?
Prof. Puett says that there are many contradictory passages where Confucius will tell one disciple one thing and
another something entirely different. Here's an example of that:
That you achieve ren through adherence to ritual, but the rituals are worthless if you don't have ren.
Part of the power of The Analects is that Confucius doesn't make clear and obvious statements, but instead forces
the reader to interpret, to deduce the meaning.
If there is a strand, it's that the The Analects is a text presenting a figure who is doing in practice what he is arguing.
Look at Book 10, where Confucius is doing rituals with precision: how he walks into a room, straightens a mat.
How he talks to people of different ranks.
Add these rituals to the passages and you see why the rituals matter and where the passages apply. Do we get a
philosophy directly from this? Perhaps. But perhaps Confucius is leading his students to engage in the passages and
the rituals to explore the philosophy themselves. Philosphy is a way of life, more humane, but more reponsive to
situations and to others.
So let's read The Analects with the idea of improving ourselves.

ChinaX Part I The Political and Intellectual Foundations of China Page 39 of 353
Confucius' Successors
Mencius
The two most interesting and best known people who saw themselves as followers of
Confucius, not directly but generations later, were Mencius and Xunzi.
In Mencius world, Confucianism is under attack. He must answer the question, why should we
be good, which is not a question Confucius had to answer. Confucius talked about how to be
good, not why.
Mencius answers with a question, which we'll reset into modern times. If a toddler runs in
front of a speeding car, do you feel anything? You don't have to act, but do you feel? You do,
of course, because it's in our nature to be good.
You should be good because it's what you want to be, but that doesn't mean you will be good
without trying.
What about a subway rider who is pushed in front of a train and dies while a photographer stand by and snaps
photographs. From a Mencian point of view, it's reprehensible, he didn't seem to care. What would Mencius say
about that?
Mencius' Response
He says that there's a continuum from Sages, to Worthies, to Humans. Below Humans there are Barbarians and then
Animals. The photographer is a Barbarian.
So Mencius believes that if we deny morality in ourselves, we are not human.20
Xunzi
Xunzi created his philosophy after Mencius was gone, in a time when wars had
increased. His belief was that human nature is evil and he details the many ways in
which it is. Where Mencius would say I feel that, Xunzi will say, I think that.
Xunzi's interests lay in education, history, logic, argument and debate. Not in
parables. Deduction, not induction.
So how is it possible for Mencius and Xunzi to both consider themselves true
followers of Confucius?

20
On page 44, we'll see Mencius’ objections to the Mohists and Yangists.
ChinaX Part I The Political and Intellectual Foundations of China Page 40 of 353