Confucianism

Chinese philosophy comparable to religion in other civilizations

Philosophy and religion

San jiao jiu liu ( 三教九流 )

San jiao jiao (religion)

Confucian Buddhism Daoism

Jiu liu liu (school of thoughts)

Confucius, utilitarian philosophy, Daoist, Legalist, Logicians, Yin-yang school, school of natural order etc.

The BackgroundOne Hundred Schools of Thought

Warring state period –people suffered from chaos

Offered solutions to various social problems

Legalism - Qin dynastyConfucianism – Han Dynasty Daoism Buddhism –from Han to Wei Jin period

Founder: Confucius Kong Fu Zi Developer: Mencius Meng Zi Xunzi

Confucianism

Born in 551 BCEIn state of LuOnce as Minister of CrimePrivate schoolteaching approach ( 因材施教 :teach students in accordance with their aptitude;

Confucius’ life

有教无类 : one should not make social distinctions in teaching.

-famous work: Lunyu (Analects of Confucius)

Humanism -focuses on human affairs -attention to social and political questions 正心、修身、齐家、治国、平天下Purify heart Cultivate moral Bring order to family Govern the people wellBring peach to the world

Core Concepts

world

society

world

society

family

Moral cultivation

Moral perfection

Filial piety

Well –ordered societyGovernment

Peaceful world weak Nationalism

When an individual achieves sagehood through moral cultivation, he is obligated to seek public service

穷则独善其身，达则兼济天下

In obscurity, scholars should maintain their own integrity while withdrawing from the society .

In times of success(?), they should seek to perfect the whole state.

天下 大同 To achieve the perfect state: the whole world

is harmonized.

Ren Love, human-heartedness, selflessness, Kinship, responsibilities, obligationCompassion, consideration, Filial piety, love, loyalty, faithfulness, caring

Ren Love

三纲君为臣之纲，父为子之纲，夫为妇之纲Ruler/the ruled, father/son husband/wife五常父义、母慈、兄友、弟恭、子孝五者Father / mother / elder /younger/ children

Ruler-----------ruled===========loyaltyHusband-----wife============virtuous

caringParents-------children=========filial piety,

obedience Sibling-------sibling==========obedience,

respectFriend-------friend===========sincere,

righteous

Filial piety

父健在， 不远行

守孝三年

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aFJ07rkeJt8

More Confucian Values

- the capacity to act correctly in all the complex circumstances of . . . human life.

- situation-oriented - closely related to ren -What is a ruller’s yi-what is a rulled person’s yi

Yi (righteousness)

Ren (love) yi Li

to break promises and tell white liesMencius exmaple: It is not yi to touch one’s sister-in-law, but it is

his obligation to save her from drowning if only his hand can save her.

- 不仁不义Heartless and

- 仁义之师the armed force which fights for benevolence

and justice

-originally meant religious rites-the many ways in which people were to

comport themselves properly- propriety/ personal appropriation- Etiquette // outward manifestation

Li

Why Confucius believed that the social problems in his era was originated from the wrong Li?

Morally perfect person -Literal meaning is "son of the ruler," prince-before Confucius, meaning is nobles, aristocrat-opposite – xiao ren –lower class people

-Confucius referred to morally perfect person- Confucius believed that anyone can become Junzi by

moral cultivation and perfection -opposite- xiaoren – immoral person -ideal situation is the ruler is a junzi

Junzi

Analects of Confucius 20 topics 522 chapters 15,386 charactersJuzi - 122 times Is mentioned in every chapter -cultivated himself in his whole life

君子欲讷于言而敏于行

Influences/legacy for later Confucian followers

忧国忧民To concern about the country and people

安得广厦千万间，大庇天下寒士俱欢颜，风雨不动安如山

先天下之忧而忧，后天下之乐而乐

Rectification of Names- 名不正则言不顺， 言不顺则事不成 !If the name is not right then speech will not

make sense, and if speech makes no sense then nothing will be accomplished.

Zhengming

Wang - king junzi

Ba -hegemon - tyrant

暮投石壕村，有吏夜捉人。老翁逾墙走，老妇出门看。 吏呼一何怒，妇啼一何苦！听妇前致词：三男邺城戍。 一男附书至，二男新战死。存者且偷生，死者长已矣！ 室中更无人，惟有－乳－下孙。有孙母未去，出入无

完裙。 老妪力虽衰，请从吏夜归，急应河阳役，犹得备晨炊。 夜久语声绝，如闻泣幽咽。天明登前途，独与老翁别。

石壕吏—— [ 唐 ] 杜甫 p.187

What is the style of this poem? Realistic or idealism?

What attitude the poet held toward the ruler and his governing spirit?

What attitude the poet held toward the old lady in the poem?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ze2NfcceIo

Main contributions- Human nature- Political thoughts

Mencius

千金买房万金买邻

Mencius life

Human nature is good

三字经 Three Character Classic

人之初 , 性本善 , 性相近 , 习相远 ,

men at their birth, are naturally good. their natures are much the same; their habits become widely different.

Human nature

昔孟母 , 择邻处 , 子不学 , 断机杼Of old, the mother of Mencius, chose a

neighbourhood, And when her child would not learn, she broke

the shuttle from the loom.

无恻隐之心，非人也； mercy, sympathy 无羞恶之心，非人也； sense of shame无辞让之心，非人也； modesty, humility 无是非之心，非人也。 Sense of right and wrong

“ 恻隐之心，仁之端也； the seeds of love羞恶之心，义之端也； the seeds of

righteousness辞让之心，礼之端也； the seeds of appropriation 是非之心，智之端也。” the seeds of moral

wisdom

Ren zheng ( kingly/benevolent governing)People-oriented government

民为贵，社稷次之，君为轻

People (subjects) is the most importantThe thrown is the secondThe ruler is the least important

Political thoughts

君仁 , 莫不仁君义 , 莫不义君正 , 莫不正一正君而国定矣 .

Xun zi

人之性恶，其善者伪也。Men is evil at birth, goodness derives from

conscious activity. -following human nature and indulging human

emotions will inevitably lead to contention and strife

-one must be transformed by the example of a teacher and guided by the way of ritual and rightness

Human nature

for Xunzi, education is even more important than it is for Mencius

-education is the only counterforce to the natural tendencies that lead to competition, strife, and aggression

-What made the sage emperor Yu a Yu was the fact that he practiced humaneness and rightness and took uprightness as his standard.

-the ruler should set good moral examples for the ruled

-however, because of human’s evil nature, law should be used to maintain order

-influenced by Legalism-his students became Legalist thinkers in the

Qin Dynasty

Political thoughts