Confucius

by Meher McArthur

  Other areas in South-east Asia

  It is important to note here that other countries in South-east Asia have also been influenced by Confucian beliefs, even though their governments did not adopt the Confucian-based bureaucratic and education systems of China. Over the centuries, large numbers of ethnic Chinese have been driven by economic and political factors to migrate to areas of South-east Asia. The first major wave of immigration was spurred by trading activities in the early fifteenth century, a second wave during the Opium Wars in the nineteenth century, and a third around the first half of the twentieth century, when China underwent considerable political unrest. Chinese migrants settled in Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, the Philippines, Burma (Myanmar), Cambodia and Laos, often becoming involved in commerce. These overseas Chinese espouse several different religious traditions, including Buddhism, Islam and Christianity, but they also follow many of the ethical teachings of Confucius, and consider him to have been a great and moral teacher.

  Confucianism in the West

  In the seventeenth century, when Portuguese Jesuit missionaries first entered China, their goal was to convert as many Chinese as possible to Christianity. They made a great effort to study and understand the existing Chinese religious and philosophical systems so that they could better understand the Chinese and find the most effective means of converting them. They regarded Buddhism and Daoism as rival religions that were incompatible with Christian thought, but were fascinated by Confucius, whom they considered to be a prince of philosophers. They believed that his teachings were consistent with Christianity since Confucius focused on the effort of the individual to behave virtuously, and did not speak of worship of a particular god – in fact, they believed that Confucius’ god was the same as theirs. In a move that sparked a major controversy within the Church, they argued that Chinese Catholics should be allowed to continue practising certain Confucian rites, in particular the ceremonies honouring their ancestors. Determined to convince the Vatican of the secular nature of Confucius’ teachings and the importance of allowing Chinese Christians to continue to follow them, the Jesuits translated Confucian texts into European languages. One such text was the Confucius Sinarum Philosophus, a compendium of the Four Books of Confucianism published in France in 1687. These texts were disseminated widely in Europe, but they failed to convince the central Christian authority. Because Confucianism was so popular among the Chinese people, Pope Clement XI considered it a threat to the spread of Christianity in China, and in 1715 he forbade Chinese Catholics to perform ancestral rites.

  However, the efforts of the Jesuits to defend Confucius and his teachings had an unexpected impact in Europe. His doctrines caught the attention of many European philosophers and other intellectuals who were engaged in the critical questioning of traditional institutions, customs and morals, in particular those imposed by theocracies and aristocracies. During the so-called Age of Reason of the late seventeenth century and the Age of Enlightenment, which peaked in the eighteenth, a number of significant European philosophers embraced Confucius as a great sage whose emphasis on the individual cultivation of virtue and insistence that kings should also cultivate such integrity echoed many of their own theories. For example, the German thinker Gottfried Leibniz (1646–1716) referred to Confucius as ‘the king of Chinese philosophers’, and argued that Europeans had much to learn from Chinese morality.36 In France, the writer and philosopher Voltaire (1694–1778) upheld Confucius as a great rationalist, who ‘appeals only to virtue, he preaches no miracles, there is nothing in [his books] of religious allegory’.37 He believed that an enlightened ruler could learn from the teachings of Confucius and, as if following in Confucius’ own footsteps, he wrote to King Frederick the Great of Prussia, in the hope that the monarch would hire him as an adviser. As had happened to Confucius many centuries before, the monarch turned Voltaire down.

  Over the following centuries, European philosophers and intellectuals continued to study Confucius and acknowledge his significance as a major world philosopher, and his teachings undoubtedly influenced the works of many European and other thinkers and writers. In the nineteenth century, Westerners, in particular the British, travelled increasingly to China and some of them made important studies of Confucius’ teachings. The noted Scottish Sinologist James Legge (1815–97) went to China as a missionary and remained there for thirty years, learning the language and making numerous translations of Chinese texts, including the principal Confucian texts, to which he added his own commentaries. Works such as his have made the teachings of Confucius more widely available to the English-speaking world. Throughout the twentieth century, increasing numbers of Chinese immigrated to Europe, the Americas and Australia, taking with them many of their traditional values, such as the importance of education and respect for parents and ancestors. The presence of overseas Chinese and other East Asians in local communities worldwide, coupled with China’s growing economic, political and cultural presence on the world stage, has sparked an enormous interest in Chinese culture, and at the core of any study of China – in a book, at a school, university, or at one of the Chinese government-sponsored Confucius Institutes – is an introduction to the country’s most celebrated teacher and philosopher.

  Now, in the early twenty-first century, the name of Confucius is widely recognised in most cultures even though his teachings may not yet be well understood by the average American, Australian, African or European. Regrettably, many people associate him with the nuggets of wisdom that are often found on fortune cookies in Chinese restaurants, or with silly jokes like ‘Confucius say, “Man with only one chopstick go hungry.”’38 And recently I was directed to a CNN clip of the Miss Panama 2009 contest, where one hopeful was asked to explain who Confucius was and replied, ‘Confucius was one of whom invented confusion. And that’s why … ehhh. One of the most ancient he was one of the Chinese … Japanese who was most ancient. Thank you.’39 At least she had a feeling that he was Chinese and lived a long time ago, but how heart-breaking for Confucius that she blamed him for the invention of confusion, when his life’s work was focused on bringing order to a chaotic, confused world!

  Despite the occasional confusion about who Confucius was and the fogginess regarding the details of his life, it seems quite clear, twenty-six centuries after he lived and died, that he did realise his goal of making a name for himself. He could not have imagined how widely known his name would become, nor how long his teachings would be studied, debated and practised at all levels of society. Having had so little success convincing rulers of his own time to adopt his theories, he would probably have laughed at the suggestion that not only the government of his own country but also those of neighbouring nations would eventually base many of their policies on his teachings. Although Confucius struggled with poverty, lack of employment, homelessness and a sense of failure for much of his life, his dedication to his Way was indeed worthwhile and has enriched the lives of many millions of people throughout history. His ideals of ethical integrity in human relations, kindness and respect at all levels of society and self-cultivation through education have endured longer than any imperial dynasty and have become an important contribution to the world’s treasury of wisdom.

  Acknowledgements

  In my exploration of the life of Confucius (or what we understand to be his life), I have been reminded that there are few things more important than treating others with kindness, integrity, loyalty, respect and gratitude. The reminder came not only from his teachings but also from all the people who helped me at various stages of the project.

  First, I would like to thank my loyal sister Roshan McArthur for suggesting to me that I could and should write this book. Publishers Tony Morris and Richard Milbank guided me thoughtfully through the initial stages of the proposal and manuscript. As the book progressed, I received valuable advice on structure, approach and content from several scholar-gentlemen, to whom I am deeply grateful. David Schaberg, Ph.D., Co-Director, Center for Chinese Studies a
nd Professor, Asian Languages and Cultures at the University of California, Los Angeles, and Kendall H. Brown, Ph.D., Professor of Art History at California State University, Long Beach, both helped steer me in a better direction with the text. I am particularly indebted to Jonathan B. Markley, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of History at California State University, Fullerton, for taking time out of his busy work and family schedule to read through the manuscript and suggest improvements. His expertise on early Chinese history and culture has brought this book closer to the truth.

  I also wish to thank Samuel H. Yamashita, Ph. D., Professor of History at Pomona College, Claremont, Mary Connor, President of the Korean Academy for Educators (KAFE), Thuy Bui, Tom McArthur and Jacqueline Lam McArthur for being kind enough to review specific sections of the manuscripts for accuracy and readability.

  Lastly, thanks to my husband, David Marsh, who lovingly devoted hours reading through the manuscript and made invaluable comments that have made it more accessible to the general reader.

  I could not have written this book without their help. Any inaccuracies or errors, though, are my responsibility alone.

  Meher McArthur

  February 2010

  Notes

  Preface

  1 Chin, Annping, The Authentic Confucius: A Life of Thought and Politics (New York: Scribner, 2007), p. 3.

  2 I chose to use Simon Leys’ version of The Analects (New York/London, W.W. Norton, 1997) for this biography because his text used the pinyin rather than Wade-Giles transliteration of Chinese words and names, which is consistent with the rest of my text. I also felt that his translation is slightly easier for a modern reader to follow. However, I must point out that I had problems with some of his commentaries, particularly his own anti-homosexual views, which I believe have no place in a translation. Two more respected translations of The Analects are those by Arthur Waley and D.C. Lau, which are included in the bibliography.

  Introduction: China’s Great Sage

  1 Leys, The Analects, 5.13, p. 21.

  2 Leys, The Analects, 6.22, p. 27.

  3 Although Confucius is often credited with inventing the term ren, it existed before his time but was not used widely and may have simply referred to the kindness shown by a lord to his subject. As a key concept in the teachings of Confucius, it gained wider usage.

  4 Leys, The Analects, 9.1, p. 39.

  5 Leys, The Analects, 6.22, p. 27. Note that Arthur Waley translates this obscure phrase differently, as ‘Goodness cannot be obtained until what is difficult has been duly done.’ Waley, The Analects of Confucius (New York: Random House, Vintage Books, 1989), Chapter 6.20, p. 120.

  6 Leys, The Analects, 7.30, p. 32.

  7 Leys, The Analects, 4.6, pp. 15–16.

  8 Leys, The Analects, 7.16, p. 31.

  9 Leys, The Analects, 4.2, p. 15.

  10 Leys, The Analects, 4.2, p. 15.

  11 Leys, The Analects, 4.5, p. 15.

  12 For an enlightening discussion of this seeming contradiction, see Chapter 3 of Fingarette, Herbert, Confucius: The Secular as Sacred (Prospect Heights, Illinois: Waveland Press, Inc.), 1972.

  13 Leys, The Analects, 8.7, p. 36.

  14 Leys, The Analects, 15.8, p. 75.

  15 Leys, The Analects, 8.2, p. 35.

  16 Leys, The Analects, 2.8, p. 7.

  17 Leys, The Analects, 2.7, p. 7.

  18 Leys, The Analects, 3.4, p. 10.

  19 Leys, The Analects, 3.12, p. 12.

  20 Leys, The Analects, 3.3, p. 10.

  21 Leys, The Analects, 16.9, pp. 82–83.

  22 Leys, The Analects, 9.19, p. 41.

  23 Leys, The Analects, 14.24, p. 70.

  24 Leys, The Analects, 7.8, p. 30.

  25 Leys, The Analects, 12.15, p. 58.

  26 Leys, The Analects, 15.22, p. 77.

  27 Leys, The Analects, 15.36, p. 78.

  28 Leys, The Analects, 12.4, p. 56.

  29 Leys, The Analects, 15.18, p. 76.

  30 Leys, The Analects, 4.5, p. 15.

  31 Leys, The Analects, 15.32, p. 78.

  32 Leys, The Analects, 6.30, p. 28.

  33 Leys, The Analects, 14.23, p. 70.

  34 Leys, The Analects, 15.21, p. 77.

  35 Leys, The Analects, 4.16, p. 17.

  36 Leys, The Analects, 2.14, p. 7.

  37 Leys, The Analects, 17.24, p. 89.

  38 Leys, The Analects, 16.8, p. 82.

  39 Leys, The Analects, 16.7, p. 82.

  40 Leys, The Analects, 14.22, p. 70.

  41 Leys, The Analects, 18.6, p. 91.

  42 Leys, The Analects, 18.7, p. 92.

  43 Leys, The Analects, 1.6, p. 4.

  44 Leys, The Analects, 1.2, p. 3.

  45 Leys, The Analects, 15.24, p. 77.

  46 Leys, The Analects, 2.19, p. 8.

  47 Leys, The Analects, 13.2, p. 60.

  48 Leys, The Analects, 1.5, p. 4.

  49 Leys, The Analects, 13.16, p. 63.

  50 Leys, The Analects, 4.13, p. 16.

  51 Leys, The Analects, 12.2, p. 55.

  52 Leys, The Analects, 5.16, p. 21.

  53 Leys, The Analects, 12.19, p. 58.

  54 Leys, The Analects, 2.20, p. 8.

  55 Leys, The Analects, 12.2, p. 55.

  56 Leys, The Analects, 2.3, p. 6.

  57 Leys, The Analects, 12.7, p. 56.

  58 Leys, The Analects, 2.1, p. 6.

  59 Leys, The Analects, 1.1, p. 3.

  60 Leys, The Analects, 7.19, p. 31.

  Chapter 1: The Bitter Gourd That Is Not Eaten

  1 This lament was recorded by Han dynasty historian Sima Qian in his biography of Confucius. See Yang Hsien-yi and Gladys Yang (translators and editors), Selections from Records of the Historian by Szuma Chien (Beijing: Foreign Languages Press, 1979), p. 13. It is also included in The Analects as ‘Am I a bitter gourd, only to hang as decoration, but unfit to be eaten?’ See Leys, The Analects, Chapter 17.7, p. 85.

  2 The version of the incident described in this chapter has drawn on Pierre Do-Dinh’s description. See Do-Dinh, Pierre (translated by Charles Lam Markmann), Confucius and Chinese Humanism (New York: Funk & Wagnalls, 1969), pp. 76–8. Sima Qian recounts this incident in Chen province and the exchange between Confucius and his disciples in some detail. See Yang and Yang, Records of the Historian, pp. 17–19. A much shorter version of the exchange between Confucius and Zilu is also found in The Analects. See Leys, The Analects, 15.2, p. 74.

  Chapter 2: China at the Time of Confucius

  1 Although Confucius apparently did not discuss the concept of Heaven in his teachings and had little interest in the supernatural or mystical, he did allude to what he believed to be his Heavenly mission on several occasions. In The Analects, for example, he made such claims as, ‘At fifty, I knew the will of Heaven’ (see Leys, The Analects, 2.4, p. 6) and ‘Heaven vested me with moral power’ (The Analects, 7.23, p. 32). He also lamented, ‘No one understands me! … If I am understood, it must be by Heaven’ (The Analects, 14.35, p. 71) and called upon Heaven to punish him if he had erred: ‘If I have done wrong, may Heaven confound me! May Heaven confound me!’ (The Analects, 6.28, p. 27).

  2 For an illuminating discussion of the Axial Age, see Karen Armstrong’s The Great Transformation: The Beginning of Our Religious Traditions (New York: Anchor Books, 2006).

  3 The Shujing and many other texts were written by historians employed by the Zhou court, so their accounts of history tend to be biased in favour of the Zhou rulers.

  4 Faulkenhausen, Lothar von, Chinese Society in the Age of Confucius: The Archaeological Evidence (Los Angeles: Cotsen Institute of Archaeology UCLA, 2006), Chapters 1 and 2.

  5 Ebrey, Patricia Buckley, The Cambridge Illustrated Encyclopedia of China (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999), p. 39.

  6 Leys, The Analects, 16.2, p. 81.

  Chapter 3: Early Life and Family

  1 Confucius’ father’s name Shuliang He is a combination of his ‘style’ name or zi, Shuliang, and his personal name or ming, He. It wo
uld be more typical to refer to him by a combination of his clan name, Kong, and his personal name, Shuliang, so Kong Shuliang, just as Confucius was known as Kong Zhongni as an adult. It is not clear why his name is recorded in this manner (e-mail correspondence with Jonathan Markley, February, 2009).

  2 For more on ancient Chinese beliefs about the afterlife and ancestors, see Dien, Albert, ‘Chinese Beliefs in the Afterworld’, in The Quest for Eternity: Chinese Ceramic Sculptures from the People’s Republic of China (Los Angeles San Francisco: the Los Angeles County Museum of Art/Chronicle Books, 1987), pp. 1–15.

  3 Confucius’ ancestry is outlined in Clements, Jonathan, Confucius: A Biography (Stroud: Sutton Publishing, 2004), pp. 3–6, and in Legge, James, Confucius: Confucian Analects, The Great Learning & The Doctrine of the Mean (Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1893–5. Reprint, Mineola: New York: Dover edition 1971), pp. 56–8.

  4 This issue of whether or not Confucius’ parents were married has caused much debate among scholars, mainly because of the Chinese phrase yehe, used by Sima Qian in his biography to describe their union. Jonathan Clements notes that the phrase yehe can mean ‘torrid’ and ‘common-law’, which has led many scholars to believe that their union was illegitimate, and that Zhengzai never became his wife. He suggests, however, that the idea of ‘wild’ in this context is more likely to refer to the disparity in their ages, which was not typical at the time. See Clements, Jonathan, Confucius: A Biography, p. 9 and notes p. 121.