Confucianism: Leadership, Happiness and Independence

Confucianism: Leadership, Happiness and Independence

When we talk about Confucius and his teachings, let us remember that there are no clear documents that we are talking about recording Confucius and his teachings. What we have are only the writings by others, and often the writings are also not direct. So we are really talking about the beliefs of a group of persons in an era, rather than a complete direct philosophy. The biases in Confucian philosophy should also be viewed in that light.

The methods of finding factors about a set of teachings can come only from studies of the teacher and his teachings. This was the method adopted.

The development of the history of Confucius is itself interesting. The biography of Confucius which Sse-Ma Ch'ien wrote down among the histories of individual states, was an important point of distinction, for the uncrowned king of China and this will form the foundation of all biographies of Confucius at all stages of history. There was no chronologically arranged biography of Confucius before SseMa Ch'ien wrote it. At the same time, Sse-Ma Ch'ien had his own sources to write it. The historical works from the school established by the Master himself were first considered. Apart from this were the Commentaries of K'ung Yang and Ku Liang on the spring and Autumn Annals of Confucius. Sse-Ma Ch'ien also made extensive use of the History of Tso Ch'iu. This history is divided now into the so-called Tso Chuan. This was seen by the later scholars as a commentary on the spring and Autumn Annals, and the Kuo Yu, which are Speeches from the Various States. (Danton; Danton, 71)

In short, during this period of the Chinese history there were a lot of changes which were happening and these were due to the changes being felt like: the feudal states which had been earlier under the control of the Zhou dynasty had gained their freedom after attaining the required amount of economic and military strength. There were many scholar officials during this time and one of the most important among them and who was the most popular was Confucius and he was probably known in Chinese as Kungzi or Kaung-tzu. Confucius lived as a small-time official in the state of Lu, and Lu is now part of the Shandong province. Confucius was considered to be a scholar-teacher who was alive during the latter part of the 5th century BC and during the initial part of the 4th century BC. He was an advisor to the rulers of several of the states in his place. Being a scholar, Confucius attempted to bring reformation in his society and this was to be brought about by means of development and promotion of ethical behavior in human beings. And for this the rulers were considered to be a very important section of the society to be attended to as well as the ministers as they were to be the role models for other people living in the society. Confucius never really spoke directly on matters pertaining to the nature of human beings, regarding the rights of the people to oppose the acts of tyrannical rulers and also as to how the supernatural power influenced and impacted human matters. He has never directly talked about religion, yet there are scholars today, who would like to view him as "tributaries of Moses." (The Rivers of Paradise: Moses, Buddha, Confucius, Jesus, and Muhammad as Religious Founders) While all of us have our own personal likes and dislikes about religion, it does not give us a right to distort the religious feelings of others.

Even regarding his life, there is very little positive evidence available, and the opinion of most scholars is built on the "Analects." These are a collection of sayings and short dialogues which are said to have been collected by his disciples. That does not mean that there could have been no additions or subtractions during the long period between his lifetime and today. According to reports, Confucius was born in the feudal state of Liu which is in the province now called Shandong. He was unhappy due to the constant conflict between the states in China and the emperors who were venal and tyrannical. He then started preaching a system of morality and statecraft that would preserve peace and provide people with stable and just governments. This led to his having disciples and some of them were in high positions, but Confucius is not known to have occupied any important position. This may be due to his reportedly outspoken manner. He also traveled to many neighboring states so that he was able to start the experiment with his reforms. He however never got any high office. Later traditions say that he had made a special study of ancient books so that he could restore the older social order. His doctrines have been embodied in the writings. (Confucius: The Columbia Encyclopedia) His personal life history makes it clear that his sayings do not do much for achieving leadership, as he was not able to achieve much himself. That may be due his being a philosopher and most philosophers are known to be impractical.

Confucius used a term "princely man," with its importance of the ideal noble personality, and this was considered to be the objective of the ideal personality to which one should try to achieve by self development. When Confucius spoke of morality, he always talked about the moral virtues with which the "princely man" should have. Confucius used the term "princely man" on several occasions in the "Analects" and the word appears more than 70 times. This is however not a book about the teachings of Confucius but a record of the dialogues which happened between Confucius and that of his disciples. This is not a book, and there is no clear-cut definition of the word. This is also used with various nuances, and the nuances change within the context and the individual of the party to the conversation. (Bownas, Geoffrey; Kaizuka, 96)

On looking through these differing nuances it is understood that the primary role of the term is to differentiate the "princely man" from the country yokel, or the common people. This probably means that this should be the ideal of the nobleman. Further, there is the statement "The princely man possesses no manual abilities," which probably means that the "princely man" is not one who is a master having any technical skills, but one who has attained a broad gentleman's education. It was this kind of education that the group concentrated on Confucius aimed to give. In this concept of the "princely man" and his goal of a completely new education, there was a contrast between the class of gentlemen and others. (Bownas, Geoffrey; Kaizuka, 96) Thus it is difficult to say that the teachings of Confucius were intended for everybody. He is probably talking about the behavior of leaders, but only of that time, and this is an aim to produce more of those leaders. That does not make any difference to the effects of his teachings, as long as they make people get happiness, leadership and independence through following his teachings.

In certain cases the philosophy of Confucius was useful for the spread of Christianity. When the Jesuits began their attempt in order to Christianize China during the late sixteenth century, they understood that conversion to Christianity would be easier if they could find some way of appealing to the local tradition. Those were the canonical texts of the Confucian thinkers, and the knowledge of these texts was essential for government service. They were happy to find in some of the earliest Confucian writings references to a divine power very useful to them. This made conversions easier than the urbane skepticism of their educated hosts or the difficult polytheism prevalent in the common people. What is especially important to note is the Canon of Poetry. This is a collection made from earlier works which took the present form by the sixth century BCE. It should be noted that this was not a direct work of Confucius and has kept changing from time to time. In this there is a reference to a personal God. This Supreme power was referred at times as the Lord on High, shangdi, and at times as Heaven and tian. This dominated several subordinate powers and ancestral spirits usually known as shen, or deities. (Dealing with Divinity: Definitions of the spiritual in early Confucian thought)

It was the Zhou dynasty which had ruled at the time when the Poetry was being compiled, from the mid-eleventh to that of the mid-third century BCE. Prior to this was the Shang, and they had ruled from the mid-sixteenth to the mid-eleventh centuries BCE. Both of these dynasties claimed that they had been engendered by the direct form of intervention of this divinity. The Jesuits felt that there was much similarity here to at least give Jesuits a start in Confucian tradition. This started them on the argument that the ancient Chinese had been essentially monotheistic, and that the Christian message could be viewed as the completion of the teachings given by those canons. This method of presentation attracted several immediate attacks from enemies within the church even before a reaction from the Chinese.

Sometime after 1610, one critic, Father Longobardo, said that even with all the references to that of a supreme deity, the Chinese had never differentiated the moral regularities of society and the physical regularities which were that of the material universe. The Chinese had also never understood or accepted any spiritual substance separate from matter. This criticism was increased by emphasizing on the lack of reference to that of the divine powers in Confucius and other thinkers of his school. The argument went on saying that whatever the most ancient Chinese had thought of and considered their classical tradition had been influenced through truly atheist lines. What is most interesting is that Confucian thought accepts the passivity of Heaven and searches for the problems on earth elsewhere especially in the wrongs of human beings. This view leads us to assume that Heaven and all things are good in themselves and that is what will happen if organisms of the earth and other items are left alone and unmolested. This leads to the conclusion that the evil people suffer is the result rather than as a punishment for their own wrongs. (Dealing with Divinity: Definitions of the spiritual in early Confucian thought)

The process of troubles and sufferings will cease when human beings are able to get their own house in order. In the Poetry this idea is only in the initial stages, and its further development was by Confucius. He had a great effect because of his contribution to the solution of what may be called the 'Heaven problem'. This view assumes that human morality is natural, and a necessary part of the natural order. Seeing this morality arrive through human effort is required for the golden age to arrive. This can come when there is an age of perfect rule, and where punishment is unnecessary and suffering unknown. (Dealing with Divinity: Definitions of the spiritual in early Confucian thought) Since there is no punishment and suffering, there is no doubt that people will be happy and thus the teachings of Confucius are also a route for achieving happiness.

There were beliefs in Confucian thought that the lives of people are controlled within parameters that are established by Heaven. This is where the problems come as heaven means both an all purposeful supreme being, as also nature, which has fixed cycles and patterns. At the same time, Confucius argues that men are to be responsible for their own actions and the greatest actions are the treatment of others. To a certain extent this reflects independence as humans are made responsible for events through their action. This shows that people can make attempts to avoid trouble if they make choices for it. At the same time, one needs to understand that heaven exists in one form or another and it is heaven that determines or decides man's fate. The concept of independence is thus considered to be complicated and complex and may be said to have two opposing kinds of aspects. This aspect is that human beings can do anything whatever they feel like at their own discretion, but this freedom will not however grant them the freedom to do anything which is not considered to be ordained by heaven or which comes from the supreme power, in whatever form the power may be considered to be. This is possibly the conflict or the doubt that independence faces in any kind of religion having an all powerful God. We can do however do little or more so nothing to alter or change our span of existence. But we have to determine or decide as to what we accomplish, how we accomplish and what we are and will be remembered for. (Confucius: Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)

Confucius presented his teachings as knowledge that has come from antiquity. According to him he was only passing on information and not making the information, and his entire work was based on his confidence on and love for the ancients. According to him the information that he was passing on had already been established during the peak of the royal Zhou rulers and this sort of justification certainly points to his humility. These may also have been the way things were done at that time. He also claimed that all his teachings were based on what had happened earlier. This certainly influenced later philosophers who adopted this style in their teachings also. (Confucius: Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)

While this is considered to be a very humble approach, this approach tries to convince people or was convincing enough for people in those days. This shows a certain amount of capable and relevant teaching but while we discuss it in terms of leadership it shows a capability enough to be a leader among that category of people concerned. It also tries to show that he had adopted a course of pattern that was safe for him in order to continue with his teachings and not to get hurt by the rulers who were present during that time, and that was also considered to be an important concern at that time. But in totality when we understand about Confucius, we realize that he did not become a successful leader when it comes to assuming the command of the people. In spite of his serious efforts also, he was not given the dominant control of those areas even where his theories could have been implemented. This again points to show that he was probably being considered of as a good teacher and his teachings were viewed to be good for the people, but whether they were to be practical was a question of doubt.

This is probably considered to be true as for all religions which are viewed to be very good, but are not often implemented in practical terms. That is the reason for the concept of confessionals in Christianity. This is a peculiar type of dichotomy that prevails in all religions of the world and that is probably considered to be the reason as to why Confucian thinking became an essential element in China. This was anticipated to be a sort of a logic with which one could provide an element of justification for any act that one took. The preacher was popular and giving his reference was considered to be good enough for providing strength to arguments, and at the same time they were not viewed to be offensive at any stage. It is actually very rare that one would get a ruler philosopher who is being accepted outside his realm of activity. So, in a way, one can say that Confucius was a leader of the masses at least in terms of thinking, though he never actually led as a leader. (Confucius: Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)

At the same time, much of what Confucius taught seems to have been original and certainly showed a radical departure from the thoughts and practices of those days. Confucius like many other religious leaders claimed that he had a special, direct and privileged link with Heaven. This continued and by the age of fifty, he claimed that he understood what Heaven had mandated for him and for the entire mankind. This is a common ego problem and psychologists would be the first to say that he required saying all this to support his ego which would have otherwise given him a lot of trouble since he could not achieve what he probably thought was within his powers to achieve. Confucius was also careful to tell his followers that they should not ever avoid giving the offerings which are due to Heaven. They also thought that Confucius had great respect for the spirits and felt that the spirits should be worshipped with total sincerity, and Confucius taught them that serving the spirits was considered to be more complex and complicated matter than serving mere mortals. This is again a natural course to follow among all men of God as they have to call upon a superior to be the proof of their superiority. Why should people obey them if they are not superior?

Since the entire concept of God in China was ambiguous, Confucius concentrated a lot on social philosophy. This promoted the concept of ren, or compassion or loving others. Generally when one promotes this sort of a concept, others would feel that this leads to deprecation of self. At the same time, this is a policy which would make a person inoffensive. One has to be careful in taking such a stand as this involves artful speech or even speaking in a manner that would seem to be for creating good relationships with some people. Some people say that this makes a person "simple in manner and slow in speech" (Confucius: Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy) No doubt that would be required if that sort of speech is being cultivated, though after some time, it would seem natural. Confucius also talked about a Golden Rule that said, "What you do not wish for yourself, do not do to others;" or in the opposite way, "Since you yourself desire standing then help others achieve it, since you yourself desire success then help others attain it." (Confucius: Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy) He also regarded devotion to parents and older siblings as being a method of showing this same rule in practice.

These again are thoughts that have been preached in religion for a long time, and most individuals practice it for some time. The problems start coming when they have to look after themselves and then very few really follow such principles. Regarding Confucius' life, we know very little as this has happened a long time ago and there are very few statements on that matter. Looking from another aspect, since Confucius had attained the status of a semi-God in china, even if these had been recorded, they would have been wiped out by history. Ultimately gods on earth have been built many times by people on earth, and one supposes that it helps the builders to satisfy their own egos. (Probe Navigation: Confucius)