Post date: Oct 21, 2016 8:10:09 AM
This is the seventh post in a series for those who:
1- desire to read or teach Confucius' Analects as philosophy, but
2- lack knowledge about classical Chinese language, culture, history, philosophy.
(The translations from Chinese are my own; bear in mind, I'm still learning and practicing.)
| Part 1, On The Analects | Part 2, On Confucius | Part 3, On the Zhōu | Part 4, On Militarism and Legalism | Part 5, On Scholarly Learning |
| Part 6, The Central Argument |
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On Nature and Culture
The Analects conceptualizes the grounds for living well and social harmony under two broad categories, xìng and wén.
Xìng
Xìng (性) means nature. This is not nature in the sense of external environment within which we live, but rather nature in the sense of capacity, disposition, or tendency. In the context of the Analects, xìng refers specifically to human nature (人性 rénxìng). Xìng for humans is their natural capacity or natural disposition for responding to and interacting with others.
Confucius is known as being silent about xìng, preferring to discuss more practical and less metaphysical matters (see Analects 5.13, 11.12). The reason, presumably, is that practical matters have greater urgency in a society on the verge of collapse. But there is one substantive remark about xìng at Analects 17.2:
子曰：「性相近也，習相遠也。」
Zǐ yuē: “Xìng xiāng jìn yě, xí xiāng yuǎn yě.”
The Master said: “By nature, each of us is similar; by habitual practice, [we come to be] distant from each other.”
For Confucius, humans share the same natural capacities and dispositions. It is not that some of us have good natures, others bad, still others mixed. Nor is it that some have aristocratic natures, destined by their ancestry to rule, while others have plebian natures, destined by their ancestry to be ruled. Instead, either we all have good natures, or we all have bad ones (or neutral or mixed ones); and we all have aristocratic natures, or plebian ones, or class-neutral ones.
Confucius does not reveal his thoughts on specifics. The character for xìng, 性, contains the character for shēng (生, life), which refers to birth and growth, that by virtue of which living organisms survive and move. The character’s radical (忄) is xīn (心), which means heart-mind. So, etymologically, xìng likely refers not only to biological dispositions but also dispositions for feeling and thinking. Hence, we might conjecture, on Confucius’ behalf, that human nature involves dispositions to seek food and companionship, to feel shame and disdain, to revere parents and protect family.
Whatever xìng turns out to be for humans, Confucius’ view is that appeals to xìng do not explain differences among humans. Because humans have similar xìng, their differences must arise from some other source. In Analects 17.2, Confucius calls that source practical habits. For example, Confucius would explain differences in food preferences by identifying differences among group practices. So he might explain that aristocrats prefer bear’s paw (a delicacy) while commoners prefer fish because of aristocrats’ frequent access to bear’s paw shaping their tastes in one way, commoners’ frequent access to fish shaping their tastes in another (see Mengzi孟子6A10). Similarly, he might explain why some states achieve social harmony and others do not by pointing to divergences between cultures within the states.
Wén
Wén (文) means culture. This meaning is ambiguous. In its personal sense, wén refers to an individual’s refinement, something an individual has or becomes. This is the sense in which some people are more encultured than others: they are more refined as individuals, less unhewn (質zhì). By contrast, in its social sense, wén refers to social factors such as language, symbols, values, norms, customs, laws, arts, knowledge, and attitudes. These are factors shared within and transmitted between generations, by which individuals come to be more refined.
In the context of the Analects, wén refers specifically to Zhōu culture. Confucius knew of other cultures. Analects 9.14 mentions the eastern tribes of “Nine Barbarians” (九夷Jiǔyí); Analects 3.5 and 13.19 mention barbarian tribes to the east and the north (夷狄yídí). These “barbarians” lived beyond the central plains within the Zhōu borders. During the Eastern Zhōu, the characters 夷狄 (yídí) are evaluative rather than merely descriptive, denoting geographical location (east and north, respectively) but also connoting inferiority and lack of refinement. So while the Analects does not show Confucius explicitly stating that Zhōu culture is superior, its choice of pejorative language conveys the message well enough.
Analects 8.8 mentions elements of Zhōu culture that make it superior to “barbarian” cultures:
子曰：「興於詩，立於禮。成於樂。」
Zǐ yuē: “Xīng yú shī, lì yú lǐ, chéng yú lè.”
The Master said: “Start from the Songs, establish [oneself] in ritual convention, finish at music.”
This passage paraphrases Confucius’ program for educational development. In doing so, it mentions three repositories of Zhōu culture. (Also see Analects 7.18.)
The Songs (詩經 Shī Jīng), also known as the Book of Odes, is a collection of poetry from the Western Zhōu dynasty. It represents learning (学 xué) available through Zhōu culture. Later tradition enshrines it as one of the Five Classics (五經 Wǔ Jīng), the other four being Book of History (書經 Shū Jīng), Classic of Rites (禮記 Lǐ Jì), Book of Changes (易經Yì Jīng), and Spring and Autumn Annals (春秋 Chūn Qiū). These texts provide knowledge of how to orient oneself in the world, how to make sense of worldly events, how to appreciate life, how to express inner thoughts and feelings, and how to interact well with others. By studying them, one comes to feel and think as the best of the Western Zhōu felt and thought. (See also Analects 11.25, 17.9.)
Music (樂yuè) represents the artful techniques available through Zhōu culture. Later tradition marks it as one of the Six Arts (六藝 liù yì), the others being archery (射 shè), calligraphy and literacy (書 shū), charioteering (御 yù), mathematics and reckoning (數 shǔ), rites and etiquette (禮lǐ). These arts have practical value, enriching or enabling activities of daily living. When done well, they also have transformative power. Good music, for example, shows how to express emotion without being excessive and how to preserve harmony with others without interrupting the flow of interaction (see Analects 3.20 and 3.23, respectively). Good archery, similarly, shows how to be considerate during competition and how to be sociable with competitors afterwards (see Analects 3.7 and 3.16). Mathematics, of the sort familiar to Confucius, aims for effective algorithms and calculations; because these require procedural understanding, good mathematics instills virtues such as precision and diligence.
Ritual convention (禮 lǐ), finally, includes guidance for everyday living available through Zhōu culture: ancestor veneration, prayer, public ceremonies, and other context-specific behavioral guidelines, as well as guidance concerning the feelings and emotions appropriate to each behavior. For example, Zhōu culture provides conventions regarding filial obedience (孝 xiào)—what it means for sons to obey their parents (see Analects 2.5). Filial obedience requires appropriate behaviors, such as continuing the way of one’s father three years after his death (Analects 1.11). It also requires appropriate feelings and countenance (Analects 2.8).
Knowledge about the specifics of ritual convention typically resides in oral tradition and ongoing practice rather than written records (see Analects 3.9. and 3.11) So one acquires ritual convention through communal training, rather than through texts or natural intuitions. Ritual training, when done well, molds feelings, thoughts, and actions in accordance with cultural conventions. This involves behaving in ways that conform to cultural expectations. It also, and more importantly, involves internalizing those expectations as second nature, reshaping one’s desires toward endorsing cultural conventions as appropriate rather than merely obligatory (see Analects 3.4, 3.12, 5.22).
Entry 6671 in Shuōwén Jiězì (說文解字, Explaining Graphs and Analyzing Characters), a dictionary from roughly 121 BCE during the Hàn Dynasty, makes the etymology for xìng explicit:
性：人之陽气性善者也。从心生聲。
Xìng: Rén zhī yáng qì xìng shàn zhě yě. Cóng xīn shēng sheng.
Xìng: Positive source of a person’s vital energy and their good character. From heart-mind and the sound for birth and growth.