Foreword v
About the Authorsvii
Chapter 1 Confucius Was Great 1
1.1 His Great Personality 1
1.2 His Humanism2
1.3 First Democratic Educator 4
1.4 An Accomplished Philosophical Man6
1.5 Inauguration of a New Era 7
1.6 The Four Steps9
1.7 Aim at the Dao9
1.8 Build up a Base with Virtue 12
1.9 Rely on Ren14
1.10 Relax in the Arts 15
1.11 Man’s Mind, Nature, and Sentiments19
1.12 Learning, Knowledge, Intuition22
1.13 Action 25
1.14 Have a Sincere Will 27
1.15 Happiness in the Dao 30
1.16 The Middle Way33
1.17 To Be a Sage Inside and a King Outside 41
1.18 People Are Masters 45
1.19 Confucianism and the Idea of Revolution 48
1.20 Great Harmony 50
1.21 Lineage of Confucianism 52
1.22 A Confucianist Century for the World 55

Chapter 2 Philosophy of Life 61
2.1 A Humanist Philosophy 61
2.2 Ren, a Concept Created by Confucius 62
2.3 Righteousness: Its Relationships with Ren,with Courage, with the Li, etc. 69
2.4 Filial Devotion 74
2.5 Trustworthiness 78
2.6 Loyalty and Empathy80
2.7 Public Spirit and Straightforwardness 83
2.8 Respect and Sincerity 85
2.9 Calmness and Firmness 88
2.10 Thrift, Modesty, and Willingness to Yield 90
2.11 Seeing a Man’s Merit Through His Faults 93
2.12 Overcoming One’s Self in Order to Get Back to the Li 95

Chapter 3 Philosophy of Education 99
3.1 The Goal of Education 99
3.2 The Systems of Education 101
3.3 Equality of Opportunity in Education a New Trend in the 20th Century103
3.4 National Homogeneity Through Education 103
3.5 Upholding Man’s Virtuous Nature105
3.6 Learning about the Dao Through Inquiry and Practice 107
3.7 Grasping the Vast and Big 110
3.8 Exhausting the Subtle and Abstruse 113
3.9 Textbooks and Curricula 118
3.10 Methods of Instruction 120
3.11 The Way of a Teacher 128
3.12 Friends as Teachers 131
3.13 Giving Education to More People 133
3.14 Character-Building136

Chapter 4 Political Philosophy 139
4.1 The People Are Important139
4.2 Heaven’s Mandate Is Revocable 140
4.3 Notions of Liberty and Equality 141
4.4 Governing a Country with the Li 143
4.5 Rectifying the Names 144
4.6 Politics and Education 147
4.7 Politics and Ethics 149
4.8 Administration by the Elite 151
4.9 The Way of a Statesman 153
4.10 Secrets of Efficiency 156
4.11 The Problem of Public Opinion159
4.12 Self-Cultivation 160
4.13 Regulation of the Family161
4.14 Self-Government on the Xiang Level 163
4.15 How to Govern a Whole Country164
4.16 Confucianism and Dr. Sun’s Three Principles 166
4.17 Pacification of the World 168
4.18 Da-tong (Great Harmony) 169

Chapter 5 Philosophy of Law 171
5.1 The Place of Law in Chinese Culture 171
5.2 The Li versus the Law 173
5.3 The Three Classics on the Li174
5.4 Some Stimulating Comments on the Li 178
5.5 The Li and the Natural Law179
5.6 The Writing and Publication of the Law 180
5.7 Applications of the Law 183
5.8 Judges 187
5.9 The Legalists188
5.10 Some Principles in Chinese Law 190
5.11 The Chinese Legal System192

Chapter 6 Philosophy of Art193
6.1 A Country Dedicated to the Li and the Yue 193
6.2 Harmony, the Spirit of the Yue 194
6.3 Confucius the Artist 196
6.4 Songs and Dances198
6.5 Poetics 199
6.6 Diction in Prose201
6.7 A Further Discussion on Music202
6.8 Masters of the Yue 204
6.9 Musical Instruments 206
6.10 A Further Discussion on the Dance 207
6.11 Painting 209
6.12 Physical Culture210
6.13 Living with Nature 210
6.14 Aesthetics and Education 212

Chapter 7 Philosophy of Change and of History 215
7.1 Theories and Facts 215
7.2 The Book of Changes : Its Own History 217
7.3 The Yin and the Yang, the Ultimate Being, and the Ultimate Nothingness 222
7.4 Change, No-Change, Simplicity225
7.5 The Virtue of Modesty 228
7.6 Rising up from Trouble 230
7.7 Lessons from The Book of Documents 233
7.8 An Interpretation of History 234
7.9 Chun-qiu 236
7.10 Using the Right Words 237
7.11 Upholding National Unity 239
7.12 Curbing the Barbarians 241
7.13 The Three Commentaries of the Chun-qiu 242
7.14 A Great Tradition: Historians’ Integrity 243

Chapter 8 Military Philosophy 247
8.1 Confucius Was a Knight 247
8.2 Preparedness250
8.3 Defense Through Virtue251
8.4 A Ren Man Can Never Be Defeated 252
8.5 Using Kindness to Put an End to Troubles254
8.6 A Ren Man Has to Resist Aggression 255
8.7 Wang Yi, a Boy Who Died for Lu 256
8.8 Ran Qiu, Scholar-soldier256
8.9 Zi-gong, an Adroit Diplomat258
8.10 Cautiousness and Careful Planning 259
8.11 Military Organization During the Middle Zhou 261
8.12 A Pact for Permanent Peace 264

Chapter 9 Religious Philosophy 267
9.1 Heaven’s Dao267
9.2 Tian 268
9.3 The Orders from Heaven 271
9.4 Heaven and Man Are One 273
9.5 Reverence for Heaven and Love for Man 275
9.6 Filial Piety 276
9.7 Life and Death279
9.8 Sacrificial Ceremonies 280
9.9 The Catholic Appraisal of China’s Religious Tradition 283
9.10 Confucius Prayed 284
9.11 Is Confucianism a Religion286
9.12 The Confucianist Motto: Be Sincere 288

Chapter 10 The Model Types of Men by Confucian Standards 291
10.1 Perfection Was the Aim 291
10.2 The Ru (儒), Scholar with a Principle 292
10.3 The Good Men, the Accomplished Men, and the Great Men 294
10.4 The Shi (士), Knight-Scholar with a Purpose 296
10.5 The Jun-zi (君子), Perfect Gentlemen 298
10.6 The Xian-men (贤人), the Worthy Ones 300
10.7 The Sheng-men (圣人), the Sages301
10.8 The Sages in Legendary Times303
10.9 The Five Ren-men (仁人) of Shang 304
10.10 The Sages and the Xian-men of Early Zhou 305
10.11 Guan Zhong and Zi-chan 306
10.12 Liu-xia Hui and Qu Bo-yu 307

Chapter 11 The Disciples of Confucius 309
11.1 The Number of Disciples 309
11.2 Their Geographical Origins 310
11.3 Their Years of Birth 313
11.4 The Ten Disciples with Four Kinds of Specialties 315
11.5 Yan Yuan 316
11.6 Min Zi-qian, Ran Bo-niu, and Zhong-gong 318
11.7 Zai Wo and Zi-gong 320
11.8 Ran You and Zi-lu323
11.9 Zi-you 326
11.10 Zi-xia 327
11.11 Zeng Shen 329
11.12 Zi-zhang 330
11.13 Some Other Disciples 331
11.14 Epilogue 334

Chapter 12 Confucianist Lineage337
12.1 A Main Stream in Chinese Cultural History 337
12.2 Beginnings of Confucianism 337
12.3 The Spread of Confucianism 339
12.4 Confucianism During the Warring States Periods 340
12.5 Confucianism During the Han Dynasty 342
12.6 Confucianism During the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties 346
12.7 Confucianism During the Sui Dynasty 347
12.8 Confucianism During the Tang Dynasty 348
12.9 Confucianism During the Northern Song Dynasty 350
12.10 Confucianism During the Southern Song Dynasty 353
12.11 Confucianism During the Yuan Dynasty 357
12.12 Confucianism During the Ming Dynasty 358
12.13 Confucianism During the Qing Dynasty 361

Chapter 13 Classics and Memorials365
13.1 Confucius the Educator and Confucius the Author 365
13.2 The Book of Changes 367
13.3 The Book of Songs 371
13.4 The Book of Documents 373
13.5 The Chun-qiu and Its Three Commentaries 376
13.6 The Three Classics on the Li378
13.7 The Xiao-jing381
13.8 The Four Books 382
13.9 The Great Learning 383
13.10 The Analects 385
13.11 The Mencius386
13.12 The Doctrine of the Mean 387
13.13 Evaluation of Ancient Texts 389
13.14 The Confucian Temple and the Confucian Forest at Qufu392
13.15 Honors and Ceremonials Conferred on Confucius and the Outstanding Confucianists395
13.16 Birthday of Confucius and Teachers’ Day 396

Chapter 14 Confucianism in Eastern Nations 399
14.1 Confucianism and Eastern Culture 399
14.2 Cultural Contacts Between China and Korea 402
14.3 Silla and Its Flower Youths 403
14.4 Confucianism in Koryo 404
14.5 Confucianism in Yi’s Chao-xian405
14.6 Korea’s Achievements in Music406
14.7 Cultural Contacts Between China and Japan 407
14.8 Confucianism in Japan Prior to the Sui and the Tang Dynasties 408
14.9 Confucianism in Japan During the Sui and the Tang Dynasties 410
14.10 Confucianism in Japan from the Song Dynasty to the Ming Dynasty 413
14.11 Zhu Shun-shui’s Academic Activities in Japan 415
14.12 Confucianism in Contemporary Japan 417
14.13 The Confucian Temple at Yushima and the Shibun Kai 419
14.14 The Tenri University 421
14.15 Confucianism in Ryukyu 422
14.16 Confucianism in Vietnam 424

Chapter 15 Confucian Studies in Western Countries 427
15.1 Confucianism and Western Culture 427
15.2 The Early Catholic Missionaries in China 428
15.3 Translations of the Confucian Classics by Catholic Missionaries and Their Other Writings Concerning China 430
15.4 G. W. Leibnitz 433
15.5 Voltaire 436
15.6 Confucian Studies in England from Johnson to Toynbee 438
15.7 Confucian Studies in Italy, Spain, Portugal, the Netherlands, and Sweden 441
15.8 Confucian Studies in the United States 443

Chapter 16 The Period of the Spring and Autumn:A General Survey 449
16.1 The Zeitgeist of the Period of the Spring and Autumn 449
16.2 Major Events During this Period: A Very Brief Chronology453
16.3 Regions and States 454
16.4 Cultural Assimilation and Territorial Expansion 456
16.5 Geographical Distribution of 42 Famous Persons 458
16.6 Government by the Li 460
16.7 Guan Zhong 461
16.8 Zi-chan 462
16.9 Lao-zi 464
16.10 The Most Important Contributions Made by Confucius 466
16.11 The Great Synthesizer, the Most Sagely Sage, and the Revered Teacher 473
16.12 Spread of Confucian Teachings to Other Parts of the World 474
Appendix 475
Bibliography 483
1. Books in Western Languages 483
2. Books in Chinese 484
Index487

Preface
Foreword
I dedicate this book to the youth in China and elsewhere. They deserve more comprehensive information about the precepts of Confucius than is available so far. There are scholarly works by sinologues, each covering one or several aspects of Confucianism. A survey in more general terms like this one may perhaps fill a need.
The Chinese original of this book has been received with enthu- siasm in Hong Kong and Taiwan of China, Singapore, and Malaysia. Friends well-versed in the Korean and the Japanese languages are engaged in translating it. This English version painstakingly undertaken by Professor Orient Lee, I am sure, will enrich the young people in the West with the wisdom of our Sage.
Chang Chi-yun
Oct. 31, 1980