10/3/2014
Confucius
Confucianism
(551–479 BC)
K’ung Fu-Tzu
孔夫子
•a philosophy, not a religion
•“If you are not able to serve
men, how can you worship
the gods?”
The Analects
Some Confucian Concepts
• Lunyu
• “Selected
Sayings”
• li: ritual, propriety: “the course of
life as it is intended to go”
• ren: goodness, benevolence,
human-heartedness, perfect
virtue
• chun tzu: the superior man
“Five Relationships”
Confucianism
•ruler – minister
•father – son
•elder brother – younger brother
•husband – wife
•friend – friend
• a civilized society will have a stable
social order
• all human relationships are governed
by rules of propriety—rituals/mores (li)
• human beings must live together
humanely (ren)
• one’s goal: acceptance and
conformity with social norms and
cultivation of one’s own character and
conscience
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10/3/2014
The Vinegar Tasters
It’s sour!
It’s
bitter!
It’s
good!
TAOISM
Lao Tzu
What is the Tao ("the
Way")?
• the absolute principle underlying the
universe
• the essential energy of life
• it’s not a thing
• you cannot perceive it but you can
observe its effects
• "Being one with the Tao" = "developing
oneself to conform with the teachings
of the Tao"
• you cannot define it with human logic
wu wei (“without action”)
Taoism
• uncontrived action or natural nonintervention
• living by or going along with the
true nature of the world—or at least
without obstructing the Tao
• letting things take their natural
course
• living in balance and harmony
• The world is working perfectly—do
not disrupt it!
•achieving harmony or union
with nature
•the pursuit of spiritual
immortality
•being "virtuous" (but not
ostentatiously so)
•self-development
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