Confucius & The Analects
In the Analects, Confucius gives readers certain guidelines regarding how government and kingship should conduct itself. Through his descriptive text Confucius breaks down many aspects of the expectations of ruling forces. Confucius embodies a sense of traditional and moral values that shine through in his writings. His conservative view appears throughout the Analects as Confucius outlines his guidelines regarding a legitimate, successful government, and the qualities of a good king. Confucius outlines the government as consisting of three major practices: filiality, humaneness, and ritual decorum. These practices which Confucius describes traditionally contain very conservative and moral ideologies. All three practices stress the importance of moral values such as peaceful, egalitarian interactions, respect and concern for others, and dignity. Confucius stems out to expand his definitions of the three practices, but the main traditional concepts remain the same. Filiality involves placing great importance on the care one has of their family members, and treating non-family members as if they were part of their family. Confucius found this practice extremely important in society, and believed that if everyone was “
Confucius emphasizes the moral significance of filiality and humaneness, but the most important aspect of a society he regards as ritual. Through mastering ritual, one masters themselves, therefore returning to ritual and becoming humane. Although Confucius views this aspect of governing a society the most important, he also leaves the subject of ritual the vaguest. One could possible assume that Confucius feels that repetitive ways will instill upon people a sense of consistency, leading to a certain routine in everyday life that does not include such unmoral things such as violence, envy, and greed. This explanation reflects Confucius’s moral values, with emphasis on the peaceful act of ritual presenting the solution to a corrupt society. Confucius’s outline for a legitimate, successful government provide readers with descriptive instructions regarding government, however, Confucius also describes important aspects of a successful kingship. To properly achieve a harmonious government, the society also requires humaneness. According to Confucius, humaneness involves the concern for others in the society in order to benefit the society as a whole. Confucius explains “one who is not humane is able neither to abide for long in hardship nor to abide for long in joy. The humane find peace in humaneness; the knowing derive profit from humaneness” ( 48). Confucius believed that living in a happy, successful government system required the effort of all members in being compassionate towards each other. To achieve humaneness one must “want to establish yourself; then help others to establish themselves. You want to develop yourself; then help others to develop themselves. Being able to recognize oneself in
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Approximate Word count = 1171
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)
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