The Confucian Project An Introduction

Confucius  K’ung Ch’iu  Kung Fu--tzu  BCE  Humble origins  Never got (a substantial) government post  Claimed he was NOT an innovator

The Problem  Collapse of the Chou (Zhou) Dynasty (ca BCE)

The Problem  Collapse of the Chou (Zhou) Dynasty ( BCE)  How do we make life/society more livable (humane)?

The Problem  Collapse of the Chou (Zhou) Dynasty ( BCE)  How do we make life/society more livable (humane)? –Force?

The Problem  Collapse of the Chou (Zhou) Dynasty ( BCE)  How do we make life/society more livable (humane)? –Force? (Realism) –Love? (Mohism)

Confucian Project “The Confucian Project is learning to be human; it is not accepting fate. It is the recognition of primordial ties and the recognition that these ties can be transforming.” -Tu Wei-Ming

The Confucian Project “A Confucian who is bent on self-cultivation positions himself or herself squarely in the center of ever-shifting, never-ending cross-currents of human relationship and would not wish things otherwise...The point is not merely that human relationship are fulfilling... It is rather that apart from human relationships there is not a self. The self is a center of relationships. It is constructed through its interactions with others and is defined by the sum of its social roles.” --Huston Smith

Key Concepts  Ren (jen): “human being” + “two”-- goodness, benevolence, love. A sense of the dignity of human life.

Key Concepts  Ren  Junzi/Chun-tzu: ‘the superior person,’ mature person, the person who accommodates the other, the perfect host/hostess, so self-assured that he/she can defer to others

Key Concepts  Ren  Junzi  Li –The way things should be done.

Key Concepts  Ren  Junzi  Li –The way things should be done. “The Doctrine of the Mean,” -- the middle way between extremes

Key Concepts  Jen/ren  Chun-tzu  Li –The way things should be done. Ritual Propriety “The Doctrine of the Mean,” “The Five Constant Relationships”

Five Constant Relationships  Parent/Child  Husband/Wife  Elder Sibling/Younger Sibling  Elder Friend/Junior Friend  Ruler/Subject These all depend on the key concepts of: The Rectification of Names Shu (Reciprocity) Xiao (filial piety) The Mandate of Heaven

Key Concepts  Ren  Junzi  Li  Te: power, virtue, the power by which people rule and are ruled, virtuous power –(Politically) Three essentials of government: 1.Economic sufficiency 2.Military sufficiency 3.Confidence of its people (this is the most important)

Key Concepts  Jen/ren  Chun-tzu  Li  Te  Wen: “the arts of peace” –People indifferent to art are only half human –Art has power to transform human nature –It makes regard for others easy –The nation with the highest, most noble culture

Is Confucianism a Religion?  Cicero: –Religion as “binding” force –Religion as “re-reading”/interpreting

Is Confucianism a Religion?  Cicero  Huston Smith: –“way of life woven around ultimate concerns” –“concern to align humanity with the transcendental ground of its existence”

Is Confucianism a Religion?  Heaven and earth seen as a continuum, but Confucius seemed to shift the emphasis to earth  Heaven as a source of virtue  Self-community//Heaven-earth

Key Cultural Impact  East Asia’s social emphasis

Key Cultural Impact  East Asia’s social emphasis  Conspicuous Social Effectiveness

Key Cultural Impact  East Asia’s social emphasis  Conspicuous Social Effectiveness  Almost seamless religious syncretism

Key Cultural Impact  East Asia’s social emphasis  Conspicuous Social Effectiveness  Almost seamless religious syncretism  Importance of the Family

Key Cultural Impact  East Asia’s social emphasis  Conspicuous Social Effectiveness  Almost seamless religious syncretism  Importance of the Family  Respect for the elderly

Key Cultural Impact  East Asia’s social emphasis  Conspicuous Social Effectiveness  Almost seamless religious syncretism  Importance of the Family  Respect for the elderly  Preference for negotiation and mediation

Key Cultural Impact  East Asia’s social emphasis  Conspicuous Social Effectiveness  Almost seamless religious syncretism  Importance of the Family  Respect for the elderly  Preference for negotiation and mediation  Learning/arts key to human transformation

In America's ideal of freedom, the public interest depends on private character, on integrity and tolerance toward others, and the rule of conscience in our own lives. Self-government relies, in the end, on the governing of the self. That edifice of character is built in families, supported by communities with standards, and sustained in our national life by the truths of Sinai, the Sermon on the Mount, the words of the Koran, and the varied faiths of our people. Americans move forward in every generation by reaffirming all that is good and true that came before ideals of justice and conduct that are the same yesterday, today, and forever. --George W. Bush, U.S. Presidential Inaugural address, 1/20/2005

junzi [ chun-tzu] "gentleman" ren [ jen] "Goodness" Dao [ Tao] "the Way" yi "rightness” zhong "role-specific duty" shu "sympathetic understanding" xiao "filial piety"