Good Confucianism book (pdf) - Department of Physics

Terms, and Mozi 67wear the clothes of the past and speak with the speech of the past in orderto be considered a proper gentleman. He complains that the rituals theypracticed were so minute and complicated that one could spend a lifetimestudying them and never know all of them; as well, one could have a fortuneand still not be able to pay for the performance of all of their music. Hesays that they were fond of music and used it to corrupt people; Confuciansattracted followers with the sounds of singing, drums, and dancing. 13These descriptions of Confucians come from an opponent: Mozi andhis followers frequently debated the followers of Confucius and there wasno love lost between them, so Mozi ’ s criticisms of Confucian behavior andthought should not be taken at face value. However, at least in his descriptionsof Confucian ideas and occupations, Mozi seems to be accurate. 14To take some of Mozi ’ s descriptions one at a time, one way Confucianswere identified was by their relation to a number of texts. These are textslike The Book of History and The Book of Poetry that we have seen beforeand that Confucians believed Confucius himself had either written or edited(see chapter 8 ). These texts were known to be earlier than Confucius andpart of the heritage of the Zhou dynasty. The texts would, in the Handynasty, become part of the Five Classics. A Warring State text describes thescholars associated with the state of Lu, Confucius ’ state, and the classicsof Confucianism. It says that the laws and traditions of ancient times havebeen handed down and can be found in The Book of History , The Bookof Poetry , the Book of Rites, and the Classic of Music . The scholars of thestate of Lu, with their large sashes and writing tablets, are known for theirunderstanding of these texts. 15Using these texts, Confucians discussed the virtue of filial piety, respectfor and service to one ’ s parents, elder brother, teacher, and ruler. Theyalso discussed concepts like humanity, the gentleman, and good governmentthat benefited the people. According to a number of their adversaries,Confucians believed in fate, and said that one ’ s life was decided at birth.This charge has caused some difficulty because it is not a clear position inany of the Confucian texts. It may be that only some Confucians held thisposition and that their arguments were not included in the later Confuciancanon (see chapter 8 ).Confucians looked to the past, to the early sage - kings and cultural heroeslike the Duke of Zhou, for patterns of behavior. We have seen Confuciusdo this and his followers continued the tradition. The past provides a modelof what government and society should do in the present. 16Confucians had expert knowledge of ritual and music. As for funeralritual, it may be that many Confucians earned their living performingfuneral rituals for the nobility. They may also have had government jobsas Music Masters. Confucians were closely associated with both musicalperformance and music theory and this brought them into conflict with