Hi. Ni hao. Welcome back.
Let's continue with our review of Confucian philosophy
focusing on the conception of the ideal Junzi.
Just as the concept of Junzi has undergone
a profound extension of meaning in Confucian philosophy,
so does the concept of Li from religious rituals to ethically informed,
structured, and habituated proper conduct.
Furthermore, when attention is shifted from
ritual ceremonies to structured ethical behaviour,
proper performance with the right attitude becomes critically important.
When fully internalised, Li-proper conduct is no longer just regulated behaviour,
but also it becomes constitutive of
the person in the sense that it comes to shape who we are,
defining the way in which we relate to others.
Ideally, the performance of Li appears entirely natural,
instinctive, graceful without any trace of artificiality.
Following up on this lead,
Mencius was to argue later that the seeds of Li-proper conduct could
indeed be traced to human nature to an innate sense of considerateness,
if you like, which if nurtured well would grow into respect and regard for others.
In this way, Li-proper conduct harmonises
human interaction and therefore can bring about social harmony far,
far more effectively than punishment and law.
Whereas social controls might achieve short-term goals,
sustained harmony require a strong sense of civic mindedness,
a deeply, deeply ingrained sense of propriety that does not depend on external censure,
but rises spontaneously from the heart in navigating the cause of social existence.
Without question, the Confucian Junzi is a consummate master of Li,
but Li is not complete without Ren,
and that's the important point,
without genuine care and concern for the well-being of others.
Without Ren, Li-compliance risks becoming hypocrisy,
empty formalistic ritual devoid of ethical meaning.
Confucian scholars were to debate whether Ren or Li is more important.
For our purposes, it is enough to see how ideally they form a fully,
fully integrated ethical compound,
how they are mutually dependent and mutually
enriching in the realization of the Confucian Way.
In ethical practice, critical reflection and
deliberation is also needed to ensure that we not only do the right thing,
but also do it in the right way.
The Confucian concept of Yi or Rightness
underscores the reflective nature of ethical conduct.
Thoughtfulness is certainly, certainly not trivial and the ethical mind
is always at work weighing and deliberating in determining rightness,
defending justice even in the face of personal danger.
In this broad conceptual framework,
the various virtues highlighted in the Analects,
then find their place.
These include empathy or Shu.
It also includes Zhong,
conscientiousness, or devoting one's heart and mind,
artery to fulfilling one's duties and responsibilities,
and also trustworthiness or Xin and of course, filial piety.
The important point to remember is that although
these virtues may be conceptually distinct,
they are integrally embodied in the heart and mind of the ideal Junzi.
The Confucian emphasis on learning can be readily appreciated in the same context.
Learning is about training in Li-proper conduct.
It is also about training of the mind in ethical deliberation.
And ultimately, being educated in
the Confucian sense is always about constant self-cultivation.
Then, it becomes possible to infuse all relationships with
a strong ethical force extending from the family to
society and the world at large as the great learning makes abundantly clear.
From the minor little,
little things of everyday life to the grand challenges of global significance,
the Confucian Dao aims at nothing less than radically
changing the terms of engagement in human communal existence.
In this respect, it seems to me that there is
a deep sense of spirituality underlying Confucian ethics.
Critics of Confucianism such as Mozi and his followers,
they were quick to challenge.
For example, that prioritizing self-cultivation
over generating benefit for the people is simply misguided.
Without strong political power and control,
the Legalists argued a sage wouldn't be able to even three men,
never mind bringing order to the world.
And to the Daoists,
the Confucians simply failed to understand the natural order of the universe.
And in meddling with it,
trying to make it better by creating rituals and imposing artificial moral standards,
they only managed to do violence to nature and made things worse.
In defending the Confucian way,
Mencius and Xunzi provided a more systematic account of the way of the True King,
and perhaps even more importantly,
traced the very basis of Confucian philosophy to human nature itself.
The debate on human nature was to exert
a powerful influence on the subsequent development of Chinese philosophy,
and there were alternative views besides those of Mencius and Xunzi, for example,
that human nature is a mixture of good and bad,
or that some people are born with a perfect sage nature
as it were while others are less favourably endowed.
The Problem of Desire brought to the fore in Mencius and Xunzi
also impacted strongly the philosophical agenda throughout Imperial China,
not only in Confucianism but also in Buddhism and Daoism.
Zhu Xi's reformulation of Confucianism gained state support
eventually and in many ways settled the various debates.
As a consequence, there was perhaps less innovation,
but Confucianism was able to spread steadily to all levels of Chinese society.
One example that may deserve special mention is
the rise of merchant culture in late Imperial China.
Although scholar officials and farmers enjoyed
greater social prestige than craftsmen and merchants,
manufacturing and trade gradually came to form an important part of the Chinese economy.
The merchants took to Confucian ethics seriously,
and in so doing,
they were able to climb the social ladder as well,
but there were also indefensible practices,
such as subjugation of women that were institutionalised in the name of Confucianism.
In this course, we have been focusing on Confucian philosophy as a set of ideals,
but in actual practice,
ideals are always, always mixed with abuses.
Perhaps Zhu Xi was right.
Principle may be understood in isolation,
but in real life,
real life, Li principle is always embedded in the vagaries of material life.
Even before the fall of the last emperor of
the Qing dynasty and the establishment of the Chinese Republic,
cracks began to form on the once rock-solid Confucian wall,
and some intellectuals began to question:
A) whether Confucianism could in fact restore health to an ailing China,
and worse, B) whether Confucianism was
the reason of the country's ill health in the first place.
The Republic of China was founded in 1911,
and a new generation of intellectuals boldly pushed for modernisation and reform,
"Down with Confucius and Sons",
as a popular slogan put it at that time.
With the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949,
a new chapter opened.
It may be interesting to note that
Mao Zedong seemed ambivalent towards Chinese tradition.
For a while, he was of the view that for the new China to rise,
the old China must die.
He also wrote to the effect that it is necessary to
sum up the legacy from Confucius to Sun Yat-sen in rebuilding China.
In any event, the cultural revolution of
the 1960s certainly was very hostile towards Confucianism.
Today, after over thirty years of economic opening and expansion,
China is a thriving global economy,
the second largest in the world,
and Beijing is an amazing metropolis of well over twenty million people.
With rapid economic development,
China is also looking to its philosophical and religious tradition for
insight in establishing a more cohesive and harmonious society.
The current political leadership under
President Xi Jinping promoted the idea of the Chinese Dream,
in which Confucianism and especially the Confucian ideal of harmony has a role to play.
The assumption seems to be that the Confucian tradition can help promote
a stronger sense of moral compass in society and national identity.
The establishment of Confucius Institutes overseas reflects
a newfound sense of cultural pride in the Chinese philosophical heritage.
Although to be sure,
probably a good dose of political motivation was also involved.
There are now some five hundred Confucius Institutes all over the world.
On the side of the people,
it is interesting to note that some parents are
now sending their children to Confucian schools for
cultural enrichment where they would don
traditional dress and learn to recite the basic works of Confucianism.
At the same time, there is no question that China today is every inch a
modern consumer society like any other major urban centers.
Does Confucianism really, really still
have a role to play in shaping the Chinese imagination?
I won't pretend that I'll be able to give you a definitive answer.
We're talking about 1.4 billion people here.
What I would like to do is to speak with several scholars who have
devoted their professional lives to investigating Chinese culture.
I will be speaking with a couple of alumni of NTU Singapore as well who have gone on to
become very successful professionals and business people to gain a wider perspective,
and I will also speak with a couple of descendants
of the family of Confucius before we return
to Singapore to conclude our exploratory journey into the world of Confucian philosophy.
Alan K. L. ChanToh Puan Mahani Idris Daim Chair Professor of Humanities & Dean
