GHIST 101 1st Edition Lecture 16 Outline of Last Lecture I. MidtermOutline of Current Lecture II. Confucianism a. Confucius b. Daoc. Lid. Rene. Educationf. Self and the StateIII. Mencius Current Lecture- Confucianism o Most important philosophical school in East Asia  Philosophy or religion?- Can argue that Confucianism is a philosophy or a religion - There were Confucians before Confucian, Confucian tried to revisephilosophy o Confucius  Minor official background Well educated o Historical context  East Zhou Dynasty o Confucius  Traveled widely for 14 years  Fame as teacher - First teacher - Had 2,000 students - 22 students mentioned in the Analects  Traveled because he tried to pursue other rulers in other states to follow his political and social theory to revive the ancient culture and to bring back the social order to china, but he always failed o Lun Yu – Arranged discourses These notes represent a detailed interpretation of the professor’s lecture. GradeBuddy is best used as a supplement to your own notes, not as a substitute.o Nature of the book Authors  Contents o Organization: 20 chapters - Core Conceptso Dao- “Way, road”  Totally normative sociopolitical order - The way you can bring back social order Inner moral life of the living individual- The way you can follow personally in order to cultivate yourself into a gentle man/sage ruler (internally)o Belief in lost golden ages  “Three dynasties”- No disasters/expoitations - Golden age in history  “The Dao does not prevail in the world anymore” - The view history in this way o Li – Ritual/Behavior  Proper behavior that govern social relationshipso Examples (“Five Relations)  Family:- Father to son, husband to wife, elder brother to younger o Not a balanced relationshipo Father had the last words, the wife had to be submissive tohusband Society:- Ruler to subject, friend to friendo Subject needs to listen to ruler  Loyalty and filial piety o Ren – Humanity love o “Fan Chi asked about Humanity. The master replied, ‘Care for others.’”  Love – important assumption if you want to fulfill the duties in society o Ways to achieve ren : Zhong: “Loyalty”  “Desiring to take his stand, one who is Good helps others to take their stand; wanting to realize himself, he helps others to realize themselves.”- In his original teaching, there is no gender issue  Shu: “reciprocity” - “What you do not want done to yourself, do not do to others.” - Similar to Golden Rule o Education and Self-Cultivation Confucius believed education was the way to cultivate yourself into a gentle person/sage - If everyone can educate oneself, the whole society can be perfect  Moral perfection as the foundation of a good society - “To learn, and then have occasion to practice what you have learned – is this not satisfying?” - “In education there should be no class distinctions”o Vital teaching in East Asia - “Having in the morning heard the Way, one could die that eveing without regret.” o Self and the State The ruler and himself needs to cultivate himself, then he could bring order and harmony to society  Self-cultivation s. the ordering and harmonizing of the world - “He (the superior man) cultivates himself in order to give rest to the people.”  Preservation of order  “If one is able to rule a state by li and the spirit of yielding (appropriate to it), what difficulty will there be?”  If you guide them with legislation, and unify them with punishments, then people will avoid the punishments but have no conscience. If you guide them with virtue, and unify them with ritual, then they will have a conscience; moreover, they will correct themselves.” o Life of Confucius “At fifteen I set my mind upon learning; at thirty I took my place in society; at forty I became free of doubts; at fifty I understood Heaven’s Mandate; at sixty my ear was attuned; and at seventy I could follow my heart’s desires without overstepping the bounds of propriety.”o Influences on Chinese History Great reputations as a teacher - “Sage of sages,” “most holy prior teacher”o Confucius’ birthday is teachers day in China today o Mencius  Important scholar because he brought a logical framework to Confucian teaching  “Second Sage” Biography - Teacher- Traveled to advise rulers of different states Work: Menciuso Traditional account of his mother “The three moves of Mencius’ mother”o Mencius’ Thoughts  Righteousness vs. profit/interest  “why must your majesty say ‘profit?’ let there be benevolence and righteousness and that is all.”- You only need to value benevolence and righteousness - Downplayed value of proft – opposite of western society  Four classes- Spam - Scholars- Peasants- Artisans-