AS 201 Confucianism:
Some KEY Terms as discussed by Ames and Rosemont in their section, "The Chinese Lexicon":
We have basically 15 entries here so how about
5 groups of 3 students, each group taking on 3 entries?
1-3
1. Dao 道
2. Tian 天
3. Ren 仁
4-6
4. Li 禮
Also two related terms:
Zheng 政
Zheng 正
Both share the character 正 which has many meanings: right, correct, just.
Add an additional element and the basic meaning of 政 is to govern or government
5. Xin 信
6. Yi 義
7-9
7. Zhi 智
8. Xin 心
9. He 和
10-12
10. De 徳
11. Shan 善
12. Wen 文
13-15
13. Xiao 孝
14. Zhong 忠 and
Shu 恕
15. Three Key Types of Persons are discussed:
i. Shi 士
ii. Junzi 君子
iii. Shengren 聖人
What is the relationship among these three terms?
1. Dao 道 = a Path, a Way of Becoming Fully Human
2. Tian 天 = Heaven
3. Ren 仁 = "Authoritative Conduct" - formerly "Good," "Goodness," "Humane"
4. Li 禮 = "Observing Ritual Propriety" formerly Rites, Ritual practice, etc.
Also two related terms:
Zheng 政 = "Governing Properly"
Zheng 正 = "Proper Conduct"
Both share the character 正 which has many meanings: right, correct, just.
Add an additional element and the basic meaning of 政 is to govern or government
5. Xin 信 = "Making Good on One's word," or being "Trustworthy"
6. Yi 義 = "Appropriate," "Fitting"; formerly Moral, Right
7. Zhi 智 = "Realize," Know, "Make it Real"
8. Xin 心 = "Heart and Mind"
9. He 和 = Harmony
10. De 徳 = "Excellence" (at becoming one's own person) - formely "Virtue, Power, Charisma," etc.
11. Shan 善 = Good, "Truly Adept"
12. Wen 文 = Written inscription, "Culture," a patterned regularity defining both nature and human culture.
13. Xiao 孝 = Filial Piety
14. Zhong 忠 = "Doing One's Utmost"; and
Shu 恕 = "Putting Oneself on the Other's Place" = Principle of Reciprocity
15. Three Key Types of Persons are discussed:
i. Shi 士 = "Scholar Apprentice" (knight) one who is on the "Road" or "Way."
ii. Junzi 君子 = "Exemplary Person," Superior or Noble Person; literally, Prince's son
iii. Shengren 聖人 = Sage
What is the relationship among these three terms?
We can think of it as hierarchical:
--The Shi 士 or "Scholar," 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.
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Some examples of language found in the Daodejing about "Sages":
Ch. 2
"The Sages keep to service that does not entail coercion (wuwei, 無為).
The Sages develop things but do not initiate them,
They act on behalf of things but do not lay any claim to them,
They see things through to fruition but do not take credit for them." (80)
Ch. 3
"Ever teaching the common people to be unprincipled in their knowing (wuzhi, 無知)
And objectless in their desires (wuyu, 無欲) They keep the hawkers of knowledge at bay.
It is simply in doing things noncoercively (wuwei, 無為)
That everything is governed properly." (82)
Ch. 7
"Sages withdraw their persons from contention yet find themselves out in front,
Put their own persons out of mind yet find themselves taken care of.
Isn't it simply because they are unselfish (無私) that they can satisfy their own needs?" (86)
Ch. 22
"The Sages grasp Oneness...
Those who are not self-promoting are distinguished,
Those who do not show off shine
Those who do not brag have lots to show, Those who are not self-important are enduring.
It is only because they do not contend (不争) That none are able to contend with them." (110)
Ch. 81
"The Sages do not accumulate things,
Yet the more they have done for others,
The more they have gained themsleves;
The more they have given to others,
The more they have gotten themselves.
Thus, the way of Tian (天) is to benefit without harming;
The way of the Sages is to do without contending (不争)." (204)
Instructions