Confucian Role Ethics: A Vocabulary

Section I. Introduction: “Appreciating”Confucianism

I Introduction: “Appreciating” Confucianism A Historically Appreciated Confucianism The philosopher and teacher, Kongfuzi 孔夫子, latinized as “Confucius,” lends his name to the English (but not the Chinese) expression of this tradition called “Confucianism.” Confucius was certainly a fleshand -blood historical person who lived, taught, and died some twentyfive centuries ago, consolidating in his own time a formidable legacy of wisdom that has been passed down and applied through the ages to shape the character of an entire culture. In and of itself, the profoundly personal model of Confucius remembered by his protégés through those intimate snapshots of his life collected in the middle chapters of the Analects has its own value and meaning. But then, as Confucius reportedly said of himself, most of what he had to offer had ancient roots, and that he was one who was inclined to follow the established path rather than strike out in new directions.1 Indeed it is perhaps for this reason that in the Chinese language itself the tradition is not identified specifically with Confucius as “Confucianism,” but rather with the ru 儒 literati class who over the centuries provided the cultural tradition with its evolving “literati learning” (ruxue 儒學). And consistent with Confucius’s own premises, this legacy called ruxue—the always-porous core of an aggregating Chinese culture—is both vital and corporate. That is, Confucianism has been appropriated, commented upon, reinterpreted, and reauthorized by each of some eighty generations of Chinese scholars and intellectuals that across the ages have contributed their own best thoughts to this “literati learning” as a continuous, living tradition. 2 Confucian Role Ethics: A Vocabulary Hence, for us in the first decades of the twenty-first century, “appreciating ” Confucianism means no more or less than participating in this evolutionary process at a juncture when Confucian values will as never before emerge on the world stage as a cultural force to be reckoned with. In our own much-troubled historical moment, in the wake of the unrelenting holocaust of the twentieth century, it behooves us all to find whatever resources we can within human culture to do much better than we have done in making the most of the human experience. This living Confucian legacy is one substantial resource for informing and inspiring new directions in human culture, a legacy that for the past two centuries and largely for economic and political reasons, has been muted and ignored. The contention of this monograph then, is that we are entering upon a transitional period of enormous proportions with the imminent emergence of a new cultural order, and that Confucianism offers us philosophical assets that can be resourced and applied to serve not only the renaissance of a revitalized Chinese culture, but also the interests of world culture more broadly. Thus, in identifying, elaborating upon, and applying those elements within this continuing Confucian tradition that can be brought into productive conversation with cultural narratives that lie beyond it, we will find that it can serve as a significant source for the enrichment of our own ways of thinking and living. At the same time, this integrative process will further “appreciate” Confucianism itself by offering it opportunities for its own creative growth and innovation. “Appreciation” as “increase in value” is not new in the evolution of Confucianism. Historically, marked growth occurred within the tradition itself when in the fourth century BCE a shrewd early proponent of this tradition named Xunzi 荀子 co-opted the disputational vocabulary of the Mohists to strengthen his Confucian arguments, adapted the military terminology of the Strategists to prioritize his Confucian values, and applied the regulative rigor and strictness of the Legalists to bring discipline to his vision of the Confucian project of personal cultivation. All of Xunzi’s philosophical appropriation was done in service to a newly fortified Confucianism that emerged in the Western Han dynasty (206 BCE–9 CE) to become a state ideology that would persist for nearly two millennia. For Xunzi, such broad assimilation directed at exploiting and ingesting the intellectual resources of precisely those philosophical lineages best able to compete with Confucianism was a deliberate and ultimately I · Introduction: “Appreciating” Confucianism 3 successful strategy used to enhance and to galvanize an emerging, syncretic tradition. This kind of appreciation of Confucianism has also occurred from without as two waves of “Western learning” have rolled up upon the Confucian shore to create tide pools and ecotones in which cultural experimentation has flourished...