Confucius’s philosophy was deeply rooted in a concept of social order and harmony. He sought a society of harmony by means of self-purification by individuals, which was to be achieved through increased knowledge, for, “like Socrates, Confucius believed profoundly that one could not renounce what he knew to be right” (Oliver, 1971, p. 132). So, in essence, “Confucianism stood for a rational social order through the ethical approach, based on personal cultivation. It aimed at political order by laying the basis for it in a moral order, and it sought political harmony by trying to achieve the moral harmony in man himself” (Lin, 1938, p. 6). Confucius believed that the cultivation of the self would lead to the regulation of family life, which in turn would lead to the ordering of a national life. Therefore, one major means for attaining such a moral social order is through the education of the individual. Education is for the general enhancement of the individual and the success of groups—family, community, nation—to which the individual belongs (Cleary, 1991, p. 1–2). As Confucius said, “a piece of jade cannot become an object of art without chiseling, and a man cannot come to know the moral law without education” (Lin, 1938, p. 241). Once this piece of jade is “chiseled” and becomes a piece of art, it can help chisel others. However, as Mencius, the most faithful follower and developer of Confucianism, said, “Never has a man who has bent himself been able to make others straight” (Oliver, 1971, p. 169). So, the cultivation of the individual will leads to the cultivation of the family, and then of the community, and then of the nation, until finally we have achieved a moral social order.
However, cultivation of the individual must be based on the moral virtue of the humanness or humanity of human beings, for it is the moral foundation of social order. Though Confucius never clearly defined humanity, his concept of humanity can be understood in social terms: “being respectful at home, serious at work, and faithful in human relations” (Cleary, 1992, p. 3). Cleary identifies five characteristics in Confucius’s conception of humanity, namely, respectfulness, magnanimity, truthfulness, acuity, and generosity (p. 4). Confucius believed that the measure of man is man. The whole philosophy of ritual and music, which Confucius emphasized in his writings as a part of the social order, is but to set the human heart right (Lin, 1938, p. 13).
An important part of this humanism is the concept of jen, variously translated as human, humane, humanitarian, humanity, kindness, benevolence, and true manhood. He considered it the highest human attainment “to find the central clue to our moral being which unites us to the universal order (or to attain central harmony)” (Lin, 1938, p. 185). To Confucius, when a man seeks to establish himself, he establishes others; when he wants to succeed himself, he helps others to succeed. Such a notion of self-improvement and social action is closely related to the notion of jen.
Another important concept in Confucius’s conception of social order is yi (or justice, or duty, or principle). Although Confucius’s notion of duty may seem to some people to be referring to an unquestioning obedience to superior authority, he never meant it to be obedience to dictators or rulers who pretended to advocate justice but really sought profit and advantage. Instead, it refers to an obligation to justice that will only strengthen the moral fiber of society.
One more concept in Confucius’s notion of a moral social order is li, or known in varied translations as etiquette, propriety, or moral discipline. According to Confucius, the meaning of etiquette includes “concepts of mannerly behavior in day-to-day life, proper enactment of social rituals like marriage and mourning, and protocols for international and official occasions” (Cleary, 1992, p. 5). Lin (1938) also sees its close link with social practices and sees it as including folkways, religious customs, festivals, laws, dress, food, and housing. To these original existing practices, he says, should be added a conception of a rational social order, and “you have li in its most complete sense” (p. 225). Confucius considered li to be an indication of the moral strength of a nation. In its highest sense, it means “an ideal social order with everything in its place, and particularly a rationalized feudal order” (Lin, 1938, p. 13).
Knowledge is yet another concept in Confucius’s philosophy. He defined knowledge as knowing people and as seeking to understand human nature in its context and in individual and social lives. Knowledge was regarded by Confucius as a way of self-perfection, of self-cultivation (Oliver, 1971, p. 132). “In its highest development, knowledge was to become wisdom, able to comprehend particulars through a unified insight” (Cleary, 1992, p. 6).
Such is but a very sketchy examination of Confucius’s philosophy. Due to the seemingly unsystematic nature of his writings, it is hard to present a comprehensive picture of his philosophy, but Cleary (1991) has presented us with a good summarizing statement:
The glue that binds everything together in the pragmatic moral universe of Confucius is the virtue of truthfulness or trustworthiness, faithfulness to the ideals exemplified by the sum of the cardinal virtues of humanity, justice, courtesy, and wisdom. Confucius likened trust to the link between a vehicle and its source of power and taught that trust was absolutely essential to the life of a nation. (p. 6)
Confucianism has influenced China for about 2,500 years. Ignoring its influence by any researchers of the history of Chinese thought and culture would be a grave mistake. Lin (1938) attributed three factors to the tremendous impact of Confucianism in Chinese history:
first, the intrinsic appeal of Confucius’s ideas to the Chinese way of thinking; second, the enormous historical learning and scholarship accumulated and practically monopolized by the Confucianists, in contrast to other schools which did not bother with historical learning (and this body of scholarship carried enough weight and prestige of its own); and thirdly, the evident charm of personality and prestige of the Master himself. (p. 24)
The magnitude of the influence of Confucianism is so much so that it has pervaded the speech and actions of almost every ordinary Chinese without him/her necessarily being aware of it.
Of all the aspects of Confucianism, the most relevant to my study is its rhetorical implications. There have been various, sometimes conflicting, studies on Confucian rhetoric. Haixia Wang (1993) provides a succinct summary of these studies. According to Wang, Confucian rhetoric is characterized by three distinctive traits: communal, historical, and dialogical. Wang defines communal as Confucian rhetoric that is based on communal understandings and interpretations of moral notions rather than a specific set of precise criteria. Non-deductive reasoning is favored as well as deductive reasoning. Confucianism emphasizes the concept of the community of like minds, that is, members of a community sharing common viewpoints on certain issues. Discourse that strays from such communal understandings is not likely to be effective rhetoric.
Confucian rhetoric is historical, according to Wang (1993), in that “each individual . . . is responsible for decisions regarding how exactly in each specific situation the principles of Confucian ethical notions will be applied” (p. 44). There is no set of self-consistent rules for moral judgment. The same is true with Confucian rhetorical principles. The rhetor is left to make his/her own judgment in response to exigent situations of discourse.
The communal and historical nature of Confucian rhetoric inevitably makes it also dialogic. The need to interpret communal understanding and to make judgments in exigent situations renders Confucian rhetoric a negotiation and argumentation among the Confucian rules about the meaning and the implementation of Confucian ethical notions in specific situations. “The necessity to discuss these implementations and the possibility that individual agents may be arbitrary make dissensus within a consensual community necessary, thus the inevitable dialogic nature of Confucian rhetoric” (Wang, 1993, p. 44).
I have devoted quite some length to the discussion of Confucianism because, as one of the most dominant ideologies in the history of China, its impact on people’s perceptions of various social phenomena, including technology development, is readily felt in the development of major writing technologies in China, which I will show in the next chapters.
Taoism
Taoism was founded by Lao Tzu (also spelled as Lao Zi), who lived in the times of Spring and Autumn (770 BCE–476 BCE), and one of his students and his successor, Chuang Tzu (also spelt as Zhuang Zi). They are the two most profound thinkers