In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

20 Early Confucianism and the Rise of Daoism Mention the name Confucius, and many Americans will conjure the image of an old Chinese man sporting a Fu Manchu beard and moustache spouting wise sayings that are just pithy enough to fit on those little slips of paper in fortune cookies. This impression of Confucius is due mainly to the immense popularity of the forty-four Charlie Chan movies made in 1930s and ’40s. These films reflected stereotypes of East Asians in the early twentieth century, and many Chinese and Chinese Americans today consider the films offensive. Charlie Chan, who was played by European American actors and not an actor of Chinese heritage, was a bright and often funny detective who supposedly had an encyclopedic knowledge of Confucius and quoted him at critical junctures in the movie. He would often preface a statement with “Confucius say . . .” and repeat a proverb in Pidgin English. Some of the proverbs were fairly funny: “Optimist only sees doughnut, pessimist sees hole.”1 Some were gems of wisdom: “Death one appointment we must all keep, and for which no time set.”2 There is actually a website listing nearly five hundred of these witticisms, but as far as I can tell, not one of them actually came from Confucius.3 Be that as it may, I mention Charlie Chan simply to note that many of us think of Confucius as a wise old man with an aphorism for every occasion. That image, actually, is not far off the mark. To the degree that the Analects portray Confucius accurately, he seems to have preferred to make brief statements to provoke further thought or to make forthright assertions, rather than to construct logical arguments to persuade people to accept his viewpoint. Rarely 1. Charlie Chan in Paris, directed by Lewis Seiler (Los Angeles: Fox Film, 1935). 2. Docks of New Orleans, directed by Derwin Adams (Los Angeles: Monogram Pictures, 1948). 3. “Charlie Chan’s Aphorisms: The Complete Sayings of Charlie Chan,” The Charlie Chan Family Home, n.d. http://charliechanfamily.tripod.com/id6.html. Accessed 27 April 2013. 193 did he feel the need to justify his position rationally. He was more of an Aesop than an Aristotle. Just How Good Are We, Really? The Mengzi–Xunzi Debate Because of his style of teaching, Confucius’s disciples, following his death, found themselves in the position of not only interpreting his words for themselves but also of defending his views against criticism from other schools of philosophy. This was the Period of One Hundred Philosophers, after all. Increasingly, members of the Confucian school, which was known as the School of Scholars (rujia), were challenged to discuss issues with rival philosophers and to provide rational arguments for their perspective. MENGZI The first noteworthy thinker to attempt a comprehensive argument for Confucius’s philosophy was Mencius (385–312 bce), a fourth-century disciple of Confucius’s grandson. Mencius is the Latinized form of Mengzi, or Master Meng. Because he was the first major Confucian interpreter, Mengzi’s explanation of the sage’s thought was very influential. Mengzi’s version was officially accepted as Confucian orthodoxy, although not until the Song dynasty, over one thousand years later. But even before that, many Confucians understood Confucius through the mind of Mengzi. Mengzi was to Confucius as Paul was to Jesus. A few aspects of Mengzi’s personal life are worth noting. One is that he took a three-year leave of absence from his job to mourn for his mother following her death. Even Confucius would have been impressed with such filial piety! He spent much of his life as an itinerant political consultant, like Confucius, traveling from state to state offering advice to rulers. Apparently, not even one monarch accepted his guidance. He ultimately settled and gathered a small school of disciples around him. These disciples compiled his teachings into a collection known as the Mengzi, or the Mencius. At the time, it was common simply to use the author’s name for a book’s title. The Mencius consists primarily of his conversations with his students, who reputedly recorded their teacher’s words verbatim. Two matters in particular seem to have been of special concern to Mengzi: the role of government in promoting the human good and the fundamental quality of human nature. The first item he shared with Confucius, who also had much to say about the function of government. Like Confucius, Mengzi encouraged rulers to foster moral development in...

Share