Today is celebrated throughout the Chinese world as the birthday of China's "First Teacher," Master Kong Qiu (孔丘) who is known to the West as Confucius. He is 2551 years old today. Perhaps.
Early this morning at temples throughout the country, ceremonies were held honoring him as teacher, sage, prophet, statesman and even deity. Who was the real Confucius?
The Confucian School evolved his legend over 2000 years, while Taoists have assassinated his good character to promote their own ideas. Very little is known about the real man.
Illustration: June Hsu
He was probably a private tutor who taught the sons of gentlemen the virtues proper to the ruling class. He desired a more public role and wandered from state to state in the fragmented China of that time (today's Shandong and Henan). There is no evidence that he succeeded in interesting rulers in his Way, which he recommended as that of "the ancient kings of a former golden era."
One or two of his disciples achieved official positions and others continued schools in his name. It is through their success that we know of Confucius today and through their mouths that we know what he thought.
"The Master said, Even when walking as one of three men, there is sure to be my teacher. I select their good qualities for imitation and their bad qualities for correction in myself.'"
Confucius might be amused at being worshipped in temples as a saint or even god. He himself "did not speak of the supernatural; mystical powers; abnormalities or gods."
Like many of the philosophers who offered new ideas during this chaotic phase in China's history, Confucius' recommended meritocracy. His definition of a gentleman did not depend on birth but on moral behavior. While states fought each other for control of the nation, Confucius said, "if distant people do not submit, attract them by the virtue of one's culture."
Confucius said that there was one thread running through his ideas. "Disciples asked what he meant. Zengzi replied, The Master's Way is simply Zhong-shu (
Books have been written discussing this term at the core of Confucius' teaching. ZHONG, often translated as "loyalty," meant something like "doing for others as diligently as doing for oneself" and SHU, "reciprocity" meant "imagining oneself on the receiving end of one's actions."
If there is one thing that Taiwan, indeed anywhere, could use more of today, it is this attitude of "thinking of others" put forward by Confucius more than two millennia ago.
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