The Junzi and War (KV)

 


3.7 The Master said, “Gentlemen have no reason to contend. But, of course, there is the archery contest. Yet on such occasions, they bow and yield to each other as they ascend the steps to the hall; afterward, they descend the steps and drink together. Even when they compete, they are gentlemanly.”


3.16 The Master said, “It is stated, ‘In ritualistic archery, the object is not hitting the hide [of the target] [zhupi] because men do not have equal strength.’ This was the way of ancients.”

   (Tr. Annping Chin)


In reading the Analects, the question often emerges of how effective this vision of "soft leadership" would be in practical politics, in which it is constantly necessary to confront and obstruct those who would impose their will on others through violence. The Li that governs archery would seem to be habituation against the competitive spirit and the exertion that is needed to break through or destroy. The Junzi doesn't force anything. Even if what Confucius is describing is the code that operates between Junzi, and not the behavior of Junzi towards enemies, nonetheless what we see here is the ritualization of the enemy into a genteel opponent. Is there an Enemy to Confucius? We see in Sima Qian that there is always an enemy, and the wise statesman needs to make his decisions accordingly. Is it responsible for a statesman to pretend that there are no enemies? -- and is it ren to expose those under his care to this quixotic illusion, which may make the Junzi feel good about himself but will not help him protect his people?

   When he invaded Britain, Julius Caesar was shocked to find the more civilized peoples of the south easier to conquer than the relatively unsophisticated tribes of the north. Shouldn't a civilization always cultivate the ability to defend itself? -- aren't the arts of war, the arts of defense, necessary concomitants to a culture worthy of being defended? Similarly -- as EK brought up in class, alluding to the Opium Wars and subsequent conquest of China by the relatively less civilized West -- shouldn't the Junzi accept as a priority the effective use of force, because of and not in opposition to ren?

   A colleague of mine once casually remarked that Chinese civilization was so easily brought to its knees because it lacked an idea of Original Sin -- and therefore its guard was always down. This is too simple, because there were theorists of the inveterate badness of men (Xunzi), and even of the essential amorality of men. Why then is the Junzi encouraged to undertake this ornamental, effete practice of archery? Did he see no Enemies?


   No misfortune is greater than underestimating an enemy.
   Underestimating my enemy almost makes me lose my treasures.

     Dao De Jing, Poem 69, tr. Seddon)


Comments

  1. Nick KaeleschFebruary 8, 2022 at 11:17 AM

    This question of whether Confucius sees enemies of Junzi and why encourage archery as opposed to, say, sword fighting is intriguing. I have tended to take these overtures to the virtues of archery as primarily metaphorical, as analogous to the calm and concentrated focus on the cultivation of inner virtue. Yet, this is only one way (and probably the easier one) of reconciling this teaching with the harsher realities of political life. One can see why Confucius might want to encourage non-violent and non-coercive competitive activity, as a way of blunting the already prevalent practice of meeting force with force and its seemingly endless cycles of violence and chaos. Doubling down on the idea that the cultivation of an orderly and harmonious society begins with the cultivation of the Junzi and then (effortlessly?) spreads out into the larger society as a result of their being virtuous, not as a result of their having imposed it. Still, as you rightly point out, doesn't this leave the Junzi vulnerable to outside threats? Doesn't it make the Junzi seem naive in the face of real danger? Perhaps Confucius might reply that the cultivation of a defensive "force" is always in someways an offensive one.

    Thank you for this!
    NK

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