Conduct as Education/Closing Thoughts (RG)

 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 does emphasize the importance of other cultural, gentlemanly activity, such as music, calligraphy, and charioteering, but elevating conduct to such a degree as to make it essential to education is a poignant emphasis on interpersonal relationships and emotional growth. And so, much of Confucius’s primary concerns are grounded in the everyday, in the subtle and substantial ways we relate to other people, with the most basic principles available to anyone who would like to learn them. 

What tends to worry me is that, if there is too much emphasis on performing certain behaviors without conducting oneself with genuine feeling, then many people will only behave according to expectation and not with genuine emotion, making their behavior purely performative. Confucius obviously advocates for a sense of genuine feeling in his and others’ conduct, however - which is the whole point or root of his vein of learning. (There are two many passages to reference in this matter, but we can make a throwback to 4.2, 4.3.) 

“Zi Zhang asked how a man should conduct himself, so as to be appreciated everywhere. The Master said, "Let his words be sincere and truthful and his actions honorable and careful - such conduct may be practiced among the rude tribes of the South or the North. If his words be not sincere and truthful, and his actions not honorable and careful, will he, with such conduct, be appreciated, even in his neighborhood? When he is standing, let him see those two things, as it were, fronting him. When he is in a carriage, let him see them attached to the yoke. Then may he subsequently carry them into practice." Zi Zhang wrote these counsels on the end of his sash.” - 15.10

Considering the especially chaotic political atmosphere that Confucius was living in, his other interests feel commendable: Couldn’t we preserve symbols that nourish us culturally, that might otherwise be lost to neglect (rites and rituals, i.e. 3.17, any sympathy for the lamb aside)? Couldn’t we try and invest in community and family life, so that our relationships feel more nutritive and stable? In a time when everyone is fighting, couldn’t we be less martial? 

When so many other behaviors might have been tempting to employ, I can’t help but applaud Confucius. 

Closing Thoughts 

After we finished the Sima Qian readings, I noticed a bias against Confucius developing in me like a suspicious growth. Recognizing that any apparent bias one has should be thoroughly investigated, I shoved myself into this precept, all the while spitting out panicked, caricatured sentiments like the chicken in “Henny-Penny-the-sky-is-falling”: “You guys! Don’t you understand that if you make distinctions between right and wrong, you’ll harm things through misunderstanding?!” Meanwhile, I hadn’t realized that I had already made a distinction by feeling that something like Zhuangzi is “right” and Confucianism is “wrong” without taking a more comprehensive approach to the matter. This caused me to not only have a simplistic bias against Confucius, but to crystalize the ideas in Zhuangzi which I held in such high regard (and crystallization is probably the absolute worst thing you could ever do to Zhuangzi). Merely by possessing a feeling of bias within me, I created a drop in quality in all of my thoughts. 

As we have seen from Confucius, who distributes different recommendations to his differently-minded students, different actions and approaches are better for getting different things done - and so for the purpose of cultivating quality of thought and action, I am trying to no longer have a sense of what is “better” or “right” in the same way. Instead I ask myself: What wide variety of tools do I have at my disposal to help me be more empathetic? I also am more poignantly aware that there is a vast difference between what I say and what I do - and what I've come to realize during the precept is that the 6 years of ITF taekwondo I did in my teenage years (which strove to instill Confucian sentiments and behaviors) did an enormous number on me. In other words, I have thoroughly played myself. (This observation does not mean I am in any way a good Confucian.)

...The Master said, "At first, my way with men was to hear their words, and give them credit for their conduct. Now my way is to hear their words, and look at their conduct..." - Book 5.10 (James Legge, ctext.org translation)

This should be a very obvious idea, but Book 10 gave me a different understanding of this because of its focus on everyday and regular conduct. Book 10 begs the question, "What do I do spontaneously and on a regular basis? This should indicate the bulk of who I am." Confucius did say a bunch of stuff about conduct and respect for others, but did he live up to his words? And the answer seems to be: yes. 

Most of us are not frequently engaged in “tough” decisions all the time, where supposedly our greatest qualities will be tested (such as they would be in positions of leadership). Most of the time we are exposed to everyday challenges: Was I honest but appropriate when I expressed myself? Did I consider other people when I spent time with them? Did I cultivate relationships that are worth investing in? Did I have the opportunity to respect my parents? And these general sentiments can be carried anywhere, at any time, regardless of position and place - even as the Way is difficult and long.

“The Master said, “Is Goodness really so far away? If I simply desire Goodness, I will find that it is already here.” - 7.30