Life and Leisure

An ancient teaching with a modern role to play

By Fu Yu (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-09-27 17:07

Editor's note: Tu Weiming, 70, is a Confucian philosopher and has been a professor of Chinese history and philosophy and Confucian studies at Harvard University since 1981. This year he returned to Beijing to establish the Institute for Advanced Studies in Humanities at Peking University to study Confucianism in the modern age.

Tu argues that all five core values in the Confucian tradition--humanity, righteousness, propriety, wisdom and trust are relevant as references for universal ethics. He believes Confucian philosophy will help China develop a sense of responsibility for the global community.

He shared his view on the global significance of Confucianism with China Daily reporter Fu Yu.

Q: Some scholars equate Confucianism and other Asian cultures with authoritarianism, collectivism and no respect for the individual. What's your view?

A: The Analects by Confucius represents an attempt to preserve Confucius' teachings about man's proper relationship to himself, his community, the state and the natural world.

I do not equate Confucian polity with authoritarianism. I certainly do not accept the view that by stressing the importance of the group, Confucian ethics fails to account for the dignity of the individual.

Q: So, in your view, Confucianism is misunderstood in the United States?

A: Despite its place as a cornerstone of Chinese social thought, The Analects has achieved only a modest reputation in the West. Max Weber, the late 19th-century German sociologist and economist, said The Analects praises the value of submission for the sake of established social order and lacks the developed idea of the inner self revealed in the world's great philosophical works.

Thus, Confucian ideals have been trivialized and blurred.

I admit that Confucianism is not perfect. Some of its negative features are outdated, like the three obediences (to father before marriage, to husband after marriage and to son after the death of one's husband) and the four virtues (morality, proper speech, modest manner and diligent needlework). Those are outdated beliefs.

But we should not compare the worst of the worst of Chinese culture with the best of the best of American culture.

Unless you have some deeper appreciation of your own culture, you will not learn important philosophical and spiritual lessons from outside.

Q: It's been said that American values have been used universally to judge other cultures. What is your view?

A: The underlying values in the US, such as liberty, rationality, human rights and due process of law as well as the dignity, independence and autonomy of the individual, are widely recognized as universal values. The rhetoric of Enlightenment philosophy, suggesting that there is only one option for the future of the human community, is very persuasive.

But I think it is impractical and dangerous to establish a world order with only one set of values and it is likely to generate tension and conflict, which is detrimental to international peace.

Liberty without justice, rationality without sympathy, legality without civility, rights without responsibility, and individual dignity without social solidarity cannot bring about an enduring world order nurtured by a richly textured culture of peace.

However, the five core values - humanity, righteousness, propriety, wisdom and trust in the Confucian tradition - are relevant as reference for universal ethics.

Q: Can you explain those references further?

A: Let me give you an example. Why is American freedom an important value? Is it the most appropriate value to deal with societal problems? In the US, for example, people believe you are free, they believe in the free market, that it will lead to some people becoming rich but some people becoming losers. If the cake becomes big, people still get a larger part than before, even though they have different parts of the pie. However, if the pie is not getting bigger, or maybe shrinking, a lot of people still get a lot of money.

In one idea of Confucianism and humanity, the people who are more influential and powerful, and have more access to material goods, ought to be more obligated for the wellbeing of the society. For example, a CEO can earn millions of dollars each year, but a poor person is homeless. From the US point of view, the CEO has no obligation to help the homeless. If the person is like Bill Gates, that is good. But if he changes his mind and decides he is not going to give any money to anyone, nobody will condemn him because that is his right.

But in Confucian ideals, it is unacceptable. That is why there is so much pressure on China today to become more equitable. The government will help everyone. I hope that the people who are super rich will have more responsibility to society as well.

Q: What is the explanation of individualism in Confucian humanism?

A: There is a different explanation of individualism in Confucian humanism. Confucianism advocates that the person is always the center of the relationship and the person is not an isolated individual. Individualism is always misunderstood as egoism and selfishness because individualism in the West is linked to human rights and the dignity of individualism. In China, that element is not greatly emphasized. You have to negotiate with self-cultivation, social harmony.

The Great Learning says that unless you cultivate yourself, you will not be able to run a family, and unless you can run a family you will not be able to govern a state, and unless you can govern a state you can not expect the world to become peaceful.

So self-cultivation is not an attempt at egoism. You need to cultivate yourself and at the same time you need to go beyond egoism. You need to regulate the family to find warmth, but you need to go beyond the family. You need to really love your community and show your respect.

Q: In your view, how can Confucian thought bring fresh ideas to improve the state of the world?

A: There is a right way in Confucian thought to settle disputes and establish dialogue. Confucians believe "do not do to others what you would not have others do to you" is the golden rule for dialogue. There is a debate in the United Nations on how to deal with the dialogue between different cultures.

One is "Do to others what you would have others do to you" and the other one is "do not do to others what you would not have others do to you". The latter is Confucian and the first one is Christian.

For the Confucians, we use the principle of "Do not do to others what you would not have others do to you", which is a kind of reciprocity. It means forgiveness and considering kindness to others.

Human rights, individuality and law come from the West, but they have become globally significant. Confucianism is multicultural and cross-cultural because it is not just Chinese, it is also Korean, Japanese and Vietnamese.

The Confucian ideas start locally but have global significance. He proposes human beings should possess a shared historical memory and that we are metaphysical beings concerned with the ultimate meaning of life.

It is in this sense that Confucian humanism, with the right emphasis on humanity, righteousness, propriety, wisdom and trust can engage in a fruitful dialogue with the Western traditions of liberty, rationality, due process of law, human rights and dignity of the individual.