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Intro
Confucius, also known as the Master, says that he enjoys studying philosophy and slowly integrating the lessons he has learned into his daily life. Yu, one of his disciples, comments that the root of a man’s character is his behavior during childhood; if, during childhood, a boy is obedient, he will grow into a man who has respect for his superiors and does not instigate rebellion. Indeed, the Master believes that respect for one’s parents is of the utmost importance. For him, one can judge whether a son is loyal or not to his parents if, three years after his father’s death, the son has not strayed from copying his father’s ways. This is what it means to be filial, at least in antiquity; nowadays, the Master explains, many people interpret being “filial” as simply providing one’s parents with food and drink so that they don’t have to worry about supporting themselves in their old age. For the Master, this is silly—one provides one’s animals with food, as well; without deep respect for one’s parents, then, providing them with food is essentially offering them the same treatment that one offers one’s animals. Parents need to be treated with reverence.
In the Master’s opinion, acquiring knowledge is of the utmost importance, and one must develop effective learning techniques. For instance, he believes one must both be willing to learn from others and think for oneself. On one occasion, the Master enters the Great Temple and asks many questions. After he leaves, someone who was also there is confused—Confucius is said to be an expert in the rites, but if that’s true, why did he ask so many questions? When Confucius hears of this, he says that asking questions in itself is a rite. Confucius cares deeply about the rites of antiquity, and he wishes for them to be preserved. When someone wants to do away with the tradition of sacrificing sheep on the day of the new moon, Confucius is upset. He does not want to do away with the tradition.
For Confucius, cultivating the quality of benevolence is of the utmost importance. While gentleman aspire to benevolence because they know it is an important quality, small men aspire to it because they imagine that it will be to their advantage to appear benevolent. Confucius praises those who are able to hold themselves accountable and commit to positive change when they realize they are wrong about something, but he is about to give up hope, for he has not met a man who is willing to do that. Although he believes that there are many people who are equally trustworthy and dedicated to a life of service as he is, he feels that he will never meet anyone who is just as eager to learn as he is. He believes that men who strive to be ingratiating and whose words are cunning are never likely to achieve benevolence.
When the Master thinks of himself, he fears most of all not succeeding at his attempts to cultivate virtue through deep understanding of what he has studied. For him, benevolence is only achieved through overcoming oneself, and a person can overcome themselves through dedicated observation of the rites. The Master is careful to divorce acquiring material success from achieving benevolence.
Confucius believes that one must use study of the rites to inform their position in public office, but if a person does not know how to apply study of antiquity then they are not fit to take office. He believes that leaders need to be generous with their people, not overworking them or asking for unfair taxes from them. He believes that understanding the rites is crucial to one being able to participate in society in a meaningful way.
