This post is one produced with difficulty. It has challenged me to think so critically for the first time. I'm doing a philosophy module on philosophical thoughts during the China Warring States. The Analects in one text that I attempt to read on my own but its meaning too deep and abstract for me to apprehand. It is a very important Confucian texts of China history. So I take up the module, in the hope of understanding the text better. The lessons have been beneficial. It has certainly facilitated my understanding. Looking forward to it every week. Well, if philo doesn't bore u, go ahead and read it.



The Analects mention about the ideal person everyone should strive to achieve. That is to be gentleman, a man of highest virtue and morally upright. Confucian thoughts of the Analects highlight a lot on Ren (benevolence), and talks about Yi(propriety) and Li(ritual propriety). The three terms are inter-connected and have to be interpreted in terms of taking all of them into account to get a clear picture of a junzi. One general point that all three share in common is that a junzi must possess all these three qualities, as well as other qualities that are not discussed here, to pass off as a junzi.

I would like to use the analogy of the network of the various organs of the human body to illustrate the relationship between the three qualities. Ren like the heart, pumps the blood to the various organs. The blood serves as a transportation of oxygen and nutrients to the whole body. Without this vital supply, the rest of the organs cannot function. Needless to say, the man dies of should the heart stops. At the same time the lungs bring in the oxygen to the blood and the kidney removes toxins from the blood. If one of the organs is to fail in its function, the effects is disastrous to the body and the person may die eventually, that is in our case, the man disqualifies as a junzi without any of these qualities. It is not justified to say the heart is the primary organ of the human body or that the other organs are derived from the heart; Li and Yi are derived from Ren and Ren is the primary virtue.

[Passage 12.1] (Quoted from Readings in classical Chinese philosophy)
Yan Hui asked about Goodness.
The master said, “ Restraining yourself and returning to the rites constitutes Goodness. If one day you managed to restrain yourself and return to the rites,……. Do not look unless it is in accordance with ritual; do not speak unless it is in accordance with ritual; do not move unless it is in accordance with ritual.”

Here, in the passage, it can be interpreted that the way to cultivate Goodness is through the mastering of Li. Yet in passage 3.3 “A man who is not Good- what has he to do with ritual?” highlights the point that Li without Ren is useless. In 15.18, it is mentioned that “the gentleman takes rightness as his substance, puts it into practice by means of ritual”. Yi, carrying out the right actions, has to be judged according to certain standards set and laid down. Li is the answer to Yi. It acts as guideline in aiding a person to carry out his conduct. Acting in accordance to the rites will be correct. In this sense, from Li, one can nurtures his sense of rightness.

A conclusion can be drawn about the inter-relations between Ren and Yi from the connection between Yi and Li. Both Li and Yi have very close relations. Both are sets of rules whereby how one conducts, comprising of actions that is to be done. The only difference is that Li is restricted to the actions and practices of rituals and traditional practices. Without Ren, Li alone is inadequate, same likewise for Yi. Yet at the same time, Li is the way to nurture Ren as mentioned earlier on. The conduct itself eventually can cultivate the goodness of a person. This seems plausible that a person may do good things for all the wrong reasons initially but after receiving all the appreciation from those he had helped, his goals and selfish desires converge to one and is transformed into a genuine heart of goodness. All three shaped each other in a way that we perceive as the outwardly and innate ideals of a junzi.