The religious function of Confucianism comes from its inheritance of the ancient Chinese religion which centers on worship, sacrifice, and ritual. In fact, Confucianism is still regarded by the Chinese of today as one of the three religions of China (the san jiao), the other two being Taoism and Buddhism. Confucianism is very often described as a ritual religion, a characterization that can be clarified by examining in turn the ritual aspect of Confucianism, the three kinds of worship maintained by the Confucian tradition, the Confucian concept of man, and the place of Confucianism in the modern world.
Ritual
Etymologically, the ideograph for ritual (li) is composed of two parts: the right half of the character signifies anything related to spiritual beings, while the left symbolizes a vessel with two pieces of jade used in sacrificial services. Hsu Shen of the Eastern Han Dynasty (25-220 A.D.) defined ritual as "following" or "treading," i.e., the step or act whereby spiritual beings are properly served and human happiness obtained. In other words, ritual originally meant "a religious sacrifice," and such sacrifice can be traced back to the earliest times of man.
Thus, in ancient China man can be defined as a "ritual being." For example, the ancient classical text of history and philosophy called the Tso Chuan says: "Ritual determines the relations of high and low; it is the warp and woof of Heaven and Earth; it is the life of people." Elsewhere it adds, "Ritual (is found in) the regular procedure of Heaven, the right phenomena of Earth, and the actions of men."
Defined as sacrificial rites, ritual is primarily religious although its connotation goes beyond the reach of purely religious matters. The Duke of Chou (ca. 1180-1082 B.C.) first made explicit the political and ethical implications contained in ritual. For example, concerning politics he is credited with saying, "It is ritual which governs State and clans, gives settlement to the tutelary altars, secures the order of the people, and provides for the good of one's future heirs." And furthermore: "Ritual is that by which a ruler maintains his State, carries out his governmental orders, and does not lose his people. "
In ethics, it is necessary "that the ruler order and the subject obey, the father be kind and the son dutiful, the elder brother loving and the younger respectful, the husband be harmonious and the wife gentle, the mother-in-law kind and the daughter-in-law obedient-these are things in ritual." In sum, "Ritual is that through which we can see loyalty, faithfulness, benevolence, and righteousness. "
By the time of Confucius, however, the ritual tradition so richly described by the Tso Chuan was in a state of collapse, primarily because of the religious import of ritual was being neglected. With the loss of their religious dimension, the ceremonies came to be used by the ruler as a means "to awe his officials so that they will not transgress the laws," and to ensure that through their use "the unity of the people is strengthened."
These crass interpretations deprived ritual of its original significance, its role as an instrument of moral perfection; instead the performance of ritual turned out to be not much more than a formalistic activity. This was the real breakdown of meaning and function that worried Confucius so much.
In the field of politics, Confucius emphasizes that ritual is the best way of governing a state. He says, "It is by ritual (or the rites) that a state is administered" (This and all subsequent quotes come from the Analects unless otherwise indicated). "When those above love ritual, none of the common people will dare be irreverent;" "Guide them by virtue, keep them in line with ritual, and they will, besides having a sense of shame, reform themselves."
In the domain of ethics, Confucius construes ritual as the criterion of such virtues as "respectfulness, carefulness, courage, and forthrightness." When asked what constitutes a complete man, he answers that in addition to virtues like knowledge, courage, and freedom from covetousness, ritual and music are still required to realize the complete man. Ritual is the designated ground on which a man can stand firm. Confucius teaches his own son, "Unless you study ritual, you will be ill-equipped to take your stand."
This idea is expressed in other cases with the same reference to the "establishment" of a man. Confucius says of himself: "At 30, I took my stand." Here, "taking a stand" implies that his character is already established in the ritual that he has diligently studied and learned.
To Confucius, it seems that the religious essence of ritual has died out. People perform sacrifices only as a routine, without believing in the presence of spirits. A statement in the Analects reading, "Sacrifice as if present" is taken to mean "sacrifice to the gods as if the gods were present." Scholars usually take this sentence as evidence to argue that Confucius is an agnostic with regard to knowledge of spirits, or that he claims an "as if' philosophy in this respect.
This is not necessarily the case, be cause it is still uncertain who actually said the above statement. What Confucius really said is the subsequent sentence, "I do not agree with those who sacrifice as if not doing sacrifice." Other relevant sayings in the Analects never tell if Confucius denied the existence of spiritual beings or not.
Whatever the case, it is clear that Confucius never forsook the ritual tradition; rather, he tried to revive this tradition by emphasizing that proper dispositions should accompany all ritual performances. He says, "What can a man do with ritual who is not benevolent? What can a man do with music who is not benevolent?" Ritual is therefore rooted in the nature of man and plays an important role in bringing man to perfection.
Before examining the Confucian concept of man, it will be helpful first to review the three kinds of worship or sacrifice maintained by Confucianism, for these best express the essence of the so called ritual religion.
Worship
The religious dimension of Confucianism can be easily perceived by its emphasis on sacrifice and worship. Three kinds of sacrifice have been observed by the Confucian tradition: sacrifices to Heaven, to ancestors, and to the sages. Heaven is worshipped because it is believed to be the source of all things; ancestors are worshipped because they are the fountain-head of the present human being; and the sages are worshipped because they exemplify the perfect personality and are models of the best rulers and teachers of proper behavior.
The worship of Heaven is sometimes understood as worshipping all of nature. However, Heaven never signifies mere nature in Confucianism. Heaven for Confucius not only makes "the four seasons go around and the hundred things come into being," but is also concerned with the transmission of culture. It thus confers a unique mission on Confucius, making him "the wooden tongue for a bell," which means to teach people on behalf of Heaven.
According to Mencius (as recorded in the classic book Mencius), Heaven does not speak, "but reveals itself through its acts and deeds." Moreover, its revelation is universalized in the reflection of man's heart. Every man has the presence of Heaven in his heart which always reveals correct guidance for action. Therefore, if a man fully searches his heart, he will understand his nature; and if he knows his own nature, he will know Heaven.
Meanwhile, Mencius claims that the proper way to serve Heaven is for man to retain his heart and nurture his nature. Far from being mere hypothesis, Heaven manifests itself in the functioning of the heart. The heart, being the microcosm of Heaven, is the representative of transcendence in the realm of immanence. The opening statement of The Golden Mean—one of the four basic classics of Confucianism along with the Analects, the Mencius, and The Great Learning-reads, "What Heaven has conferred is called the (human) nature." Human nature is ordained by Heaven. Thus, the text continues, the perfection of man cannot depart from the revelation of Heaven: "Being sincere is the way of Heaven; becoming sincere is the way of man."
Obviously, the close relation between Heaven and man would be incomprehensible without an understanding of how Confucians view the nature of man.
Nature of Man
Early Confucians view human nature as tending toward goodness. This is not a proper place to present all the necessary arguments, but the consequences of this theory which are accepted by all Confucians can be stated as follows:
First, no one is incapable of becoming a gentleman. Confucius said that he never met anyone whose strength was insufficient for practising benevolence. Mencius expressly insisted that all men can become a sage like Yao or Shun.
Second, all men are obliged to become gentlemen. To be genuinely human is to become virtuous; and to be virtuous is simply to fulfill completely the nature of man which tends toward goodness. Man's natural life is for the purpose of realizing his moral potency. The obligation here is a categorical one. Confucius held that man should sacrifice his life for the sake of benevolence, and Mencius claimed that he would rather have righteousness than life. Hsun Tzu, a later Confucianist (ca. 310-230 B.C.), also declared, "A gentleman, though worrying about danger and misery, does not avoid to die for the sake of righteousness."
Third, all men, while becoming gentlemen, are responsible for bringing others to attain their perfect state. A famous saying of Confucius reads, "A benevolent man helps others to take their stand in so far as he himself Wishes to take his stand, and gets others there in so far as he himself wishes to get there."
This passage discloses the essence of Confucian humanism which lays stress on human potentiality, moral education, and mutual responsibility. More significantly, this humanism is open ended, that is, open to Heaven, which is the source of all that exists. This open humanism leads Confucians to take the "union of Heaven and man," which is equivalent to the state of sagehood, as their highest possible goal in this life.
Confucianism Today
Confucianism has attracted increasing numbers of contemporary scholars to search for the reason why it is regarded as the main ethical factor in the success of East Asian modernization. Max Weber (1864-1920), the great theorist of modernization, argued that Confucianism was a "this-worldly religion, but not one which embodies ascetic values." He concluded that it was unable to bring forth modern capitalism, and consequently would fail to produce modernization. The facts of today now speak for themselves, and they give a much different answer.
It is useful to investigate the way Confucians apply their theory of man to actual situations. To begin with, to affirm human nature as tending toward goodness is to maintain that man is born with moral potentiality which is to be actualized in the whole process of his life. That is to say, man's obligation to renew his virtue or to perfect himself is present as long as he lives. Thus, the path for a man to follow in his life—the way of man—becomes obvious: "to choose what is good and firmly hold it fast," as The Golden Mean states.
A key question arises: What is good according to Confucianism? The answer to this provides a clue to understanding the Confucian influence on Chinese society.
For Confucians, goodness is not an objective entity, nor is it a purely subjective attribute. Rather, goodness is the natural and spontaneous tendency of man properly embodied in human relationships. Goodness in isolation is incomprehensible or even meaningless. Thus, the close and hence inevitable relations between men become a necessary condition for a man to be good or to fulfill his nature.
The so-called "five relationships" that form the main structure of traditional ethics are those between sovereign and minister, father and son, husband and wife, elder brother and younger, and between friends. They are regarded in The Golden Mean as "five ways of bringing man to goodness." Influenced by this ethical doctrine, Chinese people are inclined to obey the properly exercised authority, to regard family as the birthplace of crucial virtues, and to emphasize the mutual benefit of friend ship in terms of moral cultivation. Without these relationships, "the way of man" is merely an empty phrase. It is in this context that Confucian humanism shows its compatibility with the spirit of asceticism.
Confucians are supposed to be very considerate of other people. The golden rule of Confucianism found in the Analects reads, "Do not impose on others what you yourself do not desire." Confucius advises further, "To set strict standards for oneself and make allowances for others when making demands on them." Self-restraint is also strongly emphasized. One passage occurs several times in the Analects. "A gentleman does not forget what is right at the sight of gain."
This attitude toward self and others can be understood as a moderate asceticism. That is to say, it demands a strict self-discipline but with no feeling of bitterness, because it also anticipates the fulfillment of human nature. Confucian asceticism is therefore accompanied with a sense of joy.
Following this line of thought, Mencius proclaims that "all the ten thousand things are there in me. There is no greater joy for me than to find, on self-examination, that I am true to myself. Try your best to treat others as you would wish to be treated yourself, and you will find that this is the shortest way to benevolence."
Thus, an understanding of the Confucian theory of man demonstrates that the previously alleged incompatibility between this-worldliness and asceticism proves to be a false conception. Besides, in the place of the concept of "calling" which motivates and impels Protestantism in the direction of modernization, Confucianism believes that man is born with a judge in his heart which reveals the will of Heaven, the ultimate source of all that exists.
The heart as judge is to be understood as a mission conferred on every man by Heaven, one that manifests a spirit of man which makes him in but not of this world. Following this line of thought, it can be argued that Weber's interpretation of Confucianism can be safely abandoned while accepting his insights regarding the emergence of modernization. Furthermore, it can be affirmed that Confucianism has indeed provided a working ethic for modernization. —(Dr. Pei-jung Fu is an associate professor in the Department of Philosophy, National Taiwan University).