Chapter Nine:
Later Confucianism
It is common for major religious and cultural traditions to evolve with the passing of time, usually in the direction of greater complexity. Confucianism was no exception. Even by the time of the Han dynasty, it is unlikely that Confucius would have recognized the "ism" that now bears his name in English (in Chinese, however, the usual term for "Confucianism" makes no mention of Confucius' name). This chapter examines some of the more important developments in later Confucianism. Be sure that you have mastered the previous material on correlative cosmology and popular Daoism before embarking on this chapter.
Confucius Becomes a Cultural Hero & Villain
What did Confucians do during the four and a half centuries between the time of Confucius and the middle of the Han dynasty? During this period, they were not influential in the formulation of political policy, and their politics were quite out of place in the rough-and-tumble world of Warring States conflict and the founding of the Qin dynasty. The Confucians' ideas about government were long on idealism and short on quick results, but they did have one immediate use in the political arena: Confucian principles sounded great as rhetoric. Rulers found it convenient to keep a few Confucians on hand to write proclamations, diplomatic correspondence, and the like--public relations experts and "spin doctors," to use contemporary terminology. Eno explains:
The proximity of [Confucians] to Warring States courts resulted in a general diffusion of [Confucian] political ideas and rhetoric. [Confucian] rhetoric was particularly well-suited to political manipulation. The [Confucians] were, after all, revivalists. Many of their ideas could be seen as little more than a restatement of traditional values. Few non-[Confucians] would challenge the [Confucian] stress on righteousness, courage, and reverence. Even the most peculiar of [Confucian] values, li, was not controversial if taken in a weak sense as proper and seemly action. [Confucians] were distinct only in taking these values seriously; most everybody paid them lip service.1
Who, after all, would have opposed righteousness or courage? Confucian values made excellent ingredients in proclamations and formal documents. Even today, politicians who would ordinarily have nothing to do with Confucianism sometimes find it "well-suited to political manipulation" (a few examples shown in class).
Confucians had long advocated, complex and costly funerals as signs of filial respect. Conveniently, only the Confucians could perform these complex funerals, and many a rich ruler, minister or noble hired a Confucian expert for this purpose. The following highly critical account of Confucians is by Mozi 墨子 (fl. 479-438 B.C., founder of Mo-ism, another Warring States period school of thought), who particularly disliked the waste of resources lavish funerals allegedly entailed:
[The Confucian] lives in poverty . . . He turns his back on what is basic by refusing to work, and contents himself with laziness and arrogance. He has no means of keeping himself from starving in times of shortage and freezing when it grows cold. . . . In the summer he begs for grain, but once the harvest is in, he goes chasing after big funerals. All his children follow him there, to eat and drink their fill. If he can manage a few of these, it will be enough to get by. . . . When a wealthy family requires a funeral, he is delighted. 'Here,' he says gleefully, 'is the spring from which food and clothing flow!'2
Mozi criticized these funeral-chasing Confucians for not performing honest, useful work. In the Han dynasty, lavish funerals became even more important than in previous times. Recall that moderately well-to-do commoners began to give lavish funerals for parents to enhance their reputations and thereby possibly obtain low- or moderate-level government posts. Remember, too, that Confucianism was just one of many schools of thought in ancient China. It was not until centuries after Confucius' death that his teachings--in modified form--became the ideology of the state and dominated China's intellectual world.
As the fortunes of Confucianism improved, so, too, did *the stature of Confucius.* No longer an eccentric antiquarian from Lu, he became, in the words of many modern Taiwanese textbooks, "the greatest sage of all time." By the Song dynasty, Confucius' stature as a sage was well established. By the Qing dynasty, he had become the greatest sage of all time. Confucius' stature fell somewhat during the chaotic decades after the fall of the Qing dynasty, but he was still lofty. Local warlords in the 1920s and 30s sometimes dressed in the robes of Confucian scholars and performed the annual rites honoring "The Sage" because doing so *enhanced their legitimacy.* After 1949, Taiwan positioned itself itself the glorious preserver of "true" Chinese culture, saving it from the ravages of the evil Communists on the mainland. There, Confucius' stature resumed its Qing-era grandiosity. Not surprisingly, Taiwan's leaders sometimes likened themselves to Confucius. In Taiwan, Confucius' birthday 孔子誕辰紀念日 (September 28; almost certainly not the actual date of his birth) is a national holiday (corresponding with Teacher's Day 教師節). #Click here# for a link to a brief video excerpt of Confucius' Birthday/Teachers' Day rites.
Back on the mainland, Confucianism and Confucius generally came under attack for being the remnants of "feudal" ideas. Also, it probably just felt good for many an enthusiastic Marxist to criticize such a venerable cultural icon. Iconoclasm can be great fun and feels empowering, at least temporarily. In 1973, Mao Zedong launched a massive campaign to criticize the old antiquarian from Lu. #"Criticize Lin Biao! Criticize Confucius!"# 批林批孔 was the slogan of the time. Lin Biao was a leading politician and general who had fallen out of grace with Mao and died in a mysterious plane crash. Mao's claim was that Confucian ideas had corrupted Lin--another example of the political manipulation of Confucius's image by Chinese rulers. By the time of the campaign to criticize Confucius, many of China's citizens had become mentally exhausted from ups and downs of the erratic late Mao years (ca. 1966-early 70s). Throughout most of the 1960s, heroes suddenly became villains, to be replaced with new heroes--who then became villains, the cycle repeating again and again. By 1973, not many Chinese had the energy left to put their hearts and souls into criticizing Confucius. After Mao's death, many in China found Confucius useful as a symbol of China's greatness. In today's China he has regained much of his lost stature, though there is still ambivalence among Chinese intellectuals, politicians, and ordinary people regarding the Confucian legacy.
A complex web of images and associations had developed around Confucius by late imperial and modern times. One of these associations equates Confucianism with Chinese culture (much like saying "walnut = nut"). Today it is common to extend this association further by declaring Chinese culture to have universal validity for all human beings. There is, of course, the related claim that Chinese culture is superior to all others--but then that should be obvious and need not be stated directly! The full set of associations would be: Confucius = Confucianism = Chinese culture = most superior culture = universal human standard. Here is a typical statement from a 1984 publication glorifying Confucius and Chinese culture:
Confucius' great philosophical thoughts to create blessings for mankind and to promote world unity have been widely honored throughout centuries and adored and cherished by all civilized men. Broad and profound, Confucianism not only has been the cornerstone of Chinese culture for more than two thousand five hundred years, but also had far-reaching effects abroad. His teachings have greatly influenced neighboring countries such as Japan, Korea, Vietnam and others to this day. His teachings have also inspired the eighteenth century French Enlightenment from which the modern democratic thought in the West was developed. It is generally recognized today that Confucianism, which emphasized the way of right rather than the way of might, is the best remedy to our present disorderly world. Confucius, the greatest teacher in China, can serve as a model philosopher teacher to all mankind.3
If this all sounds nationalistic, ethnocentric and arrogant, it is. But we would do well to note that many in the "west" hold precisely the same attitude about "western" culture: that it is demonstrably superior to all others and that it is universal, not merely the product of a particular set of contingent circumstances. Just replace Confucius, Mencius, and company with Plato, Aristotle, and the rest of the "western" venerables, and one can find the same degree of ethnocentrism, arrogance, and even nationalism ("Our nation was founded on the glorious ideals of Western culture . . .") among many in the United States. Chinese culture has no monopoly on ethnocentrism.
Let us return to premodern China to pick up a few loose ends. As Confucius' stature rose, it became inconceivable that he lived a life of semi-poverty as an eccentric antiquarian with little or no political influence. How could this have been the life of the world's greatest sage? So all manner of tales developed about his life. Some gave Confucius a supernatural birth, others gave him high political office (Minister of Justice, Prime Minister, etc.), and others credited "The Sage" with creating Chinese culture nearly single handedly. Some of his alleged glorious accomplishments include:
writing large portions of the Book of Changes (Yijing);
having 3,000 immediate followers;
editing certain ancient books that became the "Five Classics;"
eliminating class distinctions in Chinese society;
having held high political office;
and more.
Although it is common to find these claims in Taiwanese textbooks, there is no good evidence to support any of them, and there is strong evidence to refute some of them.
(Read through the following piece by Thomas A. Wilson and click on the image links in it: *The Cult of Confucius: Images of the Temple of Culture.*)
We should also note that when any teaching becomes codified and associated with political power, it tends to become rigid. This tendency was evident for Confucianism starting in the Han dynasty, especially owing to its association with Legalism in the political arena. Confucian values and strict laws merged, resulting in a "thou shalt not" approach to moral issues. Confucian scholarship exhibited a recurring tendency to emphasize rote memorization and pedantry, not deep thinking about relevant issues. But there were always some Confucian scholars who decried this tendency, many of whom helped shape the development of the Confucian tradition over the years. Let us now examine some of these developments.
Confucianism merged with Legalism and other forms of Chinese thought during the Han dynasty, as we have already seen in some detail. It was during the Han dynasty that Confucianism, albeit in substantially modified form, became the official ideology of the state. It was also during this time that Confucianism took on a substantially more authoritarian character compared with the teachings of Confucius and Mencius. This authoritarian tendency in Confucianism strengthened in later dynasties, and it was against this authoritarian tendency that modern critics of Confucius and Confucianism typically reacted.
Religious Aspects of Confucianism
We should briefly consider the question of whether Confucianism is a religion. The answer depends one's definition of religion, which would have to be relatively broad (but not unreasonably so) to include Confucianism. Confucianism, especially in its classical form, lacks a strong interest in the supernatural. There is no God with a capital G or Allah with a capital A. Although there are Confucian temples, they are not like churches or synagogues with congregations. Confucian temples commemorate the accomplishments, values and *legacy of Confucius* and his major followers--or sometimes a local person who excelled in scholarship or benevolence. *Commemorative rites* are held at Confucian temples once or twice a year, and some temples also maintain libraries. We would be on perfectly safe ground to characterize Confucianism as a moral philosophy containing religious elements. For example, serious Confucians invested li with such profound significance as to make them sacred practices in the manner of religious rites.
So, when all is said and done, what is or was Confucianism? As you can probably tell by now, it is not, and was not, any one, single thing. It was many things to many people, depending on the age in which one lived, the place in which one lived, and one's social circumstances--to name only some obvious factors. Despite its dominance in the Chinese intellectual arena from the Han dynasty onward, Confucianism was not the only important philosophy or cultural tradition in ancient China, or even in later dynasties. Confucianism greatly influenced Chinese culture but is not the equivalent of Chinese culture or even its essence.
(Optional but highly recommended for those pursuing an education--as opposed to merely a grade: #"Confucius and the Scholars,"# an excellent Atlantic Monthly article by Charlotte Alan.)
The Song dynasty was a particularly important time for Confucianism, during which it underwent a major intellectual overhaul. The result was a new type of Confucianism, often (although not without some academic controversy) called "Neo-Confucianism" in English (#detailed description#). As you know, Buddhism entered China late in the Han dynasty and became the dominant form of religious and philosophical thought during the Tang dynasty. During the Song dynasty, Buddhism remained highly influential, but Confucians rose to Buddhism's challenge in several ways. As we have seen, the original teachings of Confucius and Mencius were concerned primarily with life on this earth and with human society. They had little to say about the world beyond daily life and sense experiences. Buddhism, on he other hand, regarded daily life and sense experiences as illusory and transient. It also brought to China a complex cosmology and a magical, otherworldly dimension that greatly appealed to Chinese of all walks of life. Simply stated, what Song Confucians did was to take elements of Buddhist cosmology and spiritual training and combine them with the ethical teachings of classical Confucianism and the eclectic thought of the Han period. The result, according to the claims of the Confucians, was everything worthwhile that Buddhism had to offer plus the this-worldly benefits of Confucianism.
The account of Song Confucianism presented here is necessarily an oversimplification. There were many varieties of Confucianism that developed during the Song period, but here we primarily examine the so-called "Cheng-Zhu" 程朱 variety (the name derives from the scholars Cheng Yi 程頤, Cheng Hao 程顥, and Zhu Xi 朱熹) with some additional attention to the later ideas of *Wang Yangming* 王陽明 who lived during the Ming dynasty. The most important figure in Song Confucianism is Zhu Xi, who combined the ideas of several previous thinkers into a comprehensive philosophy. This philosophy soon became the official interpretation of Confucianism for the purposes of the civil service exams and remained so until the early twentieth century--ironic considering Zhu's strong disapproval of those exams.
One of Zhu's most important accomplishments came in the area of what we might loosely call curriculum reform. By the start of the Song dynasty, the printing press had made a wide variety of books available in large quantities at relatively low prices. More books were available than even the most dedicated scholar could read in a lifetime. Zhu Xi created a core Confucian curriculum by taking four classical texts and elevating them above all others. Known throughout East Asia as the *Four Books* (*graphic*). Zhu recommended they be read in the following order: 1) Great Learning 2) The Mean (also Doctrine of the Mean) 3) Analects (also Analects of Confucius) and 4) Mencius (also Book of Mencius).
(Students of Chinese: Try reading the #Four Books and other classics in Chinese,# but with extensive hyper-text English assistance such as definitions of each word at the click of a mouse. To read the Great Learning and The Mean in English #click here.#)
The Great Learning (daxue 大學) is a short text that provides an overview of personal cultivation and its broader significance in the world. For Zhu, it served as a concise statement of the overall goals and values of the new Confucianism. The Mean (zhongyong 中庸) is a more difficult text that explores the cosmic significance of human morality and self-cultivation. Although usually called "The Mean" in English, "mean" here does not necessarily mean "average" or the "way between two extremes." Instead, it means doing what is perfectly appropriate in any situation. We have already seen the Analects in some detail, and Zhu regarded it as a storehouse of practical examples of the application of the ideas expressed in the first two books. It was also a window into the mind of "The Sage," that is, Confucius. Finally, Zhu regarded the Mencius as an indispensable explanation and amplification of the ideas in the Analects. The Mencius, in other words, was an aid to understanding the Analects.
To complement and enhance the direct study of these four classical texts, Zhu did two things. First, he wrote interpretive commentaries for each, which, soon after Zhu's death, became the official interpretation of the Four Books for the purposes of the civil service exams. Second, he and an associate compiled an anthology of what they regarded as the best of recent writings by early Song scholars. Called Reflections on Things at Hand, this anthology became highly influential throughout East Asia. The essays in Reflections on Things at Hand frequently make reference to classical literature. Interestingly, the work most frequently mentioned in the Book of Changes. The frequent references to the Book of Changes indicates, among other things, the importance of metaphysics in the new Confucianism.
Metaphysics is the branch of philosophy that examines ultimate principles and the ultimate nature of existence, reality and experience--the hard stuff! The most common Chinese term for metaphysics, xingershang xue, 形而上學 means literally "the study of that which is above (or beyond) concrete forms." Although a relatively difficult topic to study, a basic understanding Song Confucianism is impossible without at least some knowledge of its metaphysical basis. Therefore, we turn to this topic now, and our excursion into metaphysics will serve as the basis for understanding several other aspects of Zhu's thought such as his theory of human nature and its implications for ideal behavior.
We have seen that scholars of the Han dynasty regarded all things as being comprised of a basic substance called material force (qi). Zhu Xi and many Song Confucians continued to regard material force as the basic stuff comprising all things (remember that "things" here includes intangibles such as feelings and emotions). Zhu and company developed the Han theory of material force in two additional directions: 1) that material force is informed or shaped by an invisible cosmic pattern; and 2) a generally negative view of material force in the context of ethics and human nature. First, Song Confucians claimed that the reason material force takes the forms it does and interacts with itself in ways that can be mathematically correlated (see Chapter 6) is because there is an underlying pattern or set of principles that informs material force. In other words, material force alone is essentially inert. Its discernable properties come from certain principles inherent in the cosmos itself. This set of principles or pattern is called li 理 which we will call the "cosmic pattern" (often translated as "principle" in books on Chinese philosophy). Incidentally, this "li" is an entirely different word from Confucius' beloved li 禮 (ritual conduct) or the li 利 meaning profit that Mencius criticized.
In this way of thinking, for example, filial piety would be an abstract ideal and part of the cosmic pattern. Sacrificing for one's parents in the ways described in the classic tales of filial piety (see Chapter 3) would be a concrete manifestation of the ideal as material force. But we should not make too much of a distinction between the cosmic pattern and material force. According to Zhu, the cosmic pattern cannot be spoken of apart from material force because it is material force that gives substance and form to the pattern. The precise relationship between the cosmic pattern and material force is something that need not concern us here, but it was a major topic of debated among many philosophers in East Asia from the Song dynasty onward. See the *graphic here* for one possible depiction of the cosmic pattern, material force, and their interrelationship.
An abstract principle like filial piety would be one aspect of the cosmic pattern, but it was but one of many such aspects (e.g., loyalty, reverence, courage, other virtues, the rules of correlative cosmology, and more). The cosmic pattern as a whole consisted of a single, unitary principle so profound that it could not be described in words. This profound foundational principle Zhu called the *"Supreme Ultimate"* (taiji--often spelled "tai-chi"). If you can, try to think of it as the principle or pattern underlying the operation of yin-yang.
Zhu took this concept of the Supreme Ultimate from the Song philosopher #Zhou Dunyi# 周敦頤, who was influenced by Daoism. Not surprisingly, the concept of the Supreme Ultimate bears a very close resemblance to the dao of classical Daoism and is a good example of syncretic tendency in Chinese thought that we have already seen. Like the Daoist dao, the Supreme Ultimate is impossible to describe concisely in words. Perhaps the best way to approach it is to think first of yin-yang. Let us take the specific example of hot (yang) and cold (yin). What is it that allows "hot" and "cold" to make sense as complimentary opposites? After all, hot and cold are two tendencies within the same fundamental thing (someone with modern scientific knowledge might explain this "same fundamental thing" in terms of the movement of atomic and subatomic particles). Now take each dimension of yin-yang, female-male, wet-dry, hidden-manifest, and so forth, combine them, and ask essentially the same question: what constitutes yin-yang as a vast set of complementary opposites? The principle that underlies the operation of yin-yang is the Supreme Ultimate.
Let us now put some of these concepts together, along with others from previous chapters, to see how most Song Confucians understood the basic operation of the cosmos. Pictured here is Zhou Dunyi's *Diagram of the Supreme Ultimate.* This diagram has an explanatory text to accompany it, which reads in part as follows:
The Ultimate of Non-being and also the Supreme Ultimate (taiji)! The Supreme Ultimate through movement generates yang. When its activity reaches its limit, it becomes tranquil. Through tranquility the Supreme Ultimate generates yin. When tranquility reaches its limit, activity begins again. So movement and tranquility alternate and become the root of each other, giving rise to the distinction of yin and yang, and the two modes are thus established.4
The Daoist influence (e.g., "Ultimate of Non-being") should be clear. Let us pause to consider the Supreme Ultimate and yin-yang in terms of the cosmic pattern and material force. Just as the cosmic pattern undergirds and directs material force, so too does the Supreme Ultimate undergird and direct yin-yang. Indeed, the Supreme Ultimate is equivalent to the cosmic pattern as a whole, and yin-yang is the starting point for and most basic distinction within the realm of material force.
Zhou's text goes on to explain the eventual production of all things:
By the transformation of yang and its union with yin, the Five Agents of Water, Fire, Wood, Metal, and Earth arise. When these five material forces (qi) are distributed in harmonious order, the four seasons run their course.
The Five Agents constitute one system of yin and yang, and yin and yang constitute one Supreme Ultimate. The Supreme Ultimate is fundamentally the Non-ultimate. The Five Agents arise, each with its specific nature.
When the reality of the Ultimate of Non-being and the essence of yin, yang, and the Fine Agents came into mysterious union, integration ensues. Qian (Heaven) constitutes the male element, and kun (Earth) constitutes the female element. The interaction of these two material forces engenders and transforms the myriad things. The myriad things produce and reproduce, resulting in unending transformation.5
Notice again the influence of Daoism, Han dynasty correlative cosmology, and other Han concepts such as the trigrams qian and kun. The above diagram and accompanying text explains the production of the many diverse things in the universe yet also explains how they are linked and ultimately united in the Supreme Ultimate. To Zhou's overall conception Zhu Xi added the idea of the cosmic pattern and material force to provide an additional explanatory dimension.
At this point you might wonder what all this complex metaphysical theory has to do with classical Confucianism. If so, you are right to wonder. Most of the terminology and concepts introduced here would have been foreign to Confucius and Mencius. Nevertheless, the thought of Zhu Xi and other Song Confucians maintains many key connections with classical Confucianism. Let us consider a specific example. Mencius and Xunzi, as we have seen, were much concerned with the question of the nature of human nature. Mencius argued with his heart that it is good, and Xunzi argued with his head that it is evil. Xunzi had the better argument on technical grounds, but most Confucians of later ages badly wanted to believe that human nature was good. (Note: many, philosophical and scientific theories have arisen from such "subjective" or emotional forces.) But Mencius' arguments in favor of goodness seemed unconvincing to many Confucians, especially in the face of the overwhelming empirical evidence that humans often behave very badly. One of Zhu Xi's greatest accomplishments as a thinker was to come up with a convincing theory that affirmed the fundamental goodness of human nature while adequately accounting for the high incidence of evil behavior. His theory relied in substantial part on some of the metaphysical concepts introduced above.
To understand Zhu's theory human nature, we must first introduce the idea of the xin 心, which may be translated as heart (with emphasis on its physical location) or mind (with emphasis on its function). Many translate the term as heart-mind, but we will call it the "mind" to keep things simple. Like the word "thing," however, the Chinese word "mind" in this case is not equivalent to the English term "mind." First, the Chinese mind was located in the region of the heart, not the head. Second, the Chinese mind was the locus of a number of operations not commonly associated with the "mind" in English usage.
For Zhu, the mind was the locus of human nature. In other words, human nature resided in the mind (but was not equivalent to the mind--as some later thinkers, most notably Wang Yangming, would argue). Furthermore, Zhu asserted that the human nature residing in the mind was a microcosm (precise copy in miniature) of the cosmic pattern, and the cosmic pattern could only be good. Therefore, human nature, as revealed through the structure of the mind, was fundamentally good since it was equivalent to the cosmic pattern.
But what about evil? From where did it come? According to Zhu, evil was the result of the original mind being obscured by turbid material force. Zhu likened our original good nature to a mirror and turbid material force to a layer of dust and grime covering it. In another analogy, Zhu said that just as it is the nature of water to be clear, so too is human nature fundamentally good. Water that has been agitated by wind, waves, currents, and runoff can appear muddy. If given a chance to sit undisturbed, however, the mud will settle to the bottom and the clear nature of water will be revealed. So our pure nature is clouded by material force, and as a result, the goodness inherent in that nature fails to shine forth and manifest itself in good actions.
Before we continue, note well that in this theory, Zhu used the term "material force" in a significantly different sense than we have seen it thus far. This usage is the second way in which Zhu developed the Han-vintage theories of qi. Until the Song dynasty, material force had been roughly equivalent to the contemporary concept of matter and was morally neutral. When discussing abstract metaphysics, Zhu often used the term material force in this value-neutral way. But when discussing ethics and human nature, material force took on decidedly negative overtones for Zhu (hence the adjective turbid). These negative overtones were one of the major influences of Buddhism, and we will explore them further below. But now let us return to Zhu's conception of the mind and human nature.
Zhu distinguished between two aspects of human nature (not two different natures, he insisted, although the distinction may not strike you as significant). Our fundamental, good nature, equivalent to the cosmic pattern, he called the "Fundamental Nature" (benran zhi xing 本然之性). Additionally, all humans are born with a "Material Force Nature" (qizhi zhi xing 氣質之性). While the Fundamental Nature is identical in all people, the Material Force Nature is variable and random. Some are born with especially dense, turbid material force, others have less, and a very select few are blessed with clear, refined material force. To have perfectly clear material force comprising one's Material Force Nature is for it to be identical with the Fundamental Nature. The two would be identical because the Fundamental Nature would shine through the clear Material Force Nature without blockage. When the two aspects of one's nature are identical, one is a sage (see Chapter 3 for this concept in Confucius' thought). The more turbid and dense the material force present in the Material Force Nature, the greater the degree to which it obscures the Fundamental Nature, with increased evil actions being one result. (*Study this diagram,* re-reading this paragraph, if necessary, until you can explain Zhu's theory in your own words.)
A number of questions arise at this point, especially 1) what constitutes this Material Force Nature, and 2) are we stuck with what we got at birth or can we change our "load" of material force (a variation: are sages born or made)? According to Zhu, the turbid material force that obscures the Fundamental Nature consists of inappropriate thoughts, feelings, and desires. It can be "clarified" by reducing or eliminating the thoughts, feelings, and desires that constitute it. Sages, therefore, at least in theory, can be either born or made. Vigorous effort to clarify our Material Force Natures (gongfu 工夫) is, or should be, a lifetime pursuit. This clarification process (let us call it "self-cultivation") involves several specific activities, the most important of which are formal study, intense reading, and quiet sitting. Let us consider the points described here in more detail, starting with the composition of the turbid material force.
Buddhism, as we shall see later, takes as its starting premise that life is suffering and that this suffering is cause by desires. To eliminate the suffering that is life, therefore, one must eliminate desires. Zhu's idea that inappropriate thoughts, feelings, and desires becloud our otherwise good human nature was clearly derived from basic Buddhist teachings. But there is a major difference, and it is found in the qualifying word "inappropriate." For Zhu and other Song Confucians, not all desires in the mind are evil, only those that run contrary to the ideal moral principles built into the cosmic pattern. *Classic examples* of inappropriate thoughts, feelings, and desires would include lust and improper sexual passion, greed as a craving for material goods and wealth, greed as a desire for fame, and that most destructive of all emotions: anger. One way to start reducing these inappropriate material forces is simply to follow li (ritualized conduct, social rules) and other rules of proper behavior. But making significant progress requires more active *methods of self cultivation.*
The general idea behind formal study is to examine various aspects of the cosmic pattern through studying its specific manifestations. According to Zhu, anything, even a blade of grass or piece of dung, could be beneficial as an object of study because the cosmic pattern inhered in all material force. In theory, such an attitude would be ideal for scientific investigation, and to some extent it did support investigation of natural phenomena. The Great Learning calls for the "investigation of things" (as we shall see below), and Zhu was particularly enamored of this approach to self cultivation. On the other hand, he thought that our attention would be better spent studying one class of things above all else: classical literature, especially the Four Books. In practice, therefore, Confucian "investigation of things" tended to emphasize the literary arts, not the sorts of inquiry we usually think of as scientific.
Zhu's method of intense reading took formal study a step further by merging it with meditative techniques (another likely influence of Buddhism). The basic idea here was to take a worthy book (like one of the Four Books or another Confucian classic, not a popular novel) and read it so intensely as to drive all other thoughts and feelings from the mind. The reader's mind should form a perfect union with the text so that the distinction between subject (the reader) and object (the book) is lost in the unity of mind and text. Because a good book, the Analects for example, was a window on the cosmic pattern, the act of intense reading increased the mind's exposure to it. Intense reading also banished from the mind, at least temporarily, any of the inappropriate emotions, feelings, and thoughts that comprise the Material Force Nature. In two senses, therefore, it was a way of opening the mind to the cosmic pattern. Try this method of reading some time. If you can do it at all, you will likely find yourself exhausted after five or ten minutes.
Quiet sitting resembled the various forms of meditation commonly employed in Buddhism. The basic idea for Zhu was to allow the mind to settle down, much like allowing agitated water to settle down and thus regain its clarity. He stressed that Confucian quiet sitting was different from Buddhist meditation in several key respects. For example, the Confucian should sit in a chair (not on the floor in Buddhist style) in an ordinary posture with the eyes open--so that he could jump up and serve his parents should they need something. Zhu also regarded quiet sitting as an adjunct to formal study and intense reading, not a substitute. Notice that the three methods for self-cultivation discussed here range from a strong emphasis on academic inquiry into external objects to the relatively introspective, meditative quiet sitting (with intense reading being a combination of both). Zhu's preference was clearly for the *academic inquiry side of the range.*
Zhu thought that because of the turbid material force that obscured the Fundamental Nature, most people would be unable to recognize the cosmic pattern that inhered in their own minds. Therefore, to aid in recognizing and comprehending this pattern, people should focus their attention outward and investigate things external to the mind. Like assembling a huge jigsaw puzzle, a person would investigate more and more things, gradually building up toward a moment of enlightenment when he or she would suddenly understand the cosmic pattern as a whole. At that point, recognizing it within one's own mind and clearing away the obscuring material force would become relatively easy. In short, "study, study, study!" was *Zhu's preferred method* of self-cultivation.
The major Confucian thinker of the Ming dynasty, Wang Yangming, agreed with Zhu Xi with respect to many points. When it came to self-cultivation, however, Wang emphasized the introspective portion of the range of methods. He said that because the complete cosmic pattern (in microcosm) existed in each person's mind, searching for it outside the mind would be so tiring and inefficient that few would successfully persevere. Instead, Wang advocated searching for the cosmic pattern within ourselves. Naturally, therefore, the emphasis in Wang's notion of ideal self-cultivation was on meditation and introspection. Of course, there was still the problem of turbid material force, and so the primary task of a beginner would be to eliminate desires. *Wang's methodology* brought Confucian self-cultivation very close to Buddhist practice, which also emphasized medication and an elimination of desires. Wang regarded the Four Books simply as "footnotes" to confirm the "innate knowledge of the good" that each person possesses. By minimizing the authority of external texts compared with a person's innate knowledge, Wang's Confucianism also tended toward individualism and relativism. Several of Wang's students developed Confucianism even further in this direction, one arguing that the cosmic pattern is beyond distinctions of good and evil. Many Confucians of the Qing dynasty blamed Wang Yangming's (and his students') popular brand of freewheeling Confucianism for the moral decline that allegedly led to the fall of the Ming dynasty (discussed in a later chapter).
Let us return to the Song dynasty and Zhu Xi. Of the Four Books, Zhu regarded the Great Learning as a concise summary of the entire Confucian quest. Here is the opening section of the Great Learning, a highly influential passage of literature throughout East Asia:
The Way of learning to be great consists in manifesting the clear character, loving the people, and abiding in the highest good.
Only after knowing what to abide in can one be calm. Only after having been calm can one be tranquil. Only after having achieved tranquility can one have peaceful repose. Only after having peaceful repose can one begin to deliberate. Only after deliberation can the end be attained. Things have their roots and branches. Affairs have their beginnings and their ends. To know what is first and what is last will lead one near the Way.
The ancients, who wished to manifest their clear character to the world, would first [properly] govern their states. Those who wished to govern their states would first harmonize their households. Those who wished to harmonize their households would first cultivate themselves. Those who wished to cultivate themselves would first rectify their minds. Those who wished to rectify their minds would first make their wills sincere. Those who wished to make their wills sincere would first extend their knowledge. The extension of knowledge consists in the investigation of things. When things are investigated, knowledge is extended; when knowledge is extended, the will becomes sincere; when the will becomes sincere, the mind is rectified; when the mind is rectified, the self is cultivated; when the self is cultivated, the household is harmonized; when the household is harmonized, the state is governed; and when the state is governed, there will be peace throughout the world. From the Son of Heaven down to the common people, all must regard self-cultivation as the root or foundation. . . .6
This passage outlines eight steps that range from the inner mind of an individual to peace throughout the world (or at least throughout the Chinese empire). The arrangement of the *eight steps* here is linear, with investigating things as the starting point. Notice that the last sentence in the above passage regards self-cultivation as most fundamental, and the first four of the eight steps lead up to self cultivation. Once the self is cultivated, one's moral authority (implied but not stated explicitly) would extend outward to the family, the state, and eventually the whole world. Undoubtedly, many an East Asian Confucian found the opening words of the Great Learning inspirational.
It is also possible to view the eight steps of the Great Learning *as a circle.* For example, making the will sincere depends on and derives from the extension of knowledge, and leads to rectifying the mind. The only part of the circle that is not supported by the passage above would be moving from peace throughout the world to the investigation of things, but even this step is easily in keeping with the spirit of the Great Learning and Zhu's Confucianism. For the world to continue at peace, each generation must take up the task of investigating things anew and work towards successful self-cultivation.
In many ways, the Great Learning's overall stress on personal moral cultivation as a prerequisite for an orderly and peaceful society fits in perfectly with the teachings of classical Confucianism. The theory of personal cultivation and the methods resulting from it, however, also owed much to Daoism, Buddhism, and other sources.
Generation after generation, many Chinese intellectuals found Zhu Xi's Neo-Confucian synthesis compelling, and anyone wanting to pass the civil service exams learned it thoroughly, whether he personally found it compelling or not. Nevertheless, for all his erudition and voluminous writings, Zhu was unable to create a perfectly consistent philosophical system without problems (has anyone done such a thing?). Therefore, later generations of scholars pursued various lines of inquiry based on Zhu's formulation and developed the Confucian tradition in different directions. We have already seen this process in the case of Wang Yangming's stress on innate knowledge and introspection.
The major trend in the Qing dynasty in Confucian circles was the rise of Evidential Studies (kaozheng). This movement began by broadening and deepening the imperative to investigate things. Evidential Studies scholars used sophisticated analytical methods to probe the language of the earliest copies of Confucian texts, precisely, or so it may seem, what Zhu Xi would have wanted. As their studies progressed, however, many scholars of Evidential Studies began to reject Zhu's elaborate metaphysics and somewhat convoluted interpretations of the Confucian classics as having been untrue to the original texts and unduly influenced by Daoism and Buddhism. Such scholars began to unravel Zhu's elaborate synthesis, even though his interpretations remained the orthodox view for the purposes of the civil service exams.
After the fall of the Qing dynasty in 1911, Chinese intellectuals tended to look toward Europe and the United States for inspiration, and Confucianism gradually lost prestige. Indeed, some iconoclastic Chinese of this time criticized the Confucian tradition as being a hindrance to China's modern progress. In academic circles since the 1970s, both within China and abroad, there has been a tendency to take a fresh look at Confucianism and to note its beneficial aspects. There are even some scholars who advocate Confucianism as a viable basis for the modern or contemporary (including the "post-modern") world. Such claims are debatable, but the Confucian tradition continues, albeit as a shadow of its former self, as a living tradition in East Asia and throughout the world.
During China's Song dynasty (and to a lesser extend during the Han and Tang dynasties), Confucian books and ideas spread from China into Tibet, Southeast Asia, Korea, Ryukyu,7 and Japan. It was in Korea that Confucianism took the strongest root, and during the Yi Dynasty (1392-1905), Zhu Xi's brand of Confucianism became the official ideology of the Korean state and elite society. Furthermore, Yi-dynasty Korea established a civil service examination system modeled after China's.
Confucianism also influenced the learned strata of Japanese society, particularly after 1600. Unlike Korea, however, Confucianism did not become the official ideology of the state, nor did any civil service examination system develop. In other words, Japan was much less of a Confucian society than was China or Korea. Still, Japanese scholars developed the Confucian tradition in many interesting ways peculiar to the conditions of Japanese society.
Looking at the big picture, any educated Japanese, Korean, or #Ryukyuan# after ca. 1600 would have been familiar with at least the basic metaphysics and concepts of Zhu Xi's Confucianism. Furthermore, rudimentary Confucian moral values, especially filial piety, spread far and deep in East Asia and remain influential even today.
1. Quoted in Eno, The Confucian Creation of Heaven, p. 48, with minor modification.
2. Quoted in Ibid., p. 231.
3. Board of Editors, Organizing Committee of the Confucius Commemorative Day Ceremony, Confucius the Great Teacher and Philosopher (Los Angeles, 1984), p. 18, with slight modification only to correct grammar and spelling.
4. Translation follows Wing-tsit Chan, trans., comp., A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1963), p. 463, but with minor modification to maintain consistency in terminology and spelling.
5. Ibid.
6. Generally following the translation in Ibid., pp. 86-87, but with substantial modification of key terminology.
7. Today part of Japan, the Ryukyu Islands constituted a kingdom until annexation in the 1870s, much as Hawai'i was a kingdom until the U.S. annexed it.
