# The Future of Confucianism

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> Source: Bahá'í Library Online (bahai-library.com), curated by Jonah Winters. Used by permission of the curator. Original citation: Yeo Yew Hock, The Future of Confucianism, bahai-library.com.
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> 
> The Future of Confucianism
> 
> Yeo Yew Hock
> 
> 1. Historical development
> 
> For the last 2,500 years, the teachings of Confucius have had a great and
> enduring influence on Chinese society and its people. This article will
> discuss briefly the history of Confucianism, its teachings, followed by a
> critique of its place in the modern world. It will then discuss the future of
> Confucianism and its survival into the 21 st century.
> 
> Historically, the mam periods of development for Confucianism took
> place as follows:
> 
> Confucius 551-479 BC
> Mencius371-289BC
> HsunTzu298-238BC
> Western Han Dynasty 206 BC - 8 AD
> Early 3rd to 6th Century - Decline of Confucianism
> Tang Dynasty 618-907 AD
> Sung Dynasty Confucian revival
> Yuan Dynasty 1271-1368 AD
> Korean Dynasty 13 92 - 1910 AD
> 19th Century - Encounter with Foreign Ideas
> 
> Confucius (551-479 BC)
> Confucius was an ardent admirer of the King of Chou, who lived in 1094
> BC, in the Age of Yao and Shun, known to be an Age of great harmony m
> ancient China. In his lifetime, Confucius had about 3000 disciples. He
> started the "Scholar tradition." Scholars were men of action as well as of
> ideas. Confucius tried to reanimate the old Order so as to attain a new one.
> He believed it was possible to retrieve the meanings of the past by
> breathing vitality and life into outmoded rituals. Among these were the
> ancestral cult, reverence for Heaven and mourning ceremonies, all of
> 88          THE SINGAPORE BAHAT STUDIES REVIEW
> 
> which had survived for centuries in China before his lifetime. He regarded
> the everyday human world as profoundly spiritual. He tried to found
> human unity on the unity of Heaven. The period from 550 to 200 BC was
> known as the Age of the hundred philosophers - a golden age in classical
> Chinese thought. Flourishing during this epoch together with the thoughts
> of Confucius were Taoist and Moist philosophies. Of these schools, only
> Confucianism managed to penetrate virtually all aspects of life in ancient
> China.
> 
> Mencius (371 - 289 BC)
> Mencius, the most famous Confucian philosopher after Confucius, was a
> native of the state of Tchou. Like Confucius, he travelled widely to get an
> audience for his ideas with the various rulers of the time. He was not
> successful. Finally he retired and together with his disciples he compiled
> the Mencius in seven books. Mencius later became one of the famous Four
> Books. In it are recorded the conversations between Mencius and the
> warlords and Mencius and his disciples. Mencius taught that human
> nature is basically good and proposed the cultivation of a class of scholar
> officials who were not to be involved in agriculture, industry and
> commerce in ancient China.
> 
> HsunTzu ( 2 9 8 - 2 3 8 BC)
> Unlike Mencius, who believed in the goodness of human nature (the latter
> also requires rituals and authority to be good), Hsun Tzu teaches that
> human nature is basically evil. A person's passions and desires have to be
> controlled so that he can act within social norms. Hsun Tzu outlined the
> process of Confucian education, from nobleman to sage. He said that this
> is a ceaseless endeavour by man to accumulate knowledge, skills, insight
> and wisdom.
> 
> Western Han Dynasty (206 BC - 8 AD)
> The Han Dynasty was significant as the Emperors adopted Confucianism
> as a model to base the Chinese state on. In 124 BC, during the reign of the
> Martial Emperor, Emperor Han Wu Ti, he appointed five Confucian
> Scholars (called Erudites) in his Court. They became the Masters of the
> five Classics, in effect, creating the first University in China. Fifty official
> students were assigned to support their work. By 1 AD, 100 men were
> entering the Imperial government service via entrance exams conducted
> The Future of Confucianism                         89
> 
> by the state. By 50 AD, there were 3,000 students m the Imperial
> University at the Court. In 58 AD, all government schools were required
> to conduct sacrificial rites to Confucius. By this time, Confucianism had
> come of age. In 175 AD, the Imperial Court approved the official first
> version of the five Classics. These were as follows:
> 
> The Book of Documents,
> The Book of Poetry,
> The Book of Rites,
> The Book of Change
> The Spring and Autumn Annals.
> 
> From the Early 3 r d to Late 6th Century AD
> When the Han Dynasty ended, China went through a turbulent period and
> non-Chinese invaders captured large parts of North China. For the next
> four hundred years no one ruler was able to rule all of China. As the
> Chinese State declined, so did the influence of Confucianism. During this
> same period, Buddhism flourished and made a significant impact in many
> parts of China. Although many Buddhist schools arose and were
> established, neither Taoism nor Confucianism disappeared.
> 
> Tang Dynasty (618 - 907 AD)
> The Tang Dynasty was the next significant period of Chinese history.
> China was again a unified state, and under the rule of the Tang Empire it
> rose to new heights of power, prestige and prosperity. This gave a boost to
> Confucianism as it had done in the Han Dynasty, and the Tang Dynasty
> based its political structure on Confucian principles. The Emperors
> recruited
> their staff through the Civil Service Examinations System with the
> syllabus based mostly on Confucian Classics and publications. A newer
> and more definitive official edition of the five Classics was published
> during the Tang Dynasty.
> 
> Sung Dynasty (960 - 1279 AD)
> The Sung Dynasty saw the revival of Confucianism. During this period
> the Imperial Examination system was fully implemented by the Emperors.
> Chu Hsi (1130 - 1200 AD) the eminent Sung scholar of the epoch placed
> the Four Confucian Books (namely The Doctrine of the Mean, The Great
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> 
> Learning, The Analects and Mencius) above the five original Classics. His
> major contribution was in restructuring the priority of Confucian
> scriptural traditions.
> 
> Yuan Dynasty (1271 - 1368 AD)
> In 1279 AD, the foreign Mongolians conquered and united all of China.
> Although they generally treated the Confucian scholars badly, it was
> during the Mongol Dynasty that the Yuan Court officially adopted the
> Four Books as the basis of the Civil Service Examinations. This system of
> examinations was religiously observed till 1905, a period of about 600
> years. Hsu Heng the eminent Confucian scholar of this period educated
> the sons of Mongol nobility to be teachers of the Confucian classics.
> 
> Korean Dynasty (1392 - 1910 AD)
> Among all the dynasties in China (both Chinese and foreign) the Korean
> Choson Dynasty (1392 to 1910) is considered to be the most thoroughly
> Confucianised. The Korean Confucian scholar, Yi T'oegye (1501 to
> 1570), re-interpreted Chu Hsi's teachings for the Koreans. To this date,
> the vitality of the Confucian tradition is still felt throughout both North
> and South Korea. We note that the late North Korean communist leader,
> Mr Kim II Sung, passed over the leadership of the country to his son, Kim
> Jong II, a practice which is very much part of Confucian tradition.
> 
> The Encounter with Foreign Ideas in 19th Century China
> Ever since the Yuan Dynasty (1271 to 1368 AD) both Chinese creativity
> and originality in China had slowed down, as people were more content to
> repeat old social customs and forms. This was probably due to enforced
> conformity brought about by Confucianism and the lack of stirring and
> stimulating contacts with external cultures.
> 
> As China was steeped in Confucian traditions for a long time, a traumatic
> and revolutionary clash of cultures happened in the 19th century between
> the Chinese people and foreigners who brought new ways of thinking and
> advanced technology. The people who were imbued with Confucianist
> teachings for many centuries could not understand nor withstand the tests
> and challenges of more progressive European ideas and way of life.
> The Future of Confucianism                           91
> 
> Coincidentally at the time, 19th century China was also faced with an
> incompetent, decadent and weak leadership under the Ching Emperors.
> During this period, social and political changes were slow. The Chinese
> concept of a State was that of an Empire embracing all civilisation (with
> China as The Central Kingdom). To them, all states owed allegiance to
> the one sovereign Son of Heaven, the Emperor. China was governed by
> trained Confucian scholars schooled only in Confucian principles. China
> was also primarily an agricultural and rural country.
> 
> On the other hand, the foreigners from the New World were educated
> differently. They had an industrial and urban background. Their
> experience was shaped by the Industrial Revolution and they were very
> much part of the machine age. Applied science had made profound social
> changes that had transformed every aspect of human life. The western
> conception of the nation and international order was driven by a vision of
> a commonwealth of nations, with each nation being a sovereign state. The
> latter was also guided in international relations by international law.
> As opposed to these new ideas and concepts brought by foreigners, social
> relations in China were based on the family. China was a patriarchal
> society. The individual and the state were subordinated to the family.
> These differences in social and scientific experiences caused conflict and
> mutual suspicion between Chinese people and foreigners in 19th century
> China.
> 
> In many ways, clashes of ideas also occurred in the late 20th century in
> China, as it emerges from obscurity into a more technologically advanced
> world. Although the clash of cultures is less severe, there is still a lack of
> understanding between Chinese people and Western people, and when
> they meet, it is often with a feeling of mutual suspicion.
> 
> 2. The Teachings of Confucianism
> 
> Confucius described himself in the following way:
> 
> "At 15 I set my heart on learning; at 30 I firmly took my stand; at 40 I had
> no delusions; at 50 I knew the Mandate of Heaven; at 60 my ear was
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> 
> attuned; at 70 I followed my heart's desire without overstepping the
> boundaries of right."1
> 
> When one of his students had difficulty describing him, he said:
> 
> "Why do you not simply say something to this effect: he is the sort of man
> who forgets to eat when he engages himself in the pursuit of learning,
> who is so full of joy that he forgets his worries and who does not notice
> that old age is coming on."2
> 
> Confucius was concerned with self-improvement and acquiring virtues:"It
> is these things that cause me concern: failure to cultivate virtue, failure to
> go deeply into what I have learned, inability to move up to what I have
> heard to be right, and inability to reform myself when I have defects."3 He
> believed education to be a ceaseless process of self-realisation and self-
> teaching. He told his students that they must be willing to learn: "I do not
> enlighten anyone who is not eager to learn, nor encourage anyone who is
> not anxious to put his ideas into words."4
> 
> Mencius thought virtues were innate to human character, and that
> education was required for their full development:
> 
> "All men have a mind which cannot bear (to see the suffering of) others...
> If now men suddenly see a child about to fall into a well, they will without
> exception experience a feeling of alarm and distress... From this case we
> may perceive that he who lacks the feeling of commiseration is not a man;
> that he who lacks a feeling of shame and dislike is not a man; that he who
> lacks a feeling of modesty and yielding is not a man; and that he who
> lacks a sense of right and wrong is not a man. The feeling of
> commiseration is the beginning of human-heartedness. The feeling of
> shame and dislike is the beginning of righteousness. The feeling of
> modesty and yielding is the beginning of propriety. The sense of right
> and wrong is the beginning of wisdom. Man has these four beginnings,
> just as he has four limbs... Since all men have these four beginnings in
> themselves, let them know how to give them full development and
> 
> S. Leys, The Analects of Confucius, 1997, 2.4, p 6.
> ibid., 7A9, p. 31.
> ibid., 7.3, p. 29.
> ibid., 7.8, p. 30.
> The Future of Confucianism                     93
> 
> completion. The result will be like fire that begins to burn, or a spring
> which has begun to find vent. Let them have their complete development,
> and they will suffice to protect all within the four seas. If they are denied
> that development, they will not suffice even to serve one's parents."5
> 
> A Transmitter of Traditions
> Confucius considered himself to be a transmitter of traditions rather than a
> creator of something new. In China, he is known as the "First Teacher"
> and the 16* September of each year is still being celebrated in Taiwan as
> Teacher's Day m his honour. Confucius was keen to learn from history
> and he said:
> 
> "A transmitter and not a maker, believing in and loving the ancients, I
> venture to compare myself with our old Pang."6
> "I am one who is fond of antiquity and earnest in seeking it there."7
> 
> His aim was to put into practice the political ideas that he learnt from the
> ancient sage kings (in particular the Duke of Chou). He did not realise this
> dream during his lifetime, but later, his philosophy of moral persuasion
> was influential and became an indivisible and enduring part of Chinese
> society.
> 
> The Five Obligations
> According to Confucius, people's readiness to be governed arose from
> five Universal Obligations. These obligations are between individuals of
> different social status. They are reciprocal duties and are considered to be
> appointments of Heaven. If all these duties are faithfully discharged, a
> state of "happy tranquillity" will prevail for all people under Heaven. The
> five universal obligations are those between:
> 
> The Sovereign and the minister
> The Father and his son
> The Husband and his wife
> The Elder brother and younger brother
> Friends
> 
> D.C. Lau, Mencius, II, A.6.
> S. Leys, Analects, 7.1, p. 29.
> ibid., 7.20, p. 31.
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> 
> Within the family the two important obligations are those between the
> father and son and between elder and younger brothers. Master You said:
> "A man who respects his parents and his elders would hardly be inclined
> to defy his superiors. A man who is not inclined to defy his superiors will
> never foment a rebellion. A gentleman works at the root. Once the root is
> secured, the Way unfolds. To respect parents and elders is the root of
> humanity."8
> 
> A human being is connected to humanity through various degrees of
> kinship One should love one's parents more than the other members of the
> family, other members of the family more than members of the same
> village and so on until one reaches humanity at large. As love for
> humanity is only an extension of the love for parents or for son, it is not
> considered to be as important as family relations. Mencius elaborated on
> these obligations:
> 
> "... love between father and son, duty between ruler and subject,
> distinction between husband and wife, precedence of the old over the
> young, and faith between friends.. ."9
> 
> Kung-sun Chou asked, "Why does a gentleman not take on the teaching of
> his own sons?"
> 
> "Because in the nature of things," said Mencius, "it will not work. A
> teacher necessarily resorts to correction, and if correction produces no
> effect, it will end by losing his temper. When this happens, father and son
> will hurt each other instead. 'You teach me by correcting me, but you
> yourself are not correct.' So father and son hurt each other, and it is bad
> that such a thing should happen. In antiquity people taught one another's
> sons. Father and son should demand goodness from each other. Not to do
> so will estrange them, and there is nothing more inauspicious than
> estrangement between father and son...10 The content of benevolence is
> the serving of one's parents...11
> 
> ibid., 1.2, p. 3.
> D.C. Lau, Mencius, IIIA, p. 102.
> xo
> ibid., IVA. 18, p. 125.
> ibid., IVA.27,p. 127.
> The Future of Confucianism                        95
> 
> A benevolent man extends his love from those he loves to those he. does
> not love."12
> 
> Between the old and the young, he said:
> 
> "There are three things which are acknowledged by the world to be
> exalted: rank, age, and virtue. At court, rank is supreme; in the village,
> age; but for assisting the world and ruling over people, it is virtue."13
> 
> Between Ruler and the Minister:
> 
> "If a prince treats his ministers as his hands and feet, they will treat him as
> their belly and heart. If he treats them as his horses and hounds, they will
> treat him as a mere fellow countryman. If he treats them as mud and
> weeds, they will treat him as an enemy.14
> 
> There is a common expression, "The Empire, the state, the family." The
> Empire has its basis in the state, the state in the family, and the family in
> one's own self."15
> 
> Benevolent Rulership
> Confucius preached that men can and should adapt to the ruler and that
> there is within them a readiness to be governed. He said that this human
> quality could be harnessed effectively by the ruler if he goes about it in
> the right way. He said if this were done, the response of the people would
> be like them following a true "shepherd of men."
> 
> He taught that the Emperors needed to practise benevolent rulership:
> "The growth of government would be rapid, just as vegetation is rapid in
> the earth: yea, their government would display itself like an easily
> growing rush."16
> 
> This principle was called "benevolent government" by Mencius, who
> expounded it in greater depth. Mencius said that the Emperor has to be
> 
> ibid., VIIB.l,p. 194.
> ibid., IIB.2,p. 87.
> D.C. Lau, Mencius, 1970, IVB.3, p. 128.
> xs
> ibid., IVA.5,p. 120.
> J. Legge, The Doctrine of the Mean, chap. 20.3, p. 405.
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> 
> seen by the people to have the Mandate of Heaven or he will be
> considered unfit to rule China. The virtues of the Emperors were essential
> for their remaining in power and retaining their authority over people.
> Their mandate to rule was also believed to be linked to their ancestral
> lineage. They had to practise filial piety towards their ancestors and to
> Heaven.
> 
> To the people, the Emperor was akin to the Father of China:
> 
> "The people of are supreme importance; the altars to the gods of earth and
> grain come next; last comes the ruler. When a feudal lord endangers the
> altars to the gods of earth and grain he should be replaced. When the
> sacrificial animals are sleek, the offerings are clean and the sacrifices are
> observed at due times, and yet floods and droughts come, then the altars
> should be replaced.17 ... It was through losing the people that Chieh and
> Tchou lost the Empire, and through losing the people's hearts that they
> lost the people. There is a way to win the Empire; win the people and you
> will win the Empire. There is a way to win the people; win their hearts
> and you will win the people.18 The kingdom, the world, (can be) brought
> to a state of tranquillity."19
> 
> Mencius proposed the cultivation of a class of scholar officials who were
> not to be involved in agriculture, industry and commerce in ancient China.
> This implies a form of division of labour and puts scholars on an equal
> footing with other governmental concerns, such as economic progress:
> 
> "No man is devoid of a heart sensitive to the suffering of others. Such a
> sensitive heart was possessed by the former kings and this manifested
> itself in humane government. With such a sensitive heart behind humane
> government, it was easy to rule the world as rolling it in your palm."20
> 
> The Golden Rule
> Confucius' teachings focus on The Way, ethics, rites, education and
> improving the duties of the individual. He teaches that the individual must
> learn to be human. His purpose in life is to be a good man (a gentleman).
> 
> D.C. Lau, Mencius, 1970, VII, B.14, p. 196.
> x
> * ibid., IV, A.9,p. 121.
> J. Legge, The Great Learning, paras. 4 and 5, p. 357 - 359.
> D.C. Lau, Mencius, II, A.6.
> The Future of Confucianism                   97
> 
> However, Confucius did not hold out any rewards in this world or the next
> for being a gentleman or for achieving good morals and goodne s s . He
> said that one's life should be based on the Golden Rule:
> 
> "Do not impose on others what you yourself do not desire."21
> According to Confucius, the gentleman (chun tzu) must have the virtues
> of wisdom and courage. For instance:
> 
> "The man of wisdom is never in two minds; the man of benevolence never
> worries; the man of courage is never afraid."22
> 
> His objective was to reformulate and revitalise social institutions that are
> necessary for political stability and social order, namely, the family,
> school, local community and the state. He said that virtue is a personal
> quality that must be possessed by the Emperor. His virtues are needed for
> individual dignity, communal peace and political order.
> 
> On Women
> According to Confucian writings, women were subject to the three
> obediences. When young, she must obey her father and elder brother
> when married she must obey her husband. When her husband is dead, she
> must obey her son. She may not think of marrying a second time. A
> women's duty lies in the preparation of drinks and food. There is a strict
> injunction that no instructions or orders must issue from the harerp. She
> must not be known beyond the threshold of her apartment. She may take
> no step on her own volition, and may come to no conclusion through her
> own deliberation.
> 
> Women were supposed to follow the instructions of men, and help carry
> out their principles. The following five types of women were not to be
> taken into marriage:
> 
> The daughter of a rebellious house
> The daughter of a disorderly house
> The daughter of a house that had produced criminals for more than one
> generation
> 
> ibid., 12.2, p. 55.
> D.C. Lau, Mencius, 9.29, p. 43.
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> 
> The daughter of a leprous house
> The daughter who has lost her father and elder brother.
> 
> A wife may be divorced by the husband for the following six reasons:
> Disobeying her husband's parents
> Not giving birth to a son
> Dissolute conduct
> Jealousy
> Talkativeness
> Theft
> 
> However, there are three humane considerations for not divorcing a wife:
> She has no home to go to
> She has gone through three years of mourning for her husband's parents
> If the husband has become rich from being poor.
> 
> 3. Modern Day Criticisms of Confucianism
> 
> Criticisms of China's Confucianist past have been made by many people
> ever since China was successively defeated by different foreign powers in
> the 19th century. Some of the severest criticisms have come from the
> Chinese themselves. The humiliation of defeat gave rise to many reform
> movements within China. Under intense pressure from many reform
> groups, the Chinese Emperor just before the close of the 19th century
> issued the following declaration
> 
> "... Those who claim to be Conservative patriots consider that all the old
> should be upheld and the new ideas repudiated without compromise. Such
> querulous opinions are worthless. Consider the needs of the times and the
> weakness of our Empire! If we continue to drift with an army untrained,
> our revenues disorganised, our scholars ignorant, and our artisans without
> technical training, how can we possibly hope to hold our own among the
> nations       The virtuous rulers of remote antiquity did not cling
> obstinately to existing needs, but were ready to accept change, even as
> one wears grass-cloth garments in summer, and furs in winters. We now
> The Future of Confucianism                                    99
> 
> issue this special Decree so that all our subjects, from the Imperial family
> downwards, may hereafter exert themselves in the cause of reform..: "23
> 
> The numerous 19 century Chinese reform movements are too many to
> describe here. The reader is referred to works such as Vohra's China's
> Path to Modernization2* A classic book illustrating Western criticisms of
> modern Confucianism is Joseph Levenson's, Confucian China and its
> Modern Fate, written around the middle of the 20th century. Levenson
> summarises the fate of Confucianism in the 19th century amongst the
> intellectual elite in the following way:
> 
> "What was the 'new world' in China? Not the Confucian intellectual
> world with technical interests pasted on, but the Confucian world
> transformed by the western interests, the Classics paling into functional
> insignificance... the rise of business (historically associated with the rise
> of fung-ian' science), under western aegis, to a point of possible rivalry
> with Confucian-official status. Western yung, embraced by literati,
> corrupted the literati's way of thought, ultimately sapping the fullness of
> their conviction of the Confucian learning's indispensability; and western
> yung, wielded by westerners, put a challenge to the literati's way of life,
> by encouraging a social alternative, the commercial-industrial way of life,
> which likewise made the Confucian learning seem more and more
> irrelevant - and Confucian sanctions (like those behind the family-system)
> more and more impossible."25
> 
> Much has of course changed since the 19th century. Just when the Chinese
> were following through their reforms, communism in China rose to
> power. At the threshold of the 21 st century it is timely to take stock and re-
> evaluate the influence and relevance of Confucianism in our modern
> technology centred world. In the present context, only a brief summary of
> the more obvious problems with Confucianism today will be mentioned. It
> will be assumed that communist rule in China does not substantially
> change the issue of whether Confucianism will survive in the future.
> 
> R. Vohra, China 's Path to Modernization, p. 85.
> See particularly chap. 3, "The Decline of the Old Order, Beginning of the New", p. 52-
> 79.
> J. Levenson, "Confucian China and its Modern Fate", p. 64.
> 100        THE SINGAPORE BAHAT STUDIES REVIEW
> 
> Parochial regional outlook
> Confucius' teachings were meant for a feudal, traditional and family-
> centred society and obviously did not address international relations
> among independent nation states. In a globally interdependent world, it is
> necessary to have an open and close contact with people of different
> cultures. The context of society has changed - during Confucius' time,
> Chinese society was agrarian and isolated, families were the mam social
> units, and there were many small principalities. Now the world is more
> urban, industrial and integrated. Individuals have much greater power than
> they ever had before, and their family heritage no longer seems to play the
> same important social role as it did in the past.
> 
> Elitist and narrow form of education
> It is now a more democratic world. The modern world is less hierarchical,
> and has an egalitarian outlook. Such an approach is not in sync with elitist
> Confucianist principles. It is also a rapidly changing world in which
> traditional values have been undermined.
> 
> The focus of Confucian education was extremely narrow and rigid. The
> examination syllabus was based only on the four Confucian classics and
> this system had operated in China for twelve centuries. The students'
> examination technique was based on rote learning. There was a restricted
> range of subjects, as the students were occupied only with Confucian
> writings.
> 
> For the scholars, to pass the Civil Service Examinations was a practical
> necessity for success in life. It was a means to an end, as the aim was to
> obtain a job with the Imperial Bureaucracy. The Civil Service Exams
> created an elitist and exclusive culture that was perpetuated by scholars.
> The Confucian educational system was geared towards training a class of
> scholars to be bureaucrats to serve as advisers to the Emperor and there
> was a tendency to reserve education for the upper classes.
> 
> As the Confucian scholars were a relatively small group in the country,
> the great majority of Chinese people did not participate in public affairs.
> Although Confucius' teachings were for the masses, in subsequent
> periods, scholars were unwilling to share literacy and learning with the
> masses.
> The Future of Confucianism                          101
> 
> Ironically Confucius' intention was to share learning as widely as possible
> with the people. Chu Hsi in 12th century in Great Learning stated that
> there was a need for schools in every town and village. Confucian
> scholars also said similar things in the 13th century (in the court of Kublai
> Khan) and in 17th century (Huang Tung Hsi and Lu Liu Liang). Nothing
> much came of such suggestions to introduce education to the masses.
> Even when an imperial decree was issued to this effect it did not succeed.
> One possible reason was that China was an agrarian society. In each
> family every able-bodied man was needed in the field and the families
> were loath to release them to school. The Imperial Bureaucracy was also
> not big enough to manage the large numbers of candidates. There was no
> large middle class with surplus wealth and leisure to provide attractive
> alternative careers or cultural pursuits that were independent of the
> bureaucracy and the official establishment.
> 
> Problems abounded because the scholars were mainly interested in
> securing a career within the Civil Service Bureaucracy. As a result, they
> failed to address social changes, new needs and fundamental human
> issues. China failed to industrialise, as education based on Confucian
> classics did not promote science and technology. Students took exams to
> obtain magistracy and for a better life, and not for the sake of learning and
> enlightenment.
> 
> A hierarchical and paternalistic community
> A major characteristic of Confucian society is its hierarchical and
> paternalistic nature. The Chinese people have often been considered to be
> submissive. It is also thought that Confucius' teachings inculcate
> subordination and subservience. Among the Chinese people, there is a
> certain love of order and peace, a certain willingness to submit to "the
> powers that be."
> 
> Foreign writers attribute this to Confucianism, but that is not a fair
> comment, since the Chinese were like that before the lifetime of
> Confucius. It is more likely that Confucius was moulded by the character
> of the Chinese people and not the converse.
> 
> Not much elaboration on the five obligations
> Confucius's own teachings did not explain much about how a happy well
> governed state depends on the five relations: he spoke more about the first
> 102             THE SINGAPORE BAHAT STUDIES REVIEW
> 
> two (relations between the sovereign and the minister, between the father
> and his son) - but not much about the other three (relationship between
> the husband and wife, elder brother and younger brother, and between
> friends).
> 
> Ancestral worship
> Confucius encouraged the practice of ancestral worship, which required
> that children carried out elaborate rites and ceremonies for the dead. Large
> sums of money and energy were often spent by many families (even by
> poor families) to ensure that the traditional rites for their dead ancestors
> were carried out dutifully. Generally speaking, the practice of ancestral
> worship with its elaborate rites, rituals and funerals is not popular among
> the young generation today.
> 
> Unfavourable teachings on women
> Traditional Confucian teachings are not favourable with respect to the role
> and status of women in society. The subordinate position they give to
> women is generally not acceptable in today's society where women and
> men have equal rights. Traditionally, the system of civil service
> examinations did not allow women to participate.
> 
> Lack of teachings about Life After Death
> Confucius did not provide teachings about the purpose and the meaning of
> life, human destiny or human origins. He also did not discuss the subject
> of life after death. Confucianism therefore, cannot claim to be a complete
> philosophy of life. Historically, it tended to focus on this world. Chi Lu
> asked about serving the spirits of the dead, and Confucius said:
> "While you are not able to serve men, how can you serve their spirits? "
> The
> disciple continued, "I venture to ask about death," and he answered,
> "While you do not know life, how can you know death?"
> 
> Teachings Lack Scientific Content
> There was little scientific content in Confucius' teachings. Confucian
> teachings did not lead to the development of the physical sciences in
> China. Unlike the situation in Europe, no Industrial Revolution took place
> 
> J. Legge, Analects, 11.9.
> The Future of Confucianism                      103
> 
> in China. Any philosophy or system of thought that ignores science
> cannot hope to survive in today's world.
> 
> Suspicion of Foreigners
> Traditionally, Confucianism has had a conservative view of foreigners.
> China was considered to be the Central Kingdom and people outside it
> were considered to be rude barbarians. Once when Confucius expressed
> his disgust of China and expressed his intention to go and live among
> foreigners, his disciple asked him as follows:
> 
> "They are rude. How can you do such a thing?" He replied, "If a superior
> man dwelt among them, what rudeness would there be?"27
> 
> Confucius had no knowledge of distant foreign nations. Confucianism
> was ethnocentric and China-centred. Unlike Buddhism it did not allow the
> absorption of other races and cultures and new knowledge from outside
> China.
> 
> "Barbarians who have rulers are inferior to the various nations of China
> who are without."28
> 
> The aforementioned limitations of Confucianism are not by themselves
> enough to discard it. True, its teachings on women are clearly sexist, but
> then again, Confucius lived a long time ago. Moreover, Confucius drew
> his inspiration from ancient tradition, and did not seek to start something
> new. Just because Confucius did not mention science or say much about
> how Chinese people should relate to foreigners does not mean that
> Confucianists need reject modern science or harbour feelings of racial
> superiority. But historically, particularly during the last seven centuries or
> so, that was what happened. The problem is that Confucianism, in the
> garb of Neo-Confucianism, became a philosophy of everything and
> rejected anything that was not specifically mentioned in the Confucian
> classics. It monopolised everything, and this was a mistake. It is this
> mentality that does not have a future. This aspect of Neo-Confucianism
> resulted in China not being able to make progress while Europe was
> experiencing its industrial revolution.
> 
> ibid., 9.13, p. 107.
> ibid., 3.5.
> 104        THE SINGAPORE BAHÁT STUDIES REVIEW
> 
> 4. The Future
> 
> Having pointed out aspects of Confucianism that are not likely to survive,
> this section describes Confucian values that are enduring and are likely to
> remain.
> 
> The concept of social order and the governing of a state being ultimately
> rooted in individual self-cultivation and family unity is an important part
> of the Confucian heritage. The aims of being a “gentleman” through self­
> transformation, of striving to create harmony within the family, are
> Confucian teachings that are relevant to the modem world. In an
> interdependent world, where relationships between people can all too
> easily be undermined by technology and individualism, these ethical
> teachings of Confucianism are an invaluable human resource.
> 
> The Confucian scholar, Tu Wei-ming, emphasises the continuity between
> Confucian self-cultivation and the concept of the fiduciary community in
> the modem world:
> 
> “The logic of taking the cultivation of the self and the regulation of the
> family as “roots” and the ordering of the community, the governance of
> the state, and universal peace as “branches,” may give the impression that
> complex political processes are reduced to simple relationships
> explainable in personable familial terms. Yet the dichotomy of root and
> branch conveys the sense of a dynamic transformation from self to family,
> to community, to state, and to the world as whole. Self-cultivation is the
> root, and harmony attained in the family is a natural outgrowth, like the
> branch, of our cultivated selves. Family is the root, and harmony attained
> in the community, the state, and the world is a natural outgrowth of the
> well-regulated families. In this sense what we do in the privacy of our
> own homes profoundly shapes the quality of life in the state as a whole.
> 
> Nevertheless, it is important to note that the Confucians do not, by
> stressing the centrality of self-cultivation, undermine the corporate effort
> that is required for the family, the community, the state, and the world to
> become humane or fully human. Just as the self must overcome egoism to
> become authentically human, the family must overcome nepotism to
> become authentically human. By analogy, the community must'overcome
> parochialism, the state must overcome ethnocentrism, and the world must
> The Future o f Confucianism                                     105
> 
> overcome anthropocentrism to become authentically human. In light of
> Confucian inclusive humanism, the transformed self individually and
> corporately transcends egoism, nepotism, parochialism, ethnocentrism,
> and anthropocentrism to “form one body with Heaven, Earth, and the
> myriad things.”29
> 
> This passage has much in common with Bahá'í teachings. It encourages a
> global perspective, where each person in the world is looked upon as a
> member of the human family. Bahá'u'lláh stated, “We desire but the good
> of the world and the happiness of the nations... That all nations should
> become one in faith and all men as brothers; that the bonds of affection
> and unity between the sons of men should be strengthened... Let not a
> man glory in this, that he loves his country; but let him rather glory in this,
> that he loves his kind.”30
> 
> Tu Wei-ming argues for a “third epoch” in Confucianism, where it
> becomes a “common creed for humanity as a whole”, and where “concern
> for the survival of the Confucian tradition and for the continuity of
> traditional Chinese culture must be subsumed under a broader concern for
> the future of humankind”. In the context of the challenge facing modem
> Confucianist scholars, Tu Wei-ming writes:
> 
> “The real challenge to them is how a revived Confucian humanism might
> answer questions that science and democracy have raised. In a deeper
> sense, these scholars perceive the challenge to be the formulation of a
> Confucian approach to the perennial human problems of the world: the
> creation of a new philosophical anthropology, a common creed for
> humanity as a whole. They are fully aware that concern for the survival of
> the Confucian tradition and for the continuity of traditional Chinese
> culture must be subsumed under a broader concern for the future of
> humankind.”31
> 
> This is of course, very close to Bahd'u'Mh’s words on placing love for
> humanity above love for one’s country.
> 
> 29 W.M. Tu, Confucius and Confucianism, p. 115-116.
> 30 J. E. Esslemont, Bahd'u'lldh and the New Era, Bahá’u’lláh’s words to E. G. Brown, p.
> 40.
> 31 W.M. Tu, Quoted by R. L. Taylor, The Religious Dimension o f Confucianism, p. 138.
> 106          THE SINGAPORE BAHÁ1 STUDIES REVIEW
> 
> Another important contribution of Confucianism to the modem world is
> its positive approach to education. According to Confucius, learning is a
> process that can never be completed. In a world where the boundaries of
> knowledge are rapidly growing, a deep respect for learning is an ethic that
> is much needed.
> 
> “He who by revising the old knows the new, is fit to be a teacher.32
> Maybe there are people who can act without knowledge, but I am not one
> of them. Hear much, pick the best and follow it; see much, and keep a
> record of it: this is still the best substitute for innate knowledge.”33
> 
> Traditionally, Confucianism has always been directed to human ends, to
> self-improvement in moral rectitude, to self-cultivation in virtues.
> Confucian teachings have focussed on attaining better relationships
> between people, whether it be in the family or in society at large. Some
> critics have accused it of being too one-sided in this, claiming that it
> emphasised the learning of human virtues at the expense of making
> scientific or technological progress. Ironically, today’s modem society,
> dominated as it is by science, is arguably suffering from the reverse
> problem. Our society seems to give priority to scientific and technological
> learning, and relatively little attention, in comparison, is given to
> instruction in human ethics and morals. Confucianist teachings within this
> context may play an important role in gaining a better balance. Okada
> Tahehiko, a modem Confucianist scholar, points towards this being the
> future contribution of Confucianism:
> 
> “The main purpose of Confucianism is to establish true humanity. No
> matter how far science has developed, the Confucian never loses sight of
> the development of humanity. Before any discussion of logic or rationality
> the Confucian focuses upon the importance of subjectivity. In our day-to-
> day lives we distinguish what goes on within us from the outside world,
> but we become trapped by the outside world and in this way we lose our
> humanity. Given this situation we should try to control that external
> world, but in practice this is a very difficult thing to do. The important
> issue is to establish one’s own inner subjectivity within the mind.”34
> 
> 32 S. Leys, The Analects o f Confucius, 2.11, p. 7.
> 33 ibid., 7.28, p. 32.
> 34 Okada Tahehiko quoted by R. L. Taylor, The Religious Dimensions o f Confucianism,
> Modernity and Religion, p. 143.
> The Future o f Confucianism                      107
> 
> These views are close to the Bahá'í principle that “spiritual progress” must
> develop alongside “material progress”. While in Paris in 1912, ‘Abdu’l-
> Bahá stated:
> 
> “It is indeed a good and praiseworthy thing to progress materially, but in
> so doing, let us not neglect the more important spiritual progress, and
> close our eyes to the Divine light shining in our midst. Only by improving
> spiritually as well as materially can we make any real progress, and
> become perfect beings. It was in order to bring this spiritual life and light
> into the world that all the great Teachers have appeared. They came so
> that the Sun of Truth might be manifested, and shine in the hearts of men,
> and that through its wondrous power men might attain unto Everlasting
> Light.”35
> 
> From the Bahá'í point of view, Confucius is in the category of “great
> Teachers”. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá referred to him as a “Blessed soul” who, among
> others, was the “cause of illumination of the world of humanity”:
> 
> “Blessed souls - whether Moses, Jesus, Zoroaster, Krishna, Buddha,
> Confucius or Muhammad - were the cause of the illumination of the world
> of humanity.”36
> 
> The spiritual aspects to Confucius’s teachings, such as self-cultivation, of
> acquiring moral virtues, family unity, are relevant to the modem world,
> and can help it acquire a better balance between “material progress” and
> “spiritual progress”. There is much common ground between Bahá’ís and
> modem Confucianists on these points, and this may provide the basis by
> which they can work together in the future.
> 
> Acknowledgements
> This article was written in collaboration with Dr Anjam Khursheed, who
> helped me both formulate the original ideas as well as revise several
> versions of the paper.
> 
> 35 ‘Abdu'1-Bahá, Paris Talks, p. 63.
> 36 ‘Abdu'1-Bahá, Promulgation o f Universal Peace, p. 346.
> 108         THE SINGAPORE BAHÁ1 STUDIES REVIEW
> 
> Works Cited
> 
> ‘Abdiťl-Bahá
> ‘A bdu’l-Bahá in London, Bahá’í Publishing Trust, London, 4th ed.,
> 1988.
> Paris Talks, Bahd’i Publishing Trust, 11th ed., London, 1969.
> 
> The Promulgation o f Universal Peace, Baháh Publishing Trust,
> Wilmette, Illinois, 2nd ed., 1982.
> 
> Esslemont, J.E., Bahd'u'lldh and the New Era, Bahá’í Publishing Trust,
> Wilmette, Illinois, 1980.
> 
> Lau D. C., Mencius, Penguin Books, 1970.
> 
> James Legge,
> Confucius, Dover Publications Inc., New York, 1971.
> The Doctrine o f the Mean, XXX New York, 1971.
> The Great Learning, XXX New York, 1971.
> 
> Levenson, Joseph R., Confucian China and Its Modern Fate, Routledge
> and Kegan Paul, London, 1958.
> 
> Leys, Simon, The Analects o f Confucius, W. W. Norton & Company,
> 1997.
> 
> Taylor, R. L., The Religious Dimensions o f Confucianism, State
> University of New York Press, New York, 1990.
> 
> Tu, Wei-Ming, Confucius and Confucianism, article in the book,
> Confucianism and the Family, edited by Walter H. Slote and George A.
> De Vos, State University of New York Press, 1998.
> 
> Vohra, Ranbir, China's Path to Modernization, A Historical Review
> from 1800 to the Present, Prentice Hall, 2nd ed., New Jersey, USA, 1992.
>
> — *The Future of Confucianism (Used by permission of the curator)*