Burns 1 Andrew Burns AP Language and Composition Mr. Girard March 16, 2009 Confucianism: An Analysis through „A Beggar Gets A Wife and Sonâ€&#x; by Lan Ting-yuan The wife and son of a man named Zheng came to complain to the local magistrate that her husband, the beadle of a nearby village, had been attacked in his home by a disgruntled man named Xiao, from whom Zheng had unsuccessfully tried to collect taxes. The wife complained that Xiao and a group of his friends had ransacked their home, beating her husband so severely that after the attacks ceased, he threw himself into the river. The son, using his boat, promptly dredged the water-logged body from the river and presented it to the magistrate. The body was too decomposed to be positively identified, though the magistrate noted that the dirt beneath his fingernails seemed to confirm suicide. When Xiao and his group of friends were captured, the magistrate grew suspicious. He noted that the accused had repeatedly filed complaints to the previous magistrate that their local beadle had acted abusively, unjustly taking more money than they owed. Furthermore, the magistrate questioned how the body could decay so quickly in only eight days. Looking up at the wife and son, both now dressed in hempen garments and mourning staves, the magistrate order them to bury the body, which they did, though astonished. The magistrate then called for the accused and declared that the man named Zheng was not dead, that he was in fact very much alive, and that he ordered them to spread throughout the neighboring villages and towns to apprehend him and bring him back. Xiao and his friends said that they did not know where Zheng was and nothing more. This response did not sit quietly with the magistrate who blasted them for their ignorance of local issues and questioned their indifference
Burns 2 to the consequences of their reticence. “It‟s all very well to be callous when other people are concerned; but now that your stand charged with this murder and your own necks are in peril, it being my duty to commit you to prison, do you mean to tell me that you are willing to take the consequences?” The accused responded by bursting into tears and asking for mercy, admitting that Zheng was indeed alive, that he had fled when he heard about the appointment of the new magistrate, and that his wife and son were attempting to clear his name. They quickly went off looking for Zheng, whom they found in the city of Huilai. That city was happy to get rid of the thieving Zheng and a large crowd followed as he was escorted to the magistrate. The magistrate took Zheng into custody, arrested the shame-faced and groveling mother and son and forced the son to provide the name of the lawyer who had advised them to engage in such scandalous behavior. Still, the magistrate laughed that, as the wife and son had worn proper attire in burying the man who was now identified as a local beggar, a beggar‟s soul was laughing “over the whole affair down in the realms below” (Ting-yuan 248-250). This summary of a true story recorded by Lan Ting-yuan in 18th century China will serve as the basis for my analysis of Confucianism. The Confucian‟s path to a good life is through following the Dao, or the Way of Heaven. Kongzi posited that society is aligned with the Way when it functions as an extended family with each member performing his or her role specific obligations (Ivanhoe 1). This family dynamic is quite evident in Ting-yuan‟s account. The magistrate, in his fatherly role, quickly extracts information from the accused in their filial role. Filial piety, known as xiao, is one of the most basic precepts of Confucianism. Perhaps it isn‟t a coincidence that the pinyin for Xiao and xiao are similar. A Confucian would see the son‟s “corporeal” deception as a perfectly reasonable demonstration of piety. Kongzi once remarked that “[a] father will screen a son, a son his father—which incidentally does involve a sort of uprightness” (Confucius and Waley 176).
Burns 3 Similarly, the wife‟s deceptive actions are seen as a proper demonstration of uxorial piety. The basis of this piety is ren. Ren has no equivalent in English, though it is often translated as benevolence, humanity, and love. Its abstract nature makes its meaning elusive and thus leaves its interpretation largely up to the scholar, translator or reader. Ren is not unconditional, but rather graded benevolence or love. Those closest in relation to an individual deserve more humanity than those very distant. This is not to say that one should be cruel to strangers, simply that one should be kinder to family. The lies of the mother and son are seen as the product of ren and their actions toward the more distant Xiao and company are seen as the outcome of the ripple nature of ren. It is their duty as a family to protect their fellow member even if it requires them to sacrifice an innocent party. I would note that, this “ripple-ren” is perhaps the most attractive and unseemly aspect of Confucianism. In some situations it seems reasonable, like choosing to rescue your mother rather than a stranger from a burning building; yet, in Tingyuan‟s situation, my Western mind cannot conceive of sheltering a thieving father by sentencing innocent people to almost certain death. I believe, that like myself, many Westerners would agree that family loyalty only goes so far. Ren is promoted by following li, which literally means “rites” or “rituals” but which incorporates considerably more. Li is the series of social customs and prescribed behavior in a society, dictated by Heaven (tian) as part of a carefully crafted plan (Ivanhoe 2). The relationships that define a society are part of li, as are the customs and occupations. When an individual performs his or her li with genuine and appropriate affective attitude, one cultivates nascent virtuous sensibilities and dispositions. In Ting-yuan‟s account, wearing the hempen clothes and carrying the mourning staves is a good example of li. While many Westerners view the similar custom of wearing formal black attire to funerals as simply customary behavior,
Burns 4 Confucians see the wearing of mourning clothes as essential; the failure to do so, destructive. As Kongzi traveled through the feudal states, he repeatedly claimed the decline of the Zhou dynasty was directly related to the failure to practice the traditional culture (li) and that the societal disharmony could be remedied if rulers would return to tradition. Confucians fear societal disharmony, and this fear likely compelled the mother and son to wear the hot, uncomfortable mourning clothes while burying a strange beggar with whom they had no relationship. But how does a Confucian determine what is yi, that is, what is right and what is wrong? What do right and wrong mean? Not unlike many other conservative ideologies, Confucianism does assert that there is a right and a wrong, and more specifically, that the right—yi is in accordance with the Way. Still, in Ting-yuan‟s account, who behaved right and who behaved wrong? Personally, I think the whole lot of them were nasty. The wife and the son obstructed justice and were complicit in criminal activity. Xiao and his friends stalled the investigation with omissions and wasted the magistrate‟s time. Of course the thieving Zheng was also wrong, abusing his position of authority to extort money. However, a Confucian might not see it that way. In fact, Zheng, Xiao and company, and the lawyer are the only wrongdoers in the Confucian eyes. Right now you are probably asking: “What about the lying wife?” Yes, that is the same question I would have asked before learning about Confucianism, but this question is easily dealt with by explaining yi. Mengzi can be thanked for raising the profile of yi in the Confucian school, viewing it essentially as ren and li‟s equals, noting that “Benevolence [ren] is the heart [xin] of man, and righteousness [yi] his road” (Mencius and Lau 225). Thus, in Mengzi‟s view and the view of the later Confucian schools, differentiating between right and wrong was a necessary component for true humanity. Mengzi saw ren as the natural feeling that arises from the heart, the feeling of benevolence and love for others, whereas yi is the absolute
Burns 5 proper way to conform to moral obligations (Shun 4). As I explained earlier, li includes the etiquette of relationships—the superior and inferior. In the case of Zheng‟s wife and son, they were simply demonstrating piety toward their relational superior, which is considered perfectly acceptable. When wading through Confucian logic, one must remember the two P‟s of yi: piety and propriety. Piety, which is dictated by ritual propriety, trumps anything else. In a Confucian household, a father‟s order for his son to go to his room will be promptly followed by the door closing; the son‟s person within the room. No “it‟s not fair” or “please.” An order by the superior in a relationship automatically results in the appropriate action by the inferior. This order-action mechanism is called reciprocity or shu. Shu, however, does not just involve the obligations that the inferior owes to the superior, but also the superior‟s obligations to the inferior—chief among them being good counsel. That notwithstanding, if Zheng told his wife and son to pretend that he was dead and accuse others of his murder, they were obligated to carry out his wishes. Even though these actions are not in and of themselves in accordance with li, the carrying out of his order is and so it must be done. Ting-yuan‟s story seems to reveal some of the glaring flaws in this superior-inferior, order-action Confucian society and the logic of yi. Say that your father tells you to kill your wife. According to the Confucian hierarchy of relationships, filial piety trumps husbandly piety, so you would be obligated to kill your wife, and yet, killing your wife would not be in accordance with the harmonious nature of the Way. This is repugnant to Western morality, but, theoretically, it is so. The logic behind the hierarchy is just, that is, that the father, in directing his son imparts wisdom (zhi) and demonstrates ren. But it lends itself to corruption. CEOs of Chinese companies are notorious for acting with impunity to the detriment of everyone else, ordering employees to commit crimes.
Burns 6 What is this zhi? Well, before thinking about zhi, remember what has already been discussed. Ren refers to being guided by an innate compassionate humanity, li refers to following rituals and social customs, and yi refers to applying li to distinguish what is proper from what is not. Zhi focuses on dealing with circumstances which are less clear cut, less definite. To gain it, one must be well educated and practiced in li, but it doesn‟t involve following li. Instead, it deals with making what I shall term “intuitive jumps” where li and yi leave gaps. Shun describes it as the “ability to assess situations without adhering to fixed rules of conduct” and notes that “[t]his discretionary judgment may lead one to deviate from the established rules of li, and may also guide one‟s behavior in situations in which no general rule is applicable” (4-5). The person in the account that epitomizes the Confucian zhi is the magistrate. His quick thinking allows him to make the correct deduction and determine that Zheng is not dead after all. Perhaps one could venture that a Western analog to the magistrate‟s zhi is common sense and that both incidentally suffer from the same problem, namely that they are not very common. Ideally, good fathers, i.e. fathers not like Zheng, are supposed to pass on their zhi to their children; however, often times, piety stomps out the development of abstract or creative thinking in Confucian children, turning them into subservient robots. Such development often requires the ability to make independent choices, like not needlessly acting as scapegoats; yet, as Ziyu Yang points out in the Sino-US English Teaching, “[i]t has never occurred to some Chinese [Confucian] parents that children have the right to choose.” In their view, “children should follow their wishes and repay them in the future, for they have put all their heart and soul into caring for the child” (58). She notes that the lack of choices both at home and school retards the development of “creativity or individual interests” (Yang 59). Confucian adults often grow up and add patriotic piety (zhong) to their repertoire, refusing to think for themselves, ingesting only government propaganda with a view
Burns 7 toward harmony. This wasn‟t supposed to be the case, in fact, most Confucian scholars argued against subservient thoughtlessness. Xunzi, a prominent disciple of Confucius, stated that learning should be conducted through self examination: “Learning must never be concluded…In broadening his learning, the gentleman each day examines himself so that his awareness will be discerning and his actions without excess” (Zhang, American Civilization 109). Essentially, examine yourself, ponder over past choices, and use them to aid in solving future problems. As to why the Confucian teachings have been corrupted, I am not sure. Is Zheng evil? From a Western perspective, we are force to conclude yes. Clearly, he had no regard for the wife and son that he forced to give false testimony to the magistrate. Certainly, he was unsympathetic to the plight of Xiao and company. Obviously, he had no qualms about stealing property and abusing his position of power. However, from a Confucian perspective, he is simply uneducated (Confucius the Sage King). Confucian ideas of human morality split into two schools, the Mengzi and Xunzi, though the former later gained the widest acceptance. According to Mengzi, human nature is essentially good (xing shan) (Ivanhoe 32). Mengzi famously proposed that “on seeing a child about to fall into a well, everyone has a feeling of horror and distress [,]” that to not feel distress “would be contrary to all human feelings” (Mencius and Dobson 132). Based on this, Mengzi concluded that man must be born prepackaged with ethical predispositions (duan) which they must nourish with self-cultivation (Shun 6). Xunzi, refuted Mengzi‟s view of human nature, writing: “Man‟s nature is evil; goodness is the result of conscious activity” (Xunzi 157). To Xunzi, man is a primal animal, full of selfish desires and cravings. In order for society to prevail, people must be cultivated, separating themselves from their primitive nature and replacing it with artifice (wei). Humans are different from animals because of this ability to act contrary to their selfish nature (Robins par.
Burns 8 41). Either way, “evil” behavior is the product of ignorance in the li, for if one doesn‟t know the li, one cannot determine what is yi. Zheng‟s behavior is the product of neglectful parents and a decadent society. I laugh as I write this, thinking of all the killers and rapists who claim that childhood abuse and neglect caused them to commit crimes. At the very least, the Confucian model is overly simplistic, at worst, entirely dismissive of the phenomenon. It claims no one is born “evil” in the Western sense. They are either inclined toward good or inclined toward egotism. Confucianism gives no explanation of very vicious crimes like mass murder or torture. Hitler and Stalin simply missed their li lessons. In contrast to Zheng, whom the Confucians would consider a “small man,” the magistrate is a junzi, or gentleman. Junzi is not gender specific, but simply refers to a person who follows the Way. He or she has cultivated his or her mind, becoming skilled in the li and exudes ren. A junzi is “[a] person…who does the morally, socially, and culturally right thing at the right time…for the well being of others as well as for the sake of his own character” (Colmo 5). Kongzi describes the junzi as one who “in his dealings with the world has neither enmities nor affections; but wherever he sees Right he ranges himself beside it” (Confucius and Waley 104) and contrasts them with the small men when he says that “[a] gentleman takes as much trouble to discover what is right as lesser men take to discover what will pay” (Confucius and Waley 105). Kongzi urges that everyone strive to be a junzi, but notes that they are not quite easy to find, remarking “[a] sagely man [sheng], I have not managed to find; if I could find a gentleman [junzi], it would be enough” (Confucius, Brooks and Brooks 43). The account glorifies the junzilike wisdom of the magistrate, able to determine the truth by examining how others deviate from the Way. If someone were to write a Confucian comic book, the hero would be the junzi, always following the Way and acting appropriately in every situation; the villain would be the small
Burns 9 man, an uneducated, ill-mannered dirty liar (Zhang, In Response par. 4). In general, Kongzi considered most people to be small, interested in only themselves, disinterested in the Way; thus, to be a gentleman was to transcend basic human instincts. Xunzi clarifies this in his school when he describes men as basically evil. The junzi, according the Xunzi, is one who has perfected his façade of goodness. The magistrateâ€&#x;s actions seem just and even handed, in keeping with the Way, though I myself doubt that anyone really could be a junzi let alone a sage (a perfect junzi). Perhaps, I am more cynical than the very cynical Xunzi. So, after this thorough analysis, what have we learned from Zheng, his wife and son, Xiao and the magistrate? We have learned that Confucianism is an ideology focused on following divinely-inspired social guidelines. We have learned that the basic tenets of Confucianism are ren, li, yi, and zhi. We have learned that individuals lacking these are judged ill-educated, that those possessing these are judged junzi. Confucianism differs significantly from Western thought. It emphasizes ceremony more than even the strictest monastic order, considering it essential to a well-ordered state; it proposes relationships should be reciprocated but unequal, that piety is supreme, that crime stems from poor manners, and that we will all live in perfect harmony if we simply return to tradition. It is not the mysterious religion possessed by the learned Oriental, but the fabric that glues Eastern society (Confucianism). Most of all, we can at least admire that, a philosophy dating back thousands of years is just as relevant then as it was two hundred years ago as it is now.
Burns 10 Works Cited Colmo, Ann C. "21st Century Ethics: The Aristotelian-Confucian Connection." Proc. of Midwest Political Science Association Conference, Chicago. “Confucianism.” 1 September 2007. Podcast. “Revealing World Religions Podcast.” Learnoutloud.com. Web. 25 February 2009. Confucius, and Arthur Waley. The Analects of Confucius. Trans. Arthur Waley. New York: Vintage Books, 1938. Print. Confucius, E. Bruce. Brooks, and A. Taeko. Brooks. The Original Analects. New York: Columbia UP, 2001. Print. “Confucius the Sage King (version 2).” 15 December 2005. Podcast. “Todd Park Mohr philosophy.” Mefeedia.com. Web. 25 February 2009. Gong, Tan. "On Mourning." Gems of Chinese Literature. Trans. Herbert A. Giles. Vol. 1. New York: Paragon Book Reprint Corp. and Dover Publications, Inc., 1965. 39-40. Print. Ivanhoe, Philip J. Ethics in the Confucian Tradition: The Thought of Mengzi and Wang Yangming. 2nd ed. Indianapolis: Hackett Company, Incorporated, 2002. Print. Mencius, and W. A. C. H. Dobson. Mencius: A New Translation Arranged and Annotated for the General Reader. Trans. W. A. C. H. Dobson. Harmondsworth: University of Toronto P, 1963. Print. Mencius. Mencius. Trans. D. C. Lau. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1970. Print. Robins, Dan. "Xunzi." The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Fall 2008 Edition). Ed. Edward N. Zalta. Stanford University. 18 Feb. 2009. Web. 5 Mar. 2009. Shun, Kwong Loi. "Mencius." The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Fall 2008 Edition). Ed. Edward N. Zalta. Stanford University. 18 Feb. 2009. Web. 5 Mar. 2009.
Burns 11 Ting-yuan, Lan. "A Beggar Gets A Wife and Son." Gems of Chinese Literature. Trans. Herbert A. Giles. Vol. 1. New York: Paragon Book Reprint Corp. and Dover Publications, Inc., 1965. 248-250. Print. Xunzi. Hsun Tzu: Basic Writings. Trans. Burton Watson. New York: Columbia UP, 1996. Print. Yang, Ziyu. "Confucianism versus Individualism: A Cross-cultural Comparison of Nurturing and Schooling between China and the United States." Ed. Nina Liu and Xiao Li. Sino-US English Teaching 2 (2005): 57-60. Print. Yao, Xinzhong. An Introduction to Confucianism. New York: Cambridge UP, 2000. Print. Zhang, Jingning. "In Response to Your Confucianism Questions." E-mail. 16 Mar. 2009. Zhang, Wei-Bin. The American Civilization Portrayed in Ancient Confucianism. Grand Rapids: Algora, 2002. Print.