Detailed Analysis of "The Analects": For All Who Have Misinterpreted Confucius (6)
2006/10/17 12:07:07
The twenty chapters of The Analects form, in truth, one grand essay, and the three "is that not" phrases of the opening chapter serve as the guiding principles of the essay and the general outline of Confucian learning. The world says the Book of Changes is hard to interpret, but in truth, the Changes is hidden and therefore hard, while The Analects is exposed and therefore hard—hard upon hard. Since The Analects was compiled, no one throughout the ages has truly been able to interpret the opening chapter. And if the opening chapter cannot be interpreted, everything that follows is merely the blind leading the blind.
Everything this ID writes breaks ground no one has before. Others who seek the true spirit of The Analects through its words and phrases are nothing but corpse-gnawers. The undying true spirit of The Analects—how could it reside in mere words and phrases? Apprehend the spirit, and the entanglements of words and phrases naturally become clear at once. Below, I shall explain a question that no one throughout the ages has been able to answer: Why does the opening chapter of The Analects contain three "is that not" phrases—not two, not four, not any other number?
For all who have previously interpreted The Analects, they themselves swallowed these three "is that not" phrases whole without chewing—how could they possibly have interpreted them well? The question of why there are three "is that not" phrases—these people didn't even dare raise it, or perhaps never even thought of it, let alone answer it. The answer to this question has actually already been hinted at in this ID's earlier analysis. In Part (4), I wrote: "The sage must sanctify their time, sanctify their place, sanctify their people, and then extend sanctification to other times, other places, other people." That is to say, these three "is that not" phrases are based on the most fundamental tenet of Confucianism, the most fundamental structure of Confucian thinking: Heaven, Earth, and Man.
"To learn and at due times practice" speaks of "Heaven." Within the fundamental structure of Confucian thinking, Heaven is inseparable from heavenly timing—"Heaven" and "heavenly timing" are one yet two, two yet one. Closely linked to "Heaven and heavenly timing" is the so-called "Mandate of Heaven." Referring back to the earlier explanation of "timing," it is not difficult to see that The Analects' attitude toward heavenly timing and the Mandate of Heaven is "being with heaven in its timing while heaven grants its timing," and "being with heaven in its mandate while heaven grants its mandate." The Confucian attitude toward "fortune" and "destiny" is extremely proactive. "To learn and at due times practice" is about achieving this "being with heaven in its timing while heaven grants its timing," "being with heaven in its mandate while heaven grants its mandate."
"To have friends come from distant quarters" speaks of "Earth." Earth includes land and such, but does not merely refer to land, or even something like planet Earth—rather, it refers to the venue, the space where the Great Way flows forth. Earth cannot be separated from Heaven; where there is heavenly timing, its earthly ground will be brought to fruition, and that ground encompasses all real-world objective conditions. What is commonly referred to as "the fortune of the land" or "the fortune of the nation" falls within the scope of "Earth." What ordinary people are more familiar with is the so-called "geographical advantage" (dì lì). The Confucian attitude toward "geographical advantage" is likewise "being with the earth in its advantage while the earth grants its advantage." "To have friends come from distant quarters" is about achieving this "being with the earth in its advantage while the earth grants its advantage."
"Others do not know and yet one is not perturbed" speaks of "Man." Man is the heart-mind of Heaven and Earth. Zhang Zai's declaration—"To establish the heart-mind for Heaven and Earth, to establish the destiny for the people, to carry on the lost learning of past sages, to open the great peace for ten thousand generations"—speaks precisely of this "others do not know and yet one is not perturbed." Then where is the heart-mind of Heaven and Earth? The heart-mind of Heaven and Earth resides in the human heart-mind; when the human heart-mind is established, Heaven and Earth establish their heart-mind. Western learning speaks of the humanization of nature, and later came the so-called anthropic principle, but regarding the relationship between "Heaven, Earth, and Man," none have spoken as thoroughly as Confucianism and The Analects. "Others do not know and yet one is not perturbed" is about achieving "being with humanity in its harmony while humanity grants its harmony," ultimately bringing about true "human harmony."
These three "is that not" phrases discuss how the gentleman "engages with heavenly timing, engages with geographical advantage," and ultimately "achieves human harmony." What is true "human harmony"? It is a world where "people are not perturbed," a "world without stagnation"—the Great Unity. Only through "being with humanity in its harmony while humanity grants its harmony," ultimately achieving true "human harmony," does the gentleman count as truly having practiced "the Way of the sage." Without these three "is that not" phrases, the commonly spoken "heavenly timing, geographical advantage, human harmony" reveals that one truly does not know what "heavenly timing, geographical advantage, human harmony" means.
Understanding the above, it is not difficult to understand why these three "is that not" phrases are arranged in the order of "pleasure, joy, gentleman." "Pleasure" (shuō 说) is "delight" (yuè 悦). In a modern society plagued by epidemics of depression and the like, this "delight" is exceedingly rare. And without even "delight," there is no point in prattling about things like "sense of happiness." What then is true "delight"? "Hearing, seeing, studying, and practicing" "the Way of the sage." "Hearing, seeing, studying, and practicing" "the Way of the sage"—that is the truly joyful thing, the thing that makes one's heart at ease. If an individual's mood cannot be "delighted," cannot be "not perturbed," how could one possibly achieve a "not perturbed" world? Therefore, one must "cultivate the self"—"learning and at due times practicing" to "cultivate the self." The result is "delight," and "delight" is the individual's state of being "not perturbed." Why then is "self-cultivation" linked to "heavenly timing"? So-called "self-cultivation" is not one person's blind solo practice. "Hearing, seeing, studying, and practicing" "the Way of the sage" requires "being with heaven in its timing while heaven grants its timing"—the connection between them is inseparable.
"Cultivate the self," and then one must "order the family." This "family" (jiā 家) is not the ordinary household—that is a "small family." A region is a family, a nation is also a family—those are "great families." Only when the family is ordered can there be "joy" (lè 乐)—pronounced yuè, the nine movements of the Shao music, the image of a glorious age. If the family is not ordered, if the nation is not ordered, how could there possibly be "the nine movements of the Shao music, the image of a glorious age"? Therefore, one must "order the family." "To have friends come from distant quarters" is about "ordering the family." The result is "joy," and "joy" is the family's state of being "not perturbed." Only when "not perturbed" can there be "the nine movements of the Shao music, the image of a glorious age"—only then can there be "joy." Why then is "ordering the family" linked to "geographical advantage"? Family and nation both belong to the category of "Earth." There is commonly spoken of "family fortune," "national fortune," and the like. To "order the family," to change "family fortune" or "national fortune," one must "be with the earth in its advantage while the earth grants its advantage"—only thus can one ultimately achieve "the nine movements of the Shao music, the image of a glorious age." The connection between them is inseparable.
"Order the family," and then one must "bring peace to all under heaven." Only when "all under heaven is at peace," when the world is "not perturbed," free of stagnation, when Great Unity is achieved, does it count as "bringing peace to all under heaven," as "human harmony," as the gentleman having practiced "the Way of the sage," as "is that not the mark of a gentleman?" The "pleasure" and "joy" above are both particular forms of "not perturbed," corresponding respectively to the individual and the family. But true "not perturbed" encompasses all under heaven—and this "all under heaven" does not solely refer to human society; in modern terms, it includes at minimum the entirety of human society and the natural world. All things under heaven must be in harmony, must be "not perturbed"—only this is truly "not perturbed," and truly "bringing peace to all under heaven." Only in this way is there true "human harmony." Therefore, "bringing peace to all under heaven" and "human harmony" are inseparable!
In summary, one can clearly see that the relationships between "to learn and at due times practice," "to have friends come from distant quarters," and "others do not know and yet one is not perturbed" on one hand, and "pleasure, joy, gentleman" as well as "Heaven, Earth, Man" or "heavenly timing, geographical advantage, human harmony" on the other, are all inseparable. The opening chapter of The Analects is framed at this level, and not as those blind commentators throughout the ages have described it. Only in this way can one begin to understand the meaning of "The Master said: To learn and at due times practice—is that not a pleasure? To have friends come from distant quarters—is that not a joy? Others do not know and yet one is not perturbed—is that not the mark of a gentleman?" and begin to grasp what The Analects is actually talking about. But this is merely an outline, merely a framework—the more important substance lies ahead.
(To be continued)
Strict prohibition against plagiarism—violators will be prosecuted
Replies
缠中说禅 2006/10/17 21:44:03
[Anonymous] 窗外
2006-10-17 21:35:00
Are you still writing the economics series?
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Yes! And please do read The Analects carefully as well.
缠中说禅 2006/10/19 15:50:22
Announcement Everything this ID writes in "Detailed Analysis of The Analects — For All Who Have Misinterpreted Confucius" breaks new ground no one has covered before. Arrangements have been made for publication after the series is complete, so the serialization will only appear on this ID's blog. Please refrain from reposting if possible; if you must repost, be sure to credit the source, lest we have to file copyright lawsuits later.
Strict prohibition against plagiarism—violators will be prosecuted
缠中说禅 2006/10/17 12:16:57
Plagiarism and intellectual theft are rampant these days. Everything this ID writes breaks new ground no one has covered before. If anyone plagiarizes or steals in the future, please help collect evidence. On this matter, there must be absolutely no mealy-mouthed compromising. The Analects isn't long, but converting it to garbage vernacular Chinese makes it very long—I estimate it will take a year and a half to write. I'll try to maintain one post per day going forward; weekends are for rest. Other articles also need to be written, so the volume is considerable—I'll try my best to keep it up.