East Asian Thought: Buddhism and Confucianism
Key terms
Confucian Thought
Confucius 孔子
Key principles
Key concepts
Key passages from Analects
12:11 Duke Jing of Qi asked Confucius about government. Confucius replied, "Let the ruler be a ruler; the minister, a minister; the father, a father; the son, a son." "Excellent," said the duke. "Truly, if the ruler is not a ruler, the subject is not a subject, the father is not a father, and the son is not a son, though I have grain, will I to eat it?"
12:19 Ji Kang Zi asked Confucius about government, saying, "How would it be if one killed those who do not possess the Way in order to benefit those who do possess it?" Confucius replied, "Sir, in conducting your government, why use killing? If you, sir, want goodness, the people will be good. The virtue of the noble person is like the wind, and the virtue of small people is like grass. When the wind blows over the grass, the grass must bend."
12:7 Zigong asked about government. The Master said, “Sufficient food, sufficient military force, the confidence of the people.” Zigong said, “If one had, unavoidably, to dispense with one of these which of them should go first?” The Master said, “Get rid of the military.” Zigong said, “If one had, unavoidably, to dispense with one of the remaining two, which should go first?” The Master said, “Dispense with the food. Since ancient times there has always been death, but without confidence a people cannot stand.”
13:18 The Duke of She told Confucius, "In our part of the country there is one Upright Gong. His father stole a sheep, and the son bore witness against him." Confucius said, "In our part of the country, the upright are different from that. A father is sheltered by his son, and a son is sheltered by his father. Uprightness lies in this."
13:19 Fan Chi asked about humaneness. The Master said, "In private life, courtesy; in the conduct of affairs, reverence; in relations with others loyalty. Even if one is among the Yi and the Di this should not be set aside."
14:45 Zilu asked about the noble person. The Master said, "He cultivates himself with reverence." "Is that all there is to it?" "He cultivates himself in order to bring peace to others." "Is that all there is to it?" The Master said, "He cultivates himself so as to give peace to all the people. Cultivating oneself so as to give peace to all the people. Yao and Shun were also anxious about this."
1:2 Master You [You Ruo] said, "Among those who are filial toward their parents and fraternal toward their brothers, those who are inclined to offend against their superiors are few indeed. Among those who are disinclined to offend against their superiors, there have never been any who are yet inclined to create disorder. The noble person concerns himself with the root; when the root is established, the Way is born. Being filial and fraternal- is this not the root of humaneness?"
4:5 The Master said, 'Wealth and honor are what people desire, but one should not abide in them if it cannot be done in accordance with the Way. Poverty and lowliness are what people dislike, but one should not avoid them if it cannot be done in accordance with the Way. If the noble person rejects humaneness, how can he fulfill that name? The noble person does not abandon humaneness for so much as the space of a meal. Even when hard-pressed he is bound to it, bound to it even in time of danger.
Buddhism
Four noble truths
Eightfold path:
Source: adapted from the Buddhist Temple of Chicago Service Book, 40th Anniversary Edition, 1984.
Buddhism via Yoda
Major schools of Buddhism:
4th-6th century, Gandhara, fasting Buddha, stone, found at Sikri, at the Lahore Museum (Pakistan).
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But Buddhist teachers quickly discovered that self-denial, even as a tool for eternal transcendence, did not grab some audience. As a result, Buddhist teachers incorporated local folk deities into their teachings and developed a repertoire of saints and saviors. This famous "buddha" is actually not a Buddha but a monk known in chinese as Budai 布袋 and Japanese as Hotei. |
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Main schools of Mahayana Buddhism
Buddhist-Confucian Synergies
Lack of metaphysics and eschatology in Confucianism: What happens when we die?
Major Confucian thinkers adopt quasi-Buddhist answers
Later Confucian thought: Song-era (960 CE - 1279) synthesis
Five Relationships
Five Virtues
Formal canon
| Four Books | 四書 |
| Greater Learning | 大学 |
| Doctrine of the Mean | 中庸 |
| Analects | 論語 |
| Mencius | 孟子 |
| Five Classics | 五経 |
| Changes | 易經・易経 |
| Documents | 書經・書経 |
| Odes | 詩經・詩経 |
| Rites | 礼經・礼経 |
| Spring and Autumn Annals | 春秋 |
Canonization of Greater Learning
An ancient text BUT not separated for special notice in Confucius’ lifetime or until centuries later Known merely as chapter 42 of 49 in the Liji 禮記, or Book of Rites Singled out for special notice beginning in 700s during Tang dynasty Surges to importance in Song dynasty because of Cheng Hao 程顥 (1032-1085), Cheng Yi 程頤 (1033-1107) and Zhu Xi 朱熹 (1130-1200) - Eno translation and commentary
Metaphysics of Zhu Xi
Zhu Xi on the Great Ultimate 太極
The Great Ultimate 太極, through movement, generates the force of Yang 陽. When its activity reaches its limit, it becomes tranquil and thus generates the force of Yin 陰. By the transformation of Yang and its union with Yin, the Five Forces arise: Water, Fire, Wood, Metal, and Earth. It is man alone who receives them in their highest excellence. The five moral principles of his nature are aroused by, and react to, the external world, and engage in activity. Good and bad are distinguished and human affairs take their place. The universe is a dualism; it is composed of “material force” (qi 気, close in meaning to “matter”) and “heavenly principle” (the natural and proper contours of the cosmos and human affairs). In the universe there has never been any material force that has not been guided by heavenly principle, nor has principle ever existed other than in material force. . . . Fundamentally, principle and material force cannot be spoken of as prior or posterior. But if we trace their origin, we are obliged to say that principle is prior. Although material force in the universe integrates and disintegrates, attracts and repels in a hundred ways, nevertheless the principle according to which it operates has unerring order. One’s nature comes from Heaven, whereas one’s personal capacities come from material force. When a person is endowed with clear material force, his capacities will be clear. When a person possesses turbid material force, his capacities are impure. The imperative for man is to perfect himself and return to his “heavenly nature.” The clarity of water is comparable to the goodness of human nature. As water may be turbid to a greater or lesser extent, so one’s material force may be pure or impure to varying degrees. We cannot say that turbid water ceases to be water, and just so, although a man may be darkened by material force and degenerate into evil, his nature does not cease to be inherent in him. If one can overcome material force through learning, one can know this harmonious and unified nature.
