Revised, 8/30/08
Confucius (Kung Fu-Tzu)*
(551-479 BC)
& Confucianism
*Family name = Kung (Kong)
Personal name = Zhong-ni
Kung Fu-Tzu (Kong Fu-zi) = “Master Kung”
“Confucius” = Latinization of “Kung Fu-Tzu”
Reading from
the Analects
(Text, pp. 1-14)
The History of Chinese Philosophy
• The Classical Age (6th century BC-2d century AD)
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–
–
–
–
–
Confucianism (Confucius, 551-479 BC)
Daoism (Lao Tzu, 6th century BC)
Mohism (Mo Tzu, 468-376 BC)
The Yin-Yang School (founder unknown)
The School of Names (Logic) (Hui Shih, c. 380-305 BC)
Legalism (Han Fei Tzu, d. 23 BC)
• The Medieval Age (2d-10th centuries BC): relations & conflicts
between Confucianism, Daoism, & Buddhism
• The Modern Age (11th century AD-Present)
– Neo-Confucianism (incorporation of Daoist & Buddhist elements in an
overall Confucian perspective) (Chu Hsi, 1130-1200 AD & many others)
– 20th century impact of Western philosophies such as Pragmatism &
Marxism
Topics included in the reading:
• The Chun-Tzu (the Confucian hero) (1-3)
• Virtue (jen, ren) (3-5)
• Propriety (li) (5-7), including filial piety (5-6) &
religious propriety (6-7)
• The Silver Rule (central ethical principle) (7)
• The importance of studying & learning (7-8)
• Words & actions (8-9)
• “Three Things” (9)
• Government (9-11)
• The Dao (11-12)
• Miscellaneous teachings (12-13)
• Descriptions of Confucius (13-14)
(The traditional version
of the Analects is not
topically organized.)
The primary sources of
Confucian philosophy
Confucius claimed to derive his teachings from
“the Ancients,” whose wisdom is embodied in
“The Five Classics” (Wu Jing)
•
•
•
•
•
The I Jing (“Book of Changes”)
The Shu Jing (“Book of History”)
The Shih Jing (“Book of Odes” [poetry])
The Li Ji (“Book of Rites”)
The Ch’un-ch’iu (“Spring & Autumn Annals”)
The further expression of
Confucian philosophy
“The Four Books”
(Ssu-chu)
•
•
•
•
Analects (Lun-Yu)
The Doctrine of the Mean (Zhongyong)
The Great Learning (Ta-hsueh)
The Book of Meng-Tzu (Mencius, 371-288 BC)
Anthem
The ancient
State of Lu
That’s where Confucius
was born & spent most
of his life.
Confucianism originated in China,
but its influence spread to Korea &
Japan over the centuries.
Chronology of Chinese History
• c. 6000 BC: Prehistory (belief in life after death; bone
divination) - legendary Hsia Dynasty (c. 1994-1500 BC)
• c. 1500-1040 BC: Shang Dynasty (polytheism; spiritism;
ancestor veneration; bone & shell divination)
• 1040-256 BC: Zhou (Chou) Dynasty (feudal era &
classical age; rise of Shang-Ti & “Mandate of Heaven;” ancestor
veneration & divination practices; continued belief in spiritism;
interest in life-prolongation & immortality; 8th-5th centuries BC period of disorder; emergence of classical Chinese philosophies:
Confucianism, Daoism, Mohism, Legalism, etc.) - Era of Warring
States (475-221 BC)
• 221-207 BC: Qin (Ch’in) Dynasty (“The Burning of the
Books” in 213 BC) - Legalism enthroned; Confucianism attacked
Chronology, continued
• 206 BC-25 AD: Former
Han Dynasty (beginnings of
official state Confucianism)
• 25-220 AD: Later Han
Dynasty (rise of Chinese
• 266-316 AD: Jin (Chin)
Dynasty
• 316-589 AD: Era of NorthSouth Division - 16 Northern
Empire; imperial state religion;
Confucianism established as the
official philosophy of the Chinese
state; the coming of Buddhism)
Kingdoms (301-439); 5 Southern
Kingdoms (317-589) (rise of Daoist
Shu (221-263); Wu (222-280)
(high point for Buddhism & Daoism;
9th century Confucian reaction against
Buddhism)
religion; continued spread of Buddhism)
• 581-618 AD: Sui Dynasty
• 220-280 AD: The Three
Kingdoms - Wei (220-266); • 618-907 AD: Tang Dynasty
(decline of Confucianism; rise of
Daoism & Buddhism)
Chronology, continued
• 907-960 AD: Five Northern Dynasties;
Ten Southern Kingdoms
10th-13th centuries
AD: Rise of Neo• 960-1127 AD: Northern Sung (Song)
Confucianism;
Dynasty
spread of Chan
(Zen) Buddhism
• 1127-1279 AD: Southern Sung (Song)
Dynasty
• 1264-1368 AD: Yuan (Mongol) Dynasty
(established by Kublai Khan)
Anti-Confucian policy
(development of popular religious sects)
• 1368-1644 AD: Ming Dynasty
(Mongols out, Chinese emperors in; Confucianism
reestablished; Roman Catholicism arrives)
Chronology, continued
• 1644-1911 AD: Qing
(Ch’ing) (Manchu) Dynasty peak of Confucian (bureaucratic)
authority; increasing influence of
the West
• 1911-1912 AD: Chinese
Revolution
• Republic of China (19121949 [mainland]; 1945present [Taiwan])
• People’s Republic of
China (Communism)
(1949-present)
Confucianism in decline
Major figures in Confucian philosophy
• Neo-Confucianism
• Classical Confucianism
– Confucius (551-479 BC)
– Mencius (372-289 BC)
– Xun-zi (Hsun Tzu) (active, 298-238 BC)
• Han Dynasty
– Dong Zhong-shu (179-104 BC)
– Yang Hsiung (53 BC-18 AD)
– Wang Chong (27-100 AD)
– Tang Dynasty - Han Yu
(767-824 AD)
– Sung Dynasty - Cheng Hao
(1032-1085); Cheng Yi
(1033-1108); Zhu Xi (Chu
Hsi) (1130-1200)
– Ming Dynasty - Wang
Yang-ming (1473-1529)
– Ch’ing Dynasty - Tai Chen
(1723-1777)
– 20th century: Hsiung Shihli (1885-1968); Fung Yulan (1895-1990); & others
Central concepts in Confucian thought
Metaphysics
Ontology & Cosmology
• Dao (“Way”) - the Ultimate; the One; the Absolute;
the underlying Power; the Source (see Text, pp. 11-12)
• Yin/Yang - the dual expression of Dao; neither is
superior to the other (see next slide)
• The Plural World - the universe; Heaven & Earth; an
ever-changing expression & blend of Yin & Yang
(Heaven is Yang in relation to Earth; and Earth is Yin in relation
to Heaven; but each is, in itself, a blend of both Yin & Yang.)
Yin & Yang
female
dark
cool
moist
passive
negative
evil
Earth &
moon
Heaven &
sun
male
bright
hot
dry
active
positive
good
"A basic difference between the
Chinese conception of yin and yang and other
classical philosophical dualisms…is that
whereas most dualisms are forever in conflict,
yin and yang always act in harmony, and both
are considered to be necessary to maintain the
order of the universe." (Bilhartz 262)
Confucian metaphysics, continued
Theology
• Shang-Ti (God), the original ancestor (after the 11th century BC)
• Heaven (Tian, T’ien) - the divine realm (Human beings who have
died live on with Shang-Ti as ancestors (ti) in Heaven.)
• Continuity & interchange between Heaven (the divine realm) and
Earth (the human realm), i.e., between the ancestors & those
living on Earth.
Spiritism
(spirits everywhere, good
[shen] & evil
[gui]).
(The ancestors are to be worshipped, and sacrifices are to be
offered to them; they, in turn, will guide and protect us,
especially with regard to our futures (divination practices).
When we die, we will join the ancestors in Heaven and
become ancestors ourselves.)
[No hell(s)? See next slide.]
•
Before the arrival of Buddhism
in China,
it seems that Chinese religions
did not contain a welldeveloped idea of an afterlife.
• The souls of those who had lived
in accord with the “Mandate of
Heaven” (will of Shang-Ti)
would become ancestors in
Heaven; whereas
• the souls of those who had not
followed Heaven’s decree
would, after death, continue to
live on for a time in a dark
underworld area (called “the
Yellow Springs”) & then fade
away into nothingness.
• The idea of multiple levels of
hell entered Chinese religion
through Buddhism, which
arrived in China in the 1st
century AD.
• The religious Daoists
accepted this idea (but
modified it in various ways).
• Apparently, the Confucianists
continued to show little
interest in this subject.
Is Hell temporary or permanent?
In Buddhism, it is temporary.
Confucianism has no clear answer to this
question (because the Confucianists refuse
to speculate on these matters).
What is the Daoist view?
(To be continued?)
Confucian metaphysics, continued
Anthropology
(Human Nature & the Human Predicament)
• Human nature:
– naturally & inherently
good - need for
cultivation via education
– naturally social &
political - development
& perfection of human
nature within the social
& political realm
• The human predicament:
– suffering as a result of failure to
follow the “Way of the
Ancestors”
– Disharmony & conflict between
Heaven & Earth, between the
ancestors & us; and between
humans here on earth
– Solution of problem of
suffering: reestablish harmony
Confucius’s primary goal:
order, harmony, peace, & happiness
in this life here on earth
(He had only a secondary interest in
“transcendental” salvation.)
Axiology
(Theory of Value)
• Philosophy of art (aesthetics) - the moral &
political purposes of art (especially music)
• Moral philosophy (ethics) - the center of
Confucian philosophy (see next slide)
• Social & political philosophy (theory of
government) - the need for morally &
intellectually virtuous rulers & civil
servants
Central themes in Confucian
ethical theory:
• The Chun-Tzu - the
ideal of the Superior
(self-actualized,
virtuous, perfected)
Person (Text, pp. 1-3)
• The Chun-Tzu is an
exemplification of ideal
virtue, of Yi, of Ren, of Li,
and of Hsiao – see following
slides….
Yi - righteousness, just and
appropriate conduct
•
According to Confucianists, there is an
objective, absolute, and unconditional moral
obligation on all of us to work for universal
human well-being, the common good, the
general welfare (which will include one's own
true good):
– Objective = not subjective; not relative; the
obligation is independent of culturally and
individually variable states of opinion,
preference, feeling, or response.
– Absolute = it extends throughout the whole
sphere of moral obligation and cannot be
suspended or overruled by any more basic
or ultimate moral principle with a wider
range of applicability.
– Unconditional = this obligation does not
depend on the fulfillment or nonfulfillment of any particular set of facts or
circumstances which may or may not
happen to occur - facts, for example, about
our desires, aspirations, or goals in acting
one way rather than another.
See Hackett, Oriental Philosophy, pp. 29-31.
• Ren (jen) - virtue*
– Positive formulation:
cultivation of feeling
(respect, empathy,
compassion, love) for all
humanity (Text, pp. 3-5)
– Negative formulation: the
Silver Rule (Text, p. 7, vv. 85
& 86)
*Sometimes translated as
“humanity”
Confucian ethics, continued
Li - Propriety (proper conduct)
• The Rectification of Names
(Zheng-ming) (proper use of
language) (Text, vv. 8, 9,
10, 11, 109-113, 129, 160)
• The Doctrine of the Mean
(Zhongyong) (Text, vv. 132,
155, 156)
• The Five Constant
Relationships:
– parent-child
– husband-wife
– elder sibling-younger
sibling
– elder friend-younger
friend
– ruler-subject
Confucian ethics / Li, continued
Filial Piety (Xiao, Hsiao)
(devotion to & reverence for parents & family)
• The institution of the family is the
foundation of a well-ordered & civilized
society (grounded mainly on respect of
children for parents)
• Respect for age (experience & wisdom)
(Text, pp. 5-6)
Confucian ethics / Li, continued
Religious Propriety
proper practice of traditional rites
(worship of God, ancestors, Heaven,
Earth, spirits; funeral services &
sacrifices in honor of parents)
Text, vv. 64, 70, 72, 79-84
Confucian ethics (& aesthetics?), continued
Wen
(learning & the arts)
• The importance of
culture in the creation & • Studying & learning (Text,
maintenance of a wellpp. 7-8)
ordered society
• The arts - especially music
(Text, vv. 99)
(Confucius composed a “Book
of Music” [Yueh Jing], which
is sometimes referred to as a
“sixth classic.”)
Confucian axiology, continued
Confucius’s Political Philosophy
• Te - the union of power & virtue
• The characteristics of a good ruler (or civil
servant):
–
–
–
–
moral goodness (virtue & propriety)
rationality
moderation
benevolence
(Text, pp. 9-11)
Does Confucius have
a theory of knowledge
(an epistemology)?
How would he answer the following questions?
1. What is knowledge?
2. What are the sources of knowledge?
3. What are the extent & limits of knowledge?
4. What are the differences between knowledge & opinion?
5. What makes a belief (or proposition) true as opposed to false?
The End
(for now)