CONFUCIANISM
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CONFUCIANISM
a further aid to the formation of a virtuous character,
he valued highly a certain amount of self-discipline.
He recognized the danger, especially in the young, of
falling into habits of softness and love of ease. Hence
he insisted on a virile indifference to effeminate com-
forts. In the art of music he also recognized a pow-
erful aid to enkindle enthusiasm for the practice of vir-
tue. He taught his pupils the "Odes" and other
edifying songs, which they sang together to the ac-
companiment of lutes and harps. This together with
the magnetism of his personal influence lent a strong
emotional quality to his teaching.
(c) Fundamental Virhte^. — As a foundation for the life of perfect goodness, Confucius insisted chiefly on the four virtues of sincerity, benevolence, filial piety, and propriety. Sincerity was with him a car- dinal virtue. As used by him it meant more than a mere social relation. To be truthful and straight- forward in speech, faithful to one's promises, consci- entious in the discharge of one's duties to others — this was included in sincerity and something more. The sincere man in Conf ucius's eyes was the man whose conduct was always based on the love of virtue, and who in consequence sought to observe the rules of right conduct m his heart as well as in outward actions, when alone as well as in the presence of others. Benevolence, showing itself in a kindly regard for the welfare of others and in a readiness to help them in times of need, was also a fundamental element in Con- fucius's teaching. It was viewed as the characteris- tic trait of the good man. Mencius, the illustrious exponent of Confucianism, has the remarkable state- ment: "Benevolence is man" (VII, 16). In the say- ings of Confucius we find the Golden Rule in its nega- tive form enunciated several times. In "Analects", XV, 13, we read that when a disciple asked him for a guiding principle for all conduct, the master an- swered: "Is not mutual goodwill such a principle? What you do not want done to yourself, do not do to others". This is strikingly like the form of the Golden Rule found in the first chapter of the " Teaching of the Apostles" — "All things soever that you would not have done to yourself, do not do to another"; also in Tobias, iv, 16, where it appears for the first time in Sacred Scripture. He did not approve the principle held by Lao-tze that injury should be repaid with kindness. His motto was " Requite injury with jus- tice, and kindness with kindness" (Analects, XIV, 36). He seems to have viewed the question from the prac- tical and legal standpoint of social order. " To repay kindness with kindness", he says elsewhere, "acts as an encouragement to the people. To requite injury with injury acts as a warning" (Li-ki, XXIX, 11). The third fundamental virtue in the Confucian system is filial piety. In the "Hiao-king", Confucius is re- corded as saying: "Filial piety is the root of all vir- tue." — "Of all the actions of man there are none greater than those of filial piety." To the Chinese then as now, filial piety prompted the son to love and respect his parents, contribute to their comfort, bring happiness and honour to their name, by honourable success in life. But at the same time it carried that devotion to a degree that was excessive and faulty. In consequence of the patriarchal system there pre- vailing, filial piety included the obligation of sons to live after marriage under the same roof with the father and to give him a childlike obedience as long as he lived. The will of the parents was declared to be supreme even to the extent that if the son's wife failed to please them he was obliged to divorce her, though it cut him to the heart. If a dutiful son found himself compelled to admonish a wayward father he was taught to give the correction with the utmost meek- ness; though the parent might beat him till the blood flowed he was not to show any resentment. The father did not forfeit his right to filial respect, no matter how great his wickedness. Another virtue of
primary importance in the Confucian system is "pro-
priety". It embraces the whole sphere of human
conduct, prompting the superior man always to do the
right thing in the right place. It finds expression in
the so-called rules of ceremony, which are not con-
fined to religious rites and rules of moral conduct, but
extend to the bewildering mass of conventional cus-
toms and usages by which Chinese etiquette is regu-
lated. They were distinguished even in Confucius's
day by the three hundred greater, and the three thou-
sand lesser, rules of ceremony, all of which had to be
carefully learned as a guide to right conduct. The
conventional usages as well as the rules of moral con-
duct brought with them the sense of obligation resting
primarily on the authority of the sage-kings and in the
last analysis on the will of Heaven. To neglect or
deviate from them was equivalent to an act of im-
piety.
(d) Rites. — In the "Li-ki", the chief ceremonial ob- servances are declared to be six: capping, marriage, mourning rites, sacrifices, feasts, and interviews. It will be enough to treat briefly of the first four. They have persisted with little change down to the present day. Capping was a joyous ceremony, wherein the son was honoured on reaching his twentieth year. In the presence of relatives and invited guests, the father conferred on his son a special name and a square cor- nered cap as distinguishing marks of his mature man- hood. It was accompanied with a feast. The mar- riage ceremony was of great importance. To marry with the view of having male children was a grave duty on the part of every son. This was necessary to keep up the iiatriarehal system and to provide for an- cestral worsliip in after years. The rule as laid down in the "Li-ki" was, that a young man should marry at the age of thirty and a young woman at twenty. The proposal and acceptance pertained not to the young parties directly interested, but to their parents. The preliminary arrangements were made by a go-be- tween after it was ascertained by divination that the signs of the proposed union were auspicious. The parties could not be of the same surname, nor related within the fifth degree of kindred. On the day of the wedding the young groom in his best attire came to the house of the britle and led her out to his carriage, in which she rode to his father's home. There he re- ceived her, surrounded by the joyous guests. Cups improvised by cutting a melon in halves were filled with sweet spirits and handed to the bride and groom. By taking a sip from each, they signified that they were united in wedlock. The bride thus became a member of the family of her parents-in-law, subject, . like her husband, to their authority. Monogamy was fe encouraged as the ideal condition, but the mainte- nance of secondary wives known as concubines was not forbidden. It was reconunended when the true wife failed to bear male children and was too much loved to be divorced. There were seven causes It;. justifying the repudiation of a wife besides infidelity, ! li and one of these was the absence of male olTspring, ila The mourning rites were likewise of supreme impor- fit tance. Their exposition takes up the greater part of J»t* the "Li-ki". They were most elaborate, varying greatly in details and length of observance, according to the rank and relationship of the deceased. The ^ mourning rites for the father were the most impressive fan of all. For the first three days, the son, clad in sack- m cloth of coarse white hemp, fasted, and leaped, and loij wailed. After the burial, for which there were minute pt prescriptions, the son had to wear the mourning sack- ipij cloth for twenty-seven months, emaciating his body )t% with scanty food, and living in a rude hut erected for liip the purpose near the grave. In the "Analects", Con- kive fucius is said to have condemned with indignation the r.i, suggestion of a disciple that the period of the mourn- ' ine rites might well be shortened to one year. .An- other class of rites of supreme importance were the
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