Sources from Ancient China

        Early in life, Confucius served as a government official. Seeing problems and unable to solve them from within, he retired from government service and devoted his life to meditation and teaching. He wrote nothing himself, but many others have collected, transmitted, and often integrated other ideas to make up the Confucianist System.

Confucius taught that it was possible for us to learn our true and proper places in the universe and thus, come to real virtue. This virtuous state would naturally encourage us to carry out fully all our duties in llife, and do so out of purely ethical motives. Morality and community involvement, not materialism or "feedom," produces personal satisfaction for the Confucianist individual. Beyond the individual, Confucius saw the best social principle in hierarchial order: a place for everyone and everyone in his place. This order, traditionally Chinese, began with filial piety in the family, and stretched from the clan and village to the government bureaucracy, the Emperor and ultimately to Heaven.

These individual and social teachings obviously could be, and were, used to support the Emperor, his government, social order, cultural stability and personal integrity. Action here on earth came before spiritual goals, for how could one properly serve the spirits if one could not properly live in this world?

     Given the Analects' message(s), let's do some Comparative World History: What relationship(s) between our Roman sources and culture do you see with Chinese sources and culture? Best to relate text-to-text, for example, Analect 13:6 sounds very much like Cinncinatus' experience in that he gave the example to Romans who joined him, to those who failed and to those conquered, or Analect 2:3 could be compared to many areas of Cato's life by Plutarch, or various social-economic etc Analects to either Tiberius' life or the concepts of 'conservatism and/or 'liberalism'.

     Taking this line of thought further: Riley's intro to the Analects and his piece on "Thinking Historically" fleshes out the above question. Our readings in Judge Dee (a Confucianist) and other readings, e.g., the New Testament, Plutarch's biographies of Cimon and especially of Pericles, should provide much 'Sic et Non' evidence, thought, relationships, results and approaches to thought and action (see Worldview). The Worldview website and the questions raised here and in Riley will make an excellent focus for our mid-term, and a center of the Life of the Mind as our world comes closer to China.

      The quest is for the texts and the thoughts that connect them.

Ch. I:

1. The Master said, 'Is it not pleasant to learn with a constant perseverance and application?

2. 'Is it not delightful to have friends coming from distant quarters?'

4. The philosopher Tsang said, 'I daily examine myself on three points:-- whether, in transacting business for others, I may have been not faithful;-- whether, in intercourse with friends, I may have been not sincere;-- whether I may have not mastered and practised the instructions of my teacher.'

5. The Master said, To rule a country of a thousand chariots, there must be reverent attention to business, and sincerity; economy in expenditure, and love for men; and the employment of the people at the proper seasons.'

6. The Master said, 'A youth, when at home, should be filial, and, abroad, respectful to his elders. He should be earnest and truthful. He should overflow in love to all, and cultivate the friendship of the good. When he has time and opportunity, after the performance of these things, he should employ them in polite studies.'

11. The Master said, 'While a man's father is alive, look at the bent of his will; when his father is dead, look at his conduct. If for three years he does not alter from the way of his father, he may be called filial.'

Ch. II

1. The Master said, 'He who exercises government by means of his virtue may be compared to the north polar star, which keeps its place and all the stars turn towards it.'

2. The Master said, 'In the Book of Poetry are three hundred pieces, but the design of them all may be embraced in one sentence-- "Having no depraved thoughts."'

3. The Master said, 'If the people be led by laws, and uniformity sought to be given them by punishments, they will try to avoid the punishment, but have no sense of shame. 'If they be led by virtue, and uniformity sought to be given them by the rules of propriety, they will have the sense of shame, and moreover will become good.'

7. Tsze-yu asked what filial piety was. The Master said, 'The filial piety of now-a-days means the support of one's parents. But dogs and horses likewise are able to do something in the way of support;-- without reverence, what is there to distinguish the one support given from the other?'

10. The Master said, 'See what a man does. 'Mark his motives. Examine in what things he rests. How can a man conceal his character?'

11. The Master said, 'If a man keeps cherishing his old knowledge, so as continually to be acquiring new, he may be a teacher of others.'

12. The Master said, 'The accomplished scholar is not a utensil.'

13. Tsze-kung asked what constituted the superior man. The Master said, 'He acts before he speaks, and afterwards speaks according to his actions.'

14. The Master said, 'The superior man is universal and no partisan. The mean man is partisan and not universal.'

15. The Master said, 'Learning without thought is labour lost; thought without learning is perilous.'

16. The Master said, 'The study of strange doctrines is injurious indeed!'

19. The Duke Ai asked, saying, 'What should be done in order to secure the submission of the people?' Confucius replied, 'Advance the upright and set aside the crooked, then the people will submit. Advance the crooked and set aside the upright, then the people will not submit.'

20. Chi K'ang asked how to cause the people to reverence their ruler, to be faithful to him, and to go on to nerve themselves to virtue. The Master said, 'Let him preside over them with gravity;-- then they will reverence him. Let him be filial and kind to all;-- then they will be faithful to him. Let him advance the good and teach the incompetent;-- then they will eagerly seek to be virtuous.'

24. 'To see what is right and not to do it is want of courage.'

Ch. III

17. The Master said, 'Ts'ze, you love the sheep; I love the ceremony.'

18. The Master said, 'The full observance of the rules of propriety in serving one's prince is accounted by people to be flattery.'

19. The Duke Ting asked how a prince should employ his ministers, and how ministers should serve their prince. Confucius replied, 'A prince should employ his minister according to according to the rules of propriety; ministers should serve their prince with faithfulness.'

32. The Master instructing the grand music-master of Lu said, 'How to play music may be known. At the commencement of the piece, all the parts should sound together (in unison). As it proceeds, they should be in harmony while severally distinct and flowing without break, and thus on to the conclusion.'

Ch. IV

2. The Master said, 'Those who are without virtue cannot abide long either in a condition of poverty and hardship, or in a condition of enjoyment. The virtuous rest in virtue; the wise desire virtue.'

8. The Master said, 'If a man in the morning hear the right way, he may die in the evening without regret.'

9. The Master said, 'A scholar, whose mind is set on truth, and who is ashamed of bad clothes and bad food, is not fit to be discoursed with.'

10. The Master said, 'The superior man, in the world, does not set his mind either for anything, or against anything; what is right he will follow.'

11. The Master said, 'The superior man thinks of virtue; the small man thinks of comfort. The superior man thinks of the sanctions of law; the small man thinks of favours which he may receive.'

15. The Master said, 'Shan, my doctrine is that of an all-pervading unity.' The disciple Tsang replied, 'Yes.' The Master went out, and the other disciples asked, saying,'What do his words mean?' Tsang said, 'The doctrine of our master is to be true to the principles of our nature and the benevolent exercise of them to others,-- this and nothing more.'

25. The Master said, 'Virtue is not left to stand alone. He who practises it will have neighbors.'

Ch. V

15. The Master said of Tsze-ch'an that he had four of the characteristics of a superior man:-- in his conduct of himself, he was humble; in serving his superiors, he was respectful; in nourishing the people, he was kind; in ordering the people, he was just.'

20. Fan Ch'ih asked what constituted wisdom. The Master said, 'To give one's self earnestly to the duties due to men, and, while respecting spiritual beings, to keep aloof from them, may be called wisdom.' He asked about perfect virtue. The Master said, 'The man of virtue makes the difficulty to be overcome his first business, and success only a subsequent consideration;-- this may be called perfect virtue.'

Ch. VIII

4. There are three principles of conduct which the man of high rank should consider specially important:-- that in his deportment and manner he keep from violence and heedlessness; that in regulating his countenance he keep near to sincerity; and that in his words and tones he keep far from lowness and impropriety

8. The Master said, 'It is by the Odes that the mind is aroused.
'It is by the Rules of Propriety that the character is established.
'It is from Music that the finish is received.'

12: The Master said, "It is not easy to find a man who has learned for three years without coming to be good."

Ch. XII

1. Yen Yuan asked about perfect virtue. The Master said, 'To subdue one's self and return to propriety (observance of the rites), is perfect virtue. If a man can for one day subdue himself and return to propriety, all under heaven will ascribe perfect virtue to him. Is the practice of perfect virtue from a man himself, or is it from others?'

Yen Yuan said, 'I beg to ask the steps of that process.' The Master replied, 'Look not at what is contrary to propriety; listen not to what is contrary to propriety; speak not what is contrary to propriety; make no movement which is contrary to propriety.' Yen Yuan then said, 'Though I am deficient in intelligence and vigour, I will make it my business to practise this lesson.'

2. Chung-kung asked about perfect virtue. The Master said, 'It is, when you go abroad, to behave to every one as if you were receiving a great guest; to employ the people as if you were assisting at a great sacrifice; not to do to others as you would not wish done to yourself.

7. Tsze-kung asked about government. The Master said, 'The requisites of government are that there be sufficiency of food, sufficiency of military equipment, and the confidence of the
people in their ruler.'
       Tsze-kung said, 'If it cannot be helped, and one of these must be dispensed with, which of the three should be foregone first?' 'The military equipment,' said the Master.
        Tsze-kung again asked, 'If it cannot be helped, and one of the remaining two must be dispensed with, which of them should be foregone?' The Master answered, 'Part with the food. From of old, death has been the lot of all men; but if the people have no faith in their rulers, there is no standing for the state.'

21. Fan Ch'ih rambling with the Master under the trees about the rain altars, said, 'I venture to ask how to exalt virtue, to correct cherished evil, and to discover delusions.'
The Master said, 'Truly a good question! If doing what is to be done be made the first business, and
success a secondary consideration;-- is not this the way to exalt virtue? To assail one's own wickedness and not assail that of others;-- is not this the way to correct cherished evil? For a morning's anger to disregard one's own life, and involve that of his parents;-- is not this a case of delusion?'

22. Fan Ch'ih asked about benevolence. The Master said, 'It is to love all men.' He asked about knowledge. The Master said, 'It is to know all men.' Fan Ch'ih did not immediately understand these answers. The Master said, 'Employ the upright and put aside all the crooked;-- in this way the crooked can be made to be upright.'

Ch. XIII.

6: The Master said, "When a prince's personal conduct is correct, his government is effective without the issuing of orders. If his personal conduct is not correct, he may issue orders, but they will not be followed."

Ch. XIV

1. Hsien asked what was shameful. The Master said, 'When good government prevails in a state, to be thinking only of salary; and, when bad government prevails, to be thinking, in the same way, only of salary;-- this is shameful.'

Ch. XV

17: The Master said, "The superior man in everything considers righteousness to be essential. He performs it according to the rules of propriety (li ). He brings it forth in humility. He completes it with sincerity. This is indeed a superior man."

31: The Master said, "The object of the superior man is truth, not food. . . . The superior man is anxious lest he should not get truth; he is not anxious lest poverty should come upon him."

20: The Master said, "What the superior man seeks, is in himself. What the mean man seeks, is in others."

Ch. XVI

2. When right principles prevail in the kingdom, government will not be in the hands of the Great officers. When right principles prevail in the kingdom, there will be
no discussions among the common people.

9: Confucius said, "Those who are born with the possession of knowledge are the highest class of men. Those who learn, and so readily get possession of knowledge, are the next. Those who are dull and stupid, and yet compass the learning are another class next to these. As to those who are dull and stupid and yet do not learn--they are the lowest of the people."

10. Confucius said, 'The superior man has nine things which are subjects with him of thoughtful consideration.
In regard to the use of his eyes, he is anxious to see clearly.
In regard to the use of his ears, he is anxious to hear distinctly.
In regard to his countenance, he is anxious that it should be benign.
In regard to his demeanor, he is anxious that it should be respectful.
In regard to his speech, he is anxious that it should be sincere.
In regard to his doing of business, he is anxious that it should be reverently careful.
In regard to what he doubts about, he is anxious to question others.
When he is angry, he thinks of the difficulties (his anger may involve him in).
When he sees gain to be got, he thinks of righteousness.'

Ch. XV

23: Tsze-kung asked, saying, 'Is there one word which may serve as a rule of practice for all one's life?' The Master said, 'Is not RECIPROCITY such a word? What you do not want done to yourself, do not do to others.'

Ch. XIX

1. Tsze-chang said, 'The scholar, trained for public duty, seeing threatening danger, is prepared to sacrifice his life. When the opportunity of gain is presented to him, he thinks of righteousness. In sacrificing, his thoughts are reverential.