Philosopher: Family Reverence as the Root of Humanity

In Confucian thought, the most fundamental relationship is between father and son. After one is born into this world, it is impossible for one to change one’s birthplace, parents and other family relationships. Since these relationships are inevitable, the Confucian attitude is to comprehend such natural relationships and cultivate one’s behavior into family reverence (xiao 孝).

In the Analects, family reverence is taken as the root of humanity and a deep appreciation toward the original state of one’s life. By enhancing one’s primary family relationships, a person enhances his reverence of family. Human love starts with the close and intimate relationships of one’s daily life and extends to a compassion and respect for broader humanity. Family reverence is the root of our humanity. A later work, The Classic of Family Reverence, was composed, holding that family reverence is a natural impulse, and not only a behavior standard of human beings, but the foundation of national politics.

Confucius extended his thoughts on the primacy of the family to matters of social management, and infused his governing principles with moral considerations and ritual proprieties. For Confucius, law could deter people from doing bad things, but could not make them feel ashamed of wrong doing; that required a conscience. An exemplary person needs to cultivate in others a moral compass, and guide their conduct. People who are ethical and seek justice bring order to their lives.

In short, Confucius thought that a human being could only fulfill himself or herself by using family reverence as the foundation of all relationships. Awareness of this most natural allegiance should be nourished, cultivated, and extended into other social relationships, such as those between ruler-minister, husband-wife, and friends. In this way, Confucius founded his principles on the cultivation of one’s behavior, familial and social relationships, with the aim of preserving harmony.

The central theme of Confucius’ thought is “benevolence” (ren 仁) which originally refers to the mother-child bond, widely conceived of as the origin of human relationships. The extended meaning of ren is love. At the moment the umbilical cord of a mother is cut, the primordial relationship, the flesh bridge that united mother and baby transforms into an a posteriori relationship based on intimate social connection. This original feeling is what later extends to different kinds of social relationships. Mencius later developed Confucius “ren” notions into a systematic political philosophy, extending individual emotional attachment to a moral disposition towards the world.

In the Analects, the process of developing benevolence (ren) is mainly conducted through ritual propriety (li). Confucius stresses many times that only genuine love gives the social mask of ritual propriety real significance. In human communication, the most important factor is one’s feelings toward others, while the form in which this sentiment is expressed is secondary.

Thus was Confucius’ sharp and profound comprehension of the origin of human feelings.

The exemplary person (junzi) mentioned in the Analects is a moral model or leader. Confucius claims that if a leader treats his family and friends well, others will follow his example. The virtue (de) of an exemplary person can influence ordinary people just like wind can bend grass.

Confucius also introduced a method of “disciplining self and observing ritual propriety (keji fuli 克己复礼) .” One should understand that one’s selfish desire might affect others negatively, and contradict the requirement that ritual propriety demands. He suggested that one exercise self-restraint and follow the ritual proprieties. He was realistic about the difficulties posed and what interim appropriate goals might be, but also confident in the effects, commenting: “If for the span of a day one was able to accomplish this, the whole world would defer to this humane model.” Confucius believed gentlemanly conduct was within everyone’s reach and could be achieved if everyone just showed a bit more consideration for others.

Confucius pointed out that when one has fulfilled one’s goals one should also help people around achieve their goals. In handling social relationships, one should bear in mind the “golden rule”: Do unto others as you’d have others do unto you.

Throughout Chinese history, people believed that it was possible to build a harmonious Confucian society starting with leaders’ self-cultivation as sages. In the early 20th century, this Confucian ideal was seriously criticized under the influence of Western political culture. However, many scholars have argued that it is possible for Confucianism to embrace modern democratic ideals of government based on the Confucian golden rule. The point was also made that the Confucian version of human rights is under reconstruction. Confucian ideas are very likely to play a much more important role as Chinese cultural exchanges increase throughout the world.

Religious Figure: From Nature to Human Life

In the Analects, Confucius does not mention much about the natural world; he was more concerned with the nature of man. But while Confucius was a keen and careful observer of human affairs, he also had a deep understanding of the human condition, or life. Once Confucius stood on a riverbank and said, “The passage of time is but like the flow of waters, which goes on day and night!” Confucius felt that existence flowed continuously, just as Heraclitus (540-480 B.C.) considered everything in constant flux and movement, claiming we cannot step twice into the same river. Confucius noticed that nature (tian) gives no orders, but the four seasons march on and a myriad things flourish. However, Confucius’s works do not discuss the forces of nature in detail, nor in deduction, nor even description. His method is vastly different from Western philosophical argumentation. However, both Chinese and Western philosophers share a similar consciousness.