On Confucius and tradition
November 28th 2006 11:04
"10.12: He would not sit unless the mats were properly placed in accord with custom."
We no longer need tradition to preserve knowledge, not to the same extent anyway. And throwing off its anachronisms is, in a sense, what modernity and the Enlightenment are all about. Henceforth, tradition is never a completely satisfying answer; all things must be tested by reason (even if, in 2006, we are more reliant than before on the second-hand and on argument from authority).
However, when one looks at the Confucian concept of tradition, the first thing to note is that emphasis is less on transmitted knowledge than on forms -- forms of behaving, interacting, being ("a way of life carefully choreographed down to appropriate facial expressions... a world in which a life is a performance requiring enormous attention to detail"). And while this ritual is certainly a strait-jacket, and risks being empty and useless, there are also arguably ideas about:
(1) finding meaning in this form, doing it with a sincere heart
-- "2.7: Ziyou asked about filial conduct. The Master replied: 'Those today who are filial are considered so because they are able to provide for their parents. But even dogs and horses are given that much care. If you do not respect your parents, what is the difference?'"
-- "3.12: The expression 'sacrifice as though present' is taken to mean 'sacrifice to the spirits as though the spirits are present.' But the Master said: 'If I myself do not participate in the sacrifice, it is as though I have not sacrificed at all.'"
-- "6.20: The Master said, 'To truly love it is better than just to understand it, and to enjoy it is better than simply to love it.'"
-- "8.9: The Master said, 'The common people can be induced to travel along the way, but they cannot be induced to realize it.'"
(2) reinvigorating and extending the past (such that, over time, the ritual might change completely)
-- "15.29: The Master said, 'It is the person who is able to broaden the way, not the way that broadens the person.'"
-- "3.23: The Master talked to the Grand Music Master of Lu about music, and said: 'Much can be realized with music if one begins by playing in unison, and then goes on to improvise with purity of tone and distinctness and flow, thereby bringing all to completion.'"
-- "2.12: The Master said: 'Exemplary persons are not mere vessels.'"
(3) and adapting to circumstances (as with the modern feminist "ethics of care"; what counts as correct Confucian conduct varies from situation to situation and individual to individual):
-- "9.1: The Master only rarely spoke about personal advantage, the propensity of circumstances, or authoritative conduct."
-- "15.42: The blind Master of Music, Mian, had an interview with Confucius, and, on reaching the steps, the Master said, 'Here are the steps,' and on reaching the mat, the Master said, 'Here is the mat.' When they had all sat down together, the Master informed him of who was present: 'So-and-so is here, and so-and-so is there.' When Master of Music Mian had departed, Zizhang asked Confucius, 'Is this the way that one should speak with a blind music master?' Confucius replied, 'Indeed, this has been the traditional way of assisting a music master.'"
The ancient Chinese are said to have believed in event over essence, and in continual flow -- you're literally not the same person you were as a child.
And knowledge itself is provisional:
-- "9.4: There were four things the Master abstained from entirely: he did not speculate, he did not claim or demand certainty, he was not inflexible, and he was not self-absorbed."
On the one hand, the dream of a complete way of life, and social harmony, tested and developed and continually adapted, by slow slow steps, over generations.
On the other, all the risk of perpetuated falsehoods and abuses and injustices, along with stifling conformity, suffocating conservatism.
1. In ballet, one can spend years learning repetitive bits and pieces, constrained by regimen, mastering the classical. But (so it's said) it's only after you have this foundation that you can create; and, being the embodiment of the training, you can then serve as a model for others. No one is genius enough to reach this point on their own. Poets are sometimes advised to try traditional verse before attempting free.
-- "11.20: Zizhang asked about the way of the truly efficacious person. The Master said, 'Not following in the footsteps of others, one does not gain entrance to the inner chamber.'"
-- "15.31: The Master said, 'Once, lost in my thoughts, I went a whole day without eating and a whole night without sleeping. I got nothing out of it, and would have been better off devoting the time to learning.'"
2. In martial arts, it's only after you've learnt a substantial part of the system that you begin to see the patterns and connections and meanings. It's only after you've read most of the novel, watched most of the movie, that you can experience the effects of the ending.
-- "Only the shengren is able to understand the observance of ritual propriety. The shengren understands this observance with clarity; the shi and junzi perform it with ease; the officials maintain it, and the common people use it to create their own customs. In the hands of the junzi, it becomes the way of humanity; in the hands of the common people, it becomes the business of ghosts and spirits."
3. Freedom can come through restraint: it's against the expectations of genre that musical effects are created; and you bind yourself by linguistic norms to enable yourself to communicate.
-- "20.3: The Master said, 'Someone who does not understand the propensity of circumstances has no way of becoming an exemplary person; someone who does not understand the observance of ritual propriety has no way of knowing where to stand; a person who does not understand words has no way of knowing others.'"
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. The images are from the Wikipedia article on Confucius, and Wikipedia commons.
Quotations are from The Analects of Confucius: A Philosophical Translation by Roger T Ames and Henry Rosemont, Jr.
A complete translation of the Analects is available from this site.
For another example of tradition, consider the Pythagoreans -- the author of this article, MF Burnyeat, remarks on "the sheer quantity of the rules that constrain a Pythagorean life, and the minute scrupulosity they enforce".
***
We no longer need tradition to preserve knowledge, not to the same extent anyway. And throwing off its anachronisms is, in a sense, what modernity and the Enlightenment are all about. Henceforth, tradition is never a completely satisfying answer; all things must be tested by reason (even if, in 2006, we are more reliant than before on the second-hand and on argument from authority).
(1) finding meaning in this form, doing it with a sincere heart
-- "2.7: Ziyou asked about filial conduct. The Master replied: 'Those today who are filial are considered so because they are able to provide for their parents. But even dogs and horses are given that much care. If you do not respect your parents, what is the difference?'"
-- "3.12: The expression 'sacrifice as though present' is taken to mean 'sacrifice to the spirits as though the spirits are present.' But the Master said: 'If I myself do not participate in the sacrifice, it is as though I have not sacrificed at all.'"
-- "6.20: The Master said, 'To truly love it is better than just to understand it, and to enjoy it is better than simply to love it.'"
-- "8.9: The Master said, 'The common people can be induced to travel along the way, but they cannot be induced to realize it.'"
(2) reinvigorating and extending the past (such that, over time, the ritual might change completely)
-- "15.29: The Master said, 'It is the person who is able to broaden the way, not the way that broadens the person.'"
-- "3.23: The Master talked to the Grand Music Master of Lu about music, and said: 'Much can be realized with music if one begins by playing in unison, and then goes on to improvise with purity of tone and distinctness and flow, thereby bringing all to completion.'"
-- "2.12: The Master said: 'Exemplary persons are not mere vessels.'"
(3) and adapting to circumstances (as with the modern feminist "ethics of care"; what counts as correct Confucian conduct varies from situation to situation and individual to individual):
-- "15.42: The blind Master of Music, Mian, had an interview with Confucius, and, on reaching the steps, the Master said, 'Here are the steps,' and on reaching the mat, the Master said, 'Here is the mat.' When they had all sat down together, the Master informed him of who was present: 'So-and-so is here, and so-and-so is there.' When Master of Music Mian had departed, Zizhang asked Confucius, 'Is this the way that one should speak with a blind music master?' Confucius replied, 'Indeed, this has been the traditional way of assisting a music master.'"
***
The ancient Chinese are said to have believed in event over essence, and in continual flow -- you're literally not the same person you were as a child.
And knowledge itself is provisional:
-- "9.4: There were four things the Master abstained from entirely: he did not speculate, he did not claim or demand certainty, he was not inflexible, and he was not self-absorbed."
***
On the one hand, the dream of a complete way of life, and social harmony, tested and developed and continually adapted, by slow slow steps, over generations.
On the other, all the risk of perpetuated falsehoods and abuses and injustices, along with stifling conformity, suffocating conservatism.
***
1. In ballet, one can spend years learning repetitive bits and pieces, constrained by regimen, mastering the classical. But (so it's said) it's only after you have this foundation that you can create; and, being the embodiment of the training, you can then serve as a model for others. No one is genius enough to reach this point on their own. Poets are sometimes advised to try traditional verse before attempting free.
-- "11.20: Zizhang asked about the way of the truly efficacious person. The Master said, 'Not following in the footsteps of others, one does not gain entrance to the inner chamber.'"
-- "15.31: The Master said, 'Once, lost in my thoughts, I went a whole day without eating and a whole night without sleeping. I got nothing out of it, and would have been better off devoting the time to learning.'"
2. In martial arts, it's only after you've learnt a substantial part of the system that you begin to see the patterns and connections and meanings. It's only after you've read most of the novel, watched most of the movie, that you can experience the effects of the ending.
-- "Only the shengren is able to understand the observance of ritual propriety. The shengren understands this observance with clarity; the shi and junzi perform it with ease; the officials maintain it, and the common people use it to create their own customs. In the hands of the junzi, it becomes the way of humanity; in the hands of the common people, it becomes the business of ghosts and spirits."
3. Freedom can come through restraint: it's against the expectations of genre that musical effects are created; and you bind yourself by linguistic norms to enable yourself to communicate.
-- "20.3: The Master said, 'Someone who does not understand the propensity of circumstances has no way of becoming an exemplary person; someone who does not understand the observance of ritual propriety has no way of knowing where to stand; a person who does not understand words has no way of knowing others.'"
***
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. The images are from the Wikipedia article on Confucius, and Wikipedia commons.
Quotations are from The Analects of Confucius: A Philosophical Translation by Roger T Ames and Henry Rosemont, Jr.
A complete translation of the Analects is available from this site.
For another example of tradition, consider the Pythagoreans -- the author of this article, MF Burnyeat, remarks on "the sheer quantity of the rules that constrain a Pythagorean life, and the minute scrupulosity they enforce".
| 94 |
| Vote |
Add To: 
subscribe to this blog