Book 10: The (Not) Random Things Confucius Does (RG)

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 sense? In other words, how does he harmoniously (和) put into practice the ideas which he espouses? How are daily habits indicative of someone's character? 

I am heartened by such observations as: 

When riding past someone dressed in funeral garb, he would bow down and grasp the crossbar of his carriage. He would do so even if the mourner was a lowly peddler. - 10.25 

When a friend died without relatives able to take care of the funeral arrangements, he would say, "I will see to burying him properly." - 10.22 

These are good examples of the Master's 仁 - and in 10.25, one which employs a candid sense of egalitarianism - but even these details feel more compelling and substantial than some of the other analects in Book 10 - things which include, among others, descriptions of his dress (color-coordinated and appropriate to ritual, such as in 10.6) and what and how he eats (food that is fresh and not old, and in moderation, such as in 10.7). 

There are also descriptions of his general demeanor and conduct: 10.24 describes "He would not sleep rigidly like a corpse, nor would he assume a formal posture when sitting at leisure." What does this tell me? That he is able to properly relax - he is formal when is it appropriate, and relaxed when it is appropriate; he focuses on each task at hand and assumes the demeanor best suited to that activity (see commentary of 10.10: "...he remained thoroughly focused in all of his activities.") Combined with observations of 10.5, I get the impression that Confucius was someone who had the proper demeanor at the time it was required of him - and that he did this naturally and with genuine feeling. What's poignant for me is that Confucius is relaxed when it is appropriate - because this, also, is doing justice to the situation at hand: he is someone who is only tense or formal for a good reason. 

All these observations evoke the question: what do I do naturally and spontaneously? What are my daily habits like? How do I treat people, even in very small interactions? I imagine that in these small, sometimes terribly subtle details, I can get to know myself and get to know someone. The person or people who compiled Book 10 were terribly observant. (I also acknowledge that they were slightly obsessive.) I salute them. 


Comments

  1. Krishnan VenkateshApril 5, 2022 at 10:40 AM

    It was probably a compilation of what multiple people observed. "Do you remember how he used to...?" -- with a smile. Like you, I take these not as a "should" ("you should do what he did") but a loving description of embodied Ren. I like your questions at the end: the point seems not to be how to describe Confucius but how you would describe yourself -- an exercise in self-reflection.

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