confucius 哲學一愛 493031228 盧品青

Confucius (551~479 BC)

Question I: Who is Confucius? What does he do?
Pool: Hello, Confucius. I'm Pool, a philosophy student. It's a great honor to meet you in person.
Confucius: Hello, Pool, nice to meet you, too. Just who is this Confucius you're talking about?
Pool: I'm talking to you, of course. YOU are Confucius, the greatest philosopher of Chinese.
Confucius: The greatest philosopher, I like that sounds! But Con...fu...cius...? What is that? Why is that?
Pool: It happens to be your English name, translated from your Chinese name "Kung-futze".
Confucius: What a poor pronunciation! I refuse to be called that!
Pool: I'm sorry, master Kung, it has been decided by the public. You have to accept it whether you like it or not.
Confucius: Very well then, we'll discuss it later.
Pool: Good, here goes our first question: Who are you and what do you do?
Confucius: My name is Kung-chiou, the second son of Kung-her. Kung-her is my father, he was a soldier of Lu, who died when I was a kid. My mother is Yen, she was pretty young, and she raised me by herself. I was born in a chaotic ages, I saw wars everyday, I saw dead people everywhere. Then I wanted to be a politician, for the social harmony and peace.
Pool: Nice, a politician, have you made it?
Confucius: Yes, I did. I was a minister of Lu, but I quit in the end.
Pool: You quit? Why?
Confucius: Even a good politician can't save the world, I stopped to find a way to cure the ill of the society. What made the whole country ill? What made people suffer?
Pool: Have you found anything?
Confucius: People have to do the "right things". If everybody is nice and friendly, we'll have a happier country for sure.
Pool: I'd like to know more about these right things.
Confucius: It's about Jen, Yi, Shu, and so on.

Question II: Jen, Shu, and Yi.
Pool: OK, one at a time. What is Jen exactly?
Confucius: Jen means mercy, fairness; it's usually mentioned with Shu. Jen tells us what we should do, Shu is like to be our goal.
Pool: What does Jen tell us to do?
Confucius: I say "if you don't like people do it to you, then you shouldn't do it to others". For example, you don't like to be cheated, then you shouldn't cheat others. In short, treat others like you treat yourself. That's Shu.
Pool: Jesus said "love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you", is it Jen?
Confucius: That sounds ridiculous. Jen is fairness, if you love and bless your enemies, what do you do to your friends? If you love everyone, then love has no meaning. You should treat your enemies justly, and love your friends. That is Jen.
Pool: I see. How about "Think more for others"?
Confucius: Good point.
Pool: So I take it Jen is some kind of public virtue?
Confucius: Yes, you're almost there. Public Virtue, I like this word!
Pool: And what about Yi?
Confucius: Yi is more understandable than Jen. It means justice, righteousness, and duty. If you wish to be a great man, the Yi will be your pilot and lighthouse, wherever Yi goes, you shall follow. Keep Yi close to you at any cost!
Pool: At any cost you say? Even my life?
Confucius: Yes, as a great man, his life is nothing before Yi, he is always ready to sacrifice himself for Yi if necessary.
Pool: That's pretty rough, I rather choose to be a normal person.
Confucius: Okay, have it your way.

Question III: The loyalty.
Pool: Now we have Jen. Do we need anything else?
Confucius: The loyalty. If people are all loyal to their king, their country will be unbeatable.
Pool: What if the king is a bad king? If the king makes people suffer, shall we still be loyal to him?
Confucius: Everything we do is for the country, not for the king. I always say, "Tian-sha is belong to everyone", Tian-sha means "all under the heaven", or the world we live. Whatever, it does not belong to the king alone but also to everyone.
Pool: So what do we do? Shall we betray our bad king?
Confucius: Betray? I don't think so, I hate betrayers most. If a king is bad, you should try to advise him.
Pool: And if he doesn't listen to me?
Confucius: Then you've done what you could.
Pool: That's it? I think Mencius has better answer for it, master Kung. He said "People first, government second, king third".
Confucius: Good point.
Pool: Mencius also told us "If a king is bad, try to advise him; if he won't listen, advise him again; if he won't listen still, you can exile him, even slay him!".
Confucius: Slay the king?
Pool: Slay the bad king for people is no betrayal, because it's the bad king who betrayed his people first. The man we slew is not a king, just a simple criminal.
Confucius: I see. Just who is this Mencius? I know I shouldn't judge a person by some words of him, but I really like this guy! I have to thank him for solving my headache.
Pool: Mencius is the most famous Confucian, master Kung. Some people called him "the Second Sage".
Confucius: He's a Confucian? That's good to know!
Pool: There are two great Confucians, one of them is Mencius, the other one is your student, Tseng Tzu.
Confucius: I remember this Tseng Tzu, a great young man he was.

Question IV: Father and son?
Pool: Tseng Tzu is a master of piety, so here goes another question. Let's talk about "father and son", the filial piety. What do you think of piety?
Confucius: Your parents bore you and raised you, so you should be grateful to them.
Pool: Should I? It was not me who asked them to bring me into this world. It was their own selfish decision!
Confucius: Not really. Who is whose father and who is whose son, it's not controlled by anybody, it's fate. Maybe your parents wished to have a better child, but they still love you and raised you. For example, my father Kung-her, he wanted to have a healthy son, but he still raised my sisters and my cripple brother.
Pool: Are you trying to say piety is a repayment?
Confucius: Kinda like that.
Pool: If I was born from my parents, but another couple raised me, whom should I be grateful to? My parents or my stepparents?
Confucius: Definitely stepparents. As you said, it's a bit like repaying.
Pool: I see. And how do we show our parents piety? Simply provide and support them?
Confucius: Support them with reverence and countenance, and try not being disobedient, not simply feed their mouths. Look, you feed your dog, and you feed your mom, it would be no difference without reverence and countenance.
Pool: If parents intend to do something bad? What do you do?
Confucius: If they intend something bad, advise them before it's too late.
Pool: If they won't listen, and try to give you a good beat?
Confucius: You'd better run away. When people are mad, they don't know what they're doing. Running away could avoid unnecessary tragedy.
Pool: If my father is a criminal? Should I hand him over to the police?
Confucius: In my opinion, I would hide my father instead hand him over. It doesn't mean you can just ignore social laws, it's about double roles and multiple roles, can't say which is right or which is wrong.

Question V: Societal Ethics.
Pool: Now we're going to find out which is right and which is wrong. Talk about Societal Ethics.
Confucius: King King, Officer Officer, Father Father, Son Son.
Pool: That's cool. But could you make it in English Grammar?
Confucius: Fine, that means: King fulfils king's duty, officers do officers' duty, fathers do fathers' duty, son do sons' duty. We'll have a perfect society if people can fulfill their duties.
Pool: I take it that everybody does his duty is Societal Ethics? Surprisingly, I've seen the same point in , Plato called it "Social Justice" or simply "Justice".
Confucius: You know that great minds think alike. Just who is this Plato? Is he a Confucian?
Pool: No, far from it. Plato is one of the most famous philosophers of the west.
Confucius: He's not so bad for a westerner.
Pool: You mentioned multiple roles before, now it's time to discuss it further. If there is an officer, his father happens to be a criminal; should he arrest his father or not?
Confucius: That depends what kind of criminal his father is. But normally an officer's duty is more important than a father's. Like I said, King King first, Officer Officer second, Father Father third, then Son Son. That means, if I were he I would probably arrest my father for my duty.
Pool: Mencius had an answer for this: If a king's father has murdered someone, the king has to discharge and flee with his father. Do you agree with it?
Confucius: Beats me. Mencius has a point there, but I'm not sure if I agree with him. Rescuing your father is Jen, arresting him according to law is Yi, it's a contradiction between Jen and Yi. Even I don't have a perfect answer. What do you think of it? What would you do if you were the officer?
Pool: Let's put it another way. Don't you think that save your father could be a bit too selfish? Jen is fairness and should not be selfish. Your father is a murderer, and there must be a victim, did you ever think for the victim? If the victim is your father, what will you say?
Confucius: That just what I was thinking! Playing multiple roles is uneasy, like being a statesman.
Pool: You started it, the statesman. Now we have another question.

Question VI: Confucius as a statesman.
Pool: You said you used to be a minister of Lu, what did you do exactly?
Confucius: I was the Minister of Justice. My duty was making people Lu abide by the law.
Pool: How did you do that?
Confucius: I not only made them abide by the law, but also told them the meaning of law, let them know why should they abide by it. Why can't I steal? Because according to Yi, thieving is unjust. Why should I care about Yi? Because is from Jen, Jen is the original virtue of human. If we wish to have a better country, Public Virtue is a must have for everybody.
Pool: You told them about Jen and Yi? Did they understand that?
Confucius: Sure they did. At that time, Lu once became the most lawful country. They all know the meaning of Yi, no one pick up and pocket anything lost on the road. There was almost no theft, people even don't need to close their doors at night.
Pool: What do you think of death penalty?
Confucius: Sometimes it's necessary.
Pool: I heard that you killed Maul, a famous sophist. He didn't seems to do anything wrong. What made you think he deserves death?
Confucius: Maul was an evil sophist, who was very dangerous to the whole country and must be removed. There are five types of persons who are very dangerous, I call them "the Five Devils". Maul is one of these devils, so I killed him before he causes any damage to the country.
Pool: What are these Five Devils?
Confucius: First, an evil man of high intelligence, who is the most dangerous type of the Five. Second, an evil man with strong will, a person who never gives up easily is very hard to defeat. Third, an evil man of eloquence, who has the ability to mislead people. Fourth, an evil man of knowledge, knowledge is power, an evil man with power is surely a menace. Fifth, a man who calls black white, he throws everything into chaos. Since Maul just happened to be a "Five in One", he must die.
Pool: I see, Maul wasn't a criminal, yet. You killed him because he intended something bad. Like we kill mosquitoes, mosquitoes are always trying to suck our blood, so we kill them before they approaches.
Confucius: Glad you can see my point. You're surely good at this, not every student can understand it.
Pool: Students! I guess we've found next question.

Question VII: What does Confucius teach?
Pool: You have many students, don't you? I was told that you had about 3000 students.
Confucius: Can't remember clearly. To Chinese, the number 3000 usually means "a lot", not exactly 3000.
Pool: Yes it makes senses, I see 3000 everything in historical books and poems. How did you teach your students?
Confucius: I taught students according to their aptitude. If A is good at speech, I'll teach him speech, make him a great speaker; if B is good at literature, I'll teach him more about it, make him a great literati. And if C is a hot blood, I'll tell him how to control himself better; if D is a rich man, I'll teach him how to spend money correctly.
Pool: Yes, I've heard of it. "Teach students according to their aptitude", I guess that's a proper way for teaching. And I also heard there are 72 students who are excellent, people call them "72 Sages".
Confucius: Few of them are really good; but most of them are normal, I just taught them how to read and write. As for the 72 sages, they are good at "the six arts" or "the six skills".
Pool: What are the six arts?
Confucius: The first is "Propriety", how to act properly. The second is "Music", how to play and enjoy music. The third is "Shooting", how to use bows and arrows. The fourth is "Driving", how to pilot a horse wagon. The fifth is "Calligraphy", the art of writing. The last is "Math", mathematics is a must learn for my students.
Pool: About your students, where are they from? Are they all nobles and riches?
Confucius: Part of them is nobles and riches, but some of them are peasants. I believe knowledge is for everyone, not only for nobles and riches.
Pool: How does one become a student of you?
Confucius: Everybody could be my student, as long as he is willing to learn.
Pool: And if "he" is a girl? Will you accept female students?
Confucius: Girls? I don't have any female students before, but I guess it's OK to have them in my school. As long as they stay out of trouble.
Pool: Can I be your student?
Confucius: I don't like you, you're full of questions.
Pool: Believe me, I'm forced to be.

Question VIII: Confucius and his students.
Pool: Which student impressed you most?
Confucius: His name is Yen-hwei. He's studious, who was "fond of learning and never get tired". He's smart, who can "infer the rest from what is already known". When he is angry, he never vents his anger on others. If he make mistake once, he won't make the same mistake again. He was very poor, but it never bothered him. However, he died when he was very young, about 32, that made me very sad. Yen-hwei is a typification of Moral subject.
Pool: I've heard of him, some people call him "the Third Sage". And what are other subjects?
Confucius: The Third Sage, how nice, he really deserves it. As for the subjects, I decided four subjects for my students; they are Moral, Speech, Management, and Literature.
Pool: Who is the best student of Speech?
Confucius: Tzu-gung is surely the best of this. He was a great merchant with great wealth, he's very smart, an excellent diplomat. In fact, he is the best diplomat I've seen in my life. He saved my homeland Lu, and changed the fate of some countries, like Wu, Yue and Chi. We were very close, he treated me as his father.
Pool: Tzu-gung sounds familiar, too. And what about Tzu-lu?
Confucius: You've heard of Tzu-lu? He has been my student for 40 years, we're like brothers. He is brave, always full of courage, but too willful and headstrong. He's good at Management, especially military affairs. He died in an unnecessary battle, I really miss him.
Pool: I heard that Tzu-lu killed a tiger without weapons, that might be very impressive.
Confucius: I think it's stupid, a totally waste of his talent. Tzu-lu always risks his life on such nonsense, I've warned him hundred times, but he never listened.
Pool: Well, I guess that's why Tzu-lu ended like this. What about Zai-wo? Do you remember him?
Confucius: Why yes, I remember this guy. Zai-wo is quite good at Speech, who is a good-looking man, too. I thought he would be a good Confucian, but I was totally wrong. He is not the man he looks like, all he does is naps in my class, or challenge me unexpectedly.
Pool: I see, guess you don't like this guy. By the way, Zai-wo is a funny name, it means "kill me" in Chinese.
Confucius: Haha, very funny indeed.

Question IX: Destiny and Yi.
Pool: Do you believe in destiny?
Confucius: I do.
Pool: You do, do you?
Confucius: Obviously, there are many things that we cannot control in our lives. We cannot choose our gender, appearance, and where we were born. They've been decided by something, I named it "Destiny".
Pool: An understandable point, there is always something you cannot change. But there is still something we can control, like what you want to be, where you want to go, when you want to sleep. We call it "Choice".
Confucius: Yes, we have choices, and we have Yi.
Pool: What do you mean by that?
Confucius: Sometimes you know something is right, but you also know that it is impossible to be done, will you still do it? For example, your father is sick, you know there is no cure, will you just give up and watch him die?
Pool: No, I won't. I'll do everything I can to take care of him. Even I know that there is no way to cure him, I can't just watch him die.
Confucius: Now you're talking my language. That's the Yi that I'm talking about, that's what I did in my whole life. A great man does what he should whether it is possible or not, destiny will never be a bother.
Pool: Kinda stupid if you ask me.
Confucius: Yes, sometimes Yi could be very stupid. And what is smart? Knowing how to make money and date girls? You cannot keep your wealth when you die, but you can have your reputation forever. In short, it's not what you can have, it's what you can leave.
Pool: I believe that some people prefer what they can have.
Confucius: I'd say "most people", that's why great men are always minority. Yi is not easy to keep, sometimes a little selfishness could break it.
Pool: I think I'm getting tired of these great men.
Confucius: You're too young, boy.

Question X: Is Confucianism a religion?
Pool: Here goes our final question: Is Confucianism a religion?
Confucius: Yay! I'm so happy! Final question at last!
Pool: Hey, it was me who did all the work! Now would you please explain the final question for us?
Confucius: Fine, I'll make it quick. *Ahem*...NO! Confucianism is NOT a religion.
Pool: But many people worship you, and they do what you said, your words are like a "code of conduct" to live their lives.
Confucius: You can consider me a philosopher, moralist, statesman and educationist, but I'm NOT a religionist, I'm no God! What I told people are ethical philosophy, political and educational principle, but not religious philosophy. People don't do what I said, what they do are Jen and Yi.
Pool: Do you believe in gods?
Confucius: Not really, I prefer to believe in humanity, we have to trust ourselves. I've seen poor people suffering and dying everywhere, when they're sick and crying for help, where is God? God is too far away from us, he won't save your country, your family, or merely your life.
Pool: What about "Tian"? It means "God" in Chinese, and you've mentioned it many times in your books, or rather your dialogs. As you said, Tian decides who can be the governor. Did you mean that it is God who decides the governor for people?
Confucius: "Tian" doesn't mean God in reality, it means "will of the people". Tian doesn't have eyes, it watches from the eyes of people; Tian doesn't have ears, it listens from the ears of people. Tian shows his rage with the rages of people, Tian shows his power with the power of the people.
Pool: Does that mean "it's the will of people which decides the governor for people"?
Confucius: Correct.
Pool: Now I understand. Obviously some people just mistook you as a religionist, though most of them are westerners.
Confucius: Westerners you say? Man, you're just wasting my time! I don't care about those western barbarians.
Pool: And I thank you for your time, now I can finish my homework!