AS 201 Confucianism:

Some KEY Terms as discussed by Ames and Rosemont in their section, "The Chinese Lexicon"

1. Dao 道 = a Path, a Way of Becoming Fully Human

2. Ren 仁 = "Authoritative Conduct" - formerly "Good," "Goodness," "Humane"

3. Li 禮 = "Observing Ritual Propriety" formerly Rites, Ritual practice, etc.

4. Xin 信 = "Making Good on One's word," or being "Trustworthy"

5. Yi 義 = "Appropriate," "Fitting"; formerly Moral, Right

6. Xiao 孝 = Filial Piety　

7. Xin 心 = "Heart and Mind"

8. 政 = "Governing Properly"　

9. Zheng 正 = "Proper Conduct"

10. Zhi 智 = "Realize," Know, "Make it Real"

11. De 徳 = "Excellence" (at becoming one's own person) - formely "Virtue, Power, Charisma, etc.

12. Shan 善 = Good, "Truly Adept"

13. Wen 文 = Written inscription, "Culture," a patterned regularity defining both nature and human culture.

14. Zhong 忠 = "Doing One's Utmost"　

15. Shu 恕 = "Putting Oneself in the Other's Place" = Principle of Reciprocity

16. Shi 士 = "Scholar Apprentice" (knight) one who is on the "road" or "Way."　

17. Junzi 君子 = "Exemplary Person," Superior or Noble Person; literally, Prince's son

18. Shengren 聖人 = Sage

There is a hierarchy here:

--The Shi 士 has taken up the burden of becoming a junzi 君子; one who seeks to manifest Ren 仁, to become a 仁人, i.e., steeped in Poetry, History, Li, the Rites or Rituals; listens to, plays and immerses in Music, performs Public Service.

-- The Junzi 君子 is farther along the same Path; if the Shi 士 does, the junzi 君子 IS. Able to function with grace, skill, dignity and appears to do so effortlessly. Junzi 君子 are rare, few and far between. In the Junzi 君子's hands, the Rites, Ritual, Li 禮, have become reauthorized, energized with efficacy, and they help to author the Dao 道 of humankind.

-- But the Sage, the Shengren 聖人, is rarer still. Confucius denies that he is one; he won't even claim to being a junzi 君子. A Shengren 聖人 is a virtuoso -- walking the path from start to finish, the Sage is a fully realized human being. A junzi 君子 is nearly so but the Sage is the culmination of an engaged political and spiritual life. They seem to feel and experience customs, rituals, and traditions holistically, intuitively, defining and integrating the human community, incorporating past and present. The Sage, the Shengren 聖人, has an "awareness" so can be in the present moment and exceed or transcend it at the same time. The Sage's light shines across generations, serves humankind as a source of cultural nourishment and inspiration. The Sage leads the way of the human being, rendao 道人. The Sage, Shengren 聖人, has traveled, appropriated and enlarged a longer stretch of the Road (道) than the Shi 士 or the junzi 君子, and has provided signposts for others to follow. The Shengren 聖人 understands Ritual Propriety and Authoritative Conduct with clarity. Like Jesus, the Sage embodies Humanity in its highest form.

 

Instructions