Asian Philosophies SNU Midterm

열심히 공부하자!!!

"The leader of each village would be the most benevolent person in the village… The ruler of each state would be the most benevolent person in the state… If the people of the world all obey their superiors on up to the Son of Heaven but do not obey Heaven, then Heavenly disasters still will not cease… the hurricanes and torrential rains that regularly are visited upon the people is how Heaven punishes them for not obeying its will."

1. Mozi (Moism) 2. The Mozi 3. Rule of the virtuous and obeying Heaven's will (천지, 天志): leaders at every level should be the most benevolent people, and even the Son of Heaven must obey Heaven, which punishes disobedience with disasters. Part of Mozi's absolute hierarchy (the slides call it his "totalitarian tendencies"). Example: the most caring person is chosen as village head, and a king who ignores Heaven's will gets floods and storms.

Our teacher Mozi says, "In ancient times, before there were governments or laws, each person followed their own norm for deciding what was right and wrong. Where there was one person there was one norm, where there were ten people there were ten different norms… they mutually condemned each other's norms. For this reason, within families, there was resentment and hatred between fathers and sons and elder and younger brothers."

1. Mozi (Moism) 2. The Mozi 3. Absolute hierarchy (상동, 尚同), cause of chaos in the world: with no shared standard, everyone condemns everyone else's idea of right and wrong, and even families fall into hatred. Example: ten people with ten different ideas of what is right cannot cooperate and end up fighting.

"They chose the best person among the most worthy and capable in the world and established him as the Son of Heaven… three imperial ministers… feudal lords and rulers… governors and leaders… Whenever you hear of something good or bad, always inform your superior. Whenever your superior approves of something as right you too must approve of it. Whenever your superior condemns something as wrong you too must condemn it."

1. Mozi (Moism) 2. The Mozi 3. Absolute hierarchy (상동, 尚同), how to overcome chaos: a chain of the most worthy leaders from Son of Heaven down, with everyone adopting their superior's standard of right and wrong. This is why the slides label Mozi's politics "totalitarian": there is no room for disagreement. Example: villagers report to the village head and accept his judgments of right and wrong, and so on up to the Son of Heaven.

"Doubling the number of such things would not be hard. What then would it be hard to double? Only the number of people… the sage-kings established a law that said, 'No man of twenty can be without a family. No woman of fifteen can be without a husband'… those who rule the world today actually work in many ways to lessen the population."

1. Mozi (Moism) 2. The Mozi 3. Obsession with population: population growth is a major benefit to society, so people should marry and have children early, and rulers who reduce the population are doing wrong. Real situation: Mozi complained that in his own day men were starting families anywhere from twenty to forty, on average ten years later than the sage-kings' law required.

"Lavish funerals entail burying a great deal of wealth, and prolonged mourning entails prohibiting people from pursuing their vocations for an extended period of time. The former takes wealth that has already been created and buries it, while the latter prohibits new members of society from being born for an extended period of time."

1. Mozi (Moism) 2. The Mozi 3. Moderation in funerals (절장, 節葬): lavish funerals and long mourning waste wealth and reduce population growth. Example: burying valuables and mourning for years means that money is lost and couples stop working and having children.

"The great officers encourage rulers to raise armies and attack neighboring states. The longer campaigns take up to a year… men and women don't see each other for long periods of time, and in this way the population is reduced. During these campaigns, some become ill and die… others die in ambushes, fiery assaults, sieges, and battles."

1. Mozi (Moism) 2. The Mozi 3. Condemnation of aggressive war (비공, 非攻): war reduces population through deaths and long separation of couples. Real situation: in Mozi's day, the great officers were urging rulers to launch campaigns against neighboring states that lasted several months to a year.

Canon I 2: "A unit is a portion in a jian (total/whole/impartial)." Canon I 7: "To be humane is to love individually." Exposition: "Love of oneself is not for the sake of making oneself useful. Not like loving (cherishing because of its high price) a horse."

1. Mozi (Moism), from the Mohist Canon 2. The Mozi 3. Impartial love (겸애, 兼愛, jian ai): each person is a part of the whole and is loved as an individual, not for their usefulness. Loving a person is not like prizing a horse for its price. Example: you care for a friend because they are a person, not for what they can do for you, and you extend the same to strangers.

Our teacher Mozi says, "The business of a benevolent person is to promote what is beneficial to the world and eliminate what is harmful… great states attacking small states, great families wreaking havoc with lesser families, the strong robbing the weak… These come from hating and stealing from people… it is those who are partial in their dealings with others who are the real cause of all the great harms in the world. This is why our teacher Mozi says, 'I condemn partiality.'"

1. Mozi (Moism) 2. The Mozi 3. Impartial caring (겸애, 兼愛): the root of the world's harms is partiality, favoring your own state, family, or self over others. Real situation: Mozi listed harms he saw in his own time, including great states attacking small ones and great families wreaking havoc on lesser families.

Our teacher Mozi says, "Replace partiality with impartiality… If people regarded other people's states in the same way that they regard their own, who then would incite their own state to attack that of another? For one would do for others as one would do for oneself."

1. Mozi (Moism) 2. The Mozi 3. Impartial caring (겸애, 兼愛): the solution to the world's harms is to treat others' states, families, and people as you treat your own. Example: if a ruler valued the neighboring state as much as his own, he would never invade it.

"Killing someone is wrong and must be punished with execution. But if we extrapolate… killing ten people is ten times as bad and must be punished with ten executions… Up to this point, all the gentlemen of the world know well enough to condemn such actions. But when it comes to the great wrong of attacking another state, they do not know enough to condemn it. Rather, they praise this and declare that it is the right thing to do."

1. Mozi (Moism) 2. The Mozi 3. Condemnation of aggressive war (비공, 非攻): attacking a state is murder on a massive scale, and people wrongly praise it. Real situation: Mozi criticized the gentlemen of his own day for praising attacks on other states and even recording that praise for later generations.

"In terms of harm, choosing the lesser is not to choose harm, but to choose benefit… If killing another person will preserve the world, it is wrong to kill another person to benefit the world. If killing oneself might preserve the world, it is right to kill oneself to benefit the world." (Chapter 44, Choosing the Greater)

1. Mozi (Moism) 2. The Mozi (Chapter 44, Choosing the Greater) 3. Choosing the greater benefit and self-sacrifice for the world (the slides call it "endorsing suicide"): weigh harms and benefits, and while you may not kill another person for the world's benefit, giving up your own life to save the world is right. Example: a defender who gives his life to save a whole city.

"When a sage rules a state that state will be twice as well off… It is rather by eliminating wasteful expenditures within the state… What is the purpose of clothes? It is to protect us from the cold of winter and the heat of summer… and that is all. Whatever does not contribute to these ends should be eliminated. What is the purpose of houses?… Whatever does not contribute to these ends should be eliminated."

1. Mozi (Moism) 2. The Mozi 3. Moderation in expenditures (절용, 節用): judge things by their useful purpose and cut everything wasteful. Rulers grow the state by eliminating waste, not by taking territory. Example: clothes only need to keep you warm in winter and cool in summer, and a house only needs to keep out weather and thieves, so decoration is waste.

"If by following the words and implementing the plans of those who advocate lavish funerals and prolonged mourning one really cannot enrich the poor, increase the population, bring stability to precarious situations and order to chaos, then these things clearly are not benevolent and right or the proper task of filial children… those who seek to enrich their states through these practices will actually impoverish it."

1. Mozi (Moism) 2. The Mozi 3. Moderation in funerals (절장, 節葬): practices should be judged by their results (wealth, population, order), and lavish funerals fail, so they are neither benevolent nor truly filial. This is an attack on Confucian mourning customs. Example: a state that spends heavily on funerals and mourning ends up poorer and less orderly, not richer.

"Our teacher Mozi does not condemn music because he thinks that the sounds of bells, drums, zithers, and pipes are not pleasing… nevertheless, he sees that it does not accord with the practices of the sage-kings of old and does not promote the benefit of the people in the world today. And so our teacher Mozi says, 'Musical performances are wrong!'"

1. Mozi (Moism) 2. The Mozi 3. Condemnation of musical performances (비악, 非樂): music may sound pleasant, but it does not benefit the people. Example: a concert may be enjoyable, but it does nothing to feed, protect, or house anyone.

"When kings, dukes, and other persons of high rank engage in the manufacture of musical instruments as a function of state… they must heavily tax the people in order to enjoy the sounds of bells, drums, zithers, and pipes. If the production of these instruments were truly analogous to the sage-kings' production of boats and carts, then I would not dare to condemn it."

1. Mozi (Moism) 2. The Mozi 3. Condemnation of musical performances (비악, 非樂): instruments must be paid for by heavily taxing the people, unlike boats and carts, which are useful. Real situation: in Mozi's day, kings, dukes, and other high-ranking people were making musical instruments as a state function and funding it by heavily taxing the people.

"Heaven will clearly see you even if you run to the forests, valleys, or hidden places where none lives… Heaven desires what is right and dislikes what is not right. This being so, if I lead the people of the world to act in accordance with what is right, then I will be doing what Heaven desires. And if I do what Heaven desires, then Heaven will do what I desire."

1. Mozi (Moism) 2. The Mozi 3. Heaven's will (천지, 天志), belief in an anthropomorphic deity: Heaven sees everything and judges, rewards, and punishes, and it wants what is right. Example: you should act rightly even when nobody is looking, because Heaven sees you and rewards good conduct.

"In the present age, since the sage-kings… have passed away and the world has lost sight of what is right, the feudal lords all take force as their guiding standard… it is all because people have developed doubts concerning the existence of ghosts and spirits and do not understand that ghosts and spirits can reward the worthy and punish the wicked."

1. Mozi (Moism) 2. The Mozi 3. Belief in the existence of ghosts and spirits (명귀, 明鬼): spirits reward the worthy and punish the wicked, and doubting this has thrown the world into disorder. Real situation: Mozi blamed the disorder of his own age, with feudal lords relying on force, on people who had come to doubt that ghosts and spirits exist.

"The Confucianist says: Love among relations should depend upon the degree of relationship, and honour to the virtuous should be graded… Mourning for the death of the parent should be three years; for the wife or the eldest son three years; for an uncle, a brother… a year… To be partial to one's wife and son is already quite wayward. Yet the Confucianist pretends it to be for the sake of the parents. This is partiality to the most favourite but neglect of the most important."

1. Mozi (Moism), attacking Confucianism 2. The Mozi 3. Anti-Confucianism: graded love and graded mourning rites are partiality, which Mozi opposes in favor of impartial love (겸애, 兼愛). Real situation: Mozi targeted actual Confucian practices of his day, such as three-year mourning for a wife or eldest son, searching the roof and well for a dead parent, and the groom escorting his bride in ceremonial dress.

"The world's benefit is pleasing. 'For the sage there is love and not benefit'; these are Confucian words, that is to say, a stranger's words. Even if the world had no people, the words of Master Mo Zi would still remain." (Chapter 44, Choosing the Greater)

1. Mozi (Moism) 2. The Mozi (Chapter 44, Choosing the Greater) 3. Significance of love/caring (겸애, 兼愛): for Mohists love and benefit go together, and they reject the Confucian idea that the sage loves without regard to benefit. Real situation: Mozi was answering the Confucian claim that "for the sage there is love and not benefit."

Zigong said, "The Master's cultural brilliance is something that is readily heard about, whereas one does not get to hear the Master expound upon the subjects of human nature or the Way of Heaven."

1. Zigong, a disciple of Kongzi, describing Kongzi (Confucianism) 2. The Analects 3. Human nature: Kongzi had no explicit theory of human nature, which left room for later Confucians to disagree (Kongzi: neutral, Mengzi: good, Xunzi: bad). Real situation: Zigong, who studied closely under Kongzi, noticed this gap himself, and Mengzi and Xunzi later filled it in opposite ways.

Lin Fang asked about the roots of ritual practice. The Master said, "When it comes to ritual, it is better to be frugal than extravagant. When it comes to mourning, it is better to be overwhelmed with grief than overly composed."

1. Kongzi (Confucianism) 2. The Analects 3. Internal virtues first, then external formalities (ritual propriety, 예禮). If forced to choose, genuine feeling matters more than polished ceremony. Real situation: Lin Fang asked Kongzi about the roots of ritual, and Kongzi praised the question ("Noble indeed are you to ask such a question!") before answering that sincerity matters more than display.

"A cap made of hemp is prescribed by the rites, but nowadays people use silk. This is frugal, and I follow the majority. To bow before ascending the stairs is what is prescribed by the rites, but nowadays people bow after ascending. This is arrogant, and though it goes against the majority, I continue to bow before ascending."

1. Kongzi (Confucianism) 2. The Analects 3. Internal virtues first, then external formalities: flexible ritual propriety (예禮). Kongzi accepts a change to a rite when it is frugal but refuses it when it expresses arrogance. Real situation: Kongzi himself went along with the crowd in wearing silk caps instead of hemp, but kept bowing before climbing the stairs even after most people had started bowing afterward.

"Humans all have hearts that are not unfeeling toward others… Suppose someone suddenly saw a child about to fall into a well: everyone in such a situation would have a feeling of alarm and compassion… The heart of compassion is the sprout of benevolence… People having these four sprouts is like their having four limbs."

1. Mengzi (Mencius) (Confucianism) 2. The Mengzi (Mencius) 3. Human nature is good: the four sprouts (사단, 四端) of innate virtue. The heart of compassion (측은지심, 惻隱之心) grows into benevolence (인仁), disdain into righteousness (義), deference into propriety (禮), and approval/disapproval into wisdom (智). Example: Mengzi's well scenario is a thought experiment, so there is no recorded real event. Anyone who sees a child about to fall into a well feels alarm instantly, with no selfish motive like wanting fame or favor from the parents.

"The trees of Ox Mountain were once beautiful. But because it bordered on a large state, hatchets and axes besieged it… oxen and sheep then came and grazed on them. Hence, it was as if it were barren… if it merely gets nourishment, there is nothing that will not grow. If it merely loses its nourishment, there is nothing that will not vanish."

1. Mengzi (Mencius) (Confucianism) 2. The Mengzi (Mencius) 3. Innate virtues are like plants: goodness is born in people but needs nourishment to grow, and a harmful environment can destroy it. Example: this is an analogy and not a recorded event. A kind child raised in constant neglect or violence may seem to have no kindness at all, just as the mountain looks barren after endless cutting and grazing, even though the sprouts were originally there.

Gaozi said, "Man's nature is like the qi-willow, and righteousness is like a cup or a bowl. The fashioning of benevolence and righteousness out of man's nature is like the making of cups and bowls from the qi-willow." The reply: "You must do violence and injury to the willow before you can make cups and bowls with it… you must in the same way do violence and injury to humanity in order to fashion from it benevolence and righteousness!"

1. Mengzi (Mencius) (Confucianism), debating his rival Gaozi (an opponent, not a disciple) 2. The Mengzi (Mencius) 3. Human nature is good: virtue grows naturally out of human nature and is not forced onto it. Gaozi treats virtue as something carved out of raw nature, but Mengzi says that would mean harming human nature and would make people see benevolence and righteousness as calamities. Real situation: this is Mengzi's recorded debate with his rival Gaozi, and Mengzi turns Gaozi's own willow analogy against him.

King Xuan saw an ox being led to be killed so its blood could consecrate a bell and said, "Spare it. I cannot bear its frightened appearance, like an innocent going to the execution ground." Mengzi said, "This feeling is sufficient to be a king."

1. Mengzi (Mencius) (Confucianism), advising King Xuan of Qi 2. The Mengzi (Mencius) 3. The sprout of compassion toward weak, innocent things (측은지심): the king's pity for one frightened ox shows he already has the compassion needed to rule well. Real situation: King Xuan asked what virtue he needed to become a true king and doubted that he could do it ("How do you know that I can?"), and Mengzi pointed to the day he spared the ox, even though the king wanted to wage war to unite all China.

"Treat your elders as elders, and extend it to the elders of others; treat your young ones as young ones, and extend it to the young ones of others; then you can turn the whole world on the palm of your hand… if one extends one's kindness, it will be sufficient to care for all within the Four Seas."

1. Mengzi (Mencius) (Confucianism), advising King Xuan of Qi 2. The Mengzi (Mencius) 3. Extension of the sprout into benevolence (인仁): compassion starts with family and is extended outward to everyone. The ancients were not greater than others except at extending what they felt. Real situation: Mengzi told King Xuan, who wanted to unite China by war, that if he extended the kindness he felt for one ox to his people, he could unite China without war.

Gongduzi asked why some become great humans while others don't. Mengzi said, "It is not the office of the ears and eyes to contemplate and they are misled by things… the office of the heart is to contemplate. If it contemplates then it will get [Virtue]… If one first takes one's stand on what is greater, then what is lesser will not be able to snatch it away. This is how to become a great human."

1. Mengzi (Mencius) (Confucianism) 2. The Mengzi (Mencius) 3. Moral growth through the heart's faculty of contemplation (plus initial compassion): the senses are led astray by outside things, while the heart reflects and gets virtue. Taking a stand on what is greater protects you from lesser temptations. Real situation: Gongduzi asked this question directly, and Mengzi's answer is that great people let the heart reflect instead of following their eyes and ears.

"[Emperor] Yu dredged the nine rivers, cleared the courses of the [rivers] Ji and the Ta to channel the water into the sea… During this time Yu spent eight years abroad and passed the door of his own house three times without entering."

1. Mengzi (Mencius) (Confucianism) 2. The Mengzi (Mencius) 3. The sagely stage of moral growth: the sage's compassion is fully extended to the whole world, so he puts the people's welfare ahead of his own family. Real situation: Mengzi points to the legendary Emperor Yu, who spent eight years controlling floods and passed his own door three times without going in.

Mencius said, "If they have not a certain livelihood, it follows that they will not have a fixed heart. And if they have not a fixed heart, there is nothing which they will not do… When they thus have been involved in crime, to follow them up and punish them - this is to entrap the people… Therefore an intelligent ruler will regulate the livelihood of the people."

1. Mengzi (Mencius) (Confucianism), advising King Xuan of Qi 2. The Mengzi (Mencius) 3. Ideals of farming and economic security (benevolent government): people can't keep a steady moral heart if they lack a stable livelihood, so punishing crime caused by poverty is entrapment. A good ruler secures livelihood first, then urges people toward good. Real situation: this was part of Mengzi's reply to King Xuan, who wanted to unite China by force, telling him that securing the people's livelihood would win them over.

"Let mulberry-trees be planted about the homesteads… and persons of fifty years may be clothed with silk… Let there not be taken away the time that is proper for the cultivation of the farm… and the family of eight mouths shall not suffer from hunger. Let careful attention be paid to education in schools, the inculcation in it especially of the filial and fraternal duties."

1. Mengzi (Mencius) (Confucianism), advising King Xuan of Qi 2. The Mengzi (Mencius) 3. Ideals of farming and benevolent government: secure the people's livelihood and teach filial piety (효孝) and brotherly respect, so that even the elderly are cared for. Real situation: Mengzi gave King Xuan this concrete plan of mulberry trees, livestock breeding, farming time, and schools as the first step toward humane rule.

"King Wen's government was as follows: The husbandmen cultivated for the government one-ninth of the land… at the passes and in the markets, strangers were inspected, but goods were not taxed… the wives and children of criminals were not involved in their guilt… the old and wifeless, widows, the old and childless, and orphans - these four classes are the most destitute of the people… and king Wen made them the first objects of his regard."

1. Mengzi (Mencius) (Confucianism), advising King Xuan of Qi 2. The Mengzi (Mencius) 3. Ideal tax system and social welfare: light taxes (one-ninth of the land), untaxed trade, no collective punishment of criminals' families, and priority for the most destitute (widowers, widows, childless elderly, orphans). Real situation: King Xuan told Mengzi he liked riches too much and women too much, and Mengzi replied that if the king likes riches and women, so do others, so he should share wealth and improve the economy so others can marry too.

Duke Wen of Teng asked, "Teng is a small state. I exert all my effort to serve the great states but get nowhere. What is to be done?" Mencius told of King Tai, who said, "I have heard that a ruler does not use that whereby he nourishes the people to injure the people." He left Bin rather than fight the invading Di, and the people followed him.

1. Mengzi (Mencius) (Confucianism), advising Duke Wen of Teng 2. The Mengzi (Mencius) 3. What to do in times of war: humaneness (인仁) puts the people's lives above territory. King Tai gave up his land instead of fighting, and people followed him because he was humane. Mengzi also mentions the other option, to defend the ancestral kingdom to the death, and leaves the choice to the duke. Real situation: the duke ruled a small state squeezed by great states, and Mengzi answered with King Tai's story.

Mencius asked King Xuan: if a minister's friend let his wife and children suffer from cold and hunger, what should he do? "Cast him off." If the chief criminal judge could not regulate his officers? "Dismiss him." "If within the four borders of your kingdom there is not good government, what is to be done?" The king looked to the right and left, and spoke of other matters.

1. Mengzi (Mencius) (Confucianism), speaking to King Xuan of Qi 2. The Mengzi (Mencius) 3. Connection between human nature and revolution: a ruler who fails his duty should be held to the same standard as a failed friend or judge. The king dodges because the implied answer is that a bad ruler can be removed. Real situation: Mengzi led King Xuan to agree that failed friends and judges should be cast off, then turned it on the king himself, and the king changed the subject.

King Xuan asked if a minister can slay his ruler (Tang banished Jie, King Wu assaulted Zhou). Mencius replied, "One who offends against humaneness is called a brigand; one who offends against rightness is called an outlaw. Someone who is a brigand and an outlaw is called a mere fellow. I have heard of the punishment of the mere fellow Zhou but never of the slaying of a ruler."

1. Mengzi (Mencius) (Confucianism), speaking to King Xuan of Qi 2. The Mengzi (Mencius) 3. When the king has no virtue (the possibility of revolution, 역성혁명): a ruler who lacks humaneness (인仁) and rightness (義) loses his status as a ruler, so overthrowing him is punishing a mere fellow, not killing a king. Real situation: King Xuan himself asked whether Tang and King Wu were wrong to attack Jie and Zhou, and Mengzi said they were punishing tyrants.

Mengzi's "beef" with Mozi: the slides list Mengzi 3A4 (role of the ruler), Mengzi 3A5 (lavish funerals), and Mengzi 1B1 (the importance of music).

1. Mengzi (Mencius) (Confucianism), a "sworn enemy of Mozi" 2. The Mengzi (Mencius) 3. Disputes with Mohism over the role of the ruler, lavish funerals, and music. Mozi argued for moderation in funerals and condemned musical performances, and Mengzi pushes back on these positions. Example: where Mozi saw music and elaborate funerals as waste, Mengzi treats them as important parts of a good life and good government. (The slides list the topics only.)

"The highest good is like water. Water is good at benefiting the myriad creatures, while not contending with them. It resides in the places that people find repellent, and so comes close to the Way."

1. Laozi (Daoism) 2. The Daodejing (도덕경) 3. Water as the highest good. Water benefits all creatures without competing with them, and it settles in low places people dislike, which is why it comes close to the Way (도道). Example: a river feeds fields and animals and takes the lowest path without fighting for credit or position, and the ideal person is likewise helpful and humble.

"The most supple things in the world ride roughshod over the most rigid. That which is not there can enter even where there is no space. This is how I know the advantages of nonaction!"

1. Laozi (Daoism) 2. The Daodejing (도덕경) 3. Nonaction (무위/wuwei) and the strength of softness, with water as the model. Soft, yielding things overcome hard, rigid ones, and what has no fixed form can enter anywhere. Example: water wears down stone over time without forcing anything, so not forcing outcomes can accomplish more than pushing hard.

"Your name or your body, which do you hold more dear? Your body or your property, which is of greater value? Gain or loss, which is the greater calamity? And so, deep affections give rise to great expenditures. Excessive hoarding results in great loss. Know contentment and avoid disgrace. Know when to stop and avoid danger. And you will long endure."

1. Laozi (Daoism) 2. The Daodejing (도덕경) 3. It is best to be void of desires or intentions: contentment and knowing when to stop. Chasing fame and possessions costs you more than you gain, and being satisfied protects you. Example: someone who keeps chasing promotions and purchases pays with their health and peace of mind, while someone who says "enough" lasts longer.

"The greatest misfortune is not to know contentment. The worst calamity is the desire to acquire. And so those who know the contentment of contentment are always content."

1. Laozi (Daoism) 2. The Daodejing (도덕경) 3. It is best to be void of desires or intentions: contentment. Wanting more is the root of unhappiness, so being satisfied with what you have is a kind of permanent wealth. Example: a person who is happy with a modest life is richer than a millionaire who always wants the next purchase.

"Grabbing and filling it isn't as good as letting go. If you measure and sharpen [a stick], you cannot keep it long. If gold and jade fill your entire house, you cannot guard it… When your achievement is fulfilled, it is the way of heaven to retire."

1. Laozi (Daoism) 2. The Daodejing (도덕경) 3. Nothing intentional can persevere: do not overreach, hoard, or cling to success. Overfilling, over-sharpening, and hoarding bring downfall, and the Way of heaven is to withdraw once you succeed. Example: a blade honed too thin snaps, and an athlete who retires at their peak is wiser than one who stays until they are humiliated.

"Those who stand on tiptoe cannot stand firm. Those who stride cannot go far. Those who make a display of themselves are not illustrious. Those who brag about themselves are not accorded merit… such things are known as 'excess provisions and pointless activities.'"

1. Laozi (Daoism) 2. The Daodejing (도덕경) 3. Nothing intentional can persevere: forced effort and self-display do not last. Straining or showing off is unnatural, so it cannot be sustained, and one who has the Way avoids it. Example: a person who constantly brags is soon ignored, while a person who quietly does good work is remembered.

"Reach the utmost void, maintain the thickest calm. When the myriad things arise together, I watch them return; when things prosper, each returns to its roots. Returning to roots is called calm… knowing one's permanence is wisdom."

1. Laozi (Daoism) 2. The Daodejing (도덕경) 3. Knowing the cycle of good and bad is wisdom. Everything that flourishes eventually returns to its roots, and understanding this constant pattern (permanence) brings calm, generosity, and longevity. Example: seeing that a boom will be followed by a bust, so you stay calm in both success and failure.

"The way one can speak of is not the permanent way; the name you can name is not a permanent name."

1. Laozi (Daoism) 2. The Daodejing (도덕경) 3. The true Way is abstract. The real Way cannot be captured in words or labels, because naming it fixes it into something limited. Example: you can't fully explain the taste of water to someone who has never had it, so any definition of the Way misses it.

"Those who know do not talk about it; those who talk about it do not know."

1. Laozi (Daoism) 2. The Daodejing (도덕경) 3. The true Way is abstract. Real understanding of the Way is beyond words, so those who truly know don't explain it. Example: a master shows the Way by how they live instead of lecturing, while someone who talks endlessly about the Way has not grasped it.

"The way is like an empty vessel; it is never full in its usage. It is like the abyss; it is the origin of all beings."

1. Laozi (Daoism) 2. The Daodejing (도덕경) 3. The true Way is empty of characteristics. The Way has no fixed traits, so it can never be used up, and everything comes out of it. Example: an empty cup can always receive more, and the Way is like that endless emptiness from which all beings arise.

"Thirty spokes are joined in the hub of a wheel. But only by relying on what is not there, do we have the use of the carriage. By adding and removing clay we form a vessel… And so, what is there is the basis for profit; what is not there is the basis for use."

1. Laozi (Daoism) 2. The Daodejing (도덕경) 3. The true Way is empty of characteristics: emptiness is what makes things useful. The hollow in a wheel hub, a vessel, or a room is what gives it use, while the material only gives it form. Example: a cup is useful because of the empty space inside it, and a room because of the empty space you stand in.

"The greatest leader is one that the subjects are only aware of. The next, one people are close to and honor. The next, are afraid of. The next, one they mock… If you pick your word carefully but achieve results and get work done, the people are all going to believe they were naturally this way."

1. Laozi (Daoism) 2. The Daodejing (도덕경) 3. The ideal leader: leading through nonaction and naturalness. The best leader is barely noticed, and the people feel they accomplished things on their own. Leaders ranked lower are honored, feared, and finally mocked. Example: a coach who builds a team so well that the players think they won on their own.

"When the best scholars hear about the Way, they will assiduously put it into practice. When average scholars hear about the Way, they sometimes uphold it and sometimes forsake it. When the worst scholars hear about the Way, they laugh at it! If they did not laugh at it, it would not really be the Way… The clearest Way seems obscure; the Way ahead seems to lead backward."

1. Laozi (Daoism) 2. The Daodejing (도덕경) 3. Utmost wisdom will appear foolish. The Way looks paradoxical and silly to ordinary understanding, so being laughed at is a sign it is the real thing. Example: a profound idea often sounds ridiculous at first, and a truly wise person can look like a fool.

"That the whole world knows that beauty is beautiful indicates that there is ugliness. That the whole world knows that good is good indicates there is badness. Therefore, what is and what isn't give birth to each other… That is why sages abide in the business of nonaction, and practice the teaching that is without words. They work with myriad creatures and turn none away. They produce without possessing."

1. Laozi (Daoism) 2. The Daodejing (도덕경) 3. The Way encompasses both extremes. Opposites define and produce each other, so the sage doesn't cling to one side. The sage practices nonaction (무위), teaches without words, welcomes everyone, and creates without possessing. Example: you only know what beauty is because you know ugliness, and a good teacher helps students grow without claiming credit.

"Know the male but preserve the female and be a canyon for all the world. If you are a canyon for all the world, constant virtue will never leave you, and you can return home to be a child. Know the white but preserve the black, and be a model for all the world."

1. Laozi (Daoism) 2. The Daodejing (도덕경) 3. The Way encompasses both extremes: understanding the strong or bright side while staying in the soft or dark side. Holding both keeps constant virtue and lets you return to a childlike simplicity and the infinite. Example: someone who knows how to be assertive but chooses to stay gentle and receptive, like a canyon that takes in every stream.

"It is unlikely that one who has grown up as a filial child and respectful younger sibling will be inclined to defy his superiors… filiality and brotherly respect represent the root of humaneness."

1. Youzi, a disciple of Kongzi (Confucianism) 2. The Analects 3. Filial piety (효孝) and brotherly respect as the root of humaneness (인仁). Respect learned at home grows outward into care for everyone. Example: a child who honors parents and siblings gets used to respecting authority and others, so becomes a person who doesn't rebel or harm society.

Asked why he doesn't participate in government, the Master cited the History: "Filial, oh so filial as a child, a friend to one's siblings… [in this way] exerting an influence upon the government."

1. Kongzi (Confucianism) 2. The Analects 3. Filial piety (효孝) as the foundation of good government. Governing a family well is already part of governing the nation, since every family is part of the nation. Real situation: someone asked Kongzi directly why he wasn't taking part in government, and he answered that being a good child and sibling already influences government.

"Nowadays 'filial' means merely providing parents with nourishment. But even dogs and horses are provided with nourishment. If you do not treat your parents with reverence, wherein lies the difference?"

1. Kongzi (Confucianism) 2. The Analects 3. Filial piety (효孝): reverence, not just physical care. Kongzi says that feeding your parents is not enough, because even animals get fed. Real situation: Ziyou asked Kongzi about filial piety, and Kongzi told him that what people of his day called "filial" was just providing for parents, which falls short.

"It's your facial expressions that are difficult." (Zixia asks about filial piety; serving food and labor isn't enough.)

1. Kongzi (Confucianism) 2. The Analects 3. Filial piety (효孝): taking parents' emotions into account. Doing chores and letting elders eat first is the easy part, and the hard part is showing a genuinely warm attitude. Real situation: Zixia asked Kongzi about filial piety, and Kongzi answered that the hard part is the expression on your face, since chores and serving food are not enough.

Meng Wubo asked about filial piety. The Master said, "Your parents are only concerned about your health."

1. Kongzi (Confucianism) 2. The Analects 3. Filial piety (효孝): parents' worry about your well-being. What worries parents most is whether their child is healthy and safe. Real situation: Meng Wubo asked Kongzi about filial piety, and Kongzi told him that the thing parents worry about is his health.

"When your parents are alive, you should not travel far, and when you do travel you must keep to a fixed itinerary."

1. Kongzi (Confucianism) 2. The Analects 3. Filial piety (효孝): sparing parents anxiety. Parents worry when they cannot reach their child, so a filial child keeps them posted. Example: if you study or work far away, you tell your parents where you are going and check in regularly. (Travel was far more dangerous in ancient China.)

Sick, he said "Uncover my feet, uncover my hands [to show they are intact]…" and quoted the Book of Poetry ("as if treading on thin ice").

1. Zengzi, a disciple of Kongzi (Confucianism) 2. The Analects 3. Filial piety (효孝): preserving the body your parents gave you. He is the extreme case, held up as the epitome of filial piety into the 20th century, even though it goes further than Kongzi's own teaching. Real situation: Zengzi, on his sickbed, called in the disciples of his own school to inspect his hands and feet as proof that he had protected his body his whole life.

"You must always be aware of your parents' age. On the one hand, it is a cause for rejoicing, on the other, a cause of anxiety."

1. Kongzi (Confucianism) 2. The Analects 3. Filial piety (효孝): loving parents as they loved you. Their age is a joy because they have lived long, and a worry because they have less time left. Example: a filial child worries about their parents' well-being the way the parents once worried about theirs.

Zaiwo wants to shorten the three-year mourning period to one year. The Master: "Did Zaiwo also receive three years of affection from his parents?… Zaiwo is not humane!"

1. Kongzi (Confucianism), speaking about his disciple Zaiwo, whom he clearly disapproved of here 2. The Analects 3. Filial piety (효孝) and humaneness (인仁): repaying parental love. A child is held in the parents' arms for about three years, so three years of mourning returns that love. Real situation: Zaiwo proposed shortening the mourning period, and Kongzi asked whether he would feel at ease eating good food and wearing fancy clothes. Zaiwo said yes, so Kongzi told him to do as he liked, then said after Zaiwo left that he was not humane.

"Min Ziqian is so filial! People have nothing to complain about his parents' or his siblings' speech."

1. Kongzi (Confucianism) 2. The Analects 3. Filial piety (효孝): a model of a filial person. Min Ziqian is praised as a child whose family never gave others reason to complain about them. Real situation: Kongzi singled out his disciple Min Ziqian as a model, because even outsiders had no complaints about his parents or siblings.

"When you're with your parents counsel them, but gently. When they don't take your advice, do not stray from respecting them, try harder and do not resent them."

1. Kongzi (Confucianism) 2. The Analects 3. Filial piety (효孝): gentle guidance of parents. A filial child may correct a parent who is wrong, but must stay respectful and not hold a grudge if ignored. Example: if a parent makes a mistake in old age, you point it out kindly and keep trying, rather than shaming or scolding them.

"One who makes no changes to the ways of one's parents for three years after they have passed away may be called filial."

1. Kongzi (Confucianism) 2. The Analects 3. Filial piety (효孝): respect that continues after death. Keeping your parents' ways for three years honors them and parallels the three-year mourning period. Example: you hold off on overturning how your parents ran the household during the mourning period.

Fan Chi asked what humaneness is. The Master said, "To love people."

1. Kongzi (Confucianism) 2. The Analects 3. Humaneness (인仁): valuing life. Humaneness is simply caring about other human beings. Real situation: his disciple Fan Chi asked Kongzi directly what humaneness is, and Kongzi gave a short answer: to love people.

Guanzhong did not die with his lord. The Master: "Lord Huan united the feudal lords nine times but never raised an army. That is Guanzhong's doing. Who can be more humane?"

1. Kongzi (Confucianism) 2. The Analects 3. Humaneness (인仁): valuing life. Kongzi judges Guanzhong by the lives he saved, since Guanzhong helped unite the lords without war. Real situation: his disciple Zilu challenged him, pointing out that Guanzhong had survived when Prince Jiu was killed and asking whether that made him inhumane, and Kongzi defended Guanzhong.

"Do not impose upon others what you yourself do not desire. In this way you will encounter no resentment in your state or in your family."

1. Kongzi (Confucianism) 2. The Analects 3. Humaneness (인仁) as empathy, expressed through compassion (恕). Imagine how you would feel in the other person's place before acting. Real situation: Zhong Gong asked Kongzi about humaneness, and Kongzi answered with this principle and its payoff, that nobody will resent you in your state or your family.

"One who is humane tackles difficult tasks before others, but takes the rewards after others."

1. Kongzi (Confucianism) 2. The Analects 3. Humaneness (인仁) as empathy and selflessness. A humane person takes on the hardest work first and lets others be rewarded first. Real situation: Fan Chi asked Kongzi about humaneness again, and this was Kongzi's answer.

"Desiring to take a stand, one who is humane helps others to take their stand; wanting to realize himself, he helps others to realize themselves."

1. Kongzi (Confucianism) 2. The Analects 3. Humaneness (인仁) as empathy. What you want for yourself, you also help others obtain, using what is near at hand (your own wishes) as the example. Example: if you want to succeed in your career, you mentor others so they can succeed too.

"A scholar should be filial toward his parents when at home and respectful toward his elders when abroad… if he has energy to spare, he should devote it to study of the cultural arts."

1. Kongzi (Confucianism) 2. The Analects 3. Humaneness (인仁): empathy begins at home. Practice caring for the people closest to you first, then extend it outward, and study comes after. Example: a student treats parents and neighbors respectfully before worrying about learning refined arts.

"In everyday life be courteous, when addressing your work be reverent, when with other people be earnest."

1. Kongzi (Confucianism) 2. The Analects 3. Humaneness (인仁) linked to earnestness (忠). Humaneness shows up in daily manners, a serious attitude toward work, and sincerity with others. Real situation: Fan Chi asked Kongzi about humaneness a third time, and Kongzi answered with these three everyday behaviors.

Zigong asked for one teaching to guide one's entire life. The Master: "Is it not compassion? Do not impose upon others what you yourself do not desire."

1. Kongzi (Confucianism) 2. The Analects 3. Compassion (恕) as the guiding principle of humaneness (인仁). If one word could guide a whole life, it is considering how others feel. Real situation: his disciple Zigong asked whether a single teaching could guide a whole life, and Kongzi gave him this one.

Kongzi said "All that I teach is unified by one guiding principle." Zengzi replied: "All of what the Master teaches amounts to nothing more than earnestness and compassion."

1. Zengzi, explaining Kongzi's teaching (Confucianism) 2. The Analects 3. Earnestness (忠) and compassion (恕) as the unifying principle of humaneness (인仁). Earnestness is sincere, wholehearted effort, and compassion is not imposing on others what you would not want. Real situation: Kongzi called to his disciple Zengzi and told him his teaching has one thread, and Zengzi was the one who named the thread.

"When native substance overwhelms cultural refinement, the result is a crude rustic. When cultural refinement overwhelms native substance, the result is a foppish pedant. Only when both are brilliant do you have an exemplary person."

1. Kongzi (Confucianism) 2. The Analects 3. Exemplary person (군자/gunja): excelling in both inner and outer qualities. Inner substance (sincerity, character) needs outer refinement (manners, learning) to be balanced. Example: someone who is honest but rude is a crude rustic, and someone who is polished but insincere is a foppish pedant.

"If an exemplary person does not seek fullness when she eats, does not seek comfort when she sleeps; is quick in action and prudent in speech… one may say she loves to learn."

1. Kongzi (Confucianism) 2. The Analects 3. Exemplary person (군자): not obsessed with wealth or comfort, and devoted to learning. Her focus is on the Way instead of luxury, and Kongzi says this shows love of learning. Example: a student who skips fancy meals and comfortable living to focus on study and acting rightly.

"The exemplary person pursues the Way and does not pursue food… worries about the way and not about poverty."

1. Kongzi (Confucianism) 2. The Analects 3. Exemplary person (군자): not obsessed with wealth. He cares about living by the Way (moral path), not about income or hunger. Example: a scholar who studies to become a better person even though it may not make him rich.

"Wealth and high position are what people want, but if not gained through proper ways, do not reside in them… The exemplary person does not stray from humaneness even while eating."

1. Kongzi (Confucianism) 2. The Analects 3. Exemplary person (군자): not obsessed with wealth, and committed to humaneness (인仁) at all times. Wealth and status are acceptable only if gained properly, and poverty is not worth escaping by improper means. Example: refusing a high-paying job that requires cheating, and staying humane even in a moment of stumbling.

"I have heard that the exemplary person helps out those in dire need and does not help the rich continue their wealth."

1. Kongzi (Confucianism) 2. The Analects 3. Exemplary person (군자): caring for the underprivileged. Generosity should go to people who truly need it, not to those who are already wealthy. Real situation: Kongzi refused to pay a big sum to a pupil going abroad on his behalf (the slide notes the pupil got paid anyway), pointing out that the pupil already rode a fat horse and wore high-quality leather.

Wenxi became a minister. Confucius handed him 900 bushels of grain; he refused. "Stop! Take them and give them to your villagers and neighbors!"

1. Kongzi (Confucianism) 2. The Analects 3. Exemplary person (군자): caring for the underprivileged and sharing wealth. A person with a salary should pass surplus to those around him instead of hoarding it. Real situation: Kongzi tried to give the new minister Wenxi 900 bushels of grain, and when Wenxi refused, Kongzi told him to give it to his villagers and neighbors.

"For all under heaven, the exemplary person has no absolute wishes, no absolute avoidances; he just follows what is righteous."

1. Kongzi (Confucianism) 2. The Analects 3. Exemplary person (군자): flexibility, guided by righteousness (義). He has no fixed rules about what he must always do or never do, and decides by what is right in the situation. Example: he adapts to circumstances, taking a job or declining it based on whether it is righteous, not on rigid habit.

There are four things Confucius never did: be inflexible about his will, his action, his opinion, and his sense of self.

1. Kongzi (Confucianism) 2. The Analects 3. Exemplary person (군자): flexibility. Kongzi did not cling stubbornly to his plans, actions, views, or ego. Example: when a better argument comes along, he changes his mind instead of defending his pride.

"The exemplary person does not become a specific vessel."

1. Kongzi (Confucianism) 2. The Analects 3. Exemplary person (군자): flexibility and the ability to supervise. A vessel is a tool with one fixed use, and the exemplary person is not limited to one narrow function. Example: a good leader understands the whole picture and uses different people's skills instead of acting as a one-skill specialist.

"The exemplary person is harmonious but not identical; the petty person seeks to be identical but not harmonious."

1. Kongzi (Confucianism) 2. The Analects 3. Exemplary person (군자) as supervisor: harmony without conformity. The exemplary person gets along with others and welcomes different views, but keeps his own judgment instead of just agreeing with everyone. Example: a good leader listens to disagreement and still decides on principle, while a petty person copies the crowd to fit in.

"The exemplary person oversees everything and does not imitate; the petty person imitates and does not oversee everything."

1. Kongzi (Confucianism) 2. The Analects 3. Exemplary person (군자) as supervisor. He takes responsibility for seeing the whole situation and decides for himself, instead of copying others. Example: a manager who understands how every part of the team fits together, versus an employee who just imitates what others do.

"The exemplary person contemplates virtue, the petty person contemplates the land… the gentleman contemplates legal penalty, the petty man contemplates favor."

1. Kongzi (Confucianism) 2. The Analects 3. Exemplary person (군자) as selfless person. His thoughts are about moral character, while a petty person thinks about property and personal gain. Example: when making a decision, the exemplary person asks what is virtuous, and the petty person asks what he will get out of it.

"The generosity of the exemplary person is like the wide river; a petty person mourns his/her loss for a long time."

1. Kongzi (Confucianism) 2. The Analects 3. Exemplary person (군자) as selfless person: generosity. His generosity is broad and flowing like a wide river, so he does not dwell on what he gave up. Example: he lends money or time to others without brooding over it, while a petty person grieves over every small loss.

"The exemplary person finds enlightenment with righteousness, the petty person finds enlightenment with profit."

1. Kongzi (Confucianism) 2. The Analects 3. Exemplary person (군자) as selfless person: righteousness (義) over profit. He understands things by asking what is right, while a petty person understands things by asking what pays. Example: faced with a business deal, the exemplary person first asks whether it is right, and only then considers whether it is profitable.

"The virtue of the exemplary person is as the wind, and the virtue of the petty person is as the grass. If the wind blows over the grass, they bend without fail."

1. Kongzi (Confucianism) 2. The Analects 3. Exemplary person (군자) as morally responsible: leading by example. A ruler's goodness bends people toward goodness like wind bends grass. Real situation: Jikangzi, a powerful official, asked Kongzi about governing and suggested killing those who disobey the Way, and Kongzi answered that if he wanted the people to be good, he should be good himself.

"The exemplary person seeks from oneself, the petty person seeks from others."

1. Kongzi (Confucianism) 2. The Analects 3. Exemplary person (군자) as morally responsible: self-accountability. He looks for the cause of problems and the solution within himself, instead of blaming or relying on others. Example: when a project fails, he first asks what he could have done better, while a petty person blames teammates.

"To rule is to correct. If you lead by being correct yourself, who dare refuse to correct their own behavior?"

1. Kongzi (Confucianism) 2. The Analects 3. Exemplary person (군자): moral leadership. The ruler's job is to correct people, and the only way to do that is to be correct himself first. This is part of Kongzi's view on social rank and inequality: higher rank means greater moral responsibility, not just more privilege. Real situation: Jikangzi asked Kongzi about ruling, and Kongzi turned the question back on Jikangzi, telling him to start by correcting himself.

Jikangzi worried about thieves. "If you have less greed, people will not steal even if you were to put a prize on it."

1. Kongzi (Confucianism) 2. The Analects 3. Exemplary person (군자): moral leadership through self-restraint. Kongzi blames the ruler's greed, not the thieves, for crime. It ties to social rank and inequality, since the powerful carry responsibility for the behavior of those below them. Real situation: Jikangzi asked how to deal with thieves, and Kongzi told him that if he were less greedy himself, people would not steal.

"If you are good to your parents and your elders, they will become truthful; if you employ the good and teach those who aren't, they will be inclined to learn."

1. Kongzi (Confucianism) 2. The Analects 3. Exemplary person (군자): moral leadership that models filial piety (효孝). A ruler who respects his own parents and elders teaches the people to be truthful, and rewarding the good while teaching the rest makes them want to learn. This connects to Kongzi's view on social rank and inequality, where those on top shape those below. Real situation: Jikangzi asked how to make his people respectful, truthful, and eager to learn, and Kongzi told him it starts with his own conduct and who he promotes.

Confucius wanted to live among the barbarians. "If an exemplary person resides among them, how could there be crudeness?"

1. Kongzi (Confucianism) 2. The Analects 3. Exemplary person (군자) as influential person. Kongzi believes an exemplary person's character changes the environment around him. Real situation: Kongzi said he wanted to leave for the land of the "barbarians," and when someone asked how he would handle their crudeness, he answered with this.

"When an exemplary person walks past, it was like the eclipse of the sun or the moon. When they go away, everyone looks towards it."

1. Zigong, a disciple of Kongzi, speaking about Kongzi (Confucianism) 2. The Analects 3. Exemplary person (군자) as influential person. Everyone notices and admires an exemplary person, like the sun and moon being watched during an eclipse, and people look up to him again when he returns. Real situation: Zigong said this about Kongzi, whose influence he had seen in person as a disciple.

"The gentleman completes others' virtues and does not complete their flaws. With the petty man, it is the opposite."

1. Kongzi (Confucianism) 2. The Analects 3. Exemplary person (군자) as virtuous person. He helps bring out the best in others instead of feeding their faults. Example: he encourages a friend's honesty and kindness, while a petty person would encourage a friend's bad habits or enjoy their failures.

"The gentleman is easy to serve but difficult to please… employs you according to your vessel. The petty man is difficult to serve but easy to please."

1. Kongzi (Confucianism) 2. The Analects 3. Exemplary person (군자) as virtuous person. He is not pleased by flattery or improper favors, and he assigns people tasks that fit their abilities. Example: a good boss gives you work suited to your skills and cannot be bribed, while a petty boss demands you do everything but is happy to be flattered.

"The gentleman is magnanimous but not haughty, the petty man is haughty but not magnanimous."

1. Kongzi (Confucianism) 2. The Analects 3. Exemplary person (군자) as virtuous person: magnanimity. He is generous in spirit and stays humble, while a petty person is arrogant and stingy. Example: a successful person who forgives small offenses and still treats everyone with modesty.

"There are those who are gentleman but are not humane, but there have never been those who are petty man but are humane."

1. Kongzi (Confucianism) 2. The Analects 3. Exemplary person (군자) as virtuous person, and humaneness (인仁). Even an exemplary person can occasionally fall short of humaneness, but a petty person can never be humane. Example: a well-regarded scholar might act coldly once in a while, but someone who is truly petty and selfish cannot practice real care for others.