From Cannibalism to Empowerment: An Analects-Inspired Attempt to Balance Community
and Liberty
Author(s): Sor-hoon Tan
Source: Philosophy East and West, Vol. 54, No. 1 (Jan., 2004), pp. 52-70
Published by: University of Hawai'i Press
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FROM CANNIBALISM TO EMPOWERMENT:
AN ANALECTS-INSPIRED ATTEMPT TO BALANCE
COMMUNITY AND LIBERTY
Sor-hoonTan
PhilosophyDepartment,NationalUniversityof Singapore
... across every page were the words BENEVOLENCE,RIGHTEOUSNESS,and MORALITY.... [F]inally I began
to make out what was written between the lines; the whole volume was filled with a single phrase: EAT
PEOPLE!
Lu Xun'
The Confuciantraditionhas often been creditedwith a strongallegiance to the value
of community. It recognizes that certain goods might be attained throughspecial
formsof humanassociation,but not by any solitaryindividual.Are such community
goods attained at the expense of the libertyof individualmembers?Philosophers
have struggledwith the tension between libertyand communitysince the dawn of
Westernphilosophy. Aristotlecomplained about the false idea of libertyas "doing
what one likes,"which is contradictoryto the true interestsof the polis.2 Such liberty,or ratherlicense, is undoubtedlydetrimentalto any peacefulcoexistence, not to
say the harmoniousand mutually beneficial association of community. Without
regulation,such license would, accordingto ThomasHobbes, resultin a "warof all
againstall," makinglife "solitary,poor, nasty, brutishand short."
It is not just illiberalphilosopherswho are concerned about libertyturningto
license and destroyingitself.John StuartMill remarked,"Freedomfor the pikes is
death for the minnows." While recognizing a need to limit liberty, liberals are
also perenniallyconcerned that any group exercisingpower over individualsmight
deny memberstheir status qua separateand autonomous individuals,and thereby
threatenliberty.On the other hand, communitariansobject, among other things, to
the liberalconception of autonomousselves as fundamentally,even ontologically,
separate units, who then choose whether or not to enter into relationswith one
anotherto formcommunities.Fromsuch a startingpoint, communitygoods are often
neglected, and in extreme cases the insistence on the priorityof individualrights
could lead to "the moralfabricof community... unravelingaroundus."3
While it is not impossible,with human intelligenceand imagination,to resolve
the conflicts between communitygoods and individualliberty,and while there are
circumstances in which one could benefit the other, or both could be mutually
beneficial, the likelihood of tension and outrightcontradictionbetween these two
key values of democracyremains,in any groupof humanbeings, blessed or cursed,
depending on how you look at it, with what Kantcalls "the unsocial sociabilityof
men, that is, their tendency to come together in society, coupled, however, with a
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Philosophy East & West Volume 54, Number 1 January 2004 52-70
? 2004 by University of Hawai'i Press
continual resistancewhich constantlythreatensto breakthis society up." The average person is tornbetween the conflictinginclinationsto live in society and to live as
an individual,among fellows "whom he cannot bearyet cannot bear to leave."4We
value libertyfor the protectionit providesfor the individual,for its empowermentof
her in her search for human fulfillment.The value of communitycapturesour concern to render our unavoidable social existence as meaningfuland beneficial as
possible for all, or at least for as many as possible. The need to balance the two
values-a perennialproblemof ethics and politics-has been broughtto the fore by
debate.5
the liberalism-communitarianism
Thisessay aims to develop an account of how to balance libertyand community
throughwhat Confucianscalled /i X, which has been translatedas "rites,""rituals,"
"ceremony,""ritualaction," "ritualpropriety,""propriety,""decorum,""manners,"
"courtesy,"and "civility." I shall adopt the translationof "ritual."While I draw
most of my textual materialsfrom the Analects, I do not offer my perspectiveas a
interpretationof its content; the problematicof libertyversus comstraightforward
munityis not germaneto pre-Qinphilosophicaldiscourse.Thisexercise is motivated
by a belief that the Analects, together with an interdisciplinarystudy of ritual in
differentcontexts, could provide resources for new ways of handling the tension
between libertyand community.
Confucianism's Hostility to Liberty
Focusing on historicalpractices, many have accused Confucianismof having no
place for individualliberty.Writerslike LucianPye and W.J.F.Jennerhave blamed
Confucianismfor China'sauthoritariansocial structureand political culture.6Lestit
be thoughtthat this is just a simple case of culturalimperialism,or of ignorantbarbarianspontificatingon thingsthey know little about, Chinese writerslike Fei Xiaotong and Ch'OT'ung-tsuhave presentedChinese traditionalsociety, usuallydeemed
Confucian, in ways that justifythe conclusion that Confucianismis hostile to individual liberty-a view still prevalentamong many Chinese and other EastAsians
who could claim a Confucianlegacy.7
Some scholars have triedto rescue Confucianismfrom such charges by arguing
thatthere is a strandof liberalthoughtin the tradition,based on the expressedideals
of self-cultivationand ethico-polilticalpracticesthat sanction challenges to authority. Others have emphasized the humanisticcharacterof Confucianphilosophy, regardlessof historicalmalpractices.Insofaras they have reconciled libertyand community in Confucianism,these approaches have been assisted by challenges to the
liberalconception of the self and by argumentsthat Confucianconceptions of the
self as fundamentallyrelational have a better chance of resolving the traditional
contradictionsbetween self and society.
Some have argued that the key ideal of ren { (what Wing-tsitChan considers
the general virtue of "humanity")provides a meaningful synthesis of individual
libertyand community. While I agree with that suggestion, focusing on this most
benign and too readilyacceptable ethical notion, especially when we translateit as
Sor-hoonTan
53
"benevolence," is too easy a way out if we do not tackle the close connection
between ren and li. Even the severest critics of Confucianismhave little to say
against ren-at most they attackthe failureof practiceto live up to theory;but the
ethical value of Confucianritualhas always been more problematic.On the other
hand, Confucianism'shostilityto individuallibertyhas often been attributedto the
Confucian li, equated with traditionaland conventional "rulesof conduct," which
historicallywere sometimesso destructiveof individualsthat they were condemned
for "cannibalism."
I proposeto rescuethe Confucianconcept of li fromsuch chargesand show that
it should instead be understoodas a concept of moral empowermentof the free
individualin community.Moreover,as a concept about empowermentit is still relevant to contemporarysociety and can offer some clues on how contemporary
Confuciansmightbalance libertyand community.
CreatingCommunitythroughRitual
While there is no consensus among contemporaryscholars who study rituals in
various contexts, the Confucian li fits quite comfortablyinto Eric Rothenbuhler's
definitionof ritualas "voluntaryperformanceof appropriatelypatternedbehavior
to symbolically affect or participatein the serious life."8 Ritualis the constitutive
means of Confuciancommunity. RobertEno presentsearly Confucianismnot primarilyas a body of doctrine but as a communitywith ritualactivity as its distinguishing core. The Analects contain "not merely instructivesayings of the Master
but inter-subjectivelyvalidated ideas, communal values exemplified by life experiences of the speakersin the act of li."9Creatingcommunitythroughritualis central
to Confucianism.As a norm to aspire to, Confuciancommunityshould be understood not as a closed collective-an abstractentity to be set above its individual
members-but as an open network of relationships.10What separates one such
communityfrom anothercommunity is a matterof relativelyweak, marginalrelationships, not necessarily a total absence of relationship.A community grows or
shrinksaccordingto the changing numberand strengthsof its constitutingrelationships.
Borrowinga metaphorfrom the works of David Hall and RogerAmes, a Confucian communitymay be considereda field constitutedby multiplefoci, which are
members of the community.11A member's personal cultivation (xiu shen 4f4)
resultsin an increase in intensityor extension of focus. Improvinga relationshipso
that more is achieved cooperativelywithinthat relationshipwould be an increasein
intensity;increasingthe numberof relationshipsthat are productiveof communal
good would be an extensionof focus. Extensionof focus mightbe withinthe existing
field of a community,or it might increase the field if new relationshipsinvolve individuals who are not membersof the community. Hence, both qualitativelyand
quantitatively,personalgrowthand communalgrowthare interdependent.
The goal of Confucianpersonalcultivationis to achieve authoritative"humanity"(ren-which is more often translatedas "benevolence").Tu Wei-minghas ana-
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lyzed the Chinese characterfor ren as "man-in-society":it points towardthe fundamental relationalcharacteristicof the Confucianconception of the person and the
mutual implication of personal cultivation and community creation.12In Confucianism, ritual is central to this process of personal-communalgrowth. "Through
self-disciplineand observingritual(li), one becomes authoritativein one's conduct
(ren)."13 The meaning and value of ritual lie in its being a constitutive means of
communitythroughauthoritativeconduct (Analects3.3, 4.13).
A communityachieved throughConfucianritualsis one that places a high value
on harmony. According to Master You, who was said to resemble Confucius,
"Achieving harmony is the most valuable function of observing ritual propriety"
(Analects 1.12). Valuing harmonyneed not mean denying the existence, even the
inevitability,of conflict in humaninteraction.14Ritualmightcontributeto communal
harmony by limiting the damage that results from conflict by creating artificial
boundaries in social interaction.Take, for example, two family membersworking
togetherin a company. Addressingeach other by theirofficialtitles and adheringto
otheroffice ritualscould serve to set a boundaryand define those situationsin which
the two persons are allowed to disagree stronglyas belonging strictlyto the office
setting, so that the impact of a conflict on their familial relationshipwill be minimized. Ritualforms,by limitingthe ways in which conflictscan be expressed,might
also preventconflictsfrombecoming personalor total. Contraryto the belief thatthe
Confucian esteem for harmony prevents a realistic treatmentof social conflicts,
Confucius recommended that competition, and by extension disagreement and
conflict, should be limitedto the necessaryand appropriate,and, most important,it
should be carriedout according to ritual(Analects3.7). Althoughit could degrade
into mere legitimation,rituallystructuredconflict will not undermineharmony,and
at times mighteven enhance it.
Law versusRitual
Butdoes not this exaltationof ritualignorethe fact that laws and rightsare required
to protectthe weak from the strong in human society, where conflicts are ineradicable? Even those willing to concede that Confucianismdoes not explicitly reject
individuallibertyand is not inherentlyauthoritarianare often skepticalof the possibilityof makingroomfor libertywithin Confuciansociety withoutsome institutional
structureto protectliberty,which is seen as being constantlyunderthreatfromsocial
and governmentaloppression.Such structuresusuallyinclude a certainkindof legal
system. Defendersof Westernliberaldemocracy, RonaldDworkinamong them, insist that the rule of law is crucialto the protectionof individualliberty.
With greatersensitivityto the importanceof community, laws could also be
used to protectcommunities.However, legal protectionalone is unlikelyto be adequate in buildingcommunity.Indeed, if a society resortstoo much to the legal system to resolve its problems, law could be counterproductivefor community;such
excess is of course not necessitated by the rule of law itself.15Litigationinclines
people towardselfishnessby requiringthem to think in termsof themselvesas being
Sor-hoonTan
55
opposed to others,thus underminingtrustand reducingthe chances of harmonious
associationthereafter.Evenwhen functioningwell, litigationoften focuses on problems of economic or social distribution,materialcompensation, or retribution.A
communityis not simplya groupof people livingtogetherto optimize theirshareof
goods and rightsvis-a-visother groups.An individualas a memberof a community
thinksnot in termsof "mine and others"'but in termsof "ours."A communitydoes
not just fight for a share of the societal pie with other groups or individuals;it is
capable of creatinggoods sharedby its members.
Communalgoods may requirelegal protectionin an environmentthat is hostile
or potentiallyhostile. But, over a long period, the frequentuse of laws to protect
itself from a hostile environmentis self-destructivefor a community.A community
musttransformits environmentinto one that is conducive to its own growthand the
growthof other communities;a purelydefensive responseto a hostile environment
will eventually underminethe qualityof its own constitutiverelationshipsand pervert communityties into somethingoppressive.The need to constantlyprotectitself
will lead to the development of a siege mentalityof "us" versus "them,"or what
RichardSennett has called "the ethos of the ghetto."16Suspicion and hostilitytoward "outsiders"could foster an intoleranceof differences internally.This would
resultin relationsthat stifle individualcreativityand the libertyof the membersof a
community.
A key insight in the Analects is that laws alone, at least when they are purely
punitive,cannot create or sustain community.In Confucianism,ritualis contrasted
with punishmentsand, by implication,punitive laws.
The Mastersaid, "Leadthe people with administrativeinjunctions(zheng i) and keep
them orderlywith penal law (xing ff) and they will avoid punishmentsbut be without
a sense of shame. Lead them with excellence (de i) and keep them orderlythrough
observingritualpropriety(li t) and they will develop a sense of shame, and moreover,
will orderthemselves."(Analects2.3)
Confucian leadership is concerned with more than administering a fair system of
distribution or umpiring conflicts. Exemplary leaders must combine personal accomplishments with the achievement of community through their authoritative conduct
(Analects 6.30). A Confucian community is achieved and sustained not through the
sanctions and punishments of a legal system, however fair it might be, but through
authoritativeleadershipthat brings about spontaneous order among its members.
This does not mean that Confuciansmust totally rejectthe use of litigationand the
rule of law. But the coercive natureof laws implied in the penalties imposed on
transgressorsrenderslaws inefficaciousin achieving harmony,and thereforeinadequate in creatingcommunity.
There is an unfortunatetendency to obfuscateor reduce the differencebetween
ritual and laws in contemporary scholarship. While stressing that there is room for
flexibility within any ideal Confucian ii, many scholars nevertheless treat it as being
about "rules,"externalconstraintsimposed on individuals'behaviorfor the sake of
social harmony. Wm. Theodore de Bary considers Ii "a basic constitutional order"
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Philosophy East & West
and argues that "therewas a considerableoverlap in the conceptions of 'rites'and
'laws' in Confucianusage."17Acknowledgingthat Mencius used fa &, the modern
translationfor "law," to designate "model institutionsof the sage kings"as well as
the laws advocated by the Legalists,de Bary,focusingon Song-MingNeo-Confucian
thought,adopts "law(s)"as the translationof fa in the Confuciancontext.
The furtherback one goes in time, the more misleadingit is to view Chinese "fa"
according to the modern concept of "law." Confucian fa, which could be considered close to ritual,was not the tool of rationalbureaucracyor brutalrealpolitik;it
comprised codes deeply embedded within the religiousand ritualpracticesof the
society from which they emerged.18The fa that could be translatedas laws in the
modernsense, with coercion impliedin its enforcement,could only be the Legalistfa
or somethingclose to it. Moreover,if we rememberthatthe ruleris not "equalunder
the law" in Legalistthought, then we would be persuaded that pre-Qin Chinese
thoughtactually had no concept of law, in the sense of "universalpropositionswith
either descriptiveor prescriptivenecessity."19
It is criticalto an adequate understandingof Confuciancommunityto maintain
the differencebetween ritualand law. Ritualoperates throughtransformativeinfluence, law by coercive sanctions and punishments.Historically,social institutions
that have been called li in traditionalChinese society were often degenerateforms
that also worked through coercion. If Confucian ritual is to have contemporary
meaningand use, we must move away fromconceiving it in termsof coercive constraints.Only in doing so can we see that a Confuciancommunitycreated and sustained by ritualis one in which its membersare free. Justas personalcultivationand
communitycreationare mutuallyimplicated,so are communityand liberty.
The difference between ritualand law reveals that when properlyconducted,
ritual does not deprive its participantsof liberty through coercion. Despite later
views that li "worksfromthe outside,"the Analectschallenges the characterization
of ritualas externalconstraints.20People who were only concerned with externals
exasperatedConfucius,who insistedthat ritualdid not merely have to do with "gifts
of jade and silk" (Analects17.11). Ifone does not feel the appropriateemotion and
adopt the appropriateattitude,there is no point in adheringto rituals,which become
nothingbut empty formalities(Analects3.4, 3.26, 17.21, 19.1). Tu Wei-mingargues
thatthere is historicaland textualevidence to emphasize the dynamicprocess rather
than the static structureof ritual.Ritualworks only if the externalform and internal
content are balanced.21Coerced performancedefeats the purposeand could never
amountto genuine ritualpractice.
Ritualas Semiotic Structure
I have been discussing community as if it were self-evidentwhat it is, when there
exists a huge literaturearguing about its definition. Liberalsoften complain that
communitarianshave no clear definitionof "community."Sometimes,when liberals
claim a concern about community,communitariansdisparagethe adequacy of their
understandingof "community."Itwill not be possible to find a conception of com-
Sor-hoon Tan
57
munitythat will satisfyeveryone. But a workingunderstandingis certainlyneeded.
For this, I draw on John Dewey's understandingof community, which I consider
particularlyappropriateto this discussion since, for Dewey, democracy "is the idea
of communityitself."22
Thereis morethan a verbaltie between common, communityand communication.Men
live in a communityby virtueof the thingswhich they have in common; and communication is the way in which they come to possess things in common. (Democracyand
Education)23
A community is a regulativeideal designatinga group of individualswho achieve
shared goals and goods throughcommunicationand other activities among themselves and with others.Communicationis of course found not only in communities.
In a community, communication not only enables joint undertakingsbut also
achieves a sharingof emotions and ideas. A Deweyan communitysees its primary
task as the realizationof communicationin the most profoundway possible.24Part
of the difficultyof tryingto distinguisha community from society or other social
groups arises because the differencesare mostly qualitative.It is in the quality of
communication,ratherthan in exclusionaryboundariesor oppressivehomogeneity,
that we will find the commonalityof community.
Anthropologistshave noted the centralityof communicationin ritual,and ritual
figures prominentlyin culturalapproachesthat are gaining influence in communication studies today. Communicationinvolves transactionsusing signs. Semiotic
structuresgive social processes, includingthose of community,continuityand stability.25Confucianritualis a semiotic structure.The earlyChinesescriptfor li depicts
a sacrificialvessel; it referredto religiousritualspracticedin ancient China. Rituals
were attemptsto communicate with nature, with cosmic forces, with deities and
ancestors, to bring satisfactoryoutcomes to joint human enterprises.As Clifford
Geertzobserved,albeit in a differentculturalcontext, religionis a social institution,
worship a social activity, and faith a social force. Ancient Chinese religious rites
were often symbolic reenactmentsof cooperativetasks of great import-for example, those related to the cultivation of crops or the waging of battles-in which
participantsalso communicate with one another, acknowledgingtheir interdependence, reaffirmingtheir mutualtrustand commitmentto sharedgoals. Accordingto
the Zhongyong,ancestralworshipclarifiesand reinforcesthe orderwithin the clan/
family-it rehearsessymbolicallythe attitudesthat various individualsshould adopt
towardone anotheraccordingto the way they are related.26
As the "magical"element loses its importance,or credibility,humancommunication becomes more importantand ensures the persistence of ritual.Today, engaging in ancestorworship need not mean that one believes in the abilityof dead
ancestorsto influence our lives throughoccult means;the significanceof the ritual
can lie more in what it conveys about one's relationshipwith those who have gone
before us, and those who will come later. The ritual honoring of dead ancestors
plays an importantrole in the buildingof what Tu Wei-mingcalls a fiduciarycommunity. In a broadercontext, Bruce Lincolnbelieves that ritualis "an authoritative
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Philosophy East & West
mode of symbolic discourse and a powerful instrumentfor the evocation of those
sentiments(affinityand estrangement)out of which society is constructed."27Itplays
an importantrole in sustaininghumancommunities,and some see its loss as a critical contributingfactorto variousforms of social pathology and individualpsychological malfunction.Some argue that ritualsare necessary and inevitablephenomena in any culture.28
Ritualshave establishedand maintainedthe Chinese social and political realm
for thousands of years. "He who understandsthe ceremonial sacrifices to heaven
and earth, and the several sacrificesto the ancestors,would find governinga kingdom as easy as looking into his palm."29Ritualsfacilitategovernment.AngelaZito's
study of the GrandSacrificesduringthe eighteenth centuryshows ritualas a technique of imperialrule. By establishingthe emperor as the privilegedexemplar of
correct embodiment and perfect practice, the imperial court produced and attemptedto controlthe meaning and value that extended to every cornerof Chinese
life. Such hegemonic attemptswere not new in Chinese history.They varied in their
success and did not go uncontested.30Successful ritualhegemony is not a thing of
the past; Huang Shaorong'sstudy of the CulturalRevolutionrevealsthe importance
of ritualsin understandingthe politicalcommunicationin the movement. Ritualas a
key formof politicalcommunicationis relevantnot only to Chinese politics because
of its unique Confucianpast;the concept has also been employed in, for example,
contemporarystudies of Americanpresidentialcampaigns,among otherthings.31
The effectivenessof ritualas a technique of political control is due to the state's
ability to control the semiotic structureof rituals,as well as to the pervasivenessof
this structurein the daily life of the people. The significanceof ritualgoes beyond
the political, and its resultsare not limitedto the sinisterand oppressive.Withinthe
ritualsemiotic structurelies rich possibilitiesfor personaland communal growth. In
Confucianism,ritualcomprisesthe ways of being humanthatare necessaryto social
order. Contemporaryscholars like Rothenbuhler,without any referenceto Confucianism, also argue that "ritualis necessaryto humane living together."32Whether
in premodernChina or modern societies, we find importantritualssuch as rites of
passage celebratingbirth,coming of age, marriage,and death;these marksignificant
moments in human life, momentsof transitionbetween key stages of the life cycle
These momentsof closure and beginning
and between significantsocial territories.33
anew signify importantchanges in human relationships.
The meaningof such momentsis constructedthroughcommunalparticipation,a
sharing of ideas and emotions through ritual acts that create and strengthenthe
relationshipsthat constitute community. The "coming of age" ritualembodies an
acknowledgmenton everyone's partof a key development in a person'srelationship
to various others and her position in the community-which implies changes in
expectationsand demandson herfutureconduct and in what she in turnmay expect
and demand from others. Funeralritualsembody the meaning of the life and death
of the departed for the mourners.A funeral celebrates and honors the work and
achievementof the departed;it expressesthe griefof the living and sometimestheir
commitmentto the continuityof the words and deeds of the dead.34
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59
Rituals-for example, those regardingdress, greetings,and behavioron various
social occasions-also facilitateeveryday interactions.Introducinga Royal Society
of Londondiscussionon the "Ritualizationof Behaviorin Animalsand Man,"Julian
Huxley used "ritualization"to denote the "adaptiveformalizationand canalization
of motivatedhuman activities so as to secure more effective communicatory('signaling')function, reductionof intra-groupdamage, or better intra-groupbonding."
Ritual is a way of mobilizing individuals"as self-regulatingparticipantsin social
encounters."As an importantpart of human interaction,relevant across cultures,
ritualhas been defined as conventional acts of display throughwhich one or more
participantscommunicate informationconcerning themselves.35As a generic kind
of social action, ritualis neitherarchaic nor exclusively Chinese. HerbertFingarette
argues that althoughexternalforms vary from culture to culture and generationto
generation,there remainsa vast area of human experience wherein interactionis
ritual:promises,commitments,excuses, pleas, compliments, pacts. Studyingritual
as a form of communication,Rothenbuhlergoes so far as to claim that ritualis an
aspect or element of all social action.36
Some psychologicalstudies indicatethat ritualacts play a criticalrole in human
development. Earlyinfantlearningand the subsequentabilityto learn may depend
on the communicationthattakes place in what EricEriksoncalls "thedaily ritualsof
greeting and nurturance"between infant and caregiver.Victor Turnerand Erving
Goffmanhave analyzed various ritualelements in the everyday interactionof contemporarysocieties.37The relevance of the concept of ritualto studies of modern
societies and contemporaryexperience has been gaininggreateracceptance among
sociologists, social psychologists,and others. AnthonyGiddens sees it as partof a
wider sociological interestin symbolicformsrooted in the concern in philosophical,
linguistic,and anthropologicalstudieswith problemsof meaning.38
In rituals,the meaningsand values shared by the communityare embodied in
certain forms of speech and action and the use of certain kinds of objects. As the
embodimentof sharedmeaningsand values of specific occasions withinthe context
of the relationshipsin which the participantsstandto each other in theiroverlapping
social networks,ritualguides action so thatbettercoordinationcan be achieved with
less effortthan would be possible if one had to search anew for the appropriateway
of interactingin every situation.Ritualis the outcome of, and in turnit contributesto,
the strivingto make stabilityof meaning prevailover the instabilityof events in human interactions.It does more than facilitate interaction;it structuresthe very way
we make sense of our world and assign meanings and values to various entities,
phenomena,and relationships.Accordingto Fingarette,"we learnand practicethe li
of our culture not because we find it to be right,but by virtueof its definingfor us
what we are to value as right."39
Any set of ritualsconstitutinga community'stotal semiotic structure,exclusive
and comprehensive,would imply a single valid perspectiveand a closed notion of
humanperfection,which seems to leave littleroomfor creativityand individuality.40
While we should not jump to the conclusion that this automaticallyimplies an intolerance of diversitythat will lead to some formof totalitariansociety, such a dan-
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ger is undeniable. Should any individualor group succeed in imposing its semiotic
structureon others, it would achieve hegemonic control over the latter'ssense of
realityand value. Indoctrination,"brainwashing,"results in what appears as "voluntary"compliance, but is in fact the most insidiousdestructionof individualliberty.
Such betrayalsof libertyare also detrimentalto community.We could criticize
them within the Confucianritualcontext if we understoodthat ritualat its best is an
artisticperformance.The perversionsof imposed practicesbecome apparentwhen
we compare them with the exemplary performances.The difference between the
harmonyof a communitycreated by ritualand the indoctrinatedhomogeneityof a
totalitariansociety lies in the flexibilityand creativityindividualsare able to exercise
within the shared semiotic structures.Confucianismis not restrictedto a totalistic,
closed conception of its ideal and a rigidsemiotic structureof ritualgroundingthe
ideal. The structureshould be open and dynamic, leaving room for creativityand
liberty.To understandbetterhow this is possible, we need to examine more closely
the artisticdimensionsof ritualpractice.
I do not deny that art can be used to serve the political ends of domination.All
semiotic structuresare vulnerableto manipulationto determinethe way people who
use them understand,appraise, prescribe,and consequently act.41 Nor is this the
occasion to argue that such uses of art betrayartisticideals. Insteadof arguingthat
liberationis essential to any artisticendeavor, this essay is makinga weaker claim
that, as an artisticendeavor, ritualcan liberateindividualseven while it harmonizes
their relationsfor community.This essay limits itselfto discussing how ritualcould
balance libertyand community ratherthan argue that it invariablydoes so. One's
semiotic structuresmay bind one with the most powerfulchains that human beings
have been able to fashion, or may place in one's hands the most powerful of all
Whetherritual
instrumentsfor individualliberationand communal reconstruction.42
achieves the balance between libertyand community in any specific case will depend largelyon what individualsdo as potentialmembersof communities.
Ritualas Art
Confucian ritualis closely associated with poetry and music. In Confucianeducation, exemplarycommunicationis inspiredby the Songs, establishedthroughritual
and consummatedin music (Analects8.8). Confuciusadmonished his son, "Ifyou
do not studythe Songs, you will be at a loss as to what to say" (Analects16.13). Skill
in quoting the Songs (Shi |s", sometimes translatedas the Odes) is a form of ritual
mastery.Quoting poetry or other classical works to express one's sentiments has
been a featureof Chinese banquet ritualssince the WarringStatesperiod.43Appropriatequotation involves the use of expressive and presentationalformsthe meanings of which have been shaped by previoususage, passed fromgenerationto generationas partof the culturallegacy. Yet it is not without room for creativity:these
forms, when used appropriatelyin new situations,have had to accommodate new
meanings that enrich the present content of the forms without erasing all previous
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61
contents. In the same way, a musical composition is richerfor having been played
by differentmastermusicianswithout losing its identity.
The close association of ritualwith poetry and music is furtherelaboratedby
Eno'scharacterizationof early Confuciansas "mastersof dance," employing dance
as a guiding metaphorin his inspiringstudy of early Confucianism.Dance is music
and poetry in motion. "Dance, as an expressive form of thinking,sensing, feeling
and moving, which may reflect or influence the individualand the society," is an
extremelyappropriatemetaphorfor ritualpractice.44It is the artformthat provides
the best parallel to ritual both in its multisensorymodalities, which enable it to
engage participantsat many levels of experience, and in the centralityof movement
in its performance.Mencius describes moral achievement in terms of an unstoppable experience of joy that expresses itself in dance (Mencius4A27). Book 10 of
the Analectsdescribes in loving detail the Master'sgestures,postures,bodily movements,and facial expressions.In ritualpractice,the body and its partsare vehicles of
meaning, embodimentsof value. Throughperformancesthat fully engage the various dimensions of participants'personalities,ritualreconstructssituationsto effect
affective and cognitive transformationsin the relationships(between differentparticipantsas well as between participantsand audience) that constituteboth persons
and community.
We could better understandthe differenceassertedearlierbetween indoctrination and ritual by considering the distinction between dancing mechanically (as
even animalscan be trainedto do throughoperantconditioning)and dancing artistically, which requiresskills in symbolization,emotionalexpression,agilityof movement, and the ability to use syntacticallynovel forms without being trained in the
phrasesof thatform. Ifwe take the syntaxof a dance "language"as "a finite system
of conventions describing how the realm of semantic interpretationis related to
movementrealization... new sequences of movementand gesturenever previously
encounteredmay (nevertheless)be created and understoodby the audience."45Ritual, like dance, can and should be an open, productivesemiotic system that can
accommodateas well as create new meanings.
The potential for innovation in ritual is recognized in the Analects, notwithstanding the popularity of conservative readings. Confucius did not reject all
changes in ritual (Analects 9.3). He followed the ritualsof the Zhou, who had
learnedand improvedon the practicesof earlierdynasties(Analects3.14). Forhim,
a teacher'swork is not merelytransmittinga mummifiedpast to futuregenerations;
the teacher must revitalizethe past so that it is embodied in the differentexperience
of the present(Analects2.1 1). Confucius'characterizationof himselfas a transmitter
ratherthan a creator(shu er bu zuo 4A1idTl) attestsmore to his modestythan to a
denial of creativity.Confuciansagehood is closely associatedwith creativity(zuo {)
in the Book of Rites:"One who creates is called sagely; one who transmitsis called
perspicacious.A perspicacioussage means one who transmitsand creates."46Given
thatConfuciusrepeatedlydenied being a sage, it is not surprisingthat he should also
considerhimselffallingshortof creativity.We need not be pessimisticor elitistabout
the humancapacity for creativity.
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As an artistic performance, ritual requires a creative projection of unique personality and a personal investment of meaning, which paradoxically can dissolve
personal boundaries, creating altered states of consciousness often described as
"self-transcendence," wherein a soaring, oceanic sense of oneness with others, with
the universe, occurs. Eno compares the ritual experience of the Great Oneness (taiyi
X--) with the modern psychological analysis of skill performance, where a similar
combination of perfect self-mastery and self-transcendence is manifest.47 A merging
of liberation and interpersonal harmony, which is what we are searching for in proposing that ritual could balance liberty and community, is also found in Peter Hershock's description of improvised music, as in the Double Quartet's "Free Jazz":
We are not makingmusic, but are being continuouslyremade,rebornby it. Losingour
boundaries,slipping into incandescentconcourse which is the essence of musical improvisation,we no longeranticipateor follow our fellow musiciansbut are released into
an unmitigatedoneness in which anythingcan occur even though absolutelynothingis
lacking.48
It is in the artistic dimension of ritual that we find the improvement of the quality of
relationships and the concomitant refinement of sensibilities, the sharpening of perceptions and judgment, that brings together personal and communal achievement.
The balance of liberty and community achieved in consummatory ritual performances has an effect beyond these occasions. The participants are more likely on
future occasions to achieve a similar balance with one another and, more difficult
but still possible, with others. Ritual forms that have proved successful previously
in achieving such balance could work for different groups of participants and increase their chances of success compared with situations without a similar semiotic
structure.
Virtuosic Liberty in Confucian Community
What kind of liberty is being balanced with community in this discussion of the
artistic dimension of ritual? To get a clearer picture of Confucian liberty, I shall
focus on the process of personal cultivation, which is critical to Confucian personalcommunal realization. We find an account of the process in relation to Confucius in
the Analects:
The Mastersaid: "Fromfifteen, my heart-and-mindwas set upon learning;from thirtyI
took my stance;fromfortyI was no longerdoubtful;fromfiftyI realizedthe propensities
free
of tian;fromsixty my ear was attuned;fromseventy, I could give my heart-and-mind
rein withoutoversteppingthe boundaries.(Analects2.4)
Personal cultivation begins with an act of liberty: "setting one's heart-and-mind"
translates "zhi," which has also been rendered into "will" or "purpose."49 Learning,
contrary to popular misunderstanding, is not just rote learning in Confucian educa-
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63
tion. The Analectsstressesthe need to combine reflection,thinking(si),with learning
(Analects2.15). A studentmustthinkfor herself,going beyond what herteachertells
her. Confuciusrequiresthat a student, "if shown one corner, returnwith the other
three"(Analects7.8). One corneris insufficientto determinethe otherthree without
also stipulatingthe size of the square.A studentcould give a good responsethatthe
teacher nevereven considered.Learninginvolves morethan uncreativefollowing or
copying. At the risk of overinterpreting,this is a suggestive aspect of Confucius'
metaphorof teaching-learning.
Takingone's stance requiresorientingoneself to the restof the world;it involves
findingor creatinga properplace for oneself in a wider, emergingscheme of things.
This is done through ritual,with its combination of constraintin the form of selfdiscipline and creativityin endowing each act with personalsignificance.50Having
a sense of one's place in a wider scheme of things means greatercoherence in one's
experience;one can make bettersense of what is happeningand therebyfind one's
way forwardwithout being "in doubt." "Realizingthe propensitiesof tian" is both
understandingour social and naturalenvironmenton an extensive scale and being
able to "fit"in, not passively,but by actively interactingwith it. The pictureof liberty
emergingis one of smooth interactionwith one's environment.One becomes more
free, more powerful,when obstructionsdecrease or are more easily dissolved in the
communicativeprocesses between oneself and the restof the world.
Personal-communalcultivationachieves virtuosityin communication,in interacting with one's environment.Hence, Confucius'"earwas attuned"fromsixty.The
Shuowen lexicon gives the meaning of sheng S as "to communicate"(tong L_).51
The "sage" is associated with virtuosityin hearingand speaking (communication).
The "ear" (er 4) component associates the sage with "hearing"(ting ?) and
"keenness of hearing"(cong 0). Keenness of hearing, indicatinga more general
sensitivity,is associated with intelligence (congmingIM in modernMandarin).To
be intelligent,to be good at solving problems, interactingbetterwith the environment, is to be keen of hearing(sensitive)and clear-sighted(perceptive).This virtuosity is the libertyto achieve one's goals and to have goals that are more "in tune"
with our environment.The goals are "in tune" througha process of mutual rather
than one-sided adjustment.A sage attunes himselfto the world by sometimes "tuning"the world and sometimes"tuning"himself.
Confucius, "fromseventy, followed what his heart-and-minddesired without
oversteppingthe boundaries."This is the highestlevel of virtuosicliberty.Itis greater
in scope and finer in qualitythan the libertyof "settinghis heart-and-mindon learning." Following one's desires without oversteppingthe boundaries is a situation
where masteryof skills transcendsrules without lapsing into arbitrariness;it is not
about the mechanical compliance resultingfrom a complete "internalization"of
externallyimposed rules.Confucius'freedom is not that of a man who grew to love
his chains-a case of "internalizing"coercive external constraints.Internalization
throughconditioningresultsin rigidbehavior. In situationsthat do not map exactly
onto the landscape in which conditioninghas taken place, the judgmentof what is
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Philosophy East & West
appropriateis impaired,and response lacks efficacy. Virtuosic liberty may begin
with the applicationof rules. If the application requiresa secondary set of rules of
application,one would be trappedin an infiniteregress.The appropriateapplication
of rules in practice is an art that has to be masteredexperientially.One does not
overstepthe boundariesat the stage that Confuciuswas supposed to have achieved
at seventy not just because successful personal-communalcultivationhas ensured
thatone's desiresare all ethical, but also because one's improvedjudgmentof where
the boundaries are in any situation is also superiorto others. The sage's ethical
leadershipbecomes especially importantin new situations.A sage sets the ethical
standardsby leadingthe way in showing otherswhere these boundariesare.
One may force anotherto follow a way, but she cannot be coerced into "realizing (zhi $u) it" (Analects8.9), which requiresintegratingthe way with one's experience throughlearningand reflecting,and developing the understandingand judgment to respond appropriatelyto any situation. "Becoming authoritativein one's
conduct [i.e., personal-communalcultivation]is self-originating,how could it originate with others?"(Analects12.1). Itis not surprisingthatZhang Dongsunand others
identified zide -i, "getting it in, by, and for oneself," as the closest Confucian
equivalent of "liberty."52As Mencius describedthe process, "an exemplaryperson
steeps himselfin the way because he wishes to attainit in himself.When he attainsit
in himself,he will be at ease in it;when he is at ease in it, he can draw deeply upon
it;when he can drawdeeply upon it, he finds its source whereverhe turns."53When
the way is in oneself, it is constantly renewed, for it flows from, and with, one's
experience; it becomes one's experience, made more coherent and more meaningful throughcultivatingoneself.
While personalcultivationcannot be accomplished in isolation,the contribution
of othersmustcome in the formof efficaciouscommunication.Any attemptto "force
people to be free" or to determinethrough coercion or indoctrinationa person's
semiotic structuresand consequent behaviorwould be self-defeatingas a means to
liberty.We may illustratethis with Mencius'storyof the man fromSong "who pulled
at his rice plants because he was worriedabout their failureto grow."54The man
thought he was "helpingthe rice plants grow" when, in fact, he was killingthem.
Plantssometimesgrow betterwith humaninterference-throughwateringwhen rain
is insufficient,digging trenches to drainthe soil when rain is too abundant,fertilizing, et cetera-but pulling at them is not one of the ways to help them grow.
Others may help us cultivate ourselves-by deliberatelyteaching us, unintentionally providinga model or an example of what not to do, providingvarious needed
economic and social conditions, challenging our views, criticizing our actionsbut coercion and indoctrinationwill not help us become cultivated. It is one's
own efforts and success in integrating learning with reflection, thereby improving
both sensitivityand judgment,that make the achievement a realizationof oneself
ratherthan the makingof an automatonfollowing good ordersefficiently.It is only
when cultivatedrelationalindividualsrituallycommunicateand participatein joint
endeavorswith virtuosiclibertythat there is Confuciancommunity.
Sor-hoonTan
65
Notes
A shorterversion of this article was presentedas a paper at the 2001 BeijingInternationalConferenceon PoliticalPhilosophy,organizedby the Chinese Academyof
Social Sciences and the Philosophy Summer School in China, and published in
Mandarinunder the title, "Libertyversus Community:A Confucian Perspectiveon
Democracy's Dilemma," in a volume of selected conference papers (Beijing:Chinese Academyof Social Science Press,2003). This revisedarticlehas benefitedfrom
the commentsof the PEWreviewersand my colleagues at the NationalUniversityof
Singapore.Any remainingerrorsand omissions are solely my responsibility.
1 - LuXun, Diaryof a Madmanand OtherStories,trans.WilliamA. Lyell(Honolulu: Universityof Hawai'i Press,1990), p. 32.
2 - JonathanBarnes, The Complete Worksof Aristotle(Princeton:PrincetonUniversityPress,1984), 1310a28-35.
3 - Michael Sandel, Liberalismand the Limitsof Justice (New York:Cambridge
UniversityPress, 1982); Sandel, Democracy and Its Discontents (Cambridge:
HarvardUniversityPress,1996), p. 3.
4 - ImmanuelKant,"Ideafor a UniversalHistorywith a CosmopolitanPurpose,"
in Kant:PoliticalWritings,ed. Hans Reiss,2d ed. (New York:CambridgeUniversityPress,1991), p. 44.
5 - On the this debate, see C. F. Delaney, ed., The Liberalism-Communitarianism
Debate (Lanham:Rowmanand Littlefield,1994); Amy Gutmann,"CommunitarianCriticsof Liberalism,"Philosophyand PublicAffairs14 (1985): 308-322;
Michael Walzer, "CommunitarianCriticsof Liberalism,"Political Theory18
(1990): 6-23.
6 - LucianPye, TheStateand the Individual:An Overview Interpretation
(Oxford:
ClarendonPress, 1996); W.J.F.Jenner, The Tyrannyof History:The Roots of
China'sCrisis(Harmondsworth:
Penguin,1992).
7- Fei Xiaotong, Fromthe Soil (Berkeley:Universityof CaliforniaPress, 1992);
Ch'i T'ung-tsu,Law and Society In TraditionalChina (La Haye: Mouton and
Co., 1961).
8- Eric Rothenbuhler,Ritual Communication-From EverydayConversationto
MediatedCeremony(London:Sage, 1998), p. 27.
9 - RobertEno, TheConfucianCreationof Heaven:Philosophyand TheDefense of
RitualMastery(Albany:State Universityof New York Press, 1990), p. 7; Tu
Wei-ming, "Jenas a Metaphor,"in Tu, ConfucianThought:Selfhood as Creative Transformation
(Albany:StateUniversityof New YorkPress,1985), p. 83.
10 - Fora view of Confucianismas implyingthis formof oppressive"holism,"see
Donald Munro, Individualismand Holism: Studies in Confucian and Taoist
Values(AnnArbor:Universityof MichiganPress,1985).
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11 - David Hall and RogerAmes, Thinkingfromthe Han (Albany:State University
of New YorkPress,1998), chap. 2.
12 - Tu Wei-ming, Humanity and Self-Cultivation(Berkeley:Asian Humanities
Press,1979), p. 18.
13 - Analects 12.1, in Roger Ames and Henry Rosemont, The Analects of Confucius:
A Philosophical Translation(New York: Ballantine, 1998).
14- Many consider Confucianismincapable of dealing adequately with conflicts
(AndrewNathan,Chinese Democracy [Berkeley:Universityof CaliforniaPress,
1986]).
15 - But some consider the rule of law more committedto individuallibertythan
democracy,and it is at best ambiguousabout the value of community;at worst
it "sustainselitist politics, with its impoverishedsense of community"(Allan
Hutchinsonand PatrickMonahan,"Democracyand the Rule of Law,"in The
Rule of Law: Ideal or Ideology [Toronto: Carswells, 1987], p. 111).
16 - RichardSennett, TheFallof PublicMan (New York:Knopf,1977), p. 308.
17 - Wm. Theodorede Bary,Asian Valuesand HumanRights(Cambridge:Harvard
UniversityPress,1998), pp. 30-32.
18 - Mark Lewis, Writing and Authority in Early China (Albany: State University of
New YorkPress,1999), p. 18.
19 - Chad Hansen, "Fa(Standards:Laws)and MeaningChanges in Chinese Philosophy," Philosophy East and West 44 (3) (July 1994): 459.
20 - Liji 19.1/99/10, in D. C. Lau and Chen Fong Ching, A Concordance to the Li i
(Hong Kong:CommercialPress,1992).
21 - Tu Wei-ming, Humanity and Self-Cultivation, p. 25; Sor-hoon Tan, Confucian
Democracy: A Deweyan Reconstruction (Albany: State University of New York
Press,2003).
22 - John Dewey, The LaterWorks1925-1953 (Carbondale:SouthernIllinoisUniversityPress,1991), vol. 2, p. 328.
23- John Dewey, The Middle Works 1899-1924 (Carbondale:Southern Illinois
UniversityPress,1985), vol. 9, p. 7.
24 - Dewey, The LaterWorks,13:176; ThomasAlexander,"JohnDewey and the
Roots of Democratic Imagination," in Recovering Pragmatism's Voice-The
Classical Tradition, Rorty, and the Philosophy of Communication, ed. Leonore
Langsdorfand Andrew Smith (Albany:State Universityof New York Press,
1995), pp. 131-154.
25 - Accordingto Saussure,a sign is a vehicle (signifier)carryinga meaning (signified) (FerdinandSaussure,Coursde linguistiquegenerale [Paris:Payot, 1916]).
Peircedefines a sign as "somethingwhich standsto somebodyfor somethingin
Sor-hoonTan
67
some respect or capacity" (CharlesS. Peirce, Collected Papers [Cambridge:
Harvard University Press, 1931-1958],
vol. 2, p. 228).
26 - Liji32.13/144/17.
27 - BruceLincoln,Discourseand the Constructionof Society:ComparativeStudies
of Myth, Ritualand Classification(New York:Oxford UniversityPress, 1989),
p. 53.
28 - Roy Rappaport,"Ritual,Society and Cybernetics,"AmericanAnthropologist73
(1) (1971); CliffordGeertz, The Interpretationof Cultures(New York:Basic
Books, 1973), pp. 92-93; LouiseCarusMahdi et al., Crossroads-The Quest
for ContemporaryRites of Passage (Chicago:Open Court, 1996); Eva Hunt,
Ceremonies of Confrontationand Submission: The Symbolic Dimension of
Indian-MexicanPoliticalInteraction(Assen:Van Gorcumand Comp, 1977).
29 - Liji32.13/144/21 -22; author'stranslation.
30 - Angela Zito, Of Body and Brush-Grand Sacrifice as Text/Performancein
EighteenthCenturyChina (Chicago: Universityof Chicago Press, 1997); cf.
Ron-GueyChu, "Ritesand Rightsin Ming China," in Confucianismand Human Rights,ed. Tu Wei-mingand Wm. Theodorede Bary(New York:Columbia University Press, 1998), pp. 169-1 78.
31 - Huang Shaorong, "Ritual,Cultureand Communication-Deification of Mao
Zedong in China's CulturalRevolutionMovement,"in Politics, Communication and Culture,ed. Alberto Gonzalez and Dolores Tanno (London:Sage,
1997), pp. 122-140; MartinWhyte, Small Groups and Political Rituals in
China (Berkeley:Universityof CaliforniaPress, 1973); W. L. Bennett,"Myth,
Ritualand PoliticalControl,"Journalof Communication30 (4) (1980): 166179.
32 - Rothenbuhler,RitualCommunication,p. 129.
33 - VictorTurnersuggeststhat all ritualsare ritesof passage;see his FromRitualto
Theatre:The Human Seriousnessof Play (New York:PerformingArtsJournal
Publications,1982), p. 24. See also David Parkin,"Ritualas SpatialDirection
and BodilyDivision,"in UnderstandingRituals,ed. Daniel de Coppet(London:
Routledge,1992). On ritesof passage in otherculturesand modernsociety see,
among others, Mahdiet al., Crossroads;Arnoldvan Gennep, Ritesof Passage
(Chicago:Universityof Chicago Press, 1960); BarbaraMyerhoff,Rites of Passage: Processand Paradox(Washington:SmithsonianInstitutionPress,1982).
34 - On Xunzi'sview of the mourningand sacrificialrites,see A. S. Cua, "Dimensions of Li (Propriety):Reflectionson an Aspect of Hsun Tzu's Ethics,"Philosophy Eastand West 29 (4) (October 1979): 387-388. On the importanceof
continuing one's parents'works according to the Confucianview of filiality,
see Tu Wei-ming, Confucianismin an HistoricalPerspective(Singapore:Institute of EastAsian Philosophy,1989), p. 41.
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Philosophy
35 - Julian Huxley, "Introductionto a Discussion on Ritualizationin Animalsand
Man," Philosophical Transactionsof the Royal Society of London, series B,
Biological Sciences 251 (772) (1966): 258; Erving Goffman, Interaction Ritual
(Chicago:Aldine Publishing,1967), pp. 44, 54; Rappaport,"Ritual,Society
and Cybernetics,"p. 63; EdmundLeach, PoliticalSystemsof HighlandBurma
(Boston:Beacon Press,1954), p. 236.
36 - HerbertFingarette,Confucius-The Secularas Sacred(New York:Harperand
Row, 1972), pp. 9-14; Rothenbuhler,RitualCommunication.
37- EricErikson,The Development of Ritualization(Boston:Beacon Press, 1968),
p. 713; Goffman,InteractionRitual;VictorTurner,TheRitualProcess(Chicago:
Aldine, 1969); and Turner,Dramas,Fieldsand Metaphors:SymbolicAction in
HumanSociety (Ithaca:CornellUniversityPress,1974).
38 - AnthonyGiddens, New Rulesof Sociological Method(New York:Basic Books,
1976). A quick scan of journalarticlesin variousfields findstopics such as "Art
and Ritualas Methodof Social Controland Planning"(Ethics);"Objectivityas
StrategicRitual:An Examinationof Newsmen's Notion of Objectivity"(American Journal of Sociology); "Ritualas a Mechanism for Urban Adaptation"
(Man);"TopicalTalk, Ritualand Social Organizationof Relationships"(Social
Psychology Quarterly); "Ritual in Family Living" (American Sociological Re-
view); "Childrenand Civility:CeremonialDeviance and Acquisitionof Ritual
Competence"(Social PsychologyQuarterly);"The Languageand Ritualof SoContext"(Man).Fora discussion
cialization:BirthdayPartiesin a Kindergarten
of the methodological issues of such studies, see Joseph Gusfield and Jerzy
Michalowicz, "SecularSymbolism:Studiesof Ritual,Ceremony,and the Symbolic Orderin ModernLife,"AnnualSociology Review 10 (1984): 41 7-435.
39 - HerbertFingarette,"Reason,Spontaneity,and the Li-A ConfucianCritiqueof
Graham'sSolution to the Problemof Fact and Value," in Chinese Textsand
PhilosophicalContexts-Essays dedicated to A. C. Graham,ed. Henry Rosemont,Jr.(Chicago:Open Court,1991), p. 218.
40 - Eno, The Confucian Creation of Heaven, pp. 64-75.
41 - CharlesWilliam Morris,Signs, Languageand Behavior(New York:PrenticeHall, 1946), p. 208.
42 - Ibid., p. 244.
43 - Eno, The Confucian Creationof Heaven, pp. 34, 56. Many instances of this
ritualare described in the Zuo Zhuan,for example "Duke Zhao 16th year," in
Yang Bojun, Annotated Zuo Commentaries on the Spring and Autumn Annals
(Beijing:Zhonghua,1990), vol. 4, pp. 1380-1381.
44 - Judith Hanna, To Dance is Human-A
Theory of Nonverbal Communication
(Austin:Universityof Texas Press, 1979), p. 5. Hanna defined dance as "human behaviorcomposed, from the dancer's perspective,of (1) purposeful,(2)
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69
intentionallyrhythmical,and (3) [a] culturallypatternedsequence of (4a) the
body movements (4b) other than ordinarymotor activities, (4c) the motion
having inherentand artisticvalue."
45 - Ibid., pp. 34-35.
46 - Liji19.3/99/21. Formore discussion of the association between the sage and
creativity in early texts, see David Hall and Roger Ames, Thinking Through
Confucius(Albany:State Universityof New YorkPress,1987), p. 259.
47 - Hanna, ToDance is Human,p. 133; Eno, The ConfucianCreationof Heaven,
p. 179.
48- Peter Hershock, LiberatingIntimacy(Albany:State Universityof New York
Press,1996), p. 76.
49 - Thereare some problemswith treatingzhi as a faculty,but as an activity,even
if it is not exactly equivalent to choosing and willing, it overlaps with the
activitiesthat fall underthese Westerndescriptions.
50 - Forthe linkbetween "takinga stance (li)"with ritualpractice,see Analects8.8,
16.13, 20.3. Literally,how one stands in any ritualperformanceis also always
a criticalfactorof its excellence.
51 - Xu Shen, AnnotatedShouwenjiezi (Taipei:Yiwen, 1966), p. 598, 12A: 17a.
52 - ZhangDongsun, RationalNatureand Democracy(Taipei:DragonGate, 1946),
p. 118; Wm. Theodore de Bary, The LiberalTraditionin China (Hong Kong:
Chinese UniversityPress,1983); and de Bary,Learningfor Oneself(New York:
Columbia UniversityPress, 1991). Fora more recent discussion of autonomy
and Confucianism,see Joseph Chan, "MoralAutonomy, Civil Liberties,and
Confucianism,"PhilosophyEastand West52 (3) (April2002): 281-310.
53 - Mencius4B14; translationadaptedfrom D. C. Lau,Mencius(London:Penguin
Books, 1970), p. 130.
54 - Mencius2A2; D. C. Lau,Mencius, p. 78.
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