Confucius is the great teacher of and one of the world's earliest philosophers of genius. He was the first Chinese to make teaching a career and initiated the lecture as a teaching method in order to promote education of commoners.
Chinese cultural unification began with Confucius and his name has become synonymous with learning throughout . He was revered by illiterate millions who could not read his classics but nonetheless sought to practice what he had taught. He has been honored as ta-ch'eng chih-sheng hsien-shih (the all-encompassing, supremely sagacious late master).
Confucius was born September 28,551 B.C., in the state of Lu in present-day province. The time was 81 years before the accepted date for the birth of Socrates (470?-399 B.C.). Despite the difference in time and the geographic separation of half a world, these masters of the learning method had much in common. For example:
- They introduced to the people the privilege of education. This previously had been monopolized by the aristocracy.
- They were eager searchers for truth. Confucius said, "Having heard the Way (Tao) in the morning, one may die content in the evening." Socrates lived up to his principles at the cost of his life.
- Confucius stressed the importance of cheng-ming (rectification of names), meaning that theory should correspond to reality. He said, "If names are not correct, language is not in accordance with the truth of things. If language is not in accordance with the truth of things, affairs cannot be carried on to success." This is analogous to Socrates' view that virtue and knowledge are identical, so no man knowingly does wrong.
- Teachings of the two were little respected by their contemporaries. Confucianism was later elucidated by Mencius and Hsun-tzu, Socratism by Plato and Aristotle.
Confucius is the Latinized form of K'ung-fu-tzu. K'ung was his family name. Fu-tzu was an honorific for men of letters or teachers, meaning "master." On most occasions, fu was omitted for simplicity and he has usually been called K'ung-tzu. His given name was Ch'iu, meaning a "mound," presumably because there was a noticeable convolution on his head. His courtesy name was Chung-ni. But the Chinese never call him K'ung Ch'iu or K'ung Chung-ni because tradition holds it is impolite to refer to great men by their names.
The K'ungs were descendants of aristocrats from Sung, a state southwest of Lu. Confucius' father, Shu-liang-ho, was the magistrate of Tsou in today's Chufu county'of . The magistrate had nine daughters by his first wife and a crippled son by a concubine. When he was past 60, the magistrate married for the second time. The bride, Cheng-tsai, was the youngest of the three daughters of a neighbor named Yen. Confucius was the only child of this union.
The magistrate died when Confucius was 3 years old. Legends have it that Confucius' mother told the son little of his father. This may have been because she was still in her 20s and ashamed of having married an older man. She died when Confucius was in his late teens or early 20s.
Confucius was a serious person from childhood. He liked to play ceremonial games. This laid the groundwork for his expertise in the ancient rituals. The Chinese word for "ritual" is li. Confucianism has been known as li-chiao (the ritual religion).
At the age of 15, he made up his mind to become a scholar. This is recorded in the Lun Yu (Analects), a collection of sayings and dialogues of Confucius and some of his pupils, in this way:
"At fifteen, I set my heart on learning. At thirty, I was firmly established. At forty, I had no more doubts. At fifty, I knew the will of Heaven. At sixty, I was ready to listen to the truth. At seventy, I could follow my heart's desire without transgressing what was right. "
Confucius was married when he was about 20. For a while he was the overseer of a granary in his native state, then was placed in charge of public fields. At 26, he studied the ancient government system under guidance of the Lord of Tan in southern . He began teaching at about the age of 30.
In Confucius' day, was nominally under the rule of the Chou dynasty (1122-221 B.C.). Actually, the country had been partitioned into nearly 200 duchies, marquisates, earldoms and baronies, each proclaiming itself to be an independent state. The stronger were amalgamating the weaker. Ministers and generals were striving to usurp monarchical titles. Confucius compiled the Ch'un Ch'iu (Spring and Autumn Annals), a chronological record of major events from 722 to 481 B.C. Historians of later times came to call these years the Period of Spring and Autumn.
Political chaos also prevailed in the state of Lu. When Duke Chao ascended the throne in 542 B.C., he was only 19 and too young for competent statescraft. Political power fell into the hands of Meng Sun, Su Sun and Chi Sun. These three members of the same family were ministers. After five years, they divided the state into four spheres of influence - two administered by Chi Sun and one each by Meng Sun and Su Sun. They paid only symbolic tribute to the duke. This led the Sage to exclaim: "If this situation is to be tolerated, what else cannot be tolerated!"
In 517 B.C., when Duke Chao was deposed by the three ministers, Confucius left for the state of Ch'i near the peninsula, where he stayed for about a year. An aristocrat named Ch'en was expanding his army in an attempt to overthrow Duke Ching. When asked by the duke what was the right way of government, Confucius replied:
"There is government when the prince is prince, the minister is minister, the father is father and the son is son."
He meant that if everyone kept to his place, the natural order of things would be preserved and social and political stability would result.
The duke was impressed and said:
"Good! If, indeed, the prince be not prince, the minister not minister, the father not father and the son not son, although I have my revenue, can I enjoy it?"
Duke Ching offered Confucius high position. But the Sage declined because the duke's ministers were reluctant to cooperate with him. During his sojourn in Ch'i, Confucius studied ancient music. In recollection of their Master's delight in music, the pupils recorded these passages in Analects:
"When the Master was in Ch'i, he heard the Shao (music composed by Emperor Shun who supposedly reigned from 2255 to 2205 B.C.) and for three months forgot the taste of meat. 'I did not think,' he said, 'that music could be so beautiful.' "
When Confucius returned to Lu, the state was headed by Duke Ting but the reins of government were still held by Chi Sun. A few years later, a retainer named Yang Huo, who was trying to undermine Chi Sun, sought the counsel of Confucius. The Sage refused to help him. Chi Sun regained control and Duke Ting appointed Confucius minister of justice. The Sage, then 50 years old, remained in office for four years.
Confucius was a master of diplomatic strategy. In the summer of 500 B.C., Duke Ting of Lu and Duke Ching of Ch'i planned a conference at in today's Laiwu county, , to settle their disputes. Ch'i officials suggested that Duke Ching hire mercenaries to ambush Duke Ting. Confucius foresaw the plot and tactfully foiled Ch'i's intentions. Duke Ching returned land on the southern bank of the which he had seized from Lu.
In the spring of 497 B.C., Confucius concluded that he could not realize his political ideal - the restoration of Chou rituals in administration - so long as Chi Sun remained in power. He resigned his ministership and left for the state of Wei on the borders of today's province. Duke Ling of Wei treated him with courtesy. Confucius did not stay long, however, because the duke was enthusiastic about putting his advice to use. With a retinue of disciples, he wandered from state to state for 14 years, advising political leaders and teaching students.
Confucuis returned to Lu in 484 B.C. In addition to teaching, he edited Shih Ching (Book of Odes), Shu Ching (Book of History), Li Chi (Book of Rites), Yueh Ching (Book of Music) and I Ching (Book of Changes) and compiled Ch'un Ch'iu (Spring and Autumn Annals).
He died at 479 B.C. He had taught some 3,000 students in 40 years. Of these, 72 mastered the "six arts" of ritual, music, archery, charioteering, history and mathematics. The Master was buried on the bank of the . More than 100 students, admirers and their families built houses near the tomb and remained there in mourning for three years.
The central theme of Confucianism is jen (humanity, love of man or perfect virtue). But the Sage never gave a definite, consistent definition. Asked about jen by Jan Chung-kung, one of his 72 disciples, the Master said: "It is, when you go abroad, to behave to everyone as if you were receiving a great guest; to employ the people as if you were assisting at a great sacrifice; not to do to others as you would not wish done to yourself; to have no word against you in the country and none in the family."
Fan Ch'ih, another disciple, asked this same question several times. On one occasion, the Master said:
"The man of virtue makes the overcoming of difficulty his first business and success only a subsequent consideration." On another occasion, he said: "Love men." Again, he said: "It is, in retirement, to be sedately grave; in the management of business, to be reverently attentive; in intercourse with others, to be strictly sincere. Though a man go among rude, uncultivated tribes, these qualities may not be neglected."
The Analects consists of 508 chapters, of which 58 are on jen. The following are some examples:
- Fine words and insinuating appearance are seldom associated with virtue.
- If a man be without the virtues proper to humanity, what has he to do with the rites of propriety? If a man be without the virtues proper to humanity, what has he to do with music?
- Virtuous manners constitute the excellence of a neighborhood. If a man in selecting a residence does not choose one where such prevail, how can he be wise?
- Those who are without virtue cannot abide long lither in a condition of poverty and hardship, or in a condition of enjoyment. The virtuous rest in virtue; the wise desire virtue.
- It is only the truly virtuous man who can love or who can hate others.
- If the will be set on virtue, there will be no practice of wickedness.
- The man of perfect virtue, wishing to be established himself, seeks also to establish others; wishing to be enlarged himself, he seeks also to enlarge others. To be able to judge others by what is uppermost in ourselves - this may be called the art of virtue.
- To subdue one's self and return to propriety is perfect virtue. If a man can for one day subdue himself and return to propriety, all under Heaven will ascribe perfect virtue to him.
- The man of perfect virtue is cautious and slow in his speech.
- The firm, the enduring, the simple and the modest are near to virtue.
- The virtuous will be sure to speak correctly, but those whose speech is good may not always be virtuous. Men of principle are sure to be bold, but those who are bold may not always be men of principle.
- The way of the superior man is threefold. I myself have not been able to attain any of them. Being humane, he has no anxieties; being wise, he has no perplexities; being brave, he has no fear.
- The determined scholar and the man of virtue will not seek to live at the expense of injuring their virtue. They will even sacrifice their lives to preserve their virtue intact.
- Let every man consider virtue as what devolves on himself. He may not yield the performance of it even to his teacher.
Although an aristocrat, Confucius was opposed to the monopoly of education by the aristocracy and officialdom. He said: "In education there are no class distinctions." He taught students from all walks of life and said: "From the man bringing his bundle of dried meat for my teaching and upward, I have never refused instruction to anyone."
Confucius was called "Sage" when he was still alive. But he denied that his talents were an endowment of Heaven. He said: "I am not one who is born in the possession of knowledge; I am one who is fond of antiquity and earnest in seeking it."
His sayings on education include these:
Is it not pleasant to learn with constant perseverance and application?
- If a man keeps cherishing his old knowledge and continuously acquires new knowledge, he may be a teacher of others.
- Learning without thinking is labor lost; thinking without learning is perilous.
- When you know a thing, say that you know it; when you do not know a thing, admit that you do not know it. That is knowledge.
- Hear much and put aside the points you doubt while at the same time speaking cautiously of the others; then you will incur few occasions for blame. See much and put aside what seems perilous while showing caution in accepting the rest; then you will have few occasions for repentance. With few occasions for blame about words and few occasions for regret at conduct, one is on the way to his reward.
- They who know the truth are not up to those who love it; those who love the truth are not up to those who delight in it.
- When I walk with two others, they may serve as my teachers. I shall select their good qualities and follow them and their bad qualities so as to avoid them.
- Sometimes I have gone a whole day without food and a whole night without sleep, giving myself to thought. It was no use. It is better to learn.
- Learn as if you could not reach your object and were always afraid you would lose it.
- The scholar who cherishes the love of comfort is not fit to be deemed a scholar.
- In ancient times, men learned with a view to their own improvement. Nowadays, men learn with a view to the approbation of others.
- Those who are born wise are the highest type of people; those who become wise through learning come next; those who learn by overcoming dullness come after that. Those who are dull but still won't learn are the lowest type of people.
- By nature, men are pretty much alike; it is learning and practice that set them apart.
On the way of government, the Sage stressed rule by virtue. He said: "He who governs through virtue may be compared to the north polar star, which keeps its place while all the other stars turn towards it."
When Chi K'ang asked the Master about government, he replied: "To govern is to set things right. If you begin by setting yourself right, who will dare to deviate from the right."
When asked the same question by Chuan Tzu-chang, the Master said: "The art of governing is to keep the state's affairs before the mind without weariness and to practice them with undeviating consistency."
Confucius also said:
- To rule a country of a thousand chariots, there must be reverent attention to business, sincerity, economy in expenditure, love for men and the employment of the people at the proper seasons.
- Lead the people by laws and regulate them by penalties, and the people will try to keep out of jail but will have no sense of shame. Lead the people by virtue and restrain them by the rules of decorum, and the people will have a sense of shame and moreover will become virtuous.
- (Duke Ai asked what should be done to secure the submission of the people.) Advance the upright and set aside the dishonest; then the people will submit. Advance the dishonest and set aside the upright; then the people will not submit.
- (Chi K'ang asked how the people could be brought to reverence their ruler, to be faithful to him and to put virtue first.) Let him preside over them with gravity; then they will reverence him. Let him be filial and kind to all; then they will be faithful to him. Let him advance the good and teach the incompetent; then they will eagerly embrace virtue.
- (Duke Ting asked how a prince should employ his ministers and how ministers should serve their prince.) A prince should employ his ministers according to the rules of propriety; ministers should serve their prince with faithfulness.
- The requisites of government are that there be sufficiency of food, sufficiency of military equipment and the confidence of the people in their ruler.
- (Chi K'ang Tze asked Confucius about government, saying: "Suppose I were to kill the lawless for the good of the law-abiding, how would that do?") Why should it be necessary to employ capital punishment in your government? Just so you genuinely desire the good, the people will be good. The virtue of the gentleman may be compared to the wind and that of the commoner to the weeds. The weeds under the force of the wind can only bend.
- If a minister's conduct is correct, he will have no difficulty in governing. If he cannot rectify himself, . what has he to do with rectifying others?
Despite all the changes of the last 2,500 years, Confucius and his teachings have remained alive in Chinese life and thought. His birthday on September 28 is observed as Teachers' Day not only in the Republic of China but also in the state of California across the Pacific.