(fourth to third centuries BCE)
CONFUCIUS (c. 551–c. 479 BCE)
The Analects (Lun yu) or “sayings” of Confucius contain most of what little we know about the philosopher whose ideas formed the core of “Confucianism” (a Western term), which lay behind the beliefs about state and society that underpinned the Chinese imperial system for two thousand years, from the Han dynasty (206 BCE–220 CE) to the fall of the Qing in 1911.
Despite his enormous significance, not much is known about the life of Confucius, a latinized name given by seventeenth-century Jesuit missionaries in China. Born Kong Zhongni, supposedly in 551 BCE, he lived for much of his life in the state of Lu (in present-day Shandong province). As a young man he is said to have held minor offices as Keeper of Granaries and Director of Public Pastures, but his ambition to achieve higher office through his wisdom was never realized, and he traveled from state to state with a group of disciples in search of a sympathetic ruler who would admire and follow his teachings. He lived during a time now known as the “Spring and Autumn.” The centuries of “Spring and Autumn” and “Warring States” were also a time known as the “Hundred Schools of Thought,” when the proponents of different philosophies (including Confucianism, Daoism, Mohism, and Legalism) sought to impose their views. Confucius was one of many thinkers at the time.
The Analects is supposed to have been created by Confucius’s disciples but was probably composed long after his death by the disciples of disciples. Though the entries are all brief, it is uneven in content and is seen as a compilation from differing sources. Early references suggest that the Analects had existed in various forms and the surviving version is that of Zheng Xuan (127–200 CE), a noted commentator on the Confucian classics. Unlike many early texts that survived only in manuscript copies until woodblock printing became commonplace during the Song dynasty (960–1279), parts of the Analects were inscribed on stone in around 175 CE. (The Xiping Stone Classics were carved at the instigation of scholars who wanted to establish a permanent version of the text to prevent arguments about variant texts.) Fragments of the text, probably dating from the Tang dynasty (618–907 CE), have also been found among the great corpus of paper documents dating from the fifth to eleventh centuries CE hidden away at the Buddhist cave complex near Dunhuang.
The text mainly takes the form of brief exchanges or anecdotes: “The master said, ‘Do not concern yourself with government matters unless they are the responsibility of your office’; ‘When the master was with a mourner, he ate modestly [not till he was full]’; ‘If on one day he wept, he did not sing on the same day.’” There are quite a few references to Confucius’s behavior and habits, particularly in book 10 (there are twenty brief chapters, or “books,” in the Analects): “If his mat was not straight, he would not sit on it”;* “He did not talk when eating, nor did he talk in bed,” and in eating, he sought to balance rice with meat, made sure that gifts of fine meat were not kept too long in case they spoiled, and enjoyed the taste of ginger, although not to excess. In his clothing, he seems to have considered purple and strong red colors unsuited to “the superior man” and so he avoided these colors, even in informal dress. “In summer, he wore an unlined garment but always over an undergarment. He wore a black jacket over a lambskin, an undyed jacket over fawn skin, and a yellow jacket over fox fur. His informal fur robe was long with the right sleeve short. His robe for sleeping in was twice as long as his body and he lay on thick fox and badger skins.” The deference of his demeanor, especially in the presence of a duke, but also when in “the vacant place of a prince,” was emphasized. He bent low on entering a palace gate, stood respectfully to one side rather than occupy a central position, and he was careful what he wore when on condolence visits.
The main significance of the Analects lies in what is conveyed about learning, moral development, leadership, and the relationship between heaven and humans, particularly those in high office. Confucius is not considered an innovator since he reflected many views that were widely held during his time, such as the need to follow “the Way,” an undefined path, which Raymond Dawson describes in the Confucian context as “an ideal ethico-political system” rather than the Daoists’ “Way of nature.”† Another ancient Chinese concept that lies behind the conduct of government in particular is that of the “Mandate of Heaven” (tianming), the idea that a good ruler governs with heaven’s support—which can be withdrawn if he behaves in an immoral or unjust manner. The confusion and strife of the period in which Confucius lived caused him and others to look back on the early days of the Zhou dynasty (established 1046 BCE) as a golden age of virtuous rulers. In the Analects, Confucius says, “I am ruined—I no longer dream of the Duke of Zhou,” one of the architects of the Zhou dynasty venerated by Confucius for his nobility and self-sacrifice. And, “I transmit but am no innovator. I am trustworthy and I love antiquity.” The sense that innovation is not necessarily helpful to good government is expressed in Confucius’s response to a question about good government: “Let the ruler be a ruler, let the minister be a minister, let the father be a father, and the son a son.” Being a ruler, or a father, carried the firm implication that the person in question carried out his responsibilities in a just and moral manner. His stress on the status quo is also reflected in his view of junzi, the “superior man” or “gentleman,” as opposed to the “small man.” It is clear from many references that in Confucius’s view, the “superior man” can improve himself through study (which Confucius frequently emphasized), but the “small man” is not receptive to learning and will never achieve higher status.
Confucius’s conservatism was also characteristic of the era in that he paid no attention to the lowly status of women; indeed, he appeared to consider them as lower than the “small man.” One of his rare references to women concerns King Wu, who boasted of having ten competent officials—to which Confucius responded, “As one of them was a woman, there were in fact only nine . . .”
On the basis of the Analects alone, with its brief anecdotes of a fundamentally unsuccessful would-be official, it is quite hard to understand how “Confucianism” became the underpinning of the Chinese system of education and bureaucracy. But in the early Han period, the scholar Dong Zhongshu (c. 179–c. 104 BCE) advised the emperor Wudi to establish an imperial academy to train officials, and the “Five Classics” (Wu jing)—Book of Songs, Book of Changes, Book of Documents, Book of Rites, Spring and Autumn Annals—formed the curriculum. These five works were only loosely associated with Confucius, and it was not until the Song period that official education became more strictly “Confucian” through the use of the “Four Books” (Si shu), which were more closely associated with him. These four texts are the Analects, the Mencius (the work of Confucius’s major disciple, Mencius), and two chapters from the Book of Rites: “Great Learning” (Da xue) and “Doctrine of the Mean” (Zhongyong).
Confucius’s influence on traditional Chinese society is seen in many ways which go beyond the anecdotes in the Analects and his (loose) association with the Four Books and Five Classics. While long-entrenched social concepts such as family loyalty and filial piety, traditionally ascribed to him, antedate the philosopher, the traditional veneration for education can certainly be seen in his works.