|
The acknowledged founder of the Confucian tradition
was the sage-teacher K’ung Fu-tzu (551–479 BCE)
whose name was latinized by Jesuit missionaries as Confucius.
Born into a time of rapid social change, Confucius devoted
his life to reestablishing order through rectification
of the individual and the state. This involved a program
embracing moral, political, and religious components.
As a creative transmitter of earlier Chinese traditions,
Confucius is said, according to legend, to have compiled
the Five Classics, namely, the Book of History,
Poetry, Changes, Rites, and the Spring and
Autumn Annals.
The principal teachings of Confucius, as contained
in the Analects, emphasize the practice of moral
virtues, especially humaneness or love (jen)
and filiality (hsiao). These were exemplified
by the “noble person” (chun tzu), particularly
with the five relations, namely, between parent and
child, ruler and minister, husband and wife, older and
younger siblings, and friend and friend.
Confucian thought was further developed in the writings
of Mencius (372–289 BCE) and Hsun tzu (298–238 BCE).
It culminated in a Neo-Confucian revival in the eleventh
and twelfth centuries which resulted in a new synthesis
of the earlier teachings. Chu Hsi (1130–1200), a major
Neo-Confucian thinker, designated four texts as containing
the central ideas of Confucian thought: two chapters
from the Book of Rites, namely, the Great Learning,
the Doctrine of the Mean; the Analects, and Mencius.
He elevated these texts to a position of prime importance
over the Five Classics mentioned earlier. In 1315 these
texts, and Chu His’s commentaries on these texts,
became the basis of the Chinese civil examination system,
a system that endured for nearly six hundred years (1315–1905).
Neo-Confucian thought and practice spread to Korea,
Japan, and Vietnam where it had a profound effect on
their respective cultures. Since 1949 the government
of the People’s Republic of China has ostensibly
repudiated the Confucian heritage. However, the Confucian
tradition is currently being reexamined on the mainland,
often relying on new publications of European and American
scholars.
Confucius, Analects
Tzu Kung asked: “Is there any one word that can
serve as a principle for the conduct of life?”
Confucius said: “Perhaps the word ‘reciprocity’:
Do not do to others what you would not want others to
do to you” (XV: 23)1
Tzu Chang asked Confucius about humanity. Confucius
said: “To be able to practice five virtues everywhere
in the world constitutes humanity.” Tzu Chang
begged to know what these were. Confucius said: “Courtesy,
magnanimity, good faith, diligence, and kindness.
He who is courteous is not humiliated, he who is magnanimous
wins the multitude, he who is of good faith is trusted
by the people, he who is diligent attains his objective,
and he who is kind can get service from the people”
[XVII:6].2
Ta Hsüeh, The Great Learning from The Book of
Ritual [Li Chi]
The Great Learning summarizes the essential role
of humans: to cultivate themselves through both their
sincere intentions and their clear examination of things.
In so doing a person can help to establish order in
both the family and the state. The image here is the
power of illustrious virtue to spread to others like
ripples in a pond.
The ancients who wished clearly to exemplify illustrious
virtue throughout the world would first set up good
government in their states. Wishing to govern well
their states, they would first regulate their families.
Wishing to regulate their families, they would first
cultivate their persons. Wishing to cultivate their
persons, they would first rectify their minds. Wishing
to rectify their minds, they would first seek sincerity
in their thoughts. Wishing for sincerity in their
thoughts, they would first extend their knowledge.
The extension of knowledge lay in the investigation
of things.3
Chung Yung, The Doctrine of the Mean from
The Book of Ritual [Li Chi ]
The Doctrine of the Mean describes the power
of sincerity which emanates outward from humans to the
cosmos itself. When a person cultivates their authentic
nature they are said to affect the rejuvenating forces
in the natural world. Through the process of realizing
one’s authentic self, a person forms a triad with
heaven and earth.
Only he who possesses absolute sincerity can give
full development to his nature. Able to give full
development to his own nature, he can give full development
to the nature of other men. Able to give full development
to others, they can give full development to the nature
of other men. Able to give full development to the
nature of men, he can give full development to the
nature of all beings. Able to give full development
to the nature of all beings, he can assist the transforming
and nourishing powers of Heaven and earth. Capable
of assisting the transforming and nourishing powers
of Heaven and earth, he may, with Heaven and earth,
form a triad.4
Chang Tsai, Western Inscription
Chang Tsai’s Western Inscription (eleventh
century) was inscribed on the western wall of Chang
Tsai’s study and was enormously influential in
Neo-Confucian thought. Describing the essential kinship
of all beings with heaven and earth, it maintains that
compassion is the highest expression of kinship.
Heaven is my father and earth is my mother, and even
such a small creature as I finds an intimate place
in their midst.
Therefore, that which extends throughout the universe
I regard as my body and that which directs the universe
I consider as my nature.
All people are my brothers and sisters, and all things
are my
companions. . . .
Respect the aged. . . . Show affection toward the
orphaned and the weak. . . . The sage identifies his
character with that of Heaven and earth, and the virtuous
man is the best [among the children of Heaven
and earth]. Even those who are tired and infirm,
crippled or sick, those who have no brothers or children,
wives or husbands, are all my brothers who are in
distress and have no one to turn to.5
Chu Tzu wen-chi and Chu Hsi
The most comprehensive virtue in the Confucian tradition
is jen or humaneness which is like a vital energy
in human beings and in the natural world as well. It
is a creative virtue which nourishes the life force
in all things.
For jen as constituting the Way (Tao), consists
of the fact that the mind of Heaven and Earth to produce
things is present in everything (Chu Hsi [twelfth
century]).6
Wang Yang-ming, Inquiry on the Great Learning
Wang Yang-ming (sixteenth century) emphasized (as
had Mencius) the innate goodness of the human mind-and-heart.
He underscored the feeling of commiseration in the human
which would naturally flourish in the practice of humaneness
(jen) extended to other humans and toward all
living and non-living things.
Master Wang said: The great man regards Heaven
and Earth and the myriad things as one body. He regards
the world as one family and the country as one person.
. . . Therefore when he sees a child about to fall
into a well, he cannot help a feeling of alarm and
commiseration. This shows that his humanity (jen)
forms one body with the child. It may be objected
that the child belongs to the same species. Again,
when he observes the pitiful cries and frightened
appearance of birds and animals about to be slaughtered,
he cannot help feeling an “inability to bear”
their suffering. This shows that his humanity forms
one body with birds and animals. It may be objected
that birds and animals are sentient beings as he is.
But when he sees plants broken and destroyed, he cannot
help a feeling of pity. This shows that his humanity
forms one body with plants. It may be said that plants
are living things as he is. Yet even when he sees
tiles and stones shattered and crushed, he cannot
help a feeling of regret. This shows that his humanity
forms one body with tiles and stones.7
In both the Analects and the Mencius
we find important themes and ideas that both influenced
later Confucian views on the environment and that are
of value in the contemporary effort to develop an adequate
environmental ethic. Perhaps the most characteristic
feature of the early Confucian views about nature to
be found in these texts are their “human-nature
analogues.” I mean by this the tendency to regard
certain natural phenomena as emblematic of ethically
good people or particular human excellences. For example,
in Analects, 2:1, the ideal king, one who rules
through the power of moral charisma, is likened to the
polestar, which maintains its august position at the
apex of the heavens while all the lesser stars pay homage
by revolving around it in a stately and orderly fashion.
In Analects, 6:23, we are told that those who
are wise, being active, flexible, and wide-ranging,
are thought to have a natural correspondence with and
delight in flowing water, while those who are jen,
“perfectly good,” being still, stable, and
immovable, are thought to have a natural correspondence
with and delight in mountains. We are also told, in
Analects, 9:17, that Confucius took special delight
in watching the unceasing movement of a flowing stream,
seeing it perhaps as a symbol of the unceasing operation
of the Tao, or the steady and uninterrupted effort needed
to master the Way. In these and other examples, we see
Confucius’s belief that nature exemplifies and
provides us with models of important ethical virtues.
At the same time, they show that Confucius also saw
nature as a source of aesthetic pleasure and what, in
other work, I have called “metaphysical comfort.”
For him and other early Confucians, human beings are
very much at home in nature; they find ethical inspiration,
delight, and comfort in many of its features. . . .
We see these same characteristics and more in the
Mencius. In one of the most memorable and moving
passages in the text, the deforested Ox Mountain serves
as one of Mencius’s most important and informative
illustrations. The image of the denuded mountain is
used to show, among other things, that we cannot infer
that human nature is without moral tendencies just
because we encounter some who manifest no evidence
of such tendencies. Human nature can be ground down
and effaced just as Ox Mountain was systematically
stripped of its once lush vegetation. The story also
illustrates the tenaciousness of both our moral sprouts
and the mountain’s vegetation; both continue
to put forth new growth—shoot and buds—despite the
sustained harsh treatment each receives.8
[1]
Wm. Theodore de Bary, et al., Sources of Chinese
Tradition, vol. 1 (New York: Columbia University
Press, 1960) 27.
Return to text
[2]
Ibid., 28.
Return to text
[3]
Ibid., 129.
Return to text
[4]
Ibid., 134–35.
Return to text
[5]
Ibid., 524.
Return to text
[6]
Chu Tzu wen-chi, CTTC, 67:20a, translated by Wing-tsit
Chan in Source Book in Chinese Philosophy (Princeton:
Princeton University Press, 1963) 594.
Return to text
[7]
Ibid., 659–60.
Return to text
[8]
Philip J. Ivanhoe. “Early Confucianism and Environmental
Ethics.” In Confucianism and Ecology: The Interrelation
of Heaven, Earth, and Humans, eds. Mary Evelyn Tucker
and John Berthrong (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University
Press, 1998) 67–68.
Return to text
Classic Resources
Wm. Theodore de Bary, et al., Sources of Chinese
Tradition vol. 1 (New York: Columbia University
Press, 1960). Excerpts from Sources of Chinese Tradition
edited by de Bary, Chan, and Watson Copyright ©
1960 Columbia University Press are reprinted by permission
of the publisher. All rights reserved.
Chu Tzu wen-chi, CTTC, 67:20a, translated by Wing-tsit
Chan in Source Book in Chinese Philosophy (Princeton,
N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1963). Excerpts from
the Source Book in Chinese Philosophy translated
by Wing-tsit Chan Copyright © 1963 Princeton University
Press is reprinted with the permission of the publisher.
You may read and browse this materials at this website.
However, no further copying, downloading, or linking
is permitted. No part of this material may be further
reproduced in any form by any electronic or mechanical
means (including photocopying, recording, or information
storage and retrieval) without permission in writing
from the publisher. Users are not permitted to mount
this file on any network servers. For permission requests
and to search our online catalog, please see the Princeton
University Press website.
Contemporary Resources
Philip J. Ivanhoe. “Early Confucianism and Environmental
Ethics.” In Confucianism and Ecology: The Interrelation
of Heaven, Earth, and Humans, eds. Mary Evelyn Tucker
and John Berthrong (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University
Press, 1998). Excerpt from “Early Confucianism
and Environmental Ethics” by Philip Ivanhoe in
Confucianism and Ecology Copyright © Center
for the Study of World Religions at Harvard University
is reprinted with the permission of the Center for the
Study of World Religions at Harvard University.
Copyright © 2001 Forum
on Religion and Ecology.
|
