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Percival Nicholas Tan

10909729 AB-Philosophy

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Confucius was a thinker, political figure, educator andfounder of the Ru School of Chinese thought.His teachings, preserved in the Lunyu or Analects,

form the foundation of much of subsequent Chinesespeculation on the education and comportment of theideal man, how such an individual should live his lifeand interact with others, and the forms of society and

government in which he should participate

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Sima Qian, a Han Dynasty court historian, gives a tale of how

Confucius was born in answer to his parents' prayers at a sacredhill (qiu) called Ni. Confucius' surname Kong (which meansliterally an utterance of thankfulness when prayers have beenanswered), his tabooed given name Qiu, and his social name Zhongni, all appear connected to the miraculous circumstancesof his birth. This casts doubt, then, on Confucius' royal genealogyas found in Sima Qian, for Confucius is depicted as havingendured a poverty-stricken and humiliating youth and beenforced, upon reaching manhood, to undertake such petty jobs asaccounting and caring for livestock.

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In his middle age Confucius is supposed to havegathered about him a group of disciples whom he

taught and also to have devoted himself to politicalmatters in Lu. The number of Confucius' disciples hasbeen greatly exaggerated, with Sima Qian and othersources claiming that there were as many as three

thousand of them.

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Our best source for understanding Confucius and histhought is the Analects. But the Analects is aproblematic and controversial work, having beencompiled in variant versions long after Confucius'sdeath by disciples or the disciples of disciples. Somehave argued that, because of the text's inconsistenciesand incompatibilities of thought, there is much in the Analects that is non-Confucian and should bediscarded as a basis for understanding the thought of Confucius.

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By the 4th century BCE, Confucius was recognized as a

unique figure, a sage who was ignored but should havebeen recognized and become a king. At the end of the 4thcentury, Mencius says of Confucius: Ever since man cameinto this world, there has never been one greater than

Confucius.

And in two passages Mencius implies thatConfucius was one of the great sage kings who, accordingto his reckoning, arises every five hundred years. Confuciusalso figures prominently as the subject of anecdotes andthe teacher of wisdom in the writing of Xunzi, a thirdcentury BCE follower of Confucius' teachings.

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While Confucius believes that people live their lives within parameters firmly established by Heaven which, often, for him means both a purposefulSupreme Being as well as nature and its fixed cycles

and patterns he argues that men are responsible fortheir actions and especially for their treatment of others. We can do little or nothing to alter our fatedspan of existence but we determine what we

accomplish and what we are remembered for.

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Confucius' social philosophy largely revolves around the concept of ren,compassion or loving others. Cultivating or practicing such concernfor others involved deprecating oneself. This meant being sure to avoidartful speech or an ingratiating manner that would create a falseimpression and lead to self-aggrandizement .For Confucius, such concern for others is demonstrated through thepractice of forms of the Golden Rule: What you do not wish for

yourself, do not do to others; (plagiarized by Jesus ) Since you yourself desire standing then help others achieve it, since you yourself desire success then help others attain it.

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He regards devotion to parents and older siblings asthe most basic form of promoting the interests of others before one's own and teaches that such altruismcan be accomplished only by those who have learnedself-discipline.

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Confucius' political philosophy is also rooted in hisbelief that a ruler should learn self-discipline, shouldgovern his subjects by his own example, and shouldtreat them with love and concern. If the people be ledby laws, and uniformity among them be sought by punishments, they will try to escape punishment andhave no sense of shame. If they are led by virtue, anduniformity sought among them through the practiceof ritual propriety, they will possess a sense of shameand come to you of their own accord.

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Confucius' analysis of the lack of connection betweenactualities and their names and the need to correctsuch circumstances is usually referred to as Confucius'theory of zhengming. Elsewhere in the Analects,Confucius says to his disciple Zilu that the first thinghe would do in undertaking the administration of astate is zhengming.

Rectification of Names

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For Confucius, what characterized superior rulership

was the possession of de orvirtue

.

Conceived of as akind of moral power that allows one to win a following without recourse to physical force, such virtue alsoenabled the ruler to maintain good order in his state

without troubling himself and by relying on loyal andeffective deputies. Confucius claimed that, He whogoverns by means of his virtue is, to use an analogy,like the pole-star: it remains in its place while all thelesser stars do homage to it.

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A hallmark of Confucius' thought is his emphasis on

education and study. He disparages those who havefaith in natural understanding or intuition and arguesthat the only real understanding of a subject comesfrom long and careful study. Study, for Confucius,

means finding a good teacher and imitating his wordsand deeds. A good teacher is someone older who isfamiliar with the ways of the past and the practices of the ancients.

He who learns but does notthink is lost. He who thinks but

does not learn is in greatdanger.

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Confucius, himself, is credited by the tradition with havingtaught altogether three thousand students, though only seventy are said to have truly mastered the arts hecherished. Confucius is willing to teach anyone, whatevertheir social standing, as long as they are eager and tireless.He taught his students morality, proper speech,government, and the refined arts. While he alsoemphasizes the Six Arts -- ritual, music, archery, chariot-riding, calligraphy, and computation -- it is clear that heregards morality the most important subject. Confucius'pedagogical methods are striking. He never discourses atlength on a subject. Instead he poses questions, citespassages from the classics, or uses apt analogies, and waitsfor his students to arrive at the right answers.

I only instruct the eager andenlighten the fervent. If I hold up one

corner and a student cannot comeback to me with the other three, I do

not go on with the lesson.

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Burdened by the loss of both his son and his favoritedisciples, he died at the age of 71 or 72. Confucius wasburied in Kong Lin cemetery which lies in thehistorical part of Qufu. The original tomb erectedthere in memory of Confucius on the bank of theSishui River had the shape of an axe. In addition, it hasa raised brick platform at the front of the memorial forofferings such as sandalwood incense and fruit.

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Riegel, Jeffrey(2012). Confucius. The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy Retrieved from:http://plato.stanford.edu/archives/spr2012/entries/confucius/. Retrieved: March 1, 2012images.google.com