Confucius and Confucianism

Now, I am going to talk about one of the greatest philosophers and teachers in human history, and that is Confucius, known to the Chinese as Kong Fuzi, which means Master Kong, or Kongzi, which means Grandmaster Kong. Once again, my apologies for my pronunciation. The word "Confucius" is a Latinization of Kong Fuzi, so you could imagine Confucius, Confucius.

Now, what's interesting about Confucius is he grew up in a time when China was getting more and more divided. In other videos, we talked about the Zhou Dynasty, which begins at the very end of the second millennium. But in the time of Confucius, we're in what's known as the end of the Spring and Autumn period. Confucius lived from 551 to 479 BCE, and we're ending the Spring and Autumn period and getting into the period of the Warring States.

So, even in the time of Confucius, there was more and more tension between states; people felt less confident in the central government. As we'll see in this late Spring and Autumn period, and especially as we get into this really violent period known as the Warring States Period, a lot of philosophers started to arise, and philosophies began to rise because people were struggling with these questions: What is the role of the state? What does it mean to be a good person? How does humanity fit in with the cosmic order?

Now, what's interesting about Confucius is, by his own account, he says that he didn't come up with anything new. It's more of him trying to resuscitate or rejuvenate some of the traditions of the past. Most historians would give him more credit, even though Confucius does look to the early Zhou Dynasty for a lot of his inspiration and he looks to a lot of the traditions of the ancestors. He definitely puts a spin on it, which makes it a very powerful philosophy, and arguably, religion.

As we get into this Warring States Period, and especially as we get into a more unified China on the Qin and Han dynasties, as we'll see under the Han Dynasty in particular, Confucianism becomes essentially the state religion. Now, to get a sense of what Confucius preached and his life, he spent most of his life both teaching and preaching. A lot of people compare him to Socrates, even though he predates Socrates. Simultaneously, he was also building a career as a civil servant. But his legacy is definitely around his preachings, and most of his life was here in the state of Lu in eastern China.

So, there are three general themes that you could talk about in Confucius's teachings. I encourage you to go look at his Analects; they're quite interesting to get many, many more of them. But a lot of it is around respecting traditions and respecting elders. Here's a quote from the Analects: "A young man should serve his parents at home and be respectful to elders outside his home. He should be earnest and truthful, loving all but becoming intimate with his innate good-heartedness. After doing this, if he has inner despair, he can study literature and the arts."

There's a lot of talk that if someone is to be a good citizen, they need to be a good child first; they need to be a good son. Now, he also talks about what it means to be a just ruler: "If you control people by punishment, they will avoid crime but have no personal sense of shame. If you govern them by means of virtue and control them with propriety, they will gain their own sense of shame and thus correct themselves."

As we'll see, morality and ethics play a huge role at a personal level and also at a state level to Confucius, and we'll talk about other philosophies where that might not be as strong of a sense. Now, another very big theme for Confucius was looking to yourself through self-improvement. You can be a better citizen, a better child, a better ruler. "Real knowledge is to know the extent of one's ignorance. Learning without thought is labor lost; thought without learning is perilous. When you see someone of worth, think of how you might emulate them. When you see someone unworthy, examine your own character." I like that one in particular: "Do not impose on others what you yourself do not desire," so a very close statement to the Golden Rule.

Now, as I mentioned, Confucius and Confucianism were not alone in this period of the Spring and Autumn Period and especially as you get into the Warring States Period. During that time, we have what's known as the Hundred Schools of Thought, which starts around the time of Confucius and goes until the Qin Dynasty ends the Warring States Period in a very strong way, unifying China.

Now, we already talked about Confucianism, which talks a lot about ethics, but its goal—remember, Confucius himself was a civil servant; he was an administrator—he thought a lot about what it means to be a just ruler. So, it definitely touches on the practical to a good bit. Now, many people say it's a political system, but many would also consider it a religion because it does touch on the metaphysical, the notions of heaven, and it borrows a lot from China's past.

Now, other samples of the Hundred Schools of Thought, especially ones that had a significant role in China's history and even modern China, include the Legalists. The Legalists have a strong pragmatism; they are dismissive of the Confucian notion of strong internal ethics that will guide people and rulers. Legalists are much more about looking for a strong, orderly central state; we need to do whatever it takes, and it might mean clamping down hard on people in order to bring order and stability to have rule.

You can imagine the context in which Legalism is coming about. This is during the Warring States Period, this incredibly violent period where the states in China are fragmented. So, you could imagine these people who are very realistic. They are saying, "Look, we've had this Confucianism; we have these other philosophies, but we need strong, super-centralized rulers."

It ends up being that Legalist philosophy that wins the day as you have the emergence of the Qin Dynasty in 221, and the Qin Dynasty is what modern China is named after. It's considered the first dynasty to really unify China in a very strong way and create its administrative and bureaucratic systems. It really is based on Legalism, and it was able to put an end to this Warring States Period by putting so much power—central power—and strong rulers who were willing to be quite violent in repressing other people in order to bring that stability.

It's notable that the emergence of the Qin is also considered the end of the Hundred Schools of Thought because the Qin, as part of that order, started persecuting many of the other forms of philosophy, including many of those that followed Confucius. Now, other forms of philosophy, and this is just a sample, that have strongly influenced China include Taoism.

Taoism, according to Taoist belief, comes from Laozi. The historical record of Laozi isn't as clear as we have for Confucius, but it's believed that he lived around the same time. Some people view him as more of a legendary figure, but Taoism is much more concerned with the spiritual than Confucianism. You see quotes like, "The Dao is really the way, it's all about harmony with the universe free from desire."

You realize the mystery caught in desire; you see only the manifestations, as in the Dao De Jing. Now, later on, Buddhism—it's interesting—Buddha lived around the same time. Once again, his birth and date are under a little bit more contention as Confucius, and he lives in the northeastern India-Nepal area. Buddhism really comes about in India, but it eventually makes its way into China, especially as we get into the first millennium CE.

In modern-day China, a lot of the culture, philosophy, and religion is a combination, in particular of Confucianism—most strongly—but also Taoism and Buddhism. But there are other philosophies; for example, Mohism, a quite interesting one I encourage you to look at, is all about this notion of impartial love. It actually has a lot of similarities and parallels with the teachings of Jesus as told by the Gospels.

But that notion was viewed somewhat impractical by many of the followers of Confucius and especially the Legalists, and Mohism really didn't last much beyond the Qin Dynasty. But one way to think about it is Legalism allowed the Qin Dynasty to really end the Warring States Period and centralize China.

That short-lived dynasty, as they transition to the Han, the Han took over the administrative structure and the stability of the Qin to a large degree. But then they made Confucianism really the state philosophy, and you could even say the state religion. To appreciate the importance of Confucianism to Chinese culture, I'll leave you with this last quote by the historian Huston Smith: "For though Confucius did not author Chinese culture—as we talked about—even Confucius says, 'I didn't invent anything.' He was its supreme editor."