The Analects of Confucius - Essay Example

Introduction The Analects of Confucius (Lun Yu) began with the background of the Master Kong (Kong Qiu, aka Kong Fuzi). Confucius is a Latinized form of Kong Fuzi, which literally means Kong the Master, or Master Kong. Confucius was more concerned with the moral character of the person rather than the moral act, and he talked about this using the concepts of the Way (tao) and virtue (te). Confucius wanted to apply his teachings to practical, everyday life, that is why he served in office so that he can advise the rulers of the clan as to the proper way of running the estate. However, he seemed to have not achieved that because of the corruption that governed the lives of the rulers at the time. He would travel for some years out of his home town of Lu in search of the perfect ‘gentleman’, his ideal man who embodies a cultivated moral character. He failed miserably in this aspect, because he could not find anybody who came close to the gentleman. In contrast, however, the ‘small man’, a man who is not morally cultivated and who is greedy and corrupt, he found everywhere, and inasmuch as this was disheartening to him, he continued in search of his ideal man, by way of education. The moral values that Confucius espoused he was able to spread by educating young minds. He placed such a high premium on the value of education, and this is perhaps the most important contribution that Confucius made to our society, aside from showing them how society should be governed and is required for this to be achieved. He left a legacy of how to lead a moral life, and he showed, by example, how through hard work one can lead a morally cultivated life by following the steps that he prescribed in his book The Analects. Book One Book One opens with words from the Master himself, Confucius, saying something about cultivation of virtue and acquisition of knowledge, and how the pursuit of these would give a person satisfaction and fulfillment. Book One is not arranged in any coherent order, but rather is a compilation of words by Confucius and by his prominent disciples. One of the most important things discussed here is the integration of filial love and how this translates into outer relationships. Confucius contends that if a gentleman has respect and love for his parents and brothers, it is difficult for him to defy his superiors and be involved in a rebellion. He refers to the Way as the guiding principle by which all men must live. There must be alignment between filial piety and brotherly obedience. He further prescribes how a gentleman, his ideal man, should cultivate himself to achieve superiority (of virtue). He puts education, more to mean cultivation, at the forefront of his doctrine. He emphasizes that it takes hard work to cultivate oneself, but that if this is done, then he is said to have truly learned the Way. One interesting thing that was mentioned in Book One, and which has been lost in modern society, is how they believed that harmony – through music – can bring more credence to rituals. Rituals here meant a “code of propriety”, and what is said is that if rituals are performed without music then they would be meaningless, and music performed without rituals are useless. One of his disciples, Zi-gong, asked the Master’s opinion (very much like how Jesus’ disciples asked him for his) what he thinks about a “poor man who does not flatter, or rich but does not swagger”, and Confucius replies that the man is commendable, but one who is poor but follows the Way of unceasing learning is better. This basically talks about what Confucius would consider to be a better man. Book Two For Confucius, the highest status that man can achieve is that of the sage, and he talked about him more in this book. He is not hopeful that he will meet one in this lifetime, nor does he claim to be one. But he does have a good idea of what a sage is supposed to be – one who does not deviate from the right path. And he applies this title particularly to kings, for how could they not be kings if they are sages? He further talks about how to effectively rule people, and this is true and can be applied to today’s government. If people are ruled by laws and are regulated with punishments, they will follow the law but will not really have a sense of what is right. But if people are ruled by virtues and are made to see and understand why they have to do so, then they will learn from it and proceed to act with virtue on their own. 2.4 of Book Two reveals the path of self-cultivation that the Master undertook for himself, again emphasizing the fact that it takes hard work to achieve enlightenment. He said that he was able to follow the Way – that is, “following my heart’s desire without overstepping the rules of propriety” – at seventy, and he started his education at fifteen. This suggests that it took him fifty-five years to reach a state close to that of a gentleman. He described the gentleman in this book as, first of all, not a utensil, or somebody who only represents one specialized branch of learning. The gentleman is somebody who thinks through his actions and words and who is not partial but rather eclectic, that is, somebody who is all-embracing. Further, he is somebody who values both learning and thinking, for it is easy to do away with either one of them. 2.17 is rather similar to Socrates’ theory of knowledge. The Greek philosopher has declared that “he is wise who knows that he does not know”. In a similar vein, the Master taught one of his disciples that true knowledge or wisdom consists in admitting that one either does or does not understand, and to do something about it. Book Three Book Three talks more about the rituals and their observation. It should be noted that the Master is very strict with observing the proper ritual and actually left his hometown of Lu when rituals were not correctly performed. He believed strongly in doing the proper thing to achieve the goal of the ritual. In this book, one can also discover that Confucius thought of family, and society as an extension of the family, as hierarchical. Thus, certain practices must be observed in accordance to this hierarchy, and he thus remonstrates a head of a noble house for performing rituals that were going beyond the emperor’s prerogative. He frowned upon rulers who disregarded protocol. Confucius, however, in his adherence to rituals, did not lose sight of the meaning behind them. His end objective is self-cultivation, and that if there is no element of humanity behind the music and rituals, then they prove to be useless. He also emphasized frugality and excessive grief as the proper mien in conducting the rituals, as opposed to extravagance and light-heartedness. The reason for this is that he wanted to apply the law of constant mean in everything that is performed. Today, the constant mean is also referred to as “keeping the balance” in our everyday lives. Confucius, in 3.10, did not want to observe the Di Sacrifice because the order of the tablets was not properly arranged. Such was his adherence to the sanctity of the rituals. He also gave reverence to offering sacrifices to the gods [3.12], as well as upon entering the Founding Father’s Temple [3.15], and even to a ritual such as archery, in which he emphasized gentleness and rhythmic movement as opposed to force [3.16]. what needs to be remembered here is that at the time, proper observation of rituals was declining, hence Confucius’ disillusionment with how things were run and his dissatisfaction with how rituals were performed. Read More