Confucianism and Ecology:
Potential and Limits
Mary Evelyn Tucker
Bucknell University
The Confucian tradition has a long historical legacy in East
Asia extending from China across Korea and Japan and into
Vietnam. The influence of Confucianism has been significant
in political thought and institutions, social relationships
and ritual exchange, educational philosophy and moral teaching,
cultural attitudes, and historical interpretation. Indeed,
Confucian values still play an important part in East Asian
life despite the striking inroads of modernization and westernization.
Although we are concerned here with the potential positive
contribution of Confucianism to environmental thought, acknowledgment
is made of the inevitable gaps between theories and practices
as well as the limitations of Confucianism. Nonetheless, the
potential of the Confucian tradition is significant for continuing
to shape East Asian societies in their quest for sustainable
development and environmental integrity.
While this tradition has enormous historical variations,
cultural particularities, and national differences in the
region, nonetheless, there are certain central ideas and values
which have spread across the area. These values constitute
key elements of the tradition which have endured despite historical
changes and political upheavals. These include: a dynamic
cosmological context or worldview for promoting harmony amidst
change; the embeddedness of each person in concentric circles
of relationships and ethical responsibilities, the importance
of the family including past, present, and future generations;
the function of a hierarchical social system where loyalties
to elders and to teachers are critical; the significance of
education in cultivating the individual, enriching the society,
and contributing to the political order; the role of government
in establishing a political bureaucracy for ruling large numbers
of people, and the value of history as an element of civilizational
continuity and moral rectification. These values will be discussed
in relation to their potential contribution to environmental
thought. Of singular importance in these discussions is the
rich cosmological worldview of Confucianism which promotes
harmony amidst change. This is an invaluable perspective for
seeing nature as intrinsically valuable and for understanding
the role of the human in relation to natural processes as
critical. This worldview is characterized by four key elements:
an anthropocosmic rather than an anthropocentric perspective,
an organic holism of the continuity of being, a dynamic vitalism
of material force (ch¡¯i, qi), and a comprehensive ethics embracing
both humans and nature.
By ¡°anthropocosmic¡± we refer to the great triad of heaven
(a guiding force), earth (nature), and humans. This idea is
central to Confucian thought from its earliest expressions
in the classical texts to its later developments in Neo-Confucianism
which arose in the eleventh century. This seamless interaction
of these three forces contrasts markedly with the more human
centered orientation of western traditions where personal
salvation in relation to a divine figure is central.
By ¡°organic holism¡± the universe is seen as unified, interconnected,
and interpenetrating. Everything interacts and affects everything
else, which is why the notion of microcosm and macrocosm is
so essential to Chinese cosmology. The elaboration of the
interconnectedness of reality can be seen in the correspondence
of the five elements with seasons, directions, colors, and
even virtues. This type of classification began in the third
millennium BCE and resulted in texts such as the I Ching (Book
of Changes). This sense of holism is characterized by the
view that there is no Creator God behind the universe. Chinese
thought is less concerned with theories of origin or with
concepts of a personal God than with the perception of an
ongoing reality of a self-generating, interconnected universe
described by Tu Weiming as a ¡°continuity of being.¡±
¡°Dynamic vitalism¡± refers to the basis of the underlying
unity of reality which is constituted of ch¡¯i, the material
force of the universe. This is the unifying element of the
cosmos and creates the basis for a profound reciprocity between
humans and the natural world. Material force (ch¡¯i) as the
substance of life is the basis for the continuing process
of change and transformation in the universe. The term sheng-sheng,
namely, ¡°production and reproduction¡± is repeatedly used in
Confucian texts to illustrate the creativity of nature. This
recognition of the ceaseless movement of the cosmos arises
from a profound meditation on the fecundity of nature in continually
giving birth to new life. Furthermore, it constitutes a sophisticated
awareness that change is the basis of the interaction and
continuation of the web of life systems¡ªmineral, vegetable,
animal, and human. Finally, it celebrates transformation as
the clearest expression of the creative processes of life
with which humans should harmonize their own actions. In essence,
human beings are urged to ¡°model themselves on the ceaseless
vitality of the cosmic process.¡±
Comprehensive Ethics
Confucian ethics in its most comprehensive form relies on
a cosmological context of the entire triad of heaven, earth,
and humans. Human actions complete this triad and are undertaken
in relation to the natural world and its seasonal patterns
and cosmic changes. In this context humans are biological-historical-ethical
beings who live in a universe of complex correspondences and
relationships. Cultivation of the land and of oneself are
seen as analogous processes requiring attention, care, and
constant vigilance. Virtues are described as seeds which sprout
through moral practice and flower over time. The ethical vitality
of the individual is situated against the backdrop of the
dynamic pattern of ch¡¯i in nature. The Chinese martial arts
and medical practices reflect this attempt to balance and
cultivate one¡¯s ch¡¯i as part of maintaining one¡¯s physical
and moral health. For many Confucians this meant not only
reciprocity with the patterns of nature but also responsibility
for the health of nature as well. It was thus critical for
the government to support agriculture through irrigation systems
as creating the basis for a sustainable society. Human livelihood
and culture was seen as continuous with nature, as the following
passage by a leading Han Confucian, Tung Ch¡¯ung-shu (c. 179¨Cc.104
BCE), indicates: ¡°Heaven, earth, and humans are the basis
of all creatures. Heaven gives them birth, earth nourishes
them, and humans bring them to completion. Heaven provides
them at birth with a sense of filial and brotherly love, earth
nourishes them with clothing and food, and humans complete
them with rites and music. The three act together as hands
and feet join to complete the body and none can be dispensed
with.¡±
Within this broad cosmological pattern of Confucian thought
the person is seen in relationship to others and not as an
isolated individual. Thus there are more grounds in Confucianism
for emphasizing the common good which is critical for developing
environmental ethics. Western traditions tend to underscore
the importance of the individual, highlighting her/his rights
and freedoms. The Confucian tradition stresses the importance
of cooperative group effort so that individual concerns are
sublimated to a larger sense of the common good. In this view,
self-interest and altruism for a common cause are not mutually
exclusive and responsibilities rather than rights are stressed.
Such a communitarian value system may be indispensable for
fostering sustainable communities.
With the Confucian emphasis on the continuity of the family
there is a strong ethic of indebtedness to past generations
and obligations to descendants. Within this moral framework
there is the potential for evoking a sense of self-restraint
and communal responsibility toward the environmental well-being
of future generations. In other words, the Confucian emphasis
on lineage (ensuring continuity from the ancestors to the
heirs) may be raised to another ethical perspective, namely,
intergenerational obligations toward maintaining a healthy
environment. On this basis it could be argued that unlimited
development or unrestrained consumption should be curtailed.
The hierarchical social system of Confucianism can also be
expanded to place humans in relation to the biological lineage
of life in the natural world. In this sense, loyalty to elders,
teachers, and those who have gone before may be broadened
to include respect for the complex ecosystems and forms of
life that have preceded humans. Thus biodiversity can be valued.
The total dependence of humans on other life-forms for survival
and sustenance may be underscored in this scenario. ¡°Loyalty¡±
is thus enlarged from the human world to include the natural
world itself.
Confucian education as essentially a form of moral cultivation
has been viewed as a means of contributing to the betterment
of the sociopolitical order. By extension, ethical restraint
toward the unlimited use of the environment can be seen as
adding to the social and political stability of the region
as a whole. From a Confucian perspective moral suasion and
education are a viable means of evoking communal changes that
would promote such stability through personal choice and voluntary
measures rather than simply through legislation from above.
Confucian forms of government are generally highly centralized
and interventionist. Thus, they can afford to engage in long
range planning with other key sectors, especially the business
community. Because this long term policymaking is not unfamiliar
in East Asian societies, it is possible to include environmental
issues in these kinds of centralized strategic planning. Rather
than only being concerned about immediate goals or quarterly
profits, such planning can assist processes of environmental
preservation.
History is valued in Confucian societies as a means of maintaining
civilizational continuity and collective memory. Thus, there
is a greater sense of the importance of the transmission of
ritualized behavior as a means for deriving lessons from the
past for the present. In other words, history is often narrated
through a moral framework as a means of guiding present decision
making. This may be helpful in raising issues of what is currently
at stake in the precarious rush to global consumerism by contemporary
civilizations, especially in light of resource limits and
the current ecological crisis. The long range civilizational
perspectives which East Asia holds may be invaluable in reorienting
societies toward long term sustainable policies and practices.
Conclusion
It is this worldview which has enormous potential for renewed
appreciation of nature as intrinsically valuable but also
as the source of personal vitality and moral integrity for
sustaining the community of life. Moreover, this perspective
values nature as the origin of all that sustains life itself
from the basics of food, clothing, and shelter to innumerable
sources of employment. This is not to deny the negative dimensions
of the Confucian tradition nor to claim that historically
China was a model of ecological fitness. It is, however, to
suggest ways in which a rethinking of Confucianism may be
helpful in our contemporary context. Such a reinterpretation
from within the Confucian tradition is already taking place
through the efforts of Tu Weiming and other New Confucians.
This paper reflects many of their insights. The extent of
this revival has still to be fully expressed in East Asia
and beyond. Yet its potential for affecting the formation
of a global environmental ethic remains significant.
About this Author
Mary Evelyn Tucker, Professor of Religion at Bucknell University,
teaches courses in world religions, Asian religions, and religion
and ecology. She received her Ph.D. from Columbia University
in the history of religions, specializing in Confucianism
in Japan. She has published Moral and Spiritual Cultivation
in Japanese Neo-Confucianism (Albany, N.Y.: SUNY, 1989). She
co-edited with John Grim, Worldviews and Ecology (Maryknoll,
N.Y.: Orbis, 1994), with Duncan Williams, Buddhism and Ecology
(Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard/CSWR, 1997), with John Berthrong,
Confucianism and Ecology (Harvard/CSWR, 1998), and, with Christopher
Chapple, Hinduism and Ecology (Harvard University Press/CSWR,
2000). She and John Grim are editors for the Orbis series
on Ecology and Justice.
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