Confucianism and the Concept of the Ideal Society
Ultimately, the goal of
Confucianism is to create well-ordered human communities where chaos,
cruelty and selfishness are absent. To this end, observance of propriety, along with
adherence to the Three Universal Virtues and the Nine Rules constitute the foundations of
Confucian societies.
The Three Universal Virtues
The Three Universal Virtues are love, wisdom, and courage,
and the appropriate expression of these qualities. The Three Virtues are cultivated through
education, self-discipline and the inculcation of the sense of shame.
The Nine Rules
For kings and commoners alike, the Nine Rulesnecessary for social harmony include
on-going self-cultivation, honoring and seeking the company of honorable people, loving
and loving one's one relations as well as others. For those in leadership positions,
the Confucian ethic urges identification with collective good,
treating the common people or social inferiors as one's own children, promoting all the useful arts
and crafts, being kind to strangers and those outside one's own community,
and taking an interest in world affairs.
The pivotal factor in the Three Virtues and Nine Rules is that emphasis is placed
on collective good rather than on individual needs or preferences. Even the stress on
the regular need for what we term "soul searching" and self-cultivation is made in the interest of
bringing about societal harmony and well-being.
The essence of Confucius prescriptive for ordered human societies is perhaps best exemplified in the following
excerpt from the Book of Rites (Li Chi):
"Always and in everything let there be reverence;
with the deportment grave as when one is thinking,
and with speech composed and definite.
This will make the people tranquil.
Pride should not be allowed to grow;
the desires should not be indulged;
the will should not be gratified to the full;
pleasure should not be carried to excess.
Men of talents and virtue can be familiar with others
and yet respect them;
can stand in awe of others and yet love them.
They love others and yet acknowledge the evil that is in them.
They accumulate and yet are able to part with it;
they rest in what gives them satisfaction
and yet can seek satisfaction elsewhere.
When you find wealth within your reach,
do not get it by improper means;
when you meet with calamity,
do not escape from it by improper means.
Do not seek for victory in small contentions;
do not seek for more than your proper share.
Do not positively affirm what you have doubts about;
and do not let what you say appear as your own view"
Confucianism and the Family
Confucianism places a great deal of emphasis on harmony in the family. The family is regarded as the micorcosm of
the larger world and children are taught the importance of collectivism in preparation for their adult roles
in the greater society. Filial piety and the veneration of ancestors are the starting points for ethical reflection
and the means of grounding each person in the cultivation of an ordered, harmonious society. Obedience to parents and elders,
cultivation of appropriate behaviors toward different members of the family, and unstinting work in the service of family,
community and nation are all part of the Confucian ethic. As Confucianism spread
throughout Asia the cultural practices associated with
the principle tenets became deeply infused into the national cultrues of Japan, Korea, and Southeast Asia
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