Major school of thought in China which defends an ethical
and political ideal that has been a dominant influence on
the way of life of the Chinese. Members of the school are
motivated by social and political concerns, and many take
part in government at some stage of their careers, with some
attaining influential official positions. They regard cultivation
of the self as the basis of social and political order, and
many of them are also influential teachers devoted to bettering
themselves and their pupils. This predominantly practical
orientation is coupled with a reflectivity that has led to
the development of elaborate metaphysical views, theories
of human nature, and accounts of the human psychology. Their
discussion of such issues as the cultivation of character,
forms of integrity, the nature of emotions and desires, and
the relation between knowledge and action has important implications
for the contemporary study of moral psychology and ethics
in general.
The origin of the school can be traced to a social group
in early China whose members, referred to as Ju (a term probably
with basic meaning of weakling), were ritualists and sometimes
also teachers by profession. Confucius (sixth to fifth century
BC) belonged to the group but, although he retained the interest
in rituals, he was also concerned with a search for remedy
for the social and political disorder of the times, which
he believed to lie with the restoration of traditional values
and norms. Later thinkers who professed to be followers of
Confucius shared such concern and belief, and developed Confucius'
teachings in different directions. The school of thought comprising
these thinkers has traditionally been referred to as 'Ju-chia'
(the school of Ju), a term often translated as 'Confucianism'.
Confucius' thinking was given divergent developments by Mencius
(fourth century BC) and Hs¨¹n Tzu (third century BC), and different
kinds of Confucian thought continued to evolve in the early
period, yielding such major thinkers as Tung Chung-shu (second
century BC). After a period in which it was overshadowed by
Buddhism, a revival of interest in Confucianism was seen among
such thinkers as Han Y¨¹ (768-824), Shao Yung (1011-1077),
Chou Tun-i (1017-1073), Chang Tsai (1020-1077), Ch'eng Hao
(1032-1085), and Ch'eng I (1033-1107), marking the beginning
of a movement often referred to as 'neo-Confucianism'. Han
Y¨¹'s view that Mencius was the true transmitter of Confucius'
teachings became generally accepted largely through the efforts
of Chu Hsi (1130-1200), who put together the Lun Y¨¹ (Analects)
of Confucius, Meng Tzu (Mencius), Ta Hs¨¹eh (Great Learning),
and Chung Yung (Doctrine of the Mean) as the Four Books. The
Mencian branch of Confucian thought continued to be developed
in different ways, leading to differences between the Ch'eng-Chu
school of Ch'eng I and Chu Hsi, and the Lu-Wang school of
Lu Hsiangshan (1139-1193) and Wang Yang-ming (1472-1529).
Further development occurred among later thinkers such as
Wang Fu-chih (1619-1992), Yen Y¨¹an (1635-1704), and Tai Chen
(1724-77), and new forms of Confucian thought continue to
evolve up to the present.
Two important concepts in Confucian thought are tao (the
Way) and te (virtue, moral power, potency). Originally meaning
'road' or 'way', 'tao' came to be used to refer to the ideal
way of life as well as teachings about that way of life. 'Te'
originally referred to that by virtue of which a ruler has
the authority to rule; it referred to both a quality involving
proper religious sacrifice and such attributes as self-sacrificial
generosity and humility, as well as a psychic power of attraction
and transformation associated with that quality. It came to
be used of human beings generally, referring to the quality
or power by virtue of which one can tread the Way. The two
concepts have been used by other schools (such as Taoism)
in connection with different ideals, but Confucians further
explain their conception of tao and te in terms of jen, li,
and yi.
'Jen' (humanity, goodness, benevolence) has either the basic
meaning of kindness, or the basic meaning of a quality distinctive
of certain aristocratic clans. It is used in Confucian texts
sometimes to refer to the all-encompassing ethical ideal and
sometimes to refer specifically to an affective concern for
all living things. Distinctive of Confucian thought and opposed
by Mohist opponents is the view that the nature of such concern
should vary according to one's relation to such things. Later
Confucians also explain jen in terms of one's forming one
body with, and hence one's being sensitive to the well-being
of, all things.
'Li' (rites, rituals, propriety), originally referring to
sacrificial rites, gradually came to refer more generally
to all norms governing ceremonious behaviour and the responsibilities
one has by virtue of one's social position. Just as performance
of sacrificial rites should ideally be accompanied by reverence
for spirits, observance of li in dealing with other people
should ideally be accompanied by reverence for others; the
attitude behind li is described in some Confucian texts as
lowering oneself and elevating others. The emphasis on li
is another distinctive feature of Confucian thought, setting
it in opposition to Mohist and Taoist opponents.
To avoid its leading to improper behaviour, an affective
concern for others has to be regulated by a sense of what
is right, and departure from li in unusual circumstances or
proper conduct in circumstances not covered by li also calls
for an assessment of what is right. Confucians therefore also
emphasize the importance of yi (rightness, duty, fittingness),
the character 'yi' probably having the earlier meaning of
a sense of honour before coming to refer to the fitting or
right way of conducting oneself. Confucians emphasize that
yi is not determined by fixed rules of conduct, but requires
the proper weighing of relevant considerations in any context
of action. The ideal form of courage involves a firm commitment
to yi, as well as the absence of fear or uncertainty if one
realizes upon self-examination that one is in the right.
Confucian thinkers emphasize gradual cultivation of the self
to embody the attributes just described. In the political
realm, although some Confucian thinkers, such as Hs¨¹n Tzu
and Tung Chung-shu, also advocate the use of law and punishment
as secondary measures, Confucian thinkers are generally agreed
that moral examples and education should ideally be the basis
for government. A ruler who embodies the attributes described
will care about and provide for the common people, who will
be attracted to him, and the moral example he sets will have
a transforming effect on the people.
Though sharing a roughly common ideal, Confucian thinkers
disagree about the justification of the ideal and the metaphysics
underlying it. The disagreement has in large part to do with
their different conceptions of hsing (nature). Originally
derived from a character meaning 'life' or 'to grow', 'hsing'
came to mean the direction of development that a thing will
realize if unobstructed. Mencius believed that human beings
share certain incipient ethical inclinations which are fully
realized in the Confucian ideal; hsing is constituted by the
direction of development of such inclinations and is good
in that it has an ethical direction. Hs¨¹n Tzu regarded the
hsing of human beings as comprising primarily self-regarding
desires that human beings have by birth; hsing is evil in
that unregulated pursuit of satisfaction of such desires leads
to strife and disorder. Thus, while Mencius defended traditional
social distinctions and norms on the ground that they make
possible full realization of shared incipient ethical inclinations,
Hs¨¹n Tzu defended them on the ground that they help to transform
and regulate the pursuit of satisfaction of desires, thereby
making possible social order and maximal satisfaction of human
desires.
Different views of hsing continued to evolve within the Confucian
tradition, such as Tung Chung-shu's view that human beings
are born with both good and bad elements, and that hsing in
the broad sense includes the bad elements and cannot be described
as good. Along with the acceptance of the view that Mencius
was the true transmitter of Confucius' teachings, Confucian
thinkers came to agree that hsing is good. But this Mencian
idea was also reinterpreted in terms of the metaphysics of
li.
For example, Chu Hsi, following Ch'eng I, regarded all things
as composed of li (principle, pattern) and ch'i (ether, material
force). While the term had the earlier meaning of 'good order'
or 'inner structure', li came to be regarded as something
incorporeal and unchanging that runs through everything, explaining
why things are as they are. It is also that to which the behaviour
of things should conform; in the human realm, it includes
all norms of human conduct. Ch'i is the concrete stuff of
which things are composed, and is freely moving and active.
According to Chu, hsing is constituted by the li in human
beings, which is identical with the Confucian virtues; so,
hsing is good in that human beings are born fully virtuous.
While the mind originally had insight into li, this has been
obscured by distortive desires and thoughts which are due
to impure ch'i. While de-emphasizing the metaphysics of li
and ch'i, Wang Yang-ming shared the view that human beings
are already fully virtuous by virtue of the li present in
them and that ethical failure is due to the obscuring effect
of distortive desires and thoughts. However, while Chu regarded
li as also residing in all things, Wang held the view that
li ultimately resides in the way the mind responds to situations
when not obscured, a point he put by saying that there is
no li outside the mind.
Thus, unlike Mencius, who viewed self-cultivation as a process
of developing shared incipient ethical inclinations, Chu and
Wang viewed it as a process of making fully manifest the li
in human beings which has been obscured by distortive desires
and thoughts. Later Confucian thinkers regarded this as a
reinterpretation of Mencian thought under Buddhist influence,
and sought to recapture what they regarded as the true meaning
of classical Confucianism. For example, Tai Chen regarded
li not as a distinct metaphysical entity, but as the proper
ordering of human desires and emotions which are due to ch'i.
By applying a form of golden rule, one can know how one's
own and other people's desires can be appropriately satisfied
and emotions appropriately expressed, and this constitutes
a grasp of li. Hsing is good not in the sense that human beings
are already fully virtuous, but in the sense that being virtuous
involves an ordering of desires and emotions natural to human
beings.
Different views of hsing and of the underlying metaphysics
have implications for ethical and political practices. For
example, the view that there are bad elements in hsing tends
to be coupled with some degree of advocacy of restrictive
measures in politics - both Hs¨¹n Tzu and Tung Chung-shu advocated
laws and punishment as secondary measures to restrain the
bad elements in hsing. As another example, Chu Hsi's and Wang
Yang-ming's different views of li led to different accounts
of self-cultivation. Since Chu Hsi regarded li as present
in all things, he regarded self-cultivation as involving to
an important extent examining daily affairs and studying classics
and historical records to regain the insight into li that
one originally had. However, given his view that li does not
reside outside the mind, Wang regarded the method of cultivation
advocated by Chu as misguided; instead, self-cultivation should
involve one's attending to the mind, constantly watching out
for and eliminating distortive desires and thoughts.
Thus, while Confucian thought is given unity by a roughly
common ethical and political ideal and eventually by a set
of canonical texts, it includes a rich variety of metaphysical
views as well as conceptions of human nature and of self-cultivation.
New advances and developments continue to be made up to the
present, and Confucianism continues to exert great influence
not just on Chinese intellectuals, but also on the social
and political order as well as on the daily life of the Chinese
up to the present century.
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