Confucius
As Confucius' philosophy still remains in the heart of many Chinese
people. His
images of the greatest professional teacher of all time, the
greatest
philosopher in Chinese history and his influence toward the future
and the past
2000 years of Chinese civilization has made his thought the
essence of the
Chinese culture. He always said the importance of teaching
could change the
future of the civilization. And he also encouraged his
students to explore the
various things to learn, but be very selective and
careful. The purpose of
Confucius' teaching was practical and designed to
help each person improve his
character and conduct, and perhaps become
prepared for an official position in
the court. According to one passage in
the Analects, Confucius taught four
things: culture, conduct, loyalty, and
truthfulness.1 Culture consisted of
literature and music. Confucius suggested
the value of each: "Let a man be
stimulated by poetry, established in
character by the rules of propriety, and
perfected by music."2 These pursuits
were means by which one may achieve
the higher ideal of following the Way.
"The gentleman extensively studies
literature and restrains himself with the
rules of propriety. Thus he will not
violate the Way."3 And also "Set your
heart upon the Way. Support
yourself by its virtue. Rely on goodness. Find
recreation in the arts."4
Confucius put the moral duties before the arts
as the essential activities of
the gentleman. "A young man's duty is to
behave well to his parents at home
and to in love to all, and to cultivate
the friendship of the good. If, when all
that is done, he has any energy to
spare, then let him study the cultural
arts."5 Confucius taught many topics
around these subjects, but the most
importance of these is the propriety,
ritual and the Way of being a Gentleman.
From these to achieve the Jen.
Confucius had one overwhelming message: if we are
to achieve a state of
orderliness and peace, we need to return to traditional
values of virtue.
These values are based entirely on one concept: Jen, which is
best,
translated as "humaneness." This humaneness is a relatively
strange concept
to Western people, because it is not primarily a practicable
virtue. The
rules of propriety offered a code of accepted behaviour that
demonstrated to
themselves and others that they were cultured and proper
gentlemen. For
Confucius, the gentleman knew and behaved according to the rules
of
propriety. In the first chapter of Analects, Yu-Tzu gives the value of
the
rules of propriety. "Among the functions of propriety the most valuable
is
that it establishes harmony. The Way of the ancient kings from this
harmony got
its beauty. It is the guiding principle of all things great and
small. If things
go amiss, and he who knows the harmony tries to achieve it
without regulating it
by the rules of propriety, they will still go amiss."6
Confucius explains
what can happen if conduct is not guided by propriety.
"Courtesy not
bounded by the rules of propriety becomes tiresome. Caution not
bounded by the
rules of propriety becomes timidity, daring becomes
insubordination,
straightforwardness becomes rudeness."7 Nevertheless,
Confucius did not
believe in over-wallowing in ceremonies, and the feelings
should be proper to
the situations. "In ceremonies it is better to be sparing
than extravagant.
Funeral ceremonies should be observed in deep sorrow
rather than in fear."8
By the same mean, "When substance, one becomes
pedantic. When substance and
refinement are properly blended, then one is a
gentleman."9 Confucius knew
that the ancient routes had been reduced in his
time, and that such reduction
was politic. "Were anyone today to serve his
prince according to the full
rules of propriety he would be thought a
sycophant."10 Many Confucius'
students were interest to become officials in
government and so as Confucius
himself, wanted the opportunity to advise
rulers. His aim is to put his
knowledge into practice. "A man may be able to
recite the three hundred
Odes; but, if when given a post in the
government, he does not know how to act,
or when sent on a mission to far
parts he cannot answer specific questions,
however extensive his knowledge
may be, of what use is it to him."11
Nevertheless, an official must
improve himself and regulate his own conduct
before he could hope to rule
over others. Hence, self-improvement was
prerequisite to engaging in
politics. "If a minister makes his own conduct
correct, he will have no
difficulty in assisting in government. But if he cannot
rectify himself, how
can he possibly rectify others?"12 Despite Confucius
illustrates wisdom and
Jen as essential to ruling, they still must be
accomplished with dignity, and
according to propriety. He explains why. He whose
wisdom brings him into
power, needs goodness to secure that power. Else, though
he gets it, he will
certainly lose it. He whose wisdom brings him into power and
who has goodness
to secure that power, if he has not dignity to approach the
common people,
they will not respects him. He whose wisdom brought him into
power, who has
goodness to secure that power, and dignity to approach the common
people, if
he handles them contrary to the rules of propriety, full excellence
is not
reached. 13 Confucius believed that official's political action should
follow
the Way. His actions will vary depending on whether the government
is
following the Way or not. Confucius gives this advice for the
different
circumstances: Have sincere faith and love learning. Be not afraid
to die for
pursuing the good Way. Do not enter a state that pursues dangerous
courses, nor
stay in a chaotic one. When the Way prevails under Heaven, then
show yourself;
when it does not prevail, then hide. When he Way prevails in
your own land and
you are poor and in a humble position, are ashamed of
yourself. When the Way
does not prevail in your land and you are wealthy and
in an honourable position,
are ashamed of yourself. 14 These was someone
misunderstand how to put the Way
into practice. Chi K'ang-tzu asked Confucius
if it would be a good idea to kill
those who had not the Way in order to help
those who had the Way. Confucius
said, "You are there to rule, not to kill.
If you desire what is good, the
people will be good. The essence of the
gentleman is that of wind; the essence
of small people is that of grass. And
when a wind blows over the grass, then it
bends."15 The proper relationship
between a ruler and his minister is the
ruler should love his people, while
the minister should be loyal to the ruler.
Confucius explains the proper
behaviour of each. "How can he be said truly
to love, who exacts no effort
from the objects of his love? How can he be said
to be truly loyal, who
refrains from admonishing the objects of his
loyalty?"16 Confucius summarizes
the art of the ruler as follows: A country
of a thousand war-chariots cannot
be administered unless the ruler attends
strictly to business, punctually
observes his promises, is economical in
expenditure, loves the people, and
uses the labour of the peasantry only at the
proper times of year.17 The main
subject matter in Confucius' teachings was how
to become a good and virtuous
person by improving his own character. When Tzu-lu
asked if courage was to be
esteemed by the gentleman, Confucius said, " The
gentleman holds justice to
be of highest importance. If a gentleman has courage
but neglects justice, he
becomes insurgent. If an inferior man has courage but
neglects justice, he
becomes a thief." 18 Confucius' main methods for
achieving these virtues was
learning. However, learning is not enough to fulfil
the need. People must be
able to think. "He who learns but does not think
is lost; he who thinks but
does not learn is in danger."19 Confucius also
mentions the friendship and
the virtues of faithfulness and sincerity.
"First and foremost, be faithful
to your superiors, keep all promises,
refuse the friendship of all who are
not like you; and if you have made a
mistake, do not be afraid of admitting
the fact and amending your ways."20
Confucius explain to his students
which kinds of friends are beneficial and
which are harmful to their
characters. "There are three sorts of
friendships which are advantageous, and
three which are injurious. Friendships
with the upright, friendships with the
sincere, and friendships with those well
informed are advantageous.
Friendships with those who flatter, friendships with
those of weak principle,
and friendships with those talk cleverly are
injurious."21 The master also
reveal there are three sorts of pleasures
which are advantageous, and three
which are injurious. Finding pleasure in the
discriminating study of
ceremonies and music, finding pleasure in discussing the
good points in the
conduct of others, and finding pleasure in having many wise
friends, these
are advantageous. But finding pleasure in profligate enjoyments,
finding
pleasure in idle gadding about, and finding pleasure in feasting, these
are
injurious.22 Ritual, was an important subject of study. It has
been
illustrate by the poetry and music from the study of Confucius. It is
also the
Way of teaching people to the Gentleman level. "If a man is not
humane,
what has he to do with ritual? If a man is not humane, what has he to
do with
music?"23 Confucius had explain the relationship between ritual and
Jen in
greater details. Yen Hui asked about humaneness. The master said, To
subdue
oneself and return to ritual is humane. If for one day a ruler could
subdue
himself and return to ritual, then all under Heaven would respond to
the
humaneness in him. For does humaneness proceed from the man himself, or
does it
proceed from others...do not speak what is contrary to ritual, and
make no
movement, which is contrary to ritual.24 Poetry had broader
humanistic values
for understanding oneself and other people, and even
increased one's awareness
of the natural world. My children, why do you not
study the Book of Poetry? The
Odes serve to stimulate the mind. They may
be used for purposes of
self-contemplation. They teach the art of
sociability. They show how to regulate
feelings of resentment. From them you
learn the more immediate duty of serving
one's father, and the remoter one of
serving one's prince. From them we become
largely acquainted with the names
of birds, beasts, and plants."25
Confucius was also a great lover of
music and played some himself. However, the
teaching of this art was
apparently handed over to the Grand music master to
whom Confucius gave his
ideas on how music should follow the ideal of the
ancient pattern and then
allow for some improvisation while still maintaining
harmony. "Their music in
so far as one can find out about it began with a
strict unison. Soon the
musicians were given more liberty; but the tone remained
harmonious,
brilliant, consistent, right on till the close."26 Ssu-ma
Ch'ien quotes
this exact passage, but then goes on to give more information in
regard to
Confucius' use of poetry and music. He once also said, "After my
return to Lu
from Wei, I have been able to restore the musical tradition and
classify the
music of sung and ya and restore the songs to their respective
original
music." In the ancient times, there were over three thousand
songs, but
Confucius took out the duplicates and selected those that were suited
to good
form. The collection began with the songs of Ch'i and Houchi, covered
the
great period of the Shang and Chou kings and carried it down to the times
of
the tyrants Yu and Li. It begins with a song of marital love, and
therefore it
is said "the song Kuan-ch'ih heads the collection of Feng;
Luming heads the
collection of the 'Little ya'; and Ch'ingmiao heads the
collection of the
Sung." Confucius personally sang all the three hundred
and five songs and
played the music on a string instrument to make sure that
it fitted in with the
score of hsiao, wu, ya, and sung. Through his efforts,
the tradition of ancient
rites and music was therefore rescued from oblivion
and handed down to
posterity, that they might help in the carrying out of
this ideal of a king's
government and in the teaching of "the Six Arts."