SotA Anthology 2015-16
The vision of Confucius
was a future where social
harmony and sage kingship
would once again prevail.
In Confucian times, China
had fractured and political
power
was
distributed
among various individual
states. This, along with a
disregard for traditional
learning, led Confucius to
believe that society was
degenerate and in a state
of disarray. Convinced that
a ‘Golden Age’ had been
fully realised in the Zhou
dynasty – a time when rulers
governed through moral
example, people practised
time-honoured rituals, and
social harmony prevailed
- Confucius thought it
necessary to return to that
history, to piece together a
vision to serve for all times.
In what follows, I will
firstly give a brief outline
of the Confucian tradition
and its primary ethical
orientation. To understand
its pre-eminent position
in Chinese history, I will
explore the sources of
Confucian values, focusing
on what I consider to be
the three essential sources:
humaneness (rén), ritual
(li) and filial piety (xiào).
Central
to
Confucian
ethical thought, rén refers
to the ethical idea, whilst li
refers to certain traditional
norms governing human
conduct (Shun, 1993). I will
observe the close relation
of li to the ideal of rén, and
show how these concepts
convey an overarching,
paramount
status
in
Confucius teachings. I will
be arguing, however, that
family (filial piety) is the
In PHIL220: Chinese Philosophy, students discover
the distinctive classical Chinese approaches to
questions of ontology, social harmony, and personal
morality. Here, second-year BA Philosophy student
Searca Smyth addresses the question:
What are the sources
of Confucian values?
most fundamental source
of Confucian values. It has
an indispensable role in
sustaining Chinese sociopolitical power. Ultimately,
family is where a child
becomes conditioned to the
dominant assumptions and
values of the harmonious
society, which is the
Confucian goal.
Confucius’s teachings, and
those of his disciples, are
preserved in the Analects
(lúnyǔ); a collection of
sayings
attributed
to
Confucius,
transmitting
the way (Dao) of the
sages of Zhou antiquity.
Confucius can be seen
as the erudite guardian of
tradition, presenting himself
as merely a ‘transmitter’
rather than an ‘innovator’.
Assuming
that
current
times are degenerate, and
with a strong ‘reliance on
and love for the ancients’
(Lunyu 7.1), Confucius
challenges his disciples
to emulate the sages of
the past to restore moral
integrity of the state. Even
if Confucius considered
himself a ‘transmitter’, he
must still be credited with
forging an innovative and
enduring
socio-political
vision that is still very much
alive today. The contents
of the Analects did not
only consist of old ideas.
Confucius adds something
creative to mastery of the
past, representing a radical
departure from the ideas
and practices of his day.
His ideas have been the
rich soil in which Chinese
cultural tradition has grown
and flourished and indeed,
today, Chinese people are
again looking to its teachings
for moral direction in a time
of rapid socio-economic
change. For that reason,
it is important to trace the
sources of Confucian values
to understand how this
philosophy has had such a
profound influence.
Confucius’s desire to restore
trust in the government
and to transform society
into a flourishing moral
community largely depends
on the individual and self
cultivation. According to
Mencius, “the foundation
of the empire lies with the
state; the foundation of the
state lies with the family;
the foundation of the family
lies with the person”; hence,
we must cultivate a sense
of humanity in politics and
society. For this purpose,
each individual is urged to
engage in a process of moral
refinement. To achieve this