Same Paper, just edited. Prolly better

October 23, 2008

The last post featured a very bad paper of mine. It had no direction, was too rambly in the academic sense, and the title had nothing to do with its contents. I really did not want to submit anything like that but time, laziness, and it being a group effort forced me to pass whatever I could produce. I was kind of itching to edit it but it was done, no sense in doing that anymore.

 

Until somebody said that we need to pass an edited form of it.

 

So I stayed up really, really late editing this paper. And then I find out I passed  this edited thing

way too late to be part of the final class output. So right now, I’m a bit sad about that. Anyway, this thing shall live on in the Internets, it shall be read by the non-existent people who read this blog, it will LIVE.

 

No philosophy has gone through the ages and emerged wholly unmodified and faithful to its founder’s original vision. The followers of the philosophy are usually given the burden of defending the philosophy from criticisms, and to do so, they interpret and reinterpret the philosophy to fit the conditions of their times, modifying the original philosophy little by little. A philosophy as old as Confucianism is definitely not spared from this tendency; the interpretations and modifications actually leading to it being paired with a philosophy that is its opposite, Legalism, during the days of Imperial China. To see how this marriage of ideas was brought about, we need a discussion of their backgrounds.

 

The Chou Period

 

Confucius (551-479 BC) lived in a time when China was little more than a group of feudal city-states united under the rule of the Chou emperor. But these states were only nominally united; The Chou emperor was a puppet to the power struggles of the feudal lords and was only a symbolic figurehead. The city-states of this time were self-sufficient entities with a relatively small population. There was a general atmosphere of familiarity and the population generally knew each other. Class distinctions were present; positions of government were available only to those of the nobility and were passed on from father to son. Despite this, the government dared not act against its people, especially in times of crisis. The masses could band together and form a force that no official of that time would cross. This tendency gave rise to the idea that the will of the general population was of a spiritual nature. The Shu ching, the Book of History, says that “the insight and watchfulness of Heaven are expressed through the insight and watchfulness of the people.” [1] These characteristics of the city-states found its way in the ideas of Confucius and reflect his view that the state must serve its people.

 

Confucianism

 

            Confucius believed that to bring Happiness and Harmony to the world, men must cultivate their selves, to bring out the characteristics of jen. Confucius never defined what jen really is, but he says that, “It is to love men.” We can say that jen is what makes humans human. It is to rise above petty selfishness and to be devoted to morality. It is through jen that harmony is brought to the world.

            This harmony starts with the self, by cultivating jen. The cultivation of jen depends on the observance of li. Li is concerned with the proper way of everyday life and is thought of as “the middle way,” an observance of moderation. You can’t do too much, and you can’t do too little, you have to do it right.

Following li, there must be a proper way of relating to one’s family. This is where hsiao, or filial piety, comes in. It is only proper for the children to give respect to their parents, to obey them and serve them, since the parents are responsible for their survival. According to Charles Hucker, this should not mean blind obedience. Confucius allows opposing superiors when they are found to be wrong. Correcting them is also considered as respect.[2] The duty of hsiao is also shared by the parents. Parents have a duty to love their children and ensure that they grow up to be honorable. They do this by being honorable themselves and by following li. 

Another thing Confucius found important was the cultivation of music and art, yueh. Confucius saw in culture the things he wanted to bring to society: order, interdependence, synergy of elements, basically harmony. Through culture, a person is educated and his senses are elevated. It is in Confucius’s perfect society that culture flourishes.

A person who follows tradition and observes the proper rites of living, who gives proper respect to superiors, equals, and inferiors; who is cultured and educated, and encourages the development of both; is a chun-tzu, a gentleman or a superior man. A chun-tzu is tasked to guide those inferior to him and lead them in the development of jen. He is highly encouraged to take a post in government office, where, through example, he brings harmony to his community.

 Regarding government, Confucius viewed the state as one big family. Those who rule should act as fathers, and their subjects as their children. Following the li and the concept of hsiao, people should be taken care of so they can cultivate their own selves and contribute to culture and morality. With an all-pervading atmosphere of morality, laws are rendered useless as there are no more crimes, and harmony prevails.

           

Legalism

 

            Confucius’s idealistic philosophy met a great challenge during the Warring States period of China (480-221 BC). This time featured a free-for-all battle between the major states of the time and conquest and warfare were the main concerns of the period. Confucianism’s idealism found itself to be impractical in a time of warfare and it was during this time that Legalism found the spotlight. Legalism featured the importance of efficiency and the importance of the state over the individual. It advocated absolute obedience to the rule of law, bureaucracy, and superiority over inferiors. This military characteristic was useful for a state under constant siege from all sides and was used by the ruler of the Ch’in period to gain power over the other states, and to solidify his power over a newly-unified China.

            Legalism’s perfect society was one where absolute power was concentrated in the ruler, with the state serving the interests of war and conquest, the population serving as cogs in the giant war machine. The importance of obedience of inferiors to their superiors was deemed highly important. The only person not subject to subservience would be the emperor and his laws were to be seen as absolute. Any form of insubordination was not to be tolerated and should be severely punished. Punishments and rewards were the tools of the ruler to subdue the people with the ideal ratio of more harsh punishments than meager rewards.

             To achieve maximum efficiency and a streamlined interaction between the population and the government, Legalism advocated the suppression of the general population. Shang Yang, purported founder of Legalism, says, “A weak people means a strong state and a strong state means a weak people. Therefore, a country, which has the right way, is concerned with weakening the people.”[3] With this in mind, Education was regarded as a root of subversion. The masses were to remain uneducated and to be used only either in agriculture or in the military. Culture was treated as a social parasite, of no practical use, a waste of the time and energy of the population, and was to be banned. This war on Education and Culture led to the infamous incident in the Ch’in period of the banning of the study of ancient literature, history, and philosophy; the burning of all books not written for practical uses of agriculture, medicine, and fortune telling; and the execution of scholars.

 

Imperial Confucianism

 

            The oppressive Ch’in dynasty was overthrown in 207 BC, shortly after the death of its emperor, Shi Huang Di.  The rulers of the following dynasty, the Han (206 BC-220 AD), were determined not to repeat the atrocities of the Ch’in and threw out the Legalist philosophy. No open advocate of the philosophy was allowed to hold public office after that.

Needing to gain the trust of the people, the empire warmed to Confucianism and by the decree of Emperor Wu Ti (140-87 BC), Confucianism was adopted as the state religion. Education was given top priority. Those seeking government positions must first pass a civil service exam on Confucianism. These exams ensured a high level of competency for government officials and they also granted greater social mobility to those from the lower classes. The rags-to-riches story of a poor but talented scholar was a favorite topic of literature. Confucius’s ideals were certainly present in the Imperial setting and it would have been perfect if not for the vestigial influence of Legalism.

Confucianism was highly modified to fit in the imperial framework. Metaphysical aspects were added and the emperor was to be viewed as the Son of Heaven. Hucker notes that, “… it glorifies the ruler almost to the point of negating the anti-statism of the classic doctrine.”[4] With the replacement of the emperor as the center of society, rather than the people, the concept of the chun-tzu was changed. Vitaly Rubin describes this as a change, “… from a wandering knight of humanity into a model official whose chief characteristic was his blind obedience to the commands of his ruler.”[5] This brings to mind the importance placed on the hierarchy of officials by Legalism.

            This Legalist characteristic sprouts from the influence that Legalism left behind. Imperial China with its retention of a highly-centralized government over a unified China, threw out theoretical Legalism but not its practical side. Legalism’s influence extended to the legislative system and the judicial courts, with laws emphasizing penal matters, and the general court opinion being “guilty until proven innocent.” We should also note that Imperial China dealt with a larger population than what Confucius based his philosophy on. Laws and bureaucracy were needed to keep order in society.

 The reliance on these laws was tempered by the infusion of Confucian ideals. Laws that put the welfare of the state over that of the people, to the detriment of the latter, were considered Legalist; Laws that helped serve the people were Confucian ideals in a Legalist-like tool. This reliance on the law was not wholly antithetical to Confucian doctrine; it only gravitated toward one of the polar concepts of Confucianism, putting emphasis on the outer realm, the realm of social order, to influence and cultivate the inner realm, the realm of the self.

 

Summary

 

Confucius never lived to see his ideas in practice, especially as a state religion. He constructed his philosophy in a time of independent feudal states, not in a time of a unified empire. Never having been in an official position of influence, Confucius never could practice what he preached regarding government. His idea of a rule by morality rather than a rule by law is an idealistic concept that had to be tempered by the bureaucratic needs of an empire. His  philosophy infused with the influence of Legalism, produced the image of Ancient China that is popularly known today.

 

 

 

 

 

 

References:

 

1.)Schwartz, Benjamin, Some Polarities in Confucian Thought, Nivison, Wright, ed., Confucianism in Action,  Stanford University Press, Stanford, California, 1959.

 

2.)Hucker, Charles, Confucianism and the Chinese Censorial System, Nivison, Wright, ed., Confucianism in Action, Stanford University Press, Stanford, California, 1959.

 

3.)Rubin, Vitaly, Individual and State in Ancient China, trans. Levine, Steven,  Columbia University Press, New York, 1976.