The paper is dedicated to the general principles of the Confucianism, as they appear within the course of Introduction to Asian philosophy and due to a thorough analysis of Confucius, Book 7, Chapter 2. Later followers of the Confucius will be analyzed poorly, concerning mainly Mencius.
According to the teaching, paper will be divided into six parts, that is, Ren, Etiquette, Loyalty, Filial piety, and Relationships, the gentleman, and rectification of names. Each will be provided with a sufficient explanation in order to completely enlighten the teaching of Master Kong, or Kong Fuzi, or Kung-fu-tzu, 551 – 478 BC. This paper is based on James Legge’s work, Confucian Analects, 1893. Being presented in the ‘Spring and Autumn Period’ as an ethical and socio-political teaching, Confucianism’s main assertion lies in a field of humanism, predominantly the belief that “human beings are teachable, improvable, and perfectible, through personal and communal endeavour including self-cultivation.” (Craig, 1998)
Accordingly, the aforesaid principles of Ren, Loyalty, and Etiquette, as they were stressed beforehand, held an important position in a religious logic of Confucianism, therefore, ren, yi, and li may be accepted within the paper as “obligation of altruism and humaneness for other individuals within a community (ren);” “the upholding of righteousness and the moral disposition to do good (yi, or loyalty);” and, “system of norms and propriety that determines how a person should properly act within a community (li, or etiquette).” (Elman, 2005)
So, let us investigate all these elements in a logical order in order to gain fuller understanding of the general principles of the teaching. Moreover, Filial piety and Relationships, the gentleman, and rectification of names is pretended to be a chapter which will examine some vital consequences and outlets of the aforesaid principles, i.e ren, yi, and li. Ultimately, conclusions will be an exertion of the most important and overall suggestions on the case.
References
Legge, J. (1893). Confucian Analects, Book 7, Chapter 2. New York: Chinese Community’s Printing Office.
Craig, E. (1998). Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Volume 7. New York: Taylor & Francis.
Elman, B. (2005). On their own terms: science in China, 1550-1900. Harvard: Harvard University Press.
Confucianism: Social Harmony …