K’ung-tzu 551-479 B.C.E., also transcribed as K’ung-fu-tzu; Confucius, founder of the first Chinese wisdom school, whose teachings were a determining infl u ence on public life in China, Japan, and Korea until the time of the 20th century. Confucius set himself the task of salvaging the ideals of the ancients from the general decline. He reformulated and systematically ordered the thoughts and ideas contained in the classical writings, which tradition later accredited to him. The central concepts of his philosophy were Jen (humaneness, love of fellow men) and Ii (morality, uprightness, custom). He considered these to be the indispensable virtues of a princely person (chün-tzu), the Confucianist ideal. His political views were essentially based on the idea that order can only be brought about by the correction of names (cheng-ming) so that all things will correspond with the qualities ascribed to them by their names (appellations). In other words, a prince has to behave like a prince.
Confucius had a strong sense of his heavenly vocation and voluntarily submitted to the celestial mandate (t’ien-ming), the will of Heaven. His teachings are preserved in the Analects (Lun-yu).
K’ung-tzu was born into a noble family in Lu (now Shantung) province and grew up in humble circumstances. At the age of fifteen he decided to pursue a career as state official; when he was twenty years old he held an official post as storekeeper and later became a supervisor of the royal lands. Under various teachers he studied the thoughts and customs of the ancients and soon gathered a group of pupils around him. At the age of fifty he held the post of j ustice minister, but political intrigues forced him to abandon it and go into exile. He spent several years traveling through various provinces in the hope that his views on political and social reform would find favor, because he was convinced that they were capable of renewing the world. At the age of sixty-seven he was allowed to return home, where he died in 479 B.C.E.
According to tradition, K’ung-tzu, toward the end of his life, wrote a number of works which have come to be considered the classic teachings of, Confucianism. He is credited with the authorship of the Shi-ching (Book of Songs), the Shu-ching (Book of Writings), and the Ch’un-ch’iu (Spring and Autumn Annals), the first Chinese historical work. In addition, parts of the I-ching and the Chia-yü (Instructive Discourses) are attributed to him. The Yüeh-ching (Book of Music) and the Li-ch’i (Book of Rites) are said to have been edited by him. His pupils of whom there were approximately three thousand compiled his sayings in the Analects (Lun-yü). (All the above works have been translated into the major European languages.)
The central concept of his teachings was that of Jen (humaneness, loving-kindness toward one’s fellow men):
“Do not unto others what you would not have them do unto you” (Analects 15.23). The practice of Jen is governed by Ii (morality): “To conquer oneself and tum to Ii; that is humaneness” (Analects 12.1). This concept of humaneness and benevolence furthermore embraces the virtues of conscientiousness (chung) and reciprocity (shu). Social intercourse is governed by the five relationships (wu-lun), which regulate moral behavior and allocate a proper place to each member of society. The five relationships are those between father and son, husband and wife, older and younger brother, ruler and subject, and friend and friend. To bring order into the world it is necessary to first create order within the family, and then within the territorial provinces. Once that is done, the realm will naturally fall into order. Order within the family depends on the respect and piety shown by children toward their parents.
Confucius adopted a somewhat reserved attitude toward the religious ideas of his time. His philosophy contains no religious speculations, although he felt that he had a heavenly (t’ien) vocation. It was not his intention to abolish ancestor worship the basis of the official religion of the time and he went so far as to include it, together with the rites of mourning, in the duties of piety toward ancestors. He refused to pronounce on the fate of the dead: “We do not even know what life is; how then can we know anything about death?” Confucianist philosophy has little room for superstition. The respect Confucius held for the official cult of ancestor worship was based on ethical rather than religious considerations. He was of the opinion that it made no sense to ask the deities for their help. In his view the will of Heaven could not be changed by our prayers.
His ideas about government are simple: if the ruler is righteous and honest, so will his subjects be. Reforms must begin at the top. When asked what would be the first measure he would take ifhe were appointed to govern, Confucius replied, “Correct the names; because if the names are incorrect, the words will not be correct either; and if the words are incorrect, actions will not be properly carried out; and if the actions are not properly completed, rites [Ii] and music cannot flourish; if rites and music do not flourish, punishments will not fit the crime; if punishments do not fit the crime, the common people will not know where to put hand and foot. Therefore a noble person takes care to ensure that names are properly used in speech and that what he says will in all circumstances be practicable. A noble person will not tolerate disorder in his words. That is what matters” (Analects 13.3).
And elsewhere, “Let the prince be prince, the minister minister, the father father, and the son son” (Analects 12.11).
The first step toward the correction of names thus consists in the prince behaving like a prince, whereby all remaining names are also put in order and society, too, can be restored to order. Every name contains qualities that correspond to the essence of the thing referred to by that name. If a ruler follows the Tao of a ruler he will rule in accordance with the essence and qualities of a ruler and not merely in name. There is then a harmonious correspondence between name and external reality. Confucius therefore states that everyone father, son, wife, etc. must act in accordance with the duties arising from his or her appellation. He further considered it to be his task to give rulers a true idea of their calling so that they might live up to and act in accordance with the requirements of rulership.
Although the Confucian model of society had no immediate effect on the society of his time, it became -for over two thousand years- a model and example for the people of China, Japan, and Korea, in that their whole life was oriented toward Confucianist ideas. (Also Confucianism.) (Quotes from Opitz 1968.)
Source: The Encyclopedia of Eastern Philosophy and Religion: Buddhism, Hinduism, Taoism, Zen. Shambhala Publications, Inc.
Books on K’ung-tzu
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