THE SEARCH FOR A JUST SOCIETY
JOHN HUDDLESTON
GEORGE RONALD 1989
PART VI
Chapter 6: Confucianism and the Middle Kingdom
So far the discussion has revolved around civilizations associated with three of the world’s great river systems: the Nile, the Tigris-Euphrates, and the Indus. This chapter is concerned with a fourth: the remarkable society which grew up in China around the Yellow and Yangtze rivers. The first significant attempt to bring together a number of small states into a large one was made around 1700 BC by the Shang dynasty which ruled some 40,000 square miles (a little smaller than England). This regime was based on slavery; torture and human sacrifice were rife. But it also presided over a society which created a 5,000-character pictograph script, a calendar, a decimal system; which made glass, silk cloth, jade ornaments and diamond drills; and which had a standard currency. In the eleventh century BC a new Chou dynasty came to prominence; it was to rule until the fifth century BC, and counted amongst its achievements the creation of large-scale canal systems and irrigation schemes. The power of the Chou, however, was weak almost from the beginning and deteriorated steadily until in the last four centuries its rule was virtually nominal; the general situation was one of division, violence and anarchy. It was during this period that thinkers debated on how peace and prosperity could be restored. One ‘legalist’ school argued that the ruler should be given unlimited authority to establish the law and to maintain it by force if necessary, and that profit to society should be a measure of success. Two other schools of thought, Taoism and Confucianism, disputed the ‘legalist’ view.
The Taoist philosophy was founded by Lao Tze, who is thought to have been born around 600 BC and to have been a librarian at the court of the Chou. The reasoning of Lao Tze, which is summarized in the eighty-one chapters of his 6,000-word book, the Way, was that a peaceful society could be established if men submitted to the rhythms of life and nature, and let events take their natural course. Men should act with absolute sincerity, be content and humble, not try to get ahead in the world, and avoid extravagance and boastfulness. They should be concerned to do good for all humanity. Government should be kept to a minimum and be based on a policy of laissez-faire. The Taoist philosophy was for centuries a major influence in Chinese culture and dominated government thinking until around the fourth century AD. It modified the development of Buddhism in the Far East; it was from this combination that there grew the contemplative school of Zen Buddhism.
In many ways the philosophy of Confucius was the direct opposite of the generally quietist approach of Taoism. Confucius (551-479 BC) was probably descended from impoverished nobility. In his youth he was poor and earned his living by keeping accounts. Self-taught, by the time he reached old age he was considered to be the most educated man in the country. Like others he was deeply concerned about the prevailing state of anarchy and violence. He believed that order could be achieved only by establishing a new standard of personal integrity, and then by persons of such integrity becoming the agents of government. He travelled throughout the land gathering around him a band of students as he went. His style was non-authoritarian and undogmatic, and his method of teaching was to ask questions.
His philosophy, known as ‘The Way of Jan’ (humility or love), sees mankind as one large family and is aimed at establishing harmony and peace at all levels of society: the individual, the family and the state, but using a more activist approach than that of Lao Tze. Each individual has the right, responsibility and duty to make his own decisions. In approaching these decisions he should have integrity and sincerity. His attitude to others should be one of love and understanding. ‘Virtue is to love men: wisdom is to understand them.’ It should reflect service and proper respect or propriety:
The truly virtuous man desiring to be established himself, seeks to establish others; desiring success for himself, he strives to help others succeed.
- Confucius saw the family as the bridge between the individual and society; here the child could experience love and learn to love those around him.
- He saw the state as a cooperative enterprise: the object of government was not the pleasure of the ruler but the well-being of the subjects.
- The state should be well-ordered, and administered by disinterested, well-educated men capable of making good laws.
- Ministers and other agents of government should be chosen on the basis of merit by competitive examination, without discrimination of race, class, religion or sex.
- A major function of the state was to educate the people and to provide schools for every community.
- Confucius was a deeply religious man. His teachings assume the existence of a Supreme Being and a spiritual afterlife, and he was concerned to keep religion free of superstition and excessive ritual.
The Confucian teachings were later summarized under eight steps by his pupil, Tzeng Tsu (505-436 BC), in a book called the Great Learning:
- investigation of things;
- extension of knowledge;
- sincerity of the will;
- rectifying the mind;
- cultivating the personal life;
- regulating the family;
- ordering the state;
- bringing peace to the world.
Though Confucius never achieved recognition by the state in his own lifetime, and in that sense died a disappointed man, his ideas did gradually gain acceptance. When China was eventually united under the Han dynasty Confucianism was declared the official state philosophy (136 BC); since then Confucianism has remained a dominant force in Chinese civilization. The Han dynasty itself established for some 400 years (202 BC – AD 221) an empire which rivalled Rome in size and prestige. Amongst its achievements were the establishment of a professional civil service whose staff had passed a standard examination, a nationwide education system, a standard script, the invention of paper, the unification of the laws, standard weights and measures, the first Chinese dictionary, annals recording the history of the country, the construction of roads of standard width and carts and chariots of standard size, and a great wall to protect the Empire from the barbarians of the north. The regime was tolerant of differing religions and did not resist the coming of Buddhism.
The Empire went from strength to strength under the Siang dynasty (AD 960-1279) who presided over the building of the largest and best-laid-out cities in the world at the time, complete with wide streets, public baths, public lighting and fire protection; the construction of the best ships, equipped with the magnetic compass, watertight compartments and balanced rudders; and an excellent medical system which included the development of a technique for inoculation against smallpox.
- Though the Empire was to remain powerful for many centuries, the peaks of glory were past.
- During the time of the Manchu dynasty (AD 1644-1912) the Empire fell into decline under pressure from a rapidly growing and restless population which the government was increasingly unable to feed, and from the now more advanced Europeans, competing for trade and colonies.
- A growing series of popular rebellions, plots and coups ended with the collapse of the Empire in 1912, to be followed by thirty-six years of division and anarchy until the country was again united by Mao Tse Tung.
Just as much of the brilliance of the Chinese civilization can be credited to Confucianism, so too can its fall be related to the weaknesses of the system as practised in later centuries. Confucianism declined into a rigid and ritualistic hierarchical system, unable to adapt quickly to change. The education system became one of learning by rote and was, despite the original intent, limited to a small minority of the population. The educated elite, who were supposed to run the country for the benefit of all citizens, did less and less as the centuries went by for the vast majority of the population – the poor farmers and peasantry. Another deficiency, by no means the least important, was that the philosophy put emphasis almost solely on worldly matters, a characteristic which ultimately undermined its capacity to arouse enthusiasm and motivate action. This deficiency was never to be completely removed by the multiple variations of Taoism or by the coming of Buddhism.