The Chinese tradition of Confucianism serves as an important spiritual, cultural, and social foundation for a significant segment of people in and from Asia. Although the modern-day discipline of religious studies in the West usually classifies Confucianism and the other famous Chinese tradition of Taoism as religions, people from these cultures often do not. According to Randall L. Nadeau, people in China, home to Confucianism and Taoism, are very likely to deny that they are Confucianist or Taoist and that these are religions at all (2014, p.21). For East Asians, the concept of religion is a relatively new phenomenon, having been imported from the West during the period of colonialism. The word ‘religion’ itself was first translated into Japanese (shukyo) only in the nineteenth century, then later adopted by Chinese scholars in the form of the Mandarin word zongjiao. East Asians often identify themselves as non-religious because they understand religion in the manner transmitted to them to literally mean ‘institutional teaching’ or ‘school of instruction.’ These words conjure up images of something sectarian and organizational (p.21). Nadeau writes, “Since Confucianism is pervasive and diffused—it is the air that Chinese and Japanese breathe, as opposed to a ‘church’ that one joins—Chinese and Japanese do not see Confucianism as a religious entity” (p.21). The other well-known tradition from China, Taoism, is also considered by Chinese throughout history to be complementary to Confucianism. They interpenetrate each other so much that these two religious and philosophical systems may be considered two aspects of a single religious tradition (p.60). The fact that there are two separate traditions called Confucianism and Taoism more reflect the Western classification than something inherently present in the Chinese religious and cultural milieu and sensibility. Moreover, while Chinese may not readily identify themselves as belonging to a religion called Confucianism or Taoism or to admit that these are religions at all, it does not mean that these traditions are not important in their lives. Most Chinese carry out family-oriented rituals rooted in Confucianism and Taoism such as making regular offerings to ancestors even if they do not explicitly regard themselves as Confucian or Taoist (p.4).
Asian as well as Western scholars of religion have included Confucianism into the list of world religions because it shares an essential purpose with other religious systems, which is the “aims toward the ultimate transformation of self and society and provides the means for achieving perfection” (p.22). For the past three to four thousand years, Confucianism has shaped the spiritual and ethical ideals, values, and behaviors of the Chinese people and beyond through its teachings on the veneration of ancestors, its educational program in history and culture, its principles for cultivating harmonious family and social relations, and the “grounding of moral teachings and ethical principles in a religious or cosmic reality” (p.23). In the past as well as in the present, personal, social and political warfare and strife motivated by greed and thirst for power have caused disharmony and moral decline in every level of human society. In the present age, these problems are compounded by the escalating ecological crisis. The Confucian response to this human condition is to devise a comprehensive and integrated method for human beings to transform themselves from the inner core, starting with the individual undertaking a self-effort realizing that what one is doing is for the sake of one’s own perfection.
According to Tu Weiming, the foremost contemporary Confucian thinker, Confucian self-transformation is first and foremost for one’s own sake so that one can become authentically human. Tu’s thesis of Confucian learning for the sake of the self, however, must not be interpreted as “mere acquisition of knowledge or the internalization of skills,” “a quest for individual happiness or inner spirituality” (Tu, nd, p.78). Confucian learning takes the individual as the starting point of departure, an independent and autonomous entity “predicated on the dignity of the person as an internal value rather than a socially constructed reality” (p.78). Nevertheless, the self as the center in the Confucian project is not an isolated individual, but as the center of an interconnected and ever expanding network of human relations—the community comprised of family, village, country, world, and cosmos. According to Tu, “Self-realization as a communal act presupposes a personal commitment for harmonizing the family, governing the state, and bringing peace to the world. The full realization of personhood entails the real possibility of transcending selfishness, nepotism, parochialism, nationalism, and anthropocentrism” (p.79).
Therefore, the Confucian comprehensive and integrated program for self-cultivation must include not just self development but also give due attention to the four interconnected relationships in human life – self, community, nature, and Heaven. Self-transformation aimed at development in these essential spheres resists the anthropocentric outlook of secular humanism found in the Western Enlightenment mentality which denies the transcendent and looks to dominate and subjugate nature (Tu, 2013). Rather, Confucian humanism reflects a form of spiritual humanism that “seeks an integration of body and mind, a fruitful interaction of self and community, a sustainable and harmonious relationship between the human species and nature, and a mutuality between the human heart and the Way of Heaven” (Ibid.)
What does Confucian authentic personhood look like? Traditional Confucian concepts of ‘Ren’, ‘Li’ and ‘Junzi’ are essential concepts when speaking about the fully realized person:
Ren (Jen): The virtue of ‘ren’ has been translated variously as ‘benevolence’, ‘humaneness’, ‘love’, and ‘kindness’. Nadeau translates ‘ren’ as ‘co-humanity’ because etymologically, the Chinese character for ‘ren’ shows two parts. The left part refers to something ‘human’ and the right side is the character for number 2. Together, ‘ren’ suggests a quality of being in co-human relationship, as stated by Mengzi, “To be human means being co-human” (The Book of Mencius, 1970, ch.22). The late famous American scholar of religious studies Huston Cummings Smith translates the term as ‘human-heartedness’ (Smith, 2009, p.172). Although ‘ren’ is innate, it must be naturally developed under guidance, not coercion. According to Smith, Confucius viewed ‘ren’ as the virtue of virtues, so sublime and transcendental. While everyone can develop this virtue, Confucius himself said that he had never seen it fully incarnated in anyone (Ibid.). Smith describes ‘ren’ in this manner:
Ren involves simultaneously a feeling of humanity toward others and respect for oneself, an indivisible sense of the dignity of human life wherever it appears. Subsidiary attitudes follow automatically: magnanimity, good faith, and charity. In the direction of ren lies the perfection of everything that would make one supremely human. In public life it prompts untiring diligence. In private life it is expressed in courtesy, unselfishness, and empathy, the capacity to “measure the feelings of others by one’s own.” Stated negatively, this empathy leads to what has been called the Silver Rule—“Do not do unto others what you would not want others to do unto you.” According to the Confucius, “The person of jen, desiring self-affirmation, seeks to affirm as well.” Such largeness of heart knows no national boundaries for those who are ren-endowed know that “within the four seas all men are brothers and sisters” (p. 173).
Li: ‘Li’ proceeds directly from and is integrally connected with ‘ren’. While ‘ren’ represents an interior disposition, li represents the external performance in daily acts (Nadeau, p.31). Li is translated as ‘ritual’ or ‘ceremonial living’. Other scholars have translated the term ‘propriety’ or ‘decorum’. Examining the teachings of Confucius, li can be understood as the proper patterns of behavior that each person must demonstrate in one’s social environment (Nadeau, p.30). This means that li acts as a governing principle not only in religious settings but also in non-religious situations. As in religious ceremonies where actions must be carried out with the utmost precision and intention, the same must be adhered to in other contexts. Confucius taught, “Do not look at what is contrary to li, do not listen to what is contrary to li, do not speak what is contrary to li, and do not make any movement that is contrary to li” (Analects, 12.1). No matter what setting one finds onself in, one’s gestures, demeanor and speech must be in accordance with li. According to Confucius, li could be mastered by anyone because the inclination to live harmoniously with everyone exists naturally within every individual (ren). Li then is the externalization of the ren in a specific context, in the experience of living out the various relationships in the community: (1) cultivating personal life; (2) regulating familial relations, (3) ordering social affairs, and (4) bringing peace to the world. While ren is an internal virtue, it could be manifested in concrete ways through the exercise of li, which gives concrete expression to one’s inner spirit. On the other hand, the exercise of li without the motivating virtue of ren results in unnatural and coerced actions.
Junzi: ‘Junzi’ is the paradigmatic model of Confucian personality that embodies the highest standard of social and moral excellence. This term in traditional Confucian culture is generally applied to men and is translated as ‘gentleman’ or ‘superior person’. Feminist thinkers have translated the term as ‘exemplary person’. Tu Weiming emphasizes the inner dimension of the individual by translating the term as ‘profound person’. In any of these renderings, we can see that a ‘junzi’ is a well-cultivated person not having any of the characteristics of pettiness, mean spiritedness, boastfulness, coarseness, vulgarity, and narrow mindedness. Rather, among other things the ‘junzi’ is poised, gracious, competent and courageous. The two inseparable defining qualities of a ‘junzi’ is being well educated in the arts and literature, history and the rites, and possessing admirable character traits, especially ren. The great Confucian thinker of the Ming Dynasty, Yang Yangming, described this as “the unity of knowledge and action” where how one behaves reflects the kind of education one received. One of the greatest things a ‘junzi’ is able to do is engage in continuous critical self-examination which allows the ‘junzi’ to penetrate his inner self and is able to realize the true nature of human-relatedness.
The three Confucian concepts of ‘ren’, ‘li’ and ‘junzi’aim to depict of state of highest human authenticity, integrity, and realization. When a person imbued with ‘ren’ consistently demonstrates this inner virtue in ‘li’, the individual is rightfully considered a ‘junzi’ – one that is truly human. Authentic humanity in the Confucian understanding is never egotistical, narcissistic, or anthropocentric in the objectionable sense. Rather, a well cultivated person always is conscious of the four essential dimensions of the shared human experience—self, community, Earth (nature) and Heaven. According to Tu Weiming, Confucian humanism contrasts with secular humanism found in the Enlightenment mentality which focuses on the self and community but neglects Earth and Heaven. Confucian humanism, on the other hand, calls for the integration of the body, heart, mind, soul and spirit of the self. This integration results in actions and interactions that build harmony at all levels from the home to the world and beyond. A highly cultivated person while deeply rooted in his/her immediate context, is nevertheless able enter into relationship with others who are of different socio-economic-cultural status. And in fact, that person is able to do the same with the natural world beyond the human situation. An essential element of Confucian humanism is the commitment to relationship of mutuality with the Way of Heaven. The Heavenly Way and the Human Way are distinct, the former being superior to the latter; thus, human beings must open their heart and mind to the ways of heaven, lest they become misguided in their actions.
Ecological Implications of Confucian Humanism
The ecological implications in Confucian environmental humanism are profound. Confucian environmental humanism presents a corrective to secular humanism which contributed to the ecological crisis by giving rise to the human “obsession with power and mastery over the environment—to the exclusion of the spiritual and the natural realms” (Tu, 2001, p.254). The moral education called for by Confucianism helps each person to become truly human, the understanding of which is not of a person focused singularly on his/her own happiness but a person seeing him/herself as center of ever expanding concentric circles of relationships, beginning with the family but reaching to the entire cosmos. According to Tu Weiming, if nepotism is detrimental to the harmony in the family, and chauvinistic nationalism is contrary to patriotism, then anthropocentrism is also detrimental to achieving human flourishing. The vision of harmony at the local and cosmic levels demands that human beings see themselves as being both socialistic and naturalistic, that human beings cannot be just anthropological or anthropocentric, but ‘anthropocosmic’, that is seeing themselves beyond mere socialistic or materialistic qualities. Tu writes:
Strictly speaking, the Way of the Great Learning is anthropocosmic rather than anthropological, not to mention anthropocentric. As clearly stated, the purpose of this kind of learning is “to illuminate the illuminating virtue.” The illuminating virtue is the virtue that emanates from the Heavenly-endowed human nature. To use an expedient Christian analogy, the divinity in the human as endowed by God entails selfillumination. Yet, contrary to Christian theology, in Confucian philosophy this self-illuminating virtue, although endowed by God, is distinctively human to the extent that its further illumination to enable the inner divinity to be a sustained presence in the lifeworld cannot depend on God’s continuous grace. It must be maintained by persistent human effort. (Tu, nd., p.79-80).
While self-cultivation is a process of deepening subjectivity and broadening sociality, to achieve authentic human flourishing, this process must include a transcendent vision that does not limit the individual to the mundane world but to aim for unity with Heaven and embracing the universe as a whole (p.80). The human person is comprised genetically of vital energy (qi), life (sheng), and consciousness (zhi), and the human nature is endowed by Heaven. Thus, self-cultivation can help human beings to emulate Heaven and become active participants and co-creators in the transformative process of Heaven and Earth. By taking part part in this creative process, human beings enter into communion with Heaven and Earth in a tripartite relationship. (Ibid.).
Wingtsit Chan, in Source Book in Chinese Philosophy, writes: “If one word could characterize the entire history of Chinese philosophy, that would be humanism—not the humanism that denies or slights a Supreme Power, but one that professes the unity of man and Heaven. In this sense, humanism has dominated Chinese thought from the dawn of its history” (1969, p.3). The recognition of the religious and naturalistic dimensions of Confucian humanism helps us to understand that human beings are part of this great transformation along with the rest of the entities in nature. Major Neo-Confucianist thinker Chang Tsai’s (1020-77) Western Inscriptions contains these opening lines:
Heaven is my father and Earth is my mother, and even such a small creature as I find an intimate place in their midst.
Therefore, that which fills the universe I regard as my body and that which directs the universe I consider as my nature.
All people are my brothers and sisters, and all things are my companions. (p. 497-498)
Indeed, Chang recognized that all entities in the universe shared the same life force of qi, which refers to yin and yang, and the five phases of wood, fire, earth, metal, and water. This common life source establishes consanguinity between human beings with the rest of nature. By the Chou Dynasty (1122 BCE-256 BCE), this world view was already shared by all Chinese religions. This holistic worldview espouses that all living and nonliving beings in the universe are constituted of the same life force and are all engaged in a dynamic and continuous process of transformation. Because human beings share the same life force as nature, human beings could communicate with nature and observe happenings in nature to discern their own fate. Rulers could observe natural phenomena to decipher whether their Mandate of Heaven is being blessed due to virtuous leadership or about to be taken away due to moral depravity. Although the idea of Mandate of Heaven was originally envisioned in a political context to explain and justify political fates, Confucian thinkers broadened the concept to include moral destiny, moral nature, and moral order (Yu, 1999, p.164). While human beings are born from their biological parents, their human nature is conferred by the Heaven. Therefore, the Way of Heaven is accessible through self-knowledge, which is acquired through a procecess of self-transformation that involves both theoretical learning and consistent practice. A successful effort results in a profound or perfect person with complete self-knowledge that reveals to the individual one’s deepest nature (Chienchih, 2005, p.267). This self-cultivation process plays out differently for each person depending on one’s situation. However, it is a process that all human beings are mandated by Heaven to carry out so that they can part-take in the tremendous task of cosmic transformation as co-creators. This unique role as co-creator places human beings in a favorable position to feel a special bond to both the natural sphere and the transcendent. The Neo-Confucianist philosopher Wang Yangming (1472–1529) says that a great man naturally feels united with Heaven, Earth and the myriad things as an inner reality of his own experience.
The great man regards Heaven and Earth and the myriad things as one body. He regards the world as one family and the country as one person. As to those who make a cleavage between objects and distinguish between self and others, they are small men. That the great man can regard Heaven, Earth and the myriad things as one body is not because he deliberately wants to do so, but because it is natural to the humane nature of his mind that he does so.
Therefore, empathy and compassion are extended not only to one’s kin or fellow human beings, but various entities in nature as well. This moreover is a defining trait of every human person. This is consistent with the Mencian thinking that human hearts are naturally inclined to be sensitive to the suffering of others. Wang illustrates his idea with the following examples:
When we see a child about to fall into the well, we cannot help a feeling of alarm and commiseration. This shows that our humanity (ren) forms one body with the child. It may be objected that the child belongs to the same species. Again, when we observe the pitiful cries and frightened appearances of birds and animals about to be slaughtered, we cannot help feeling an “inability to bear” their suffering. This shows that our humanity forms one body with birds and animal. It may be objected that birds and animals are sentient beings as we are. But when we see plants broken and destroyed, we cannot help a feeling of pity. This shows that our humanity forms one body with plants. It may be said that plants are living things as we are. Yet even when we see tiles and stones shattered and crushed, we cannot help a feeling of regret. This shows our humanity forms one body with tiles and stones. (Quoted in Chan, p.259-60)
Confucian humanism in its ecological dimension emphasizes that each person strives for self-transformation in such a way that he/she is able to recognize the natural world and the entire cosmos as home. The corollary of this realization is that all entities in it can be seen as part of one’s kinship network. And one is able to apply the rule of reciprocity to all of his/her dealings with others: “Never impose on others what you would not choose for yourself.” Ultimately, what each person aims to do is to be in perfect harmony with both Heaven and Earth as stated in the Doctrine of the Means:
Only those who are the most sincere [authentic, true and real] can fully realize their own nature. If they can fully realize their own nature; they can fully realize human nature. If they can fully realize human nature, they can fully realize the nature of things. If they can fully realize the nature of things, they can take part in the transforming and nourishing process of Heaven and Earth. If they can take part in the transforming and nourishing process of Heaven and Earth, they can form a trinity with Heaven and Earth.
This human endeavor is not meant to be an abstract and lofty ideal meant for the select few but an enjoinder to all to undertake as part of the basic human practice. Only when each person is willing to undergo self-cultivation in order to enter into mutual relationship with Heaven and Earth, will he/she be able to turn away from selfishness, the temptation to ignore the Mandate of Heaven, and the desire to dominate and subjugate nature.
Confucian environmental humanism demonstrates that a viable environmental ethic may be derived from an anthropocentric epistemology. When imbued with the proper value and standards, a human-centered epistemology does not have to descend into egocentrism and exploitation. This is the same way as one’s personal world view does not automatically lead to selfishness and egotism. Confucianism is concerned with self-cultivation in order to become a fully realized person imbued with a sense of empathy for others. However, in order to develop the fullest extent of this character, the person aspiring to be a ‘junzi’ must continually expand his boundary of concern until it encompasses all of humanity (Smith, p.182). As Huston Smith remarks, “In shifting the center of one’s empathic concern from oneself to one’s family one transcends selfishness. The move from family to community transcends nepotism. The move from community to nation overcomes parochialism, and the move to all humanity counters chauvinistic nationalism” (p.182). We may also add that the conscious move to the transcendent overcomes egotistical anthropocentrism. As Tu Weiming asserts, the concentric circles that make up Confucianism’s vision of human flourishing do not begin with the self and expand to just the world but to the entire cosmos. He writes, “We are inspired by human flourishing, but we must endeavor not to be confined by anthropocentrism, for the full meaning of humanity is anthropocosmic rather than anthropocentric” (Weiming, 1998, p.17). This anthropocosmic spirit is characterized by “communication between self and community, harmony between human species and nature, and mutuality between humanity and Heaven” (Ibid.).
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