This spirit of originating through transmitting was perpetuated by the fol-lowers of Confucius, by whom, as the classical texts were handed down from generation to generation, countless commentaries and interpretations were written. A great portion of what in later times came to be known as the Thirteen Classics developed as commentaries in this way on the original texts.
This is what set Confucius apart from the ordinary literati of his time, and made him the founder of a new school. Because the followers of this school were at the same time scholars and specialists on the Six Classics, the school became known as the School of the Literati.
The Rectification of Names
Besides the new interpretations which Confucius gave to the classics, he had his own ideas about the individual and society, heaven and man.
O<# CONFUCIUS, THE FIRST TEACHER
In regard to society, he held that in order to have a well—ordered one, the most important thing is to carry out what he called the rectification of names. That is, things in actual fact should be made to accord with the implication attached to them by names. Once a disciple asked him what he would do first if he were to rule a state, whereupon Confucius replied: "The one thing needed first is the rectification of names." (Analects, XIII, 3.) On another occasion one of the dukes of the time asked Confucius the right principle of government, to which he answered: "Let the ruler be ruler, the minister min-ister, the father father, and the son son." (Analects, XII, II.) In other words, every name contains certain implications which constitute the essence of that class of things to which this name applies. Such things, therefore, should a-gree with this ideal essence. The essence of a ruler is what the ruler ideally ought to be, or what, in Chinese, is called the way of the ruler. If a ruler acts according to this way of the ruler, he is then truly a ruler, in fact as well as in name. There is an agreement between name and actuality. But if he does not, he is no ruler, even though he may popularly be regarded as such. Every name in the social relationships implies certain responsibilities and duties.. Ruler, minister, father, and son are all the names of such social relationships, and the individuals bearing these names must fulfill their re-sponsibilities and duties accordingly. Such is the implication of Confucius theory of the rectification of names.
Human—heartedness and Righteousness
With regard to the virtues of the individual, Confucius emphasized hu-man-heartedness and righteousness, especially the former. Righteousness (yi) means the "oughtness" of a situation. It is a categorical imperative. Ev-ery one in society has certain things which he ought to do, and which must be done for their own sake, because they are the morally right things to do. If, however, he does them only because of other non-moral considerations, then even though he does what he ought to do, his action is no longer a righteous one. To use a word often disparaged by Confucius and later ^onfu-cianists, he is then acting for "profit." Yi (righteousness) and Zi(profil) are in Confucianism diametrically opposed terms. Confucius himself says: The su-perior man comprehends yi; the small man comprehends li. (Analects, IV, 16.) Herein lies what the later Confucianists called the distinction between yi and li, a distinction which they considered to be of the utmost impor-tance in moral teaching.
The idea of yi is rather formal, but that of jen (human-heartedness) is much more concrete. The formal essence of the duties of man in sociely is their oughtness, because all these duties are what he ought to do. But the material essence of these duties is "loving others, i.e., jen or human-heart-edness. The father acts according to the way a father should act who loves his son; the son acts according to the way a son should act who loves his fa—
068 CONFUCIUS, THE FIRST TEACHER
ther. Confucius says: Human —heartedness consists in loving others. (Analects, XII, 2.2..) The man who really loves others is one able to perform his duties in society. Hence in the A nalects we see that Confucius sometimes uses the word jen not only to denote a special kind of virtue, but also to de-note all the virtues combined, so that the term "man of jen" becomes syn-onymous with the man of all —round virtue. In such contexts, jen can be translated as "perfect virtue."
Chung and Shu
In the Analects we find the passage: When Chung Kung asked the meaning of jen, the master said: .... Do not do to others what you do not wish yourself .... " (XII, i.) Again, Confucius is reported in the Analects as saying: "The man of jen is one who, desiring to sustain himself, sustains others, and desiring to develop himself, develops others. To be able from one's own self to draw a parallel for the treatment of others; that may be called the way to practise jen."(VI, 2.8.)
Thus the practice of jen consists in consideration for others. Desiring to sustain oneself, one sustains others; desiring to develop oneself, one develops others." In other words: "Do to others what you wish yourself." This is the positive aspect of the practice, which was called by Confucius chung or "conscientiousness to others." And the negative aspect, which was called by Confucius shu or "altruism," is: "Do not do to others what you do not wish yourself. The practice as a whole is called the principle of chung and shu, which is "the way to practice jen.
This principle was known by some of the later Confucianists as the prin-ciple of applying a measuring square. That is to say, it is a principle by which one uses oneself as a standard to regulate one's conduct. In the Ta Hsileh or Great Learning, which is a chapter of the Li Chi (Book of Rites), a collection of treatises written by the Confucianists in the third and second centuries B.C., it is said: "Do not use what you dislike in your superiors in the employment ol your inferiors. Do not use what you dislike in your inferi-ors in the service of your superiors. Do not use what you dislike in those who are before, to precede those who are behind. Do not use what you dis-like in those who are behind, to follow those who are before. Do not use what you dislike on the right, to display toward the left. Do not use what you dislike on the left, to display toward the right. This is called the principle of applying a measuring square.
In the Chung Yung or Doctrine of the Mean, which is another chapter of the Li Chi, attributed to Tzu -ssu, the grandson of Confucius, it is said: "Chung and shu are not far from the Way. What you do not like done to yourself, do not do to others....Serve your father as you would require your son to serve you....Serve your ruler as you would require your subordinate to serve you....Serve your elder brother as you would require your younger
O7O. CONFUCIUS, THE FIRST TEACHER
brother to serve you....Set the example in behaving to your friends as you would require them to behave to you...
The illustration given in the Great Learning emphasizes the negative as-pect of the principle of chung and shu; that in the Doctrine of the Mean em-phasizes its positive aspect. In each case the measuring square for deter-mining conduct is in one' s self and not in other things.
The principle of chung and shu is at the same time the principle of jen, so that the practice of chung and shu means the practice of jen. And this prac-tice leads to the carrying out of one s responsibilities and duties in society, in which is comprised the quality of yi or righteousness. Hence the principle of chung and shu becomes the alpha and omega of one s moral life. In the Analects we find the passage: The master said: Shen Lthe personal name of Tseng Tzu, one of his disciples J, all my teachings are linked together by one principle. Quite so, replied Tseng Tzu. When the master had left the room, the disciples asked: What did he mean? Tseng Tzu replied: Our master s teaching consists of the principle of chung and shu, and that is all. '"(IV, 15.)
Everyone has within himself the measuring square for conduct, and can use it at any time. So simple as this is the method of practising jen, so that Confucius said: "is jen indeed far off? I crave for jen, and lo! jen is at hand! " (Analects, VII, 29.)
Knowing Ming
From the idea of righteousness, the Confucianists derived the idea of do-ing for nothing." One does what one ought to do, simply because il is moral-ly right to do it, and not for any consideration external to this moral compul-sion. In the Analects, we are told that Confucius was ridiculed by a certain recluse as "one who knows that he cannot succeed, yet keeps on trying to do it. (XIV, 4-I-) We also read that another recluse was told by a disciple of Confucius: The reason why the superior man tries to go into politics, is be-cause he holds this to be right, even though he is well aware that his princi-ple cannot prevail. (XVIII, 7)
As we shall see, the Taoists taught the theory of doing nothing, whereas the Confucianists taught that of "doing for nothing. A man cannot do noth-ing, according to Confucianism, because for every man there is something which he ought to do. Nevertheless, what he does is lor nothing, because the value of doing what he ought to do lies in the doing itself, and not in the external result.
Confucius own life is certainly a good example of this teaching. Living in an age of great social and political disorder, he tried his best to reform the world. He traveled everywhere and, like Socrates, talked to everybody. Al-though his efforts were in vain, he was never disappointed. lie knew that he could not succeed, but kepi on trying.
072 CONFUCIUS, THE FIRST TEACHER
^
About himself Confucius said: "If my principles are to prevail in the world, it is Ming. If they are to fall to the ground, it is also Ming. (Analects, XIV, 38.) He tried his best, but the issue he left to Ming. Ming is often translated as Fate, Destiny or Decree. To Confucius, it meant the Decree of Heaven or Will of Heaven; in other words, it was conceived of as a purpose-ful force. In later Confucianism, however, Ming simply means the total exis-tent conditions and forces of the whole universe. For the external success of our activity, the cooperation of these conditions is always needed. But this cooperation is wholly beyond our control. Hence the best thing for us to do is simply to try to carry out what we know we ought Id carry out, without caring whether in the process we succeed or fail. To act in this way is to know Ming. To know Ming is an important requirement for being a superior man in the Confucian sense of the term, so that Confucius said: He who does not know Ming cannot be a superior man." (Analects, XX, 1.)
Thus to know Ming means to acknowledge the inevitability of the world as it exists, and so to disregard one' s external success or failure. If we can act in this way, we can, in a sense, never fail. For if we do our duty, that duty through our very act is morally done, regardless of the external success or failure of our action.
As a result, we always shall be free from anxiety as to success or fear as to failure, and so shall be happy. This is why Confucius said: The wise are free from doubts; the virtuous from anxiety; the brave from fear. (Analects, IX, 2.8.) Or again: "The superior man is always happy; the small man sad." (VII, 36.)
Confucius Spiritual Development
In the Taoist work, the Chuang—tzu, we see that the Taoists often ridiculed Confucius as one who confined himself to the morality of human-heartedness and righteousness, thus being conscious only of moral values, and not super-moral value. Superficially they were right, but actually they were wrong. Thus speaking about his own spiritual development, Confucius said: "At fif-teen 1 set my heart on learning. At thirty I could stand. At forty I had no doubts. At fifty I knew the Decree of Heaven. At sixty I was already obedi-ent [to this Decree]. At seventy I could follow the desires of my mind with-out overstepping the boundaries [of what is right]." (Analects, II, 4)
The learning which Confucius here refers to is not what we now would call learning. In the Analects, Confucius said: "Set your heart on the Too." (VII, 6.) And again: "To hear the Too in the morning and then die at night, that would be all right." (IV, 9.) Here Too means the Way or Truth. It was this Too which Confucius at fifteen set his heart upon learning. What we now call learning means the increase of our knowledge, but the Too is that whereby we can elevate our mind.
Confucius also said: "Take your stand in the li [rituals, ceremonies, prop-
074 CONFUCIUS, THE FIRST TEACHER
er conduct]." (Analects, VIII, 8.) Again he said: "Not to know the li is to have no means of standing." (XX, 3.) Thus when Confucius says that at thirty he could "stand, he means that he then understood the li and so could practice proper conduct.
His statement that at forty he had no doubts means that he had then be-come a wise man. For, as quoted before, "The wise are free from doubts."
Up to this time of his life Confucius was perhaps conscious only of moral values. But at the age of fifty and sixty, he knew the Decree of Heaven and was obedient to it. In other words, he was then also conscious of super -moral values. Confucius in this respect was like Socrates. Socrates thought that he had been appointed by a divine order to awaken the Greeks, and Confucius had a similar consciousness of a divine mission. For example, when he was threatened with physical violence at a place called K'uang, he said: "If Heaven had wished to let civilization perish, later generations (like myself) would not have been permitted to participate in it. But since Heaven has not wished to let civilization perish, what can the people of K uang do to me?" (Analects, IX, 5.) One of his contemporaries also said: "The world for long has been without order. But now Heaven is going to use the Master as an arousing tocsin. (Analects, III, 2.4O Thus Confucius in doing what he did, was convinced that he was following the Decree of Heaven and was supported by Heaven; he was conscious of values higher than moral ones.
The super—moral value experienced by Confucius, however, was, as we shall see, not quite the same as that experienced by the Taoists. For the lat-ter abandoned entirely the idea of an intelligent and purposeful Heaven, and sought instead for mystical union with an undifferentiated whole. The super-moral value which they knew and experienced, therefore, was freer from the ordinary concepts of the human relationships.
