The Analects of Confucius

Discuss the concept of friend (友）
Confucius sees friendship as the only relationship, out of the 5 social relationships discussed in the Wu Lun, which is built on equality. The other 4 social relationships are involved with the preservation of China as a state-family or “Guojia”, and denote hierarchy which makes them binding relationships of commitment. In friendship, there is also a mutual obligatory bond of devotion towards one another.. . In chapter 2 verse 22 of the Analects, it says that man without trustworthiness would not be able to accomplish greater things. This suggests that friendship is certainly built on the basic principle of trust. According to the Analects, Chapter 16 verse 4, three types of friends are seen as beneficial. Firstly, friends who are upright, magnanimous and have principles in social moral, could provide you courage when you are flinching or help you to make decisive decision when you are hesitant, thus preventing you from going to a devious path. Secondly, tolerant and forgiving friends are also seen as worthy friends. Being tolerant and forgiving is a profound virtue whereby it is a kind of compassion born of genuine concern. For example, when a careless mistake is made or an injury is being inflicted by others to you, we should always forgive the other party because the impact of harsh approach and criticism will not be as lasting as tolerance and forgiveness. This act could enhance repentance thus supplement strength and spontaneous reflection on the other party on whether his action is right or wrong. Thirdly having a knowledgeable and well informed pal is valuable. During the pre-Qin period whereby mass media and written records are not that wide spread, making friend is essential. The book of knowledge and experience that a friend gained can become your knowledge and experience thus an exchange of learning process occurs. For example, if you happened to face a problem, get a friend to let him advised you based on his knowledge and experience so as to give you informed decision. He also clearly shared about values that one should possess in friendship, namely equality (Chapter 1 verse 8), respect (Chapter 5 verse 17), forgiveness (Chapter 5 verse 26) and faithfulness (chapter 23. verse ?) which are values that are essential in the concept of friend.

Based on Analects, what kind of person was Confucius? Describe your image of Confucius.
Through the Analects, he is seen as a law abiding, moral inculcating and will of heaven kind of person. He would most probably be a very well-mannered man who possesses a high moral standard and a strong sense of self-awareness. One of his goals through his teaching is to educate man to be a “Junzi”, a superior man. He noted down observations he saw, correcting himself to do what is right and influencing others to do likewise. In addition, he is a forgiving person who adopted a peaceful and soft approach to resolve conflict. He strongly believed teaching and counselling as the way to correct another’s behaviour and problem solving, as amplify in Chapter 2 verse 3. In the Analects, not once did he say that reprimanding would work. On the contrary, he believed that reproof causes relationship to distant.
On the hindsight, he was idealistic and one that seeks perfection in life because some verses in the Analects elaborated on how he should do things like eat, dress, talk and perhaps how he should portray himself are proofs of his self imposed rules which could provide explanations on why he is a quasi idealistic person. His humility is shown in chapter 5 verse 8, whereby he often accepted ideas from his students even when they are correcting him. In that analect, a man by the named of Yong asked him on his opinion about a man’s qualification as a ruler, and he gave a brief approval on it. As he went through the different walks of life, he constantly checked on himself, imposing rules and regulations upon himself to develop himself to be a Junzi. One of his distinguished qualities is the passion to learn which make him different from the rest of his peers as magnify in Chapter 5 verse 27. Not only is he well learned in moral values, he is definitely well informed and well assimilated in the cultural aspect of ancient china in which he emphasize on “liu yi” (the six classic art). A man who perfect and mastered the six classic arts is seen as the paragon of a Junzi. As a result, although he was a man of great wisdom and knowledge, he was considered to be irrelevant in his era which legalism is much prevailed due to the fact that dealing enemies with soft approach is not that practical. His approach of analogy and maxim to explain his ideas is clearly cast aside by the totalitarian mentality of rulers during that period of time.

Which term and terms do you think are the most important in Confucius’ thought?
Confucianism focuses primarily on human behaviour, conduct and the attainment of peace. Confucian fundamental ideas are based on 3 basic concepts of Ren, Junzi and Li. Morality and empathy are the emphasis of Ren, acting as the basis of all human interaction. By achieving Ren, someone could achieve the quintessence of a Junzi, who is considered Confucian’s ideal being. The concept of Junzi is of one who has become a superior person through education, self-cultivation, right-thinking, and right-acting. Ren is most important because Confucian concept of Ren is different from the concept of Mohism. The concept of Confucian’s Ren is Ren Ai, whereby you love the ones close to you before loving others. On other hand, Mohism’s concept of Ren is Jian Ai whereby everyone is equal before heaven. Equality and impartiality are his key concept. This could be illustrated in the concept of a cake, in which if there is only one cake and both parents and neighbour are starving. According to Mohism’s Jian Ai, we should give the cake equality among both of them conversely in Confucian’s Ren Ai, we should give more to our parents because they are much closer to us than our neighbours.
Lastly, Confucius emphasized etiquette, defined as Li, which embodies aspects of life such as scrupulous everyday manners and all formalities of social interaction. These principles culminate in the 5 Constant Relationships, which define a person's proper conduct in society: parent and child, husband and wife, elder sibling and younger sibling, elder friend and younger friend, ruler and subject. Each person in Confucian society thus has a certain responsibility and accountability for his/her own actions as they are defined by these 5 Constant Relationships

The role of women in analect
In the Confucius’ era, women are often seen as submissive, loyal and often look down upon. In chapter 16 verse 7, a Junzi should guard himself against the attraction of feminine beauty, in chapter 9 verse 17, he states that Confucian yet to see a man as devoted to virtue as to beauty. In chapter 17 verse 25, women and xiao ren are often described as not being humble and difficult to deal with. In all these contacts, it is clearly seen that women are treated as less significant, completely substandard to the male equivalent. In the traditional Confucian teaching, the roles of manner and filial piety are often towards men and the approach in which men must pay due respect to parents absolutely. This concept is different for women because they are required to not just be filial to her parents but to her parents in law, spouse, male close relatives and even to her own blood relation sons. This act of suppression is completely undermining the function of women during pro Confucius period. This suppress view of women often prevent women to have freedom to pursue their own goals in life. Even after death of husbands, women are seen as bounded to their dead husbands to the law of filial piety so as to remain loyal to him by either living life as a widow or commit suicide. During those days, committing suicide is seen as an epitome form of filial piety to their husbands. With this kind mentality within the Confucius community, a woman’s place is centered on home and family. In addition to that, women are seen as child bearers and homemaker thus getting involved with manly activities like being a warrior, getting involved in imperial politics or going out to work are seen as taboo. Confucian often inculcates patriarchal doctrine instead of a matriarchal affair as seen during the tribal era of china. In lun yu, there are hardly any mentions about women specifically even if they do it is always negative instead it speaks of the role of sons, fathers, ministers, official, emperors who are part of the alpha male society. By not discussing about women at all it take away them of any value they may have possessed. I can conclude that during Confucian’s era, liberalization of women are not well accepted and intellectual discourses are seen as a form of disloyalty, assertive and against Confucius’s patriarchal ideas.

References and Citation
1.Analects by Confucius, Thomas croft (Editor), William E. Soothil (Translator), Dover publications, 128pp, Thrift Edition Ser.
2.Chapter 2 verse 22: Confucius said: “I know not what a man without trustworthiness may accomplish. Be it large or small, how could a carriage move without its yoke-bar?”
3.Chapter 1 verse 8: "Have no friends not equal to yourself.”
4.Chapter 5 verse 17: "Yen P'ing knew well how to maintain friendly intercourse. The acquaintance might be long, but he showed the same respect as at first."
5.Chapter 5 verse 26: “Tsze-lu said, "I should like, having chariots and horses, and light fur clothes, to share them with my friends, and though they should spoil them, I would not be displeased."
6.Chapter 23 verse: “Tsze-kung asked about friendship. The Master said, ‘Faithfully admonish your friend, and skillfully lead him on. If you find him impracticable, stop. Do not disgrace yourself.’ "
7.Chapter 16 verse 4: Confucius said: “There are three types of friends that you can benefit from, and there are three types of friend that can harm you. Befriend the righteous, honest and knowledgeable and there would be benefits. Befriend the unscrupulous, good at pleasing, and those that sweet talk people and there would be harm”.
8.Chapter 2 verse 3: Confucius said: "If you govern the people legalistically and control them by punishment, they will avoid crime, but have no personal sense of shame. If you govern them by means of virtue and control them with propriety, they will gain their own sense of shame, and thus correct themselves
9.Chapter 5 verse 8: Confucius, speaking to Tzu Kung said, "Who is superior, you or Hui?" Tzu Kung answered, saying: "How could I compare myself to Hui? He hears one point and understands the whole thing. I hear one point and understand another." Confucius said, "You are not equal to him; you are right, you are not equal to him.")
10.Chapter 5 verse 27: Confucius said: "In a hamlet of ten families there must be someone as loyal and trustworthy as I. But I doubt there will be someone as fond of study.")
11.Chapter 16 verse 7: Confucius said: “there are 3 things the gentleman should guard against in youth when the blood and chi are still unsettled, he should guard against the attraction of feminine beauty.
12.Chapter 9 verse 17: Confucius said: “I have yet to meet the man who is as devoted to virtue as beauty”
13.Chapter 17 verse 25: Confucius said: “only women and xiao ren are difficult to handle. Be close to them and they are not humble, keep them at arm’s length and they complain”
14.Chapter 5 verse 11: Tzu kung (disciple) said: “what I don’t want done to me, I don’t want to do to others. “Confucius said, Tz’u, you have not yet gotten to this level.”
15.Chapter 15 verse 23: Confucius said: “Do not do unto others what you would not want them do unto you”
16.Fairbank, John King, China, A New History, (Cambridge: Harvard University Press,1992)