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Confucianism

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Title: Confucianism


1
Confucianism
IAS 2540 / UGD 2270 History of Traditional
Chinese Thought
2
  • Ju (Confucian) (an educated man)
  • Confucius
  • 72 disciples
  • Mencius (Meng Tzu)( c.372-289B.C.) Hsun Tzu
  • Native of a small state Tsou adjacent to
    Confucius native state of Lu.
  • Mencius is usually considered as the second great
    figure in the development of Confucian thought.

3
Mencius(c.372-289B.C.)
4
  • During the century between the death of Confucius
    and the birth of mencius, a few Confucian schools
    developed.
  • One stressed filial piety (Hsiao) and spiritual
    and ethical concerns of the Confucian teachings
  • Another school became deeply involved in the
    study of ritual (li)
  • A third school stressed the practice of politics
    and
  • A fourth school became noted for its purely
    philosophical and even metaphysical
    specialization.

5
  • Only 2 Chinese philosophers have the distinction
    of being know consistently to the west by a
    Latinized name (by Voltaire). The first is
    Confucius. The second is Mencius. for he
    (Mencius) is without doubt second only to
    Confucius in importance in the Confucian
    tradition, a fact officially recognized in China
    for over a thousand years. (D.C. Lau, Mencius,
    ix)

6
The Theory of human Nature
  • Mencius argued that all people are born by
    nature.
  • Mencius believed that all people are good at
    birth, but they may be corrupted into developing
    bad practices habits of minds by the
    environment, unless they strive to preserve their
    innate goodness.

7
  • (Cf. Hsun Tzu in the next generation insisted on
    the opposite answer, that is, human nature is
    wicked or evil! Thus, Hsun Tzu is described
    as a tough-minded philosopher in contrast to
    Mencius as a tender- minded)

8
  • Mencius Heart of Compassion According to
    Mencius, suppose a man were, all of a sudden, to
    see a young child on the verge of falling into a
    well. He would certainly moved to compassion, not
    because he wanted to get in the good graces of
    the parents, nor because he wished to win the
    praise of his fellow villagers of friends, nor
    yet because he disliked the cry of the child.
    (II.A.6 tr. D.C. Lau)
  • (Cf. Mencius theory of the oodness of human
    nature with the theory of Hsun Tzu that human
    nature is bad.)

9
  • To Mencius, everyone is born with the buds of
    benevolence or goodness (jen), righteousness
    (yi), respect (li), the knowing capacity,
    especially the capacity to distinguish good and
    bad (chih). To Mencius, the difference between a
    chun-tzu (gentleman) and a small man is that the
    former pursues morality with single-minded
    dedication while the latter pursues profit
    (VII.A.25 tr. D.C. Lau). To Mencius, when
    self-interest comes into conflict with morality,
    self-interest should give way. Life is what I
    want dutifulness (yi) also what I want. If I
    cannot have both, I would rather take dutifulness
    than life. (VI.A.10 tr. D.C. Lau)

10
  • Mencius political theory
  • The state exits because it ought to exist, as it
    is the logical culmination of natural human
    relationships.
  • (Mencius lived in times even more troubled than
    those of Confucius, the date of whose death
    conventionally considered to be the beginning of
    an era know as the Period of the Warring States.)

11
Hsun Tzu (c.298-238 B.C.)
12
  • Hsun Tzu (c.298-238 B.C.)
  • Unlike Confucius Mencius, Hsun Tzu spent most
    of his life as a regional administrator in the
    local government.
  • Hsun Tzu was probably one of the first great
    Confucian philosophers who devotes much of his
    life to the practical affairs of government.

13
  • Hsun Tzu taught 2 bright young disciples who
    later left the Confucian school and became the
    founders of the Legalist school
  • Han Fei
  • Li Ssc (who helped the First Emperor of Chin
    united China through military conquest later.)

14
  • Therefore, Hsun Tzu is sometimes looked upon as a
    traitor to Confucianism or a kind of
    proto-Legalist.
  • Hsun Tzu believed in the necessity for a strong
    and highly centralized government in which the
    position of the ruler would be elevated to
    heights unknown to that time.

15
  • On Human nature
  • Hsun Tzu
  • Our basic nature is lustful and animal, and that
    instead of freely expressing that nature, we must
    curb refine it (by education)
  • (that is, just opposite to Mencius)

16
  • Hsun Tzus philosophy was a philosophy of
    culture the pursuit refinement of culture is a
    persons basic vocation and the core of that
    culture is li (ritual, respect ), the ritual
    ordinances governing behavior.

17
  • In the thought of Hsun Tzu, li became a
    comprehensive idea, involving ceremonies,
    rituals, the rules of social conduct, the norms
    of political behavior, the private standards by
    which one governs ones own emotions actions.
  • In society, li sets reasonable limits to the
    satisfaction of desires.
  • (We start with love/emotion, we stop at li
    ritual, retraint)

18
  • In upholding the teachings of the Confucian
    tradition, Mencius was vigorous in combating what
    he considered heretical views. In particular, he
    was untiring in his attacks on the schools of
    Yang Chu and Mo Tzu. In the case of Yang Chu it
    is the doctrine of egoism (Even if one could
    benefit the empire by pulling out one hair, he
    would not do it i.e. extreme selfishness),
    while in the case of Mo Tzu, it is that of love
    without discrimination. (There should be no
    gradation in love, i.e., the other extreme).
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