Ancient Political Thought - Confucius

ANCIENT POLITICAL THOUGHT: Confucius
K
Ong Fuzi (“Master Kong”), who later bacame known in the West
by the Latinized name of Confucius, lived during a turning point
in China’s political history. He lived at the end of China’s Spring
and Autumn period—around 300 years of prosperity and stabilty
during which there was a flowering of art, literature, and in
particular, philosophy. This gave rise to the so-called Hundred
Schools of Thought, in which a wide range of ideas was freely
discussed. In the process, a new calss of thinkers and scholars
emereged, most of them based in the courts of noble families, as
valued advisors.
The influence of these scholars’ new ideas inspired a shake-
up of the structure of Chinese society. The scholars were appointed
on merit rather than due to family connections, and this new Confucius
meritocratic class of scholars was a challenge to the hereditary
Despite his importance in
rulers, who had previously governed with what they believed was a
Chinese history, little is
mandate from Heaven. This caused a series of conflicts as various
known of Confucius’s life. He
rulers vied for control over China. During this era, which became
is traditionally believed to
known as Warning States period, it became increasingly clear that a
have been born in 551 BCE, in
strong system or government was necessary.
Oufu in the state of Lu, China.
The Superior Man His name was originally Kong
Qiu (he earned the honorific
Like most educated, middle-class youn men, Confucius pursued a title “Kong Fuzi” much later),
career as an administrator, and it was in this role that he developed and his family was both
his ideas about the organization of government. Seeing firsthand the respected and comfortably
relationships between the ruler and his ministers and subjects, and well off. Nevertheless, as a
keenly aware of the fragility of the political situation of the time, he set young man he worked as a
about formulating a framework that would enable rulers to govern servant after his father died
justly, based on his own system of moral philosophy. in order to support his family,
Confucius’s moral standpoint was firmly rooted in Chinese and studied in his spare time
convention, nad had at its heart the traditional virtues of loyalty, duty, to join the civil service. He
and respect. These values were personified in the junzi: the bacame an administrator in
“gentleman” or “superior man,” whose virtue would act as an example the Zhou court, where he
to others. Every member of society would be encouraged to aspire to developed his ideas of how a
the junzi’s virtues. In Confucius’s view, human nature is not perfect, state should be governed, but
but it is capable of being changed by the example of sincere virtue. his service was ignored and
Similarly, society can be transformed by the example of fair and he resigned from the position.
benevolent government. He spent the rest pf his life
travelling throughout the
The notion of reciprocity—the idea that just and generous Chinese empire, teaching his
treatment will be a met with a just and generous response—underpins philosophy and theories of
Confucius’s moral philosophy, and it is also a cornerstone of his government. He eventually
political thinking. For a society to be good, its ruler must be the returned to Oufu, where he
embodiment of the virtues he wishes to see in his subjects; in turn, the died in 479 BCE.
people will be inspired through loyalty and respect to emulate those virtues. In the collection of his
teachings and sayings known as Analects, Confucius advises: “If your desire is for good, the people will
be good. The moral character of the ruler is the wind; the moral character of those beneath him is the
grass. When the wind blows, the grass bends.” In order for this idea to work effectively, however, a new
structure for society had to be established, creating a hierarchy that took acount of the new
meritocratic administrative class while repsecting the traditional rule of the noble families. In his
proposal of this might be achieved, Confucius again relied very much on traditional values, modeling
society on relationships within the family. For Confucius, the benevolence of the sovereign and the
loyalty of his subject mirror the loving father and obedient son relationship (a relationship considered
by the Chinese to be of the utmost importance).
Confucius considers that there are five “constant relationships”: sovereign/subject, father/son,
husband/wife, elder brother/younger brother, and friend/friend. In these relationships , he emphasizes
not only the rank of each person according to generation, age, and gender, but the fact that there are
duties on both sides, and that the responsibility of the superior to the inferior in any relationship is just
as important as that of the junior to the senior.
Extending these relationships to the wider society, their reciprocal rights and responsibilities give
society its cohesion, creating an atmosphere of loyalty and respect from each social stratum
toward the next.
Justifying hereditary rule

At the top of Confucius’s hierarchy was the sovereign, who would unquestionably have inherited this
status, and in this respect Confucius shows the conservative nature of his political thinking. Just as
the family provided a model for the relaonships within society, the traditional respect shown to
parents (especially fathers) extended also to ancestors, and this justified the hereditary principle.
Just as a father was considered the head of the family, the state should naturally be ruled over by a
paterfamillias figure—the sovereign.
Neverheless, the sovereign’s position was not unassailable in Confucius’s thinking, and an
unjust or unwise ruler deserved to be opposed or even removed. However, it was in the next layer of
society that Confucius was at his most innovative, advocating a class of scholars to act as ministers,
advisors, and administrators to the ruler. Their position between the sovereign and his subjects was
crucial, since they had a duty of loyalty both to their ruler and the people. They carried a high degree
of responsibility, so it was essential that they be recruited from the most able and educated
candidates, and that anybody serving in public office should be the highest moral character—a junzi.
These ministers were to be appointed by the sovereign in Confucius’s system, so much depended
upon the sovereign’s own good character. Confucius said: “The administration of government lies in
getting proper men. Such men are to be gotten by the means of the ruler’s pwn character. That
character is to be cultivated by his treading on those ways of duty is to be cultivated by the
cherishing of the benevolence.”
The role of these public servants was mainly advisory, and ministers were not only expected to
be well-versed in the administration and structure of Chinese society, but also to have a thorough
knowledge of history, politics, and diplomacy. This was necessary to advise the ruler on matters sucha
s alliances and wars with neighboring states. However, this new class of civil servants also served an
equally important function in preventing the ruler from becoming despotic, because they showed
loyalty to their superior, but also benevolence to their inferiors. Like their ruler, they too had to lead by
example, inspiring both the sovereign and his subjects by their virtue.

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ANCIENT POLITICAL THOUGHT: Confucius

Justifying hereditary rule

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