Ancient China was marked with rebellions and political dissensions by
dynasties. Dynasties were the notable
political systems during that time.
These represented power and authority of ruling families. These espoused aristocracy, patriarchy and
imperial power. The emperor was symbol
of absolute power. Wars and series of political upheavals made rigid impact in
Chinese civilization. States were at war with each other, each
having the sole objective of snatching authority for political gain. In such a turbulent time, poverty was a
highly disturbing social reality.
Legalism, that is, strict adherence to legal codes and the absolute
power of the emperor were prevalent.
Political oppositions were brutally silenced. Many books were burned and many scholars were
murdered.
Until the time of Confucius, he witnessed the death of morality both
in the personal and social aspects of rulers and government leaders. He witnessed the wars between states, the
violent revolutions between them and the disintegration of families because of
power. These had domino effect to the
citizens who looked up to their leaders.
Yet in the later years of his life, he experienced appointment to a government
position, but he resigned from his post due to such realities. He preferred to teach the Five Classics (Classics
of Poetry, Book of Documents, Book of Rites, Book of Changes or I Ching and
Spring and Autumn Annals). He was poor
and yet undisturbed by material lackness.
He was instrumental in the conviction that one must learn the common
Chinese tradition of strong family loyalty, ancestor worship, respect of elders
by their children, and respect of husbands by their wives.
For Confucius, the family is the
basis of ideal government. He made
famous the Golden Rule which says, “Do not do to others what you do not want
done to yourself.” Thus Philosophy in the Ancient Chinese, as
demonstrated by Confucius, is personal and governmental morality, correctness
of relationship, justice, and sincerity.
These characterized the way Confucius describes the superior or noble
person and an ideal government.
Confucius presents a solution in resolving the
conflict concerning the wars and impropriety during his time by this
philosophy. Proper conduct and
righteousness are the basic requirements for a happy person and a government
that cares for its people. Each man
should transform himself to that of a “chun
tzu” or a “noble man” through the practice of the Golden Rule, morality,
justice and sincerity.
This solution he presented is deemed to be the
way of developing personal and governmental moral standards in order to create
a harmonious society and a well-directed government. This is to counter the negative influences of
exclusivism in dynasties, disintegration of families, disrespect
of tradition due to wars or conflicts, materialistic craving of power,
and improper behavior.
Confucius believed that for
harmony and goodness to be realized in a larger scale, it must first start in the
family where each one is rooted. A
family that practices morality, justice, sincerity, care for others, and
humility brings up children who will have the same values. These children will constitute the good
citizens or even good rulers of a state.
Traditions, family loyalty, worship of ancestors are things which should
be preserved along with morality and righteousness.
For one to become noble, he
must have specific characteristics.
These are goodness (jen),
filial piety (hsiao), brotherly
respect (t’i), conscientiousness (chung), propriety (li), wisdom (chih), and
righteousness (yi). It is through these characteristics that the
noble man is able to promote goodness and harmony. It is through these characteristics which
made him equipped with the right disposition to seek and understand the “truth”
as he cultivates himself. Every process
however, has a particular starting point. In the development of the noble man,
Confucius gives primacy in being staunch concerning tradition.
Moreover, tradition is important for the Chinese people for it
represents their reverence for their ancestors and the longevity of the family
line. William Lakos, in his book Chinese Ancestor Worship: A Practice and
Ritual Oriented Approach to Understanding Chinese Culture explains the
matter concerning ancestral worship:
“Ancestor worship eventually provided the grounds for the most
enduring social system in world history.
It provided the conditions, values, and rationale for the benefits and
care and protection provided by families extending to the wider polity, and the
sense of durability, order, hierarchy, and harmony within this society.” 1
Reflecting what Lakos has explained, it can be concluded that the
ancient Chinese people see the tradition of ancestral worship as a
manifestation of the concept of humanity as the center of all things. It depicts the sense of action in making alive
certain concepts such as order and harmony, in an individual’s own volition and
own effort. Relating this concept back
to tradition, it is in this sense of action which makes tradition a source of
moral principles. This is because it
provided perfect sense as to why things like ancestral worship is done and why
is it important to do such gesture. A
source needs to be a testament for an ideal or a concept. Tradition perfectly depicts this
characteristic.
It is because of tradition as a “source” of moral principles which
made it as the starting point of developing a noble man. Tradition itself represents the values of
goodness, filial piety, propriety, brotherly respect, conscientiousness,
righteousness, and wisdom. It depicts
goodness in its way of training the individual to be not selfish. This is seen in the example of ancestral
worship. It teaches unselfishness by the
very action of taking time to venerate the ancestors. It depicts filial piety by the notion of
responsibility of a son or daughter to his or her family. It represents propriety by the staunch
following of the structures in action presented by such tradition, which molds
an individual into acting accordingly.
It represents brotherly respect in the sense of community presented by
the participation of an individual in a particular ceremony or
celebration. It represents
conscientiousness by developing awareness which is rooted from the practice of
propriety. It represents righteousness
by the teaching of correcting one’s way of thinking and action which is rooted
from the notion of goodness, filial piety, propriety, brotherly respect, and
conscientiousness. It depicts wisdom in the notion of the
followers making innovations about such practices in relation to their time or
period. It is because of these
characteristics of tradition which make it a perfect training ground for an
individual who wishes to be a noble man.
The essence of every gesture rooted from tradition gives one the
opportunity to mold his character and attain moral perfection.
The Confucian philosophy is about personal and governmental morality. This
is because Confucius believed that in order for goodness and harmony to be
actualized, it must be first realized by an individual within him and later
practically realized in being within a government. This realization is done as he cultivates the
characteristics of the “chun tzu” or
the noble man which are goodness, filial piety, brotherly respect,
righteousness, conscientiousness, propriety, and wisdom. The process of cultivation is said to start
from the staunch observation of tradition.
This is because tradition is deemed to be the source of all moral
principles, which animates the values by the principle of action that can
greatly help an individual in perfecting his character.
To practice what is moral is
the purpose of living. It is the
philosophy of Confucius. The practice of it involves all aspects of life. Beyond
dynasties, patriarchal leadership, wars, and other painful realities, there is
something more important than that. That importance is the development of
person and society. Confucius believed
that it is only in living a proper life inclined to what is good that completes
the humanity of an individual. This is
the “truth” that is sought for, and this seeking does not stop as long as one
still exists and can still improve himself.
Whether one is Chinese or not, life’s purpose transcends race, political
affiliation, socio-economic status, tradition, or personal circumstances. Life
has a purpose and that purpose is something to be realized by seeking what is
moral and living it without ceasing.
Wars, rebellions, factions, biases, prejudices are results of
impropriety or immoral decisions of selfish men.
There is no gain in wrong things.
It is living life in morality that one is never disturbed by material
lackness, thirst of power, selfish desire, craving for fame and temptation of
the flesh. The purpose of life is fulfillment or happiness
through the practice of virtues. Moral
values or virtues are the paths to authentic, happy and harmonious life, but
this is a matter of choice.
The making of choices in life also implies freedom. Freedom implies the wisdom of how to live a
happy, fulfilled life. The wisdom of
right living is to actualize one’s freedom of choice anchored in the moral
standards that lead to real fulfillment or happiness. Life is a series of choices meant to
understand the wisdom of moral life.
The understanding of this wisdom in living a moral life is not without
challenges. And it is one’s duty to unravel these
challenges so that he can make his life more meaningful.
Reflecting further, living a fulfilled life requires that one looks
back at the past in order for him to understand how to live in the
present. The purpose of life is
fulfillment or happiness. As one
realizes his purpose in life, he sees these purposes in the framework of the
three dimensions of time namely past, present, and future.
The past, like traditions, is meant to be looked back in order to draw
learning out of the experiences of the ancestors. These experiences of the past are sources of
understanding on how to live in the present. Out of the past, one can formulate questions. Questions lead one to truth and to the
wisdom of one’s purpose in life. From
the past experiences one can make innovations out of the context of the
present. These innovations are manifestations of one’s freedom or his ability
to make choices. And because of this,
living the present becomes very exciting and fulfilling. The past cannot be changed. What can be changed is the attitude of the
person towards the past. Out of the
questions he formulated based on the past, he searches for the answers by
making innovations out of past experiences of the ancestors and one’s own
. In this way, he transforms his life in
the present so that he can build a promising future.
As one realizes his purpose, he begins to see that his purpose is
actualized by his choice. An objective
cannot be carried out without a sense of willingness in the part of the
doer. The action of choice implies movement. Without this sense of moving forward, a
purpose is degraded to a mere ideal.
The making of choices in life also implies freedom. Freedom implies the wisdom of how to live a
happy, fulfilled life. The wisdom of
right living is to actualize one’s freedom of choice anchored in the moral
standards that lead to real fulfillment or happiness. Life is a series of choices meant to
understand the wisdom of moral life.
The understanding of this wisdom in living a moral life is not without
challenges. And it is one’s duty to
unravel these challenges so that he can make his life more meaningful. Like what Socrates said, “An unexamined life
is not worth living”. This means that
each reality one encounters is an input to discover the greater challenges of
life. It is through careful
cross-examination of his life through deep thinking and reflection that he can
realize these markers which can greatly help him improve himself.
Yearning for a moral life is not easy.
It entails discovering one’s strengths and weaknesses. It requires right attitude towards the challenges of
life, the truth regarding change, being transformed by change, and becoming
wise in living with change. Without
understanding change, one cannot become good.
This is the same with the Heracletian maxim, “You cannot step into the
same river twice”. Relating this to
moral life, it means that change is the fundamental reality that draws out a
person’s ability to decide for the best.
But one can choose also to decide
for what is not good. Life is like an
enterprise which displays all the opportunities for one to discover fulfillment
and happiness. But a person cannot
have all of these opportunities for himself.
A moral person chooses only what best fits him. He must not choose anything out of whims and
caprices. It is in the careful choosing
of the appropriate opportunity that one can effectively fulfill his life. It is in this way that he discovers
something “new” about himself. It is in
this way that he becomes best out of what he does.
To be moral is to be human first.
It means one has to start from the fact of what he is, who he is and why
he is as he is. Becoming righteous is a
difficult struggle and a long journey.
Many situations can either make or unmake one’s moral disposition. It is not easy to fashion a life of
contentment and uprightness.
It takes right values and right attitudes to design one’s life towards
what is good. To be good means to be of
truth and to be for truth. All the
challenges in life are ingredients for the search of truth. Truth
is the essence of a worthy life. It is
what makes the journey to happiness lighter.
One’s life has a future ahead.
Living life in truth is living in righteousness. It is what one should search and aim for.
Source:
1.
William Lakos, “A New Approach To Understanding
Chinese Culture” (United Kingdom: Cambridge Scholars Press, 2010), In Chinese Ancestor Worship: A Practice and
Ritual Oriented Approach to Understanding Chinese Culture, 18.
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