和 [hé] - Harmonious Ease in the practice of ritual (Analects 1.12) (RG)

和

1.12: Master You said: “When it comes to the practice of ritual, it is harmonious ease that is to be valued. It is precisely such harmony that makes the Way of the former Kings so beautiful. If you merely stick rigidly to ritual in all matters, great and small, there will remain that which you cannot accomplish. Yet if you know enough to value harmonious ease but try to attain it without being regulated by the rites, this will not work either.” - Slingerland, pg. 5, Analects Book 1 

I’m writing the following post not because I am overly resistant to what we’re learning - I have a lot of respect for it, actually - or, because I am regressively clinging to what I already know, but because I am trying to contend with two opposing trains of thought: having spent a good amount of time admiring Zhuangzi, who uses Confucius as a comedic stock character in his writings, I am trying to find a way to transfer from one mode of teaching to another, which supposedly opposes it. 

The concept of “harmonious ease” -  和 - allows for an adaptability to scenarios, which may help facilitate the intended spirit of the ritual - attentiveness to harmony allows for a sense of organic naturalism to take place within it. Hence Slingerland’s commentary below Analect 1.12: “...the innate motions must be properly shaped by ritual forms before they can become truly ‘harmonious.’ The message here is related to the theme of possessing both ‘native substance’ (zhi) and ‘cultural refinement’ in their proper balance.” Who’s to say whether regulating behaviors are good or bad? That’s besides the point: we are doing it already for a variety of reasons, hopefully to good effect. Can we do it well? As Mr. Venkatesh mentioned in our last class, “It is likely purposeful, and with awareness, that Confucius avoids bringing up human nature.” If we’re in a society, and living with expectations is unavoidable or even desired, don’t we want to help build a system that promotes peacefulness and effective cooperation, and a sense of harmony for everyone? Don’t we want to do justice to other people?

I do think that one has to first consider natural principles when considering human conduct, or what we do will have no basis in reality. (I.e. - people have certain natures, and as a result may live healthier lives when living in certain environments and performing certain behaviors). In Zhuangzi’s chapter “Horse Hooves” Zhuangzi describes how constraining horses' bodies and forcing them to perform unnatural behaviors causes them to suffer. Considering Zhuangzi’s account and descriptions, we could say that this is true - but, taking reference from outside sources, we know that there are ways to work with horses that caters to their natures, and makes the channeling of their abilities a much smoother, and therefore harmonious, process: for example, communicating with the horse through psychological means, instead of through physical force. This makes for what Zhuangzi might consider a contradictory scenario, but one which takes into account the Tao, which is constant in all things anyway. Within this “contrived” scenario, there are still ways to incorporate an understanding of the Tao - and a lot can be accomplished with this understanding. You could apply the same principles to wood-carving, operating a ship, or anything else. Oil and vinegar do not easily combine, and yet people mix them all the time. 

How does Confucius incorporate harmonious ease into ritual? It seems like a vital thing to pay attention to as we explore the Analects. I think the main point for me at the moment is: What is the best, most intelligent, and kindest way someone can accomplish the goal in front of them? That element, incorporated into what is expected, surely does most justice to the task at hand.

I needed to write this to get it out of my system, but if it was too forward of me to start off our Confucius precept by bringing up Zhuangzi, I apologize for going rogue. 


RG 


Comments

  1. Krishnan VenkateshJanuary 30, 2022 at 9:14 PM

    Hah! Great questions -- and the dialogue with Zhuangzi is helpful. His version of Confucius is a complex comic figure. A Daoist might have zero patience with the complex artifices of music, and might say, "Why not just listen to the wind in the trees and to birdsong and streams? Surely they are much more beautiful than Mozart." The Confucian would respond, "No, there are complex harmonies latent in us that can lift us to a higher order. These harmonies are neither merely natural nor merely unnatural, but among our better possibilities." The Daoist would then say, "Why better?" and the Confucian, "If you can't see how Mozart might be better than birdsong I can't explain itto you."

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