Confucianism
Part 2 of Filial Piety Report
By Kenna [H02]
Confucianism
The religion but also philosophical ideology in which Filial Piety is originated from is that of Confucianism.
"Confucianism [is] developed from what was later called the Hundred Schools of Thought from the teachings of the Chinese philosopher Confucius[.]" (Fung, Yiu-ming in "Problematizing Contemporary Confucianism in East Asia")
Confucianism is looked upon as a "humanistic" in it's codes and ethics.
"...humanist philosophies such as Confucianism, which do not share a belief in divine law and do not exalt faithfulness to a higher law as a manifestation of divine will." Stated by Mark Juergensmeyer in his book "Religion in Global Civil Society"
Confucianism can be called simply a way of life as it covered all basics of what one should do you oneself, family, community, and nation. It covered loyalties and was simply explained as a way to live your best life for not yourself alone but for all. That was, to live your best life you had duties to your fellow people and in taking care of those that was when you were following the best path.
Confucian "belief [was] that human beings are fundamentally good, and teachable, improvable, and perfectible through personal and communal endeavor, especially self-cultivation and self-creation. Confucian thought focuses on the cultivation of virtue in a morally organised world."
Fundamental Concepts
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| 天將以夫子爲木鐸, "Heaven will instruct the master like a wooden-clapper bell (to awaken everyone to the Way)" — Analects 3.24 |
Rén (仁): benevolence, humaneness
Yì (義/义): righteousness or justice
Lǐ (禮/礼): proper rite
Zhōng (忠): loyalty
Xiào (孝): filial piety
Rén (仁) AKA Humaneness is the "Confucian virtue denoting the good feeling a virtuous human experiences when being altruistic. Rén is exemplified by a normal adult's protective feelings for children. It is considered the outward expression of Confucian ideals."
Yì (義/义) AKA Righteousness is the Confucian virtue that focuses "a moral disposition to do good, and also the intuition and sensibility to do so competently. Yì represents moral acumen which goes beyond simple rule following, and involves a balanced understanding of a situation, and the "creative insights" necessary to apply virtues "with no loss of sight of the total good. Yì represents this ideal of totality as well as a decision-generating ability to apply a virtue properly and appropriately in a situation."
Lǐ (禮/礼) AKA Rite is the Confucian virtue that is less a solid idea and more a representation of somewhat abstract idea. "Lǐ ... translated as "rite" or "reason," "ratio" in the pure sense of Vedic ṛta ("right," "order") when referring to the cosmic law, but when referring to its ... context of human social behaviour it has also been translated as "customs", "measures" and "rules", among other terms. Lǐ also means religious rites which establish relations between humanity and the gods." "[R]ites are conceived as "what makes the invisible visible", making possible for humans to cultivate the underlying order of nature. Correctly performed rituals move society in alignment with earthly and heavenly (astral) forces, establishing the harmony of the three realms—Heaven, Earth and humanity. This practice is defined as "centring" (央 yāng or 中 zhōng). Among all things of creation, humans themselves are "central" because they have the ability to cultivate and centre natural forces."
Zhōng (忠) AKA Loyalty is the Confucian virtue that especially emphasized to the original followers as they had a "loyalty" to becoming prominent officials and entering a ruler's civil service. In modern times "emphasis was often placed more on the obligations of the ruled to the ruler, and less on the ruler's obligations to the ruled. Like filial piety, loyalty was often subverted by the autocratic regimes in China." Like filial piety, this virtue in modern times is seen a problematic by how it can be used negatively despite what the original teaching focused on.
Xiào (孝) AKA Filial Piety is the Confucian virtue of respect towards your parents, elders, and ancestors, as previously covered. In modern times, along side "Zhōng", "Xiào" is controversial due to past abuse of this virtue. Both can be good virtues but also have the potential to be abused by those with less-than intentions.
Questions
- What religion is Filial Piety from?
- From what original teachings did this religion come from?
- Who wrote these original teachings?
- What a the fundamental concepts of this religion?
Discussion Questions
- "Confucius Must Die For the Nation to Live", what are your thoughts on this statement?
- Can you see how "Zhong" (Loyalty) and "Xiao" (Filial Piety) can be abused? Do you agree these virtues are problematic? Similar to the above question, do you think these virtues "must die"?
- Confucianism is based on the belief that humans are innately "good" in nature. Do you believe this contributes to the problems with the above virtues? Do you think this, being the backbone of Confucianism, weakens it?
- Pt. 2 of above question: Do you believe humans are innately "good"? How does this affect your outlook on Confucianism?
Sorry we didn't have time in class to discuss your excellent report!
ReplyDeleteI definitely do see the potential for abuse and exploitation of the virtues of loyalty and filial piety, but I definitely would not urge their death. I think we need to commit our loyalty and piety to the best in one another, and be prepared to call one another out when we betray those virtues.
Yes, an excellent report, Kenna––very thorough! As a secular humanist myself, the focus of Confucianism on how people treat one another and its belief in the fundamental goodness resonate strongly with me! And I second Dr. Oliver when its comes to the abuse of these virtues, even filial piety––they are still important. Although governments may attempt to exploit such loyalties for their own selfish ends, I think there is value in our deep commitments to one another, commitments that (given our recent talk about friendships) we don't experience too often! Nice work, Kenna!
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed your presentation, Kenna. As for part two of your third question, I do believe that people are innately "good," or at least more good than bad. Aside from perhaps those with certain mental illnesses, humans from infancy do not want to do many bad things, until they are exposed to the outside world (of course, I'm not a child psychiatrist, but as far as I can tell). Circumstances cause us to do bad things and can eventually lead us to hold "bad" beliefs by society's standards. If everyone were raised in perfect environments, I imagine only a minuscule amount of people would be "bad." I think that this supports Confucianism because living one's best life is not a personal goal, but a societal goal that benefits everyone. Everyone living their best life will create the best environment to raise children, which should prevent their exposure to opportunities for their bad qualities to develop.
ReplyDeleteIn short, while I do believe that people can be bad, I think that nearly everyone is innately good, at least when they are young.
Kevin Hernandez Ovalle
ReplyDeleteComment Final Project
Can you see how "Zhong" (Loyalty) and "Xiao" (Filial Piety) can be abused? Do you agree these virtues are problematic? Similar to the above question, do you think these virtues "must die"?
I personal do see Zhong and Filial Peity as problematic in general; it the people who want to use these great and intentional good philosophical ideas for personal gain. So in short I can see how they can be abused. I personal have been guilty. You could say my family (Hispanic) values filia peity (we just didn’t know it was called that) and I have , in occasions, abused the usage of “the older brother is the boss and knows all” justification for my own personal gains. I didn’t know in that moment what exactly I was doing (philosophically), but I do feel more than enough people use these advantages for their own personal usage. Just look at all the past and present corrupted politicians. Supposedly we elect these people to serve us “the people”, but at the end they’re the ones that steal from tax payers (us) and get away with crimes and bribaries with businesses and other countries. I personally don’t think these virtues should “die” are be seen as radical and evil. I think they should be retaught to this lost and confused generation on the importance of loyalty to your family, community, and those you serve or serve you. There are examples all around us; first generation students who pursue their dream of a higher education to make their parents proud who sacrificed everything just so they could go to college. Families that honor family traditions because of a past loved one’s effort and influence to the family. The act of a president passing an executive order permitting young teenagers who came to the as children pursue the dream of higher education and the unification of people pushing for a positive and good common goal is what true loyalty is; the server serving the needed.
Above all else I really liked your speech and I am interest in learning more about the teaching of Confucius.