The Moral Teachings Included In the Lunyu and Their Validity in Modern Society - Essay Example

The Moral Teachings Included In the Lunyu and Their Validity in Modern Society Early writings of the ancient and classical thinkers have significant impact in our society, centuries later. While they influence the culture of the people, they have considerable influence on the politics of the people. It is important to understand that culture, beliefs and norms of people do not occur within a short time. The socially acceptable way of doing things takes a long time before people regard to it as their culture. As culture is an acceptable way of doing things, which people consider as their norms, the reality is that for this to become acceptable in the society, people have to associate with it for many years. One of the most significant ancient readings that have considerable impact on the Chinese people is the Lunyu (analects). Having been written during the warring times by Confucian followers about 475 BC–221 BC, the Lunyu still influence the lives of the Chinese people to date. Years after the death of Confucian, people still remember his wise saying. These determine the culture of the cultural regions of East Asia, where Confucian had the largest following. Not only did Lunyu focus on the politics alone, but also sought to establish a moral relationship among the members of the society. Increasingly, people adopted his sayings, which later defined their social and political actions. Although with the encroachment of modernization in the society and their increased influence of foreign cultures in the society the influence of Lunyu appears to have started diminishing among the Asian people, the reality is that people still use them in their lives. While they may not use them in a similar manner such as according heavy weight on their meaning among the people in the society, people in their social context still remember them and draw reference to them in their daily lives. Lunyu is a collection of different moral teachings by Confucian to his followers. Confucian believed that welfare of a country largely depended on the moral cultivation of the people. in his reasoning, for a morally mature country, all people regardless of their social status should have proper morals, leaders included. The initial step to moral cultivation among individuals in the society was ren. Confucian believed that the very step to achieving ren by an individual was adhering to the parents and older siblings. Instead of suppressing one’s individual desires, it was important for people to learn reconciliation through rituals and various forms of propriety. This way, people could have respect for others and honor their societal roles. The main reason why he taught his followers was to produce ethically well-cultivated men whom would no only show morals in their lives but also demonstrate high levels of integrity in the society. By nurturing these individuals, he believed that he could cultivate great leaders with the ability to lead the country in a moral and just way. Thus, his moral teachings among the people had considerable effects on the leaders of the time. While these happened hundreds of years ago, the fact that his sayings were full of wisdom considerably influenced the society. It was however the political teachings of Confucian that had considerable weight among the people in the society than any other teachings. Vividly, he described the qualities and characteristics of an ideal ruler. His political beliefs were rooted to the belief that a ruler had to possess qualities of self-discipline. Further, a leader had to use education whenever leading his people. The ability of a leader to make wise decisions, as Confucian believed was his education and moral conceptualization. An educated leader would instead of correcting his subjects through punishment and coercion, would use wisdom and thus correcting them using education and love. This, according to Confucian, was the ideal manner in which leaders were to handle issues with their subjects. According to analects (2.3) "If the people be led by laws, and uniformity among them be sought by punishments, they will try to escape punishment and have no sense of shame.” Confucian believed that by trying to subject people to punishment, they would run away for fear of the punishment and shame that would befall them. The law was good, as it gave guidelines to the people. However, the premise that all people would have uniform characteristics was unrealistic among the leaders. Further, Confucian posits that, “If they (people) are led by virtue, and uniformity sought among them through the practice of ritual propriety, they will possess a sense of shame and come to you of their own accord." He believed that people were the best source of the laws that they were supposed to follow. By unanimously agreeing to follow a particular code of conduct and laws, people would actually report themselves to the authorities whenever they made a mistake. (Analects 13.6). Confucian thus saw democracy as the best form of leadership that leaders in a country could exercise among the citizens. Contemporary leaders use this reasoning in drawing the constitution of the country. Before passing an act to become a law in a country, it has to go through debating process. Before the enactment of the construction, it has to go through a referendum. Even the election of the leaders takes place in a democratic way. However, his teachings then were contrary to the legal Chinese political orientations. As such, it was difficult to popularize his teachings during his times. Confucian believed that a good ruler possessed de (virtue). According to analects (2.1), a good ruler is one who possessed de, a moral force that allowed those in positions of power to rule without the need for physical coercion and confrontation. According to Confucius, “the rule of virtue can be compared to the Pole Star which commands the homage of the multitude of stars without leaving its place” (Analects 2.1). By devotion and practicing li was the best way that a ruler could cultivate de. In order to cultivate a ruler’s de, Confucius pointed out a number of practices. Among these were the ancestral rites held at the temples expressing thanksgiving for humanity, toasting and gift exchanges. Confucius had his thoughts about the ideal political and economic measures in the society. According to his analects, instead of using profits to rule the country, humanity and righteousness was the better parameters used in leadership. He believed that it was only by installing am equal land-holding system that the government could practice humane government. Confucius associated leadership with righteousness. He even championed for the people to overthrow inhumane leaders who ruled punitively. The radical messages in some of his sayings were an indication of his disgust and resent in his country’s governance structures. By concurring, that it was right to overthrow any leader who led without humanity was a form of radicalism. Few if any of the leaders of his time loved his teachings. Yet, commanding a huge number of devoted followers, Confucius managed to spread his teachings much to the discomfort of the government. Further, he attributed the wrath of heaven to poor leadership and unjust greedy leaders. The various calamities that befell the people then, as he argued, were resultant from the poor leadership of the country. The lack of law and order, especially leadership virtues and morality in the leaders, culminated to the fall of the society. "When good order (Way or Tao/Dao) prevails in the world, ceremonials, music and punitive expeditions proceed from the Son of Heaven. When good order fails in the world, ceremonials, music and punitive expeditions proceed from the nobles....When there is good order in the world, its policy is not in the hands of ministers, And when there is good order in the empire, the people do not even discuss it" (Analects 16.2). Confucius argued that whenever people did well, with leaders providing a just and moral leadership, the society benefitted. Good deeds from the leaders impressed even the creator, thus blessing people more. These sayings had influence even on the later thinkers such as Mencius. Mencius said, "If there is a desire that the world should enjoy tranquility and good order, who is there today, beside myself, to bring it about?" (IIB.13 [4.13]). This was an indication that it was only through good leadership that people could have good lives away from suffering. The words of Confucius had tremendous impact on his followers and later generations. Especially his teachings on the social way of life, people considerably referred to these teachings years after his death. Although there is a decreasing influence of his sayings among the people in the society, the influence that these have among those who believed in him cannot be overemphasized. Despite the society going through tremendous changes such as technology and education, some of his sayings still have a lot of impact in the political scene. The radicalism with which some of the subjects have in the recent past turned against their governments is an indication of the radicalism influence of his teachings. Further, the democracy that people in Asia and other parts of the world enjoy is part of his teachings. However, other sayings have become irrelevant with the progress of the society. Works Cited Confucius. The Analects. New York: Penguin Books, 1979. Print. Read More