KONG HU-CU (551 BC - 479 BC)

 KONG HU-CU (551 BC - 479 BC)

Michael H. Hart, 1978

 

Without a doubt, Kong Hu-Cu was a great Chinese philosopher. And without a doubt, he was the first person to develop a system to integrate the Chinese mind and the most basic beliefs of the Chinese. His philosophy concerning the morality of individuals and a government's conception of ways to serve the people and govern them through exemplary behavior- has absorbed into the flesh and blood of Chinese life and culture for more than two thousand years. More than that, it also affects some of the other world's population.

Born around 551 BC in the small town of Lu, now belongs to the province of Shantung in northeastern mainland China. At a young age his father died, making him live a miserable life beside his mother. When he left as an adult he became a petty civil servant but after a few years he decided he should just leave. During the next sixteen years Confucius became a teacher, gradually seeking influence and followers of his philosophy. At the age of fifty his stars began to shine because he was able to occupy a high position in the city government of Lu.

The good fortune apparently was not always friendly because the jealous people with this act and the act dragged him to court so that not only succeeded in removing him from office but also made him leave the city. No less than thirteen years Kong Hu-Cu wandered where his feet went, became a traveling teacher, only returning home five years before his death in 479 BC.

Kong Hu-Cu is often considered the founder of a religion; This assumption is of course wrong. He rarely associates his teachings with divinity, refuses to talk about the afterlife, and staunchly evades any talk related to questions of metaphysics. He was - nothing more and nothing less - a secular philosopher, dealing only with matters of political and personal morals and moral conduct.

There are two very important values, said Kong Hu-Cu, namely "Yen" and "Li:" "Yen" is often translated as "Love," but actually it is more appropriate to mean "Friendliness in a relationship with someone." "Li" is described as a combination of behavior, worship, customs, manners and manners.

The worship of ancestors, the basis for the belief of the Chinese people even before the birth of Confucius, was further reaffirmed with an emphasis on loyalty to relatives and respect for parents. Kong Hu-Cu's teachings also underlined the importance of a wife's obligation to respect and obey her husband and the similar necessity of a citizen to his government. This is quite different from the Chinese folk tales which always oppose every form of tyranny. Kong Hu-Cu believes that the existence of this state is nothing but to serve the interests of the people, not to be turned upside down. Kong Hu-Cu never tire of emphasizing that the rulers must rule first by setting a moral example and not by playing hard and not playing hard. And one of his teachings is a little similar to the "Golden Rule" of Christianity which reads "What you don't like other people to do to you, don't do it."

Kong Hu-Cu's main point of view is basically very conservative. In his opinion, the golden age was past, and he appealed to both the rulers and the people to return to their origins, adhere to unrefined moral standards, and not digress. The reality is that it is not an easy matter to deal with. Kong Hu-Cu's desire that the way of governing was not just snapping, but through showing a good role model was not so smooth in the early days. Because of that, Kong Hu-Cu was closer to a reformer, an innovator than what he really wanted to be.

Kong Hu-Cu lived in the Chou dynasty, a period of fertile intellectual life in China, while the rulers at that time did not pay attention to his advice. It was only after he died that his teachings spread to all corners of China.

Coincidentally with the emergence of the Ch'in dynasty in 221 BC, experienced a very gloomy period. Emperor Shih Huang Ti, the first emperor of the Ch'ing dynasty, was determined to exterminate the Confucians and cut off the links that connected the past. He issued daily orders to crush Kong Hu-Cu's teachings and mobilize both mirrors and professional bouncers and intruders to conduct large-scale searches, seizing all books containing Confucian teachings and throwing them into bonfires until they were crushed to ashes. Depravity plan is apparently not too effective. When the Ch'ing dynasty approached the time of its collapse, the Confucianists rose again and rekindled the Confucian doctrine. In the next dynasty (Han dynasty 206 BC - 220 AD). Confucianism became the official state philosophy of China.

Starting from the Han dynasty, Chinese emperors gradually developed a selection system for those who wanted to become civil servants by taking exams so that those who became civil servants were not careless people, but had quality standards both in terms of skills and morals. Over time, the selection became more focused and weighty: it included the test points for the basic philosophy of Kong Hu-Cu. Since being a civil servant is a step on the ladder to material prosperity and an uplift in social status, please understand if there is a fierce battle for places among the fans. As a result, many generations of Chinese intellectual leaders in large numbers devoted their eyes to the treasures of Khong Hu-Cu's classical writings. And, for centuries the entire Chinese civil service consisted of people whose views were based on the Confucian philosophy. This system (with only slight interruptions) lasted for almost two thousand years, from 100 BC to AD 1900.

However, Confucianism is not only the official philosophy of the Chinese government, but is also accepted and lived by the vast majority of Chinese people, influential to the very bottom of their hearts, guiding the direction of thought for a period of more than two thousand years.

There are several reasons why Confucianism had such a powerful influence on the Chinese. First, Kong Hu-Cu's honesty and innocence need not be doubted. Second, he is moderate and practical and does not ask too much for things that people simply cannot do. If Kong Hu-Cu wants someone to be honorable, that person doesn't have to bother to become a saint first. In this, as in his other teachings, he reflects and at the same time translates the practical nature of the Chinese. This aspect is probably the main factor in the success of the teachings of Confucius-Cu. Kong Hu-Cu did not ask too much. For example, he did not ask the Chinese to change the basics of his old beliefs. On the contrary, Kong Hu-Cu helped with clear language so they didn't have to move. It seems that no philosopher in the world is so closely in touch with the basic views of the population as Confucius.

Confucianism which emphasizes a series of obligations addressed to individuals rather than highlighting their rights - it seems difficult to digest and less attractive to the size of the Western world. As a philosophy of statehood looked amazingly effective. Measured from the point of view of China's ability to maintain domestic harmony and prosperity for a period of no less than two thousand years, it is clearly comparable to the best forms of government in the world.

The idea of ​​Confucian philosophy which is rooted in Chinese culture, does not have much influence outside the East Asian region. In Korea and Japan, the influence is obvious and this is because both countries are strongly influenced by Chinese culture.

Currently Confucianism is in a state of turmoil in China. The problem is, the Communist government is trying its best to completely cut off the connection between the minds of the population and the past. Confucianism was relentlessly and systematically crushed so that it is very likely that one day, not so far away, Confucianism will disappear from China. But because in the past, the roots of Confucianism were so deep in China, it is not impossible that -whether one hundred or fifty years in the future - some Chinese philosophers were able to marry two great ideas: Confucianism and the teachings of Mao Tse-Tung.