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18 The Foundations of Confucianism Although many have regarded Confucius as China’s most profound and influential thinker, Confucius did not consider himself a great mind. He claimed no originality for his ideas: “I transmit but I do not create. Being fond of the truth, I am an admirer of antiquity.”1 Confucius believed that the example of the early Zhou dynasty provided his contemporaries with all the resources needed to address the moral and political concerns of the day. This was one reason why study was so important to him. Confucius’s greatest desire was to understand this legacy, put it into practice in his own life, and then teach these ideas and observances to others. He was convinced that much of the trouble in his China was the direct result of neglecting the lessons of earlier eras. Like many, both Chinese and non-Chinese, Confucius believed in a golden age of the past in which life was better. In this chapter, we will begin our study of the foundations of his thinking or, as he would prefer us to say, his understanding of the lessons of antiquity. The Thought of Confucius Virtually everything we know about the thought of Confucius comes from the Analects, the same small text we used to sketch out what few things we can say about his life. Tradition claims that Confucius had a hand in writing or editing several other Chinese classics, but most modern scholars doubt the truth of those claims. Therefore, we are dependent on the Analects for understanding his ideas. With that single and rather brief book, grasping Confucian thought might seem to be relatively easy. Yet understanding his philosophy through the Analects is not at all a simple thing. The book is not easy to read. Unlike many other scriptures, such as the Bhagavad Gita or the Bible, it is not in narrative form. Nor is it systematic philosophy, like the Four Noble Truths. If there is 1. Analects 7.1, trans. Dawson, 24. 175 an underlying order to the Analects, it is difficult to recognize. Occasionally, a careful reader can glimpse a theme or concept running through one of the twenty “books” in the collection, but a general pattern remains elusive. Furthermore, the sayings often make obscure and unexplained references to persons or events, and some of these baffle even longtime Confucian scholars. No doubt this motley quality of the Analects is due at least in part to the many individuals involved in its compilation. THE NATURE OF CONFUCIANISM As we noted, Confucius lived during a particularly brutal time in Chinese history. Hostilities between kingdoms and corruption in government were on the rise. Almost by necessity, he thought about social and political matters. Many of his teachings were oriented toward the rulers and government officials, so much of his thinking falls under the category of political philosophy. He was not interested in the abstract questions of political philosophy as much as the practical ones: given the current state of Chinese civilization, how best do rulers rule? Confucius also spoke at great length about family life, and, again, his concerns are more practical than theoretical: what are our obligations to the members of our families, and how are they best carried out? Significantly, he connected family values and politics, an association that may sound familiar to current readers. Whether concerning the family or the state, Confucius’s main interest was in ethics or morality. Furthermore, he restricted his moral concerns to the human domain.2 That anthropocentrism would put Confucius at odds with the Jains’ Mahavira, who insisted on the equality of all souls, regardless of their form of embodiment. Confucius did not say much about souls, nor about gods and spirits. Ironically, the man who is generally considered China’s greatest religious figure—and who himself was later worshipped as divine—had very little to say about the spirit world. In the Analects, a student recalled that the Master did not speak of “miracles, violence, disorder, and gods.”3 On another occasion, a student approached Confucius to ask how the gods and the ancestors should be served. The Master responded, “You are not able even to serve your fellow humans. How can you ask about the gods and spirits?” When the student asked about death, the Master said, “You do not even understand life. How can you 2. The Analects report this incident: “When the stables caught fire the Master, on returning from court, said, ‘Did anyone get...

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