The Other Three Corners

 What if, in our attempt to assess a work as a whole, we were to give special attention to the very beginning and the very end of that work?  What if, after having finished the work we went back to read closely and carefully how the work was introduced to us, its first word, and to the way in which we left it, its last word?  That moment of transition from the ordinary experience of our everyday life to the life of the book we have committed our attention to would mark a significant shift in our consciousness.  Once we take up the story we are in the story, but when we open the book and read its opening scene and when we close it after having heard its final phrase we move from one world to another.  It is in this spirit that I want to look closely at analects 1.1 and 20.3 as way of taking stock of the whole. 1.1 The Master said, "Is it not a pleasure to learn [xue] and, when it is timely, to practice what you have learned?  Is it not a joy to have friends...

     My second trip through Confucius' Analects has proved enormously rewarding for my way of thinking about him. The first time I read through the work I was left with the impression that his thought resembled the Socratic approach to philosophy accompanied with some needless Eastern obscurantism that did more to make me confused than it did to further his argument in any way. I was also struck by the richness and vast array of characters among his disciples, but given the speed with which we read through the book in seminar I didn't have enough time to truly approach their nuances.      This time around I had a much greater appreciation for how the text speaks through the silence, in a way that a Socratic dialogue never could, and started to see characters like Zilu and Ran Qiu as real people that I could compare to others I've met in my life. There truly are no throwaway books or characters in the Analects and every analect contains a wealth of hidd...

  Conduct as Education I am overwhelmed by the sheer number of things left to talk about! But I will keep it straightforward.  1.7 - Zixia said, “Imagine someone who recognizes and admires worthiness and therefore changes his lustful nature, who is able to fully exhaust his strength in serving his parents and extend himself to the utmost in serving his lord, and who is trustworthy in speech when interacting with friends and associates. Even if you said of such a person, ‘Oh, but he is not learned (學),’ I would still insist that it is precisely such qualities that make one worthy of being called learned.” - 1.7 Confucius was concerned with helping young men attain positions in government, which require educated and refined understandings of how to conduct oneself - as well as the courage and intelligence to make good decisions - but so much of Confucius concerns are centered on the ordinary ways we relate to other people, cultivating qualities that can be applied anywhere. He ...

 9.4 - The Master was entirely free of four faults: arbitrariness, inflexibility, rigidity, and selfishness.  Reading the Analects, I am intrigued by Confucius's nuanced understandings of how to conduct oneself in different scenarios, in different contexts, and around different people. All conduct is centered by ritual, of course, but even so I'd say that Confucius's intuition that different contexts call for varied action amounts to a healthy kind of adaptability. This is exemplified in 11.22, where Confucius gives advice to two students of different temperaments:  "Zilu asked whether he should immediately carry into practice what he heard. The Master said, "There are your father and elder brothers to be consulted - why should you act on that principle of immediately carrying into practice what you hear?" Ran Qiu asked the same, whether he should immediately carry into practice what he heard, and the Master answered, "Immediately carry into practice wha...

     The second and more in-depth journey through Confucius’ Analects left a remarkable shift in my world view and will have lasting impact. Upon my initial read of the Analects I was under the impression that Confucius was dry and lacked applicability to modern western life. The emphasis on filial piety was my original major takeaway. Considering this, I now realize my luck in getting this second examination of the Master.       Though stated heavily in class, the now apparent flexibility in the Way of Confucius seems of paramount importance to the philosophy. The contrast of the newly revealed flexibility to my prior shallow notion of the Master can be best described in the moment while imbibing with a fellow classmate in the Zuangzi precept. Before the semester began, I expressed my trepidations about “redoing” Confucius – considering I found myself at the time to be surely in the Daoist camp. My peer seemed to enforce my ideas. “He’s just all abo...

     In stark contrast to the rest of the text, Analects book 19 presents a god-like depiction of our hero Kong Zi. In 19.24 Zigong goes as far as to compare Confucius to the sun and the moon. Though I understand the passion presented by Zigong at the disparagement of his master, I cannot help but wonder what Confucius himself would think about such aggrandizement. In fact, that we have been constantly presented with the humility of The Master to this point, it seems logical that the reader is expected to engage with such an idea.       While death and what happens after it is not a central theme of the Analects, it does appear often. Most notably in the words of Confucius we have many accounts of the former Yan Hui and his apparent Goodness. It seems as if Yan Hui’s Goodness became most clear after he departed this world. Similarly in Analect 15.20 The Master Said, “The gentleman is troubled by the possibility that his name will go uncelebrated afte...

     In Analects 19.21, 19.23, and 19.24 we get a seemingly new idea of the Junzi, or more specifically Confucius, as a semi-divine figure. While most of the commentaries gloss these analects as a departure of the later Confucian tradition from the earlier, looking back to sages like Confucius during the Han dynasty with such great reverence that they formed something of a cult around his legacy. These commentaries argue that the analects themselves depict Confucius as a normal man who is simply completely devoted to the way of virtue, and to attribute any transcendence to him would take away from the accessibility of the Confucian tradition. I want to argue that both can be true.      In the beginning of the preceptorial, we reached a point in the discussion where we discussed the Junzi as an ontological possibility that seeks to elevate man from the normal way of man's being (xiaoren) to something greater than that through following the Tao. Well, if this...

  Book 20 is comprised of only three analects, with the first two being of decent length, while the third and last analect in Confucius's analects is short in comparison, yet at the same time quite interesting. In analect 20.3 Confucius tells us that, "One who does not understand fate lacks the means to become a gentleman. One who does not understand ritual lacks the means to take his place. One who does not understand words lacks the means to evaluate others". I am not positive in what order Confucius would want someone to  accomplish these tasks. Should one first understand fate or understand words or ritual first? Better yet it almost seems like Confucius is going backwards to the beginning. First you understand words only then can you understand let alone practice the rites and ancients. After having comprehended words and the  rites one would be able to resign themselves to fate and become a gentleman.This seems like the order Confucius either wants or is asking for....

          The entirety of book 19 are not sayings said by Confucius but rather by his disciples and several  disciples at that. Analect 19.11 puzzled me and I found it a bit difficult to accept the view point that  Confucius's disciple Zixia was saying. Zixia says, " As long as one does not transgress the bounds  when it comes to important Virtues, it is permissible to cross the line here and there when it comes  to minor Virtues". This is difficult for me to parse out for a couple of reasons. First off what  exactly constitutes as important or minor Virtues? I can only guess that virtues such as Ren or lover  of learning and such would be considered important Virtues, however I am not sure what counts as  a minor virtue. This is especially difficult as Confucius has never directly called out and listed what  his considers are important and minor Virtues. The second reason I am having problems parsing and underst...

Book 10 of the Analects is interesting - it's just a bunch of regular or everyday things that Confucius was observed to do.  I don't think this is a miscellaneous chapter. How someone conducts themself on a day to day basis, with small actions and in their everyday affairs - including their small and low-stake interactions with others - matters a lot, because it says a lot about who they are and what they value. Sarah Klingenstein, who is teaching this year's Classical Chinese class, pointed out that Confucius is never portrayed in the Analects as formally teaching a class of people - he is simply recorded as having a variety of conversations with his disciples and other characters. From this, we can gather that the things he says with spontaneity - and by extension, the things he does with spontaneity - are also part of the lesson we are meant to absorb.  So we could ask: in what way does Confucius observe ritual? Perform rén (仁)? Utilize what we'd consider common sens...

      Book 10 of Confucius largely seems to examine the character and behavior of Confucius and  particularly the ritual behavior of Confucius. The examples book 10 presents provides many moments of Confucius not only practicing ritual, but actively practicing ren i.e. humanness. The book shows several  times how respectful, and conscious of his surroundings and his fellow man Confucius is. For example  r ight away in analect 10. 1 we are told that, "In his village community, Confucius was respectful and  circumspect, seeming to be at a loss for words. When in ancestral temples or at court, however, he spoke eloquently, through always with caution and restraint".       Ren is the word often translated as Good, but means something more like humanness and it is often  tempered by shu (Understanding), Therefore Confucius knowing and showing when one ought to be kind  and respectful and cautious and hold onto restraint is...

 "Startled by their arrival, a bird arose and circled several times before alighting on a branch.  [The Master] said, 'This pheasant upon the mountain bridge- how timely it is!  How timely it is!'  Zilu saluted the bird, and it cried out three times before flying away."                                                                                                                                            10.27. trans. Slingerland     It seems as though the commentaries on this particular analects are unanimous in their assessment of its "...

Analects 10.13  When attending village drinking ceremonies, he would leave only after the elderly people had left.        Erwan, a Frenchman, had been living on the farm for fifteen years. He built the place from the ground up. He had worked in construction in France and had decided that he would move out to Romania and live a simpler life. He had the intention of building up and restoring the community in the village which was so destroyed by the urbanization of the 21st century as well as the collapse of communism. I read somewhere once that in the last fifty years the world has gone from seventy percent rural to seventy percent urban. Anyways, Erwan didn’t drink and thus he didn’t drink with the other guys in town. A fatal flaw when trying to work with people. Especially in rural Romania. In fact, despite his noble intentions, men in the village had once threatened to kill him and burn his house down.         As Confucius is awar...

 10.14 tells us that while the villagers performed the year end exorcism ritual, Confucius would stand on the Eastern steps of his house in full court regalia. This seems a rather strange move for the Master. The commentary glosses this by saying, "It was a loud, festive occasion, and undoubtedly involved a fair amount of alcohol consumption...Confucius attempts to gently guard against excess on the part of his fellow villagers by striking a formal note and injecting a note of solemnity into the proceedings." However, even with this gloss, this still seems a counterintuitive way of proceeding. I imagine that it is akin to something like a rather stuffy person wearing a three piece suit to a Mardi Gras party in order to "class things up a bit." Wouldn't the Junzi be better off avoiding such revelry entirely if Confucius feels that it is disruptive of the social order and perhaps also the moral fabric of the attendees? Or does Confucius feel compelled to attend at...

​ True learning is a very mysterious thing: What exactly happens when a person learns something? — as opposed to repeating, memorizing, registering, hearing, or believing. There doesn’t seem to be any formula for causing learning to happen; we cannot make anyone learn, but we might be able to make them repeat what they are told. The best educational systems merely provide sufficient occasions and conditions for learning, including teachers who can present what needs to be learned in the clearest and most attractive ways possible. Even so, some students will learn, while most will only hear and repeat — which is often all they need to do to obtain social approbation. Since learning cannot be made to happen, is there some fundamental condition for learning that can be instilled and developed — some quality of mind or character that can be cultivated so as to make the student more capable of learning? This question arose for me in a recent re-reading of the Chinese philosopher Zhu Xi (lat...

​You decide. Here is a performance by SJC grad Shuangyi Li, when she must have been around 14: https://youtu.be/9EepddTVTwg I'm moved by the visceral presence of the natural and elemental, in the very heart of Wen/Culture. Zengxi's music might have been like this, and if Confucius  played the zither with this kind of feeling, does it not give us another dimension to ritual? -- and suggest why the great rituals were done on the tops of mountains or beside rivers?

"What Heaven imparts to man is called human nature. To follow our nature is called the Way. Cultivating the Way is called education. The Way cannot be separated from us for a moment. What can be separated from us is not the Way." - pg. 98 "Therefore the ruler must not fail cultivate his personal life. Wishing to cultivate his personal life, he must not fail to serve his parents. Wishing to serve his parents, he must not fail to know man. Wishing to know man, he must not fail to know Heaven." - pg. 105 The "Way" as described in the Doctrine of the Mean seems to involve the cultivation of one's personal nature (that given by 天, or Heaven) into someone who very naturally fulfills their social obligations and relationships, while taking his nature into account and not neglecting it. As Confucius describes below:  "Confucius said, "The Way is not far from man. When a man pursues the Way and yet remains away from man, his course cannot be consider...

 The Doctrine of the Mean states: "Sincerity means the completion of the self, and the Way is self-directing. Sincerity is the beginning and end of things. Without sincerity there would be nothing." Here the Tao seems to be conflated with the human virtue of sincerity, but it still retains something of a mystical import. There seems to be a kind of primacy and power to "act at a distance" in this Confucian conception of the Tao. Perhaps this is what is meant by Confucius when he says that the "virtuous man is like the polestar." The Tao needs to be manifested by a human being and yet it still possesses an almost gravitational energy. This might also be reflected in his statement that "the Way does not expand human beings, but it is human beings who broaden the Way."  The Taoist Way seems to be very different however. The commentators note says, "This self-directing Way seems to be the same as the Tao in Taoism. But the difference is great. A...

“The cultivation of the person is done through the Way, and the cultivation of the Way is to be done through humanity. Humanity is Man.”       In this cosmic game of Confucian ping-pong, two are required to play. The emphasis that Confucius continues to place on virtue needing others to reach realization is of great importance in today’s day and age. Too often we are lead to believe that locking ourselves away in pursuit of accomplishing one great task is not only necessary to producing great work but also virtuous. Whether it be the pursuit of money or higher learning, to laboriously and single-mindedly chase after it often leads to higher social ranking. Confucius however, recognized the pitfalls of such narrow-mindedness and emphasis on self-importance.        Christopher McCandless, an infamous hero of western youth, seems to have struggled to the point of death to understand what Confucius considered basic truth… In order to obtain vir...

        In Confucius's The Doctrine Of The Mean I found passage #12 to be a bit puzzling. Confucius seems to suggest that the superior man has at least some functions or abilities beyond even sages which I find  interesting and difficult to accept. In passage 12 Confucius tells us that, "The Way of the superior man  functions everywhere and yet hidden. Men and women of simple intelligence can share its knowledge;  and yet in its utmost reaches, there is something which even the sage does not know. Men and women  of simple intelligence can put it into practice; and yet in its utmost reaches there is something which  even the sage is not able to put into practice". This passage brings forth several questions for me. First,  what is it that is hidden in the functions of the superior man? Secondly, what does Confucius mean by  the utmost reaches of the functions of the superior man. And lastly, how are do these utmost reaches go...

The Confucian way seems to teach a sort of distance that the leader is supposed to maintain from his inferiors, whether this be a father from his sons, or a duke from his subjects. However, in the "Great Learning," Confucius says, "to love what the people hate and to hate what the people love- that is to act contrary to human nature, and disaster will come to such a person." This statement seems to pose a contradiction, or at the very least a complication. How is one supposed to retain an emotional or sentimental fidelity to the people, while also remaining distant from them? Part of becoming a junzi involves the cultivation of ren , or humanness, which can be assumed to put one more in touch with the people's interests. However, does this mean that cultivating  ren also facilitates the development of the strength of character needed to maintain a distance as well? Wouldn't it be easier for the junzi to partake in a set of "enlightened" interests ...

 “Because he served as a worthy example as a father, a son, elder brother, and younger brother therefore the people imitated him.”                                   from the commentary on “The Great Learning” p.91     I am thinking of this idea of the relationship of the individual to the family and to the state and how the cultivation of one’s virtue and personal character are reflected in and reflections of those relationships.  I am reminded of an anecdote about James Joyce.  While he was working on his great novel Ulysses he would tease his friends by asking them “who is the greatest character in all of literature”?  Hamlet, King Lear, Oedipus, Don Quixote.  No, no, no, no.  The answer was of course Odysseus.  Why?  Because, Joyce said,  he was father to Telemachus, husband to Penelope, son to Laertes, lover to Calypso, and king o...

     Confucius's text on The Great Learning  is very short, but quite profound. Despite its title, Confucius text goes beyond just education and further explains how to live a proper life. He begins with saying that, "The Way of learning to be great (or adult education) consists in manifesting the clear character, loving the people, and abiding ( chih ) in the highest good".  So right away learning or at least the great learning is  more than just simply being knowledgeable about history or the rites, but having love for the people and  striving to abide by the highest good. It is from this point though that Confucius expands deeper into the way of living one's life.     Building off of abiding by the highest good, Confucius divulges to us that, "Only after knowing what to abide in can one be calm. Only after having been calm can one be tranquil. Only after having achieved tranquility can one have peaceful repose. Only having peaceful repose ...