Asian Religions, page 7
In this chapter we have examined the contexts in which the Confucian values of li and ren are put into practice. At the same time we have looked at what makes someone a “person,” that is, how one can fulfill one's human potential. This is done through the conscientious, deliberate cultivation of personal virtues within a web of relationships, beginning with family and friends and extending outward to community and nation. There is an important book of the later Confucian tradition called the Great Learning (大學, Daxue) – a book of directives to rulers. It is too long to quote in full, but the basic premise is that a ruler who wishes to govern well must first find harmony within his own household; one who wishes to find harmony in one's own household must first practice self-cultivation; in order to practice self-cultivation, one must first pacify one's mind; in order to pacify one's mind, one must first be sincere in one's thoughts; and in order to be sincere in one's thoughts, one must strive for knowledge of oneself and of the world. So, contrary to what many Westerners think of the “group-mindedness” of Confucian cultures, Confucian cultivation begins with the self.
6
Learning to Be Human
Although Confucian relationships are hierarchical, perhaps the greatest contribution that Confucius made to his society was the commitment to human equality or “equal opportunity.” Self-cultivation and human flourishing, indeed human “perfection,” are accessible to anyone, regardless of social class. One of his most admirable traits as a teacher was his willingness to accept any student, regardless of his or her ability to pay; he said in the Analects (“Shu Er,” chapter 8): “I will take any student who, given three corners of a square, can give me the fourth” (that is, anyone capable of rudimentary logical thinking). He also showed great personal humility as a teacher: “If I see three persons walking, I know that one of them could be my teacher” (Analects, “Shu Er,” chapter 22). This is testament not only to the fact that Confucius could recognize anyone as a teacher, but also that he himself regarded learning as a life-long pursuit.
Confucius expressed his egalitarian ideal through the model of the junzi (君子) – an ideal, he said, that anyone could achieve. This was a remarkable statement and at first must have seemed perplexing, because the traditional definition of a junzi was a man of high birth: the two characters literally mean “son of a nobleman.” In feudal societies, where class was a birthright, the “son of a nobleman” would be, simply, a nobleman! So how could Confucius have asserted that anyone could become a junzi – not by birth, but by means of self-effort? Clearly, he was using the term in a new way. The traditional English translation of junzi is “gentleman”: a good choice, because, while in Victorian England the word may have referred to a certain social status, today we see it as being descriptive of character, not of a birthright. When I was growing up, I was taught by my own father to be considerate, polite, assertive but humble, respectful and self-possessed; he was a “gentleman” though he had been born in impoverished circumstances and never enjoyed great wealth or high social standing. Having studied Confucianism later in my life, I realized that my father had been a junzi; and I have tried to emulate him.
Confucius' target audience consisted only of men, and the word junzi is certainly masculine. Social values of the time dictated that women dedicate themselves to child-rearing and domestic labor, not to activities outside the home. Nevertheless, contemporary feminist thinkers have found incipient ideas within Confucianism that support male–female equality, ideas not unlike those of the “ethics of care” of feminist ethical theory. Some have therefore adopted a translation of junzi as “exemplary person” rather than “gentleman.” I applaud this translation, but it is true that the word junzi, even today, is generally applied only to men – in fact the title remains, some 2000 years after the time of Confucius, the highest compliment that one can give a man. Still, the qualities of a junzi, as well as the means to cultivate those qualities, are certainly as applicable to women as they are to men, being accessible to all.
For Confucius, a junzi has two defining qualities. The first is education: a junzi is educated in the arts and literature, history, and the rites. The second is character: a junzi is conscientious, self-critical, and co-human. On this last quality, Confucius said:
A junzi has nine wishes:
that his vision be clear,
his listening sharp,
his appearance gentle,
his expression reverential;
he will be true to his word,
and conscientious in his affairs;
when in doubt, he will inquire;
when he loses his temper, he will regret it;
when he sees something he can attain, he will think first of what is right. (Analects, “Ji Shi,” chapter 10)
Confucians believe that these two attributes of a junzi – education and character – are not really “two,” but “one.” That is, they are inseparable. One great Confucian thinker of the Ming Dynasty, Wang Yangming (王陽明, an important figure not only in China, but also in Korea and Japan), called this “the unity of knowledge and action” (知行合一, zhixing heyi). One's actions and behavior are informed by one's education. As a teacher, I share this conviction – not that educated people are necessarily “better” people, but that, ideally, they should be! A university education, for example, should not simply consist of the accumulation of facts or skills; rather it should be personally transformative. This is why an educated person should have some exposure to the arts, to social science, and to the natural world. He or she should apply this knowledge to the real troubles of our world and suggest solutions to global concerns – through ethical action, aesthetic expression, or technological improvements to our living environment. These goals of higher education are consistent with those of the Confucian tradition, and this is why, to this day, Confucian cultures demonstrate respect and admiration toward those who pursue higher education in any field.
The contemporary Confucian scholar Tu Weiming has summarized the steps by which any person can become a junzi in several of his published works. One was a talk given at the University of Singapore entitled “Core Values in Confucian Thought”;1 another was a published essay entitled “A Confucian Perspective on Learning to be Human.”2 In these and other essays, Tu Weiming has described the Confucian self as a “center of relationships”: “Confucian self-cultivation is a deliberate communal act. Confucianism conceives of the self neither as an isolated atom nor as a single, separate individuality, but as a being in relationship.” Of course, we exist in not just one relationship, but in many, and these various roles mutually inform and reinforce one another. In one touching line, Tu Weiming says that it was only when he himself became a father that he really understood what it meant to be a son. And in “growing into” the roles of father and son, in “rectifying the names” in a Confucian sense, Tu became a more sensitive, self-aware, and compassionate individual. Moreover, “[m]y being a son and a father is also informed and enriched by being a student, a teacher, a husband, a colleague, a friend, and an acquaintance.”3 Consequently we are “learning to be human” throughout our lives. This lifelong process of self-cultivation is fundamentally transformative (of both oneself and one's community), and in this sense it fits our definition of a consciously religious life. “To be religious, in the Confucian sense, is to be engaged in ultimate self-transformation as a communal act. Salvation means the full realization of the anthropocosmic reality inherent in our human nature.”4
How different this religious vision is from the model of the isolated individual in the Christian West! In his Confessions, the autobiography of Augustine of Hippo (written in the year 389 ce), Saint Augustine (Figure 6.1) describes his conversion to the Christian faith. As a young boy he had led a dissolute life, and he recalls one particular example of his “sinful nature” when he, with a group of other young troublemakers, stole a basket of pears from a neighbor's orchard. He did so not for the sake of their color or taste – in fact he discarded them as soon as he had picked them – but because he was drawn to wrong-doing, “seeking nothing from the shameful deed but shame itself.”5 And he recognized that it was peer pressure – his association with a group of young delinquents – that spurred him into action.
Figure 6.1 Engraving from the anonymous History of the Church, circa 1880. Augustine of Hippo (Saint Augustine) is represented in the middle. © Bocman1973 / Shutterstock.
Why did I find such delight in doing this, which I would not have done alone? … Yet alone I would not have done it – alone I could not have done it at all.
(Augustine, Confessions, 2.6)
Later, when he experienced his conversion to Christianity, Augustine felt that God had saved him from his innately sinful state and that his salvation was highly personal. At the instant of conversion he wrote: “Let me know thee, O my Knower; let me know thee even as I am known” (Confessions, 2.1).
To the extent that Augustine is representative of a Western understanding of the self, we see the true self – the soul – in contrast to the self of worldly (that is, social) existence. I describe this as the vertical conception of human nature, drawing a line between self and God. By contrast, the Confucian self is understood horizontally, in relation to the world, as a social being. The self as an isolated entity is impossible to conceive.
Tu Weiming's assertion of the anthropocosmic reality of human nature speaks to character – that is, to the development of virtue within oneself through its application in the world. Tu Weiming also discusses the complementary dimension of “education” in cultivating the life of a junzi. Learning, Tu writes, “means becoming aesthetically refined, morally excellent, and religiously profound.”6 He describes five areas of learning that are vitally important to the Confucian tradition:
1 Poetry, art, and music Appreciation of the arts and the ability to express oneself aesthetically create a “vibration between the person and the larger world.”7 Moreover, artistic appreciation and expression refine human feelings and sentiments, enhancing our interactions with others. Roger Ames, the foremost Confucian scholar in the West, describes li (ceremonial living) precisely in this aesthetic sense, when he says that mastery of li “gives ornamental expression to the emotions that otherwise would have no proper outlet and would become socially dangerous.”8 The arts give us the tools both to express and to elevate our innermost feelings.
2 The ritualization of the body Here Tu Weiming refers to the way we communicate our character and convictions to others, often non-verbally. The way we carry ourselves, our personal habits of dress and appearance, even the way we eat or sit (especially in public) reflect our attitudes toward others and our upbringing (see Figure 6.2). When my children were young, I taught them to look others in the eyes when speaking with them. The reason is that, when one looks directly into another person's eyes, one is showing interest and respect. If one is looking down, one is demonstrating a lack of interest or of self-confidence; if one is looking over the shoulder of one's conversation partner (perhaps to see who else is in the room, someone more “important” or more worth talking to), one is demonstrating a lack of respect. Non-verbal communication is an important expression of ceremonial living and of co-humanity.
3 History Confucians emphasize the importance of studying history both to learn from the past and to honor one's roots. Tu Weiming describes history as “collective memory, a knowing from whence we came.”9 When the early Confucians argued against the Mo-ist notion of universal love, they were affirming a strong sense of personal identity rooted in culture, nation, ethnicity, community, and family. To be sure, “rootedness” can also lead to closed-mindedness, and potentially to negative expressions of belonging – such as nepotism, parochialism, racism, nationalism, and cultural bias. Such tendencies have not been absent from East Asian societies and can still be seen today. But a healthy sense of belonging and of personal identity are core dimensions of being fully human.
4 Social and political participation Confucianism encourages meaningful, significant participation in the political process. In fact there are historical precedents for advocating freedom of expression and democratic empowerment within the Confucian tradition; these ideas do not need to be imported from the West. Several years ago I published an article in which I argued that human rights are consistent with Confucian principles and are not philosophically dependent on Western individualism.10 This point is important if we are serious about promoting human rights in China and elsewhere – not as a “colonialist” or “hegemonic” imposition, but as the expression of internal cultural values. The human rights debate has a much higher chance of success if we in the West will simply acknowledge the democratic principles inherent in East Asian societies.
5 Ecological consciousness Tu Weiming writes: “A human being does not exist only in the anthropological world of other human beings. Beyond this human world is a larger universe.”11 This is a point not often expressed in Confucianism, and Tu Weiming is to be applauded for bringing it forward. Confucius himself showed a rather callous lack of concern for the natural world. (As recorded in the Analects, “Xiang Dang,” chapter 12: “When he heard about a stable fire, Confucius asked, ‘Was anyone hurt?’ He did not ask about the horses.”) Ecological consciousness as a whole is not well developed in East Asian societies, and some of the worst ecological abuses in the developing world can be found in contemporary China. It is hoped that Tu Weiming can be a prophetic voice (a role certainly consistent with Confucianism) in drawing attention to the impact of economic development on the natural environment.
Figure 6.2 “Confucius would not sit unless his mat was straight.” Source: Tanyu, Kano (1602–1674). Private Collection / Peter Newark Pictures / The Bridgeman Art Library.
Survey 1 The Confucian Values of Li (禮) and Ren (仁)
You can access a survey based on the principal values of the Confucian tradition through the following link: http://goo.gl/ayZPwn. Upon submitting your responses, you can see how other readers have responded to the same queries.
Notes
1 Published in Confucian Ethics Today: The Singapore Challenge (Singapore: Federal Publications for the Curriculum Development Institute of Singapore, 1984), pp. 2–38.
2 Published in Confucian Thought: Selfhood as Creative Transformation (Albany, State University of New York Press: 1985), pp. 51–66.
3 Tu Wei-ming, Confucian Thought, p. 58.
4 Tu Wei-ming, Confucian Thought, p. 56.
5 St. Augustine, Confessions and Enchiridion, trans. Albert C. Outler (Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1955). The full online version of the Confessions can be found at http://www.ccel.org/ccel/augustine/confessions.v.html (accessed 23 July 2012), in the Christian Classics Ethereal Library.
6 Tu Wei-ming, Confucian Thought, p. 52.
7 Tu Wei-ming, “Core Values,” p. 6.
8 Roger T. Ames and Henry Rosemont, The Analects of Confucius: A Philosophical Translation (New York: Ballantine Books, 1998), p. ix.
9 Tu Wei-ming, “Core Values,” p. 7.
10 Randall Nadeau, “Confucianism and the Problem of Human Rights,” Intercultural Communication Studies 11: 2 (2002), pp. 107–119.
11 Tu Wei-ming, “Core Values,” p. 8.
7
The Lasting Influence of Confucianism in Modern East Asia
Despite the radical political disruption of the Confucian tradition in the last 150 years, its values remain strong in East Asia, and in China they have experienced a fundamentalist revival. As a cultural system, Confucianism is, in several respects, the bones and marrow of the East Asian region, through its emphasis on:
education;
political authoritarianism;
family values;
filial piety;
civic values;
public support for the arts and civil religion;
ceremonial living, politeness, and decorum.
Education as a Primary Indicator of Social Status and Achievement
The emphasis on education in modern East Asia is one of the most abiding cultural values of the Confucian tradition. Children in China, Korea, Japan, and Vietnam demonstrate a Confucian work ethic that is astoundingly rigorous. Most go to tutors or private “cram schools” at the end of the regular school day and do homework late into the night. These practices continue to be upheld by East Asian immigrants in the West, as evidenced by the high rate of success on standardized tests and in college admissions, even among students whose first language is Chinese, Korean, Japanese, or Vietnamese. Teachers are highly respected and honored for their work. As a cultural value and institutional priority, education is Confucianism's most obvious legacy and the Confucian remnant that has been least affected by the winds of change. Whether rumor or fact, it is certainly believable that the University of California at Berkeley must turn down thousands of qualified applicants of Asian descent. Nationwide, children of East Asian immigrants are at the top of the class, and are often accomplished in a musical instrument as well.1
The Reluctance to Adopt Democratic Institutions, an Uncritical Acceptance of Political Authority, Conservatism in Politics and Economics
Despite the overthrow of the imperial system in China and its weakened state in Japan, the East Asian political ethos remains authoritarian and averse to change. Political leaders are trusted to represent the best interests of the nation, and many East Asians express nationalism and loyalty to the governments that represent them. While communism is frequently cited as the cause of political authoritarianism in China and Vietnam, the power of East Asian governments is equally attributable to Confucianism. Today authoritarian governments from Beijing to Singapore have appealed to the Confucian tradition as the basis for their hold on power.2
