Kong Zi

The most influential thinker of China was born in 551 B.C. in Zhu Yi, the
modern Qu Fu county of Shandong Province. It was then a part of the
ancient State of Lu. To the West, the man is known as Confucius, taken from
the phonetic transliteration of Kong Fu Zi. But to the Chinese, he is simply
known as Kong Zi, (551-469 B.C.) the Sage, the Master, and the most revered
of teachers. His personal name was Qiu, while his courtesy name was Zhong
Ni. He was born around the time of the Gautama Buddha of India, Pythagoras
of Greece, Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonian captivity in Mesopotamia.
Socrates, the rightful Father of Greek philosophy was born a few years after
the death of this Chinese Sage.
Kong's family traces its ancestry to the Ducal House of Song that was
descended from the Royal House of Shang (the dynasty before the Zhou).
It is said that because of political troubles, Kong's great grandfather lost
his noble position and moved to the State of Lu. Kong's father, Kong Su
Liang Ho was a distinguished soldier. It was said that Kong Zi was born to
a very young mother when his father was already very old.
During his youth Kong Zi tended sheep and oxen. Then he worked as a
low-ranking official managing warehouse. In his fifties, he became an
officer-in-charge of criminal punishment and the maintenance of social order
in the State of Lu. For the most part of his life, however, he was a private
teacher and is believed to have had more than 3,000 students, 70 of whom
became his best disciples.
Kong Zi devoted his later years to collecting and editing the literary
works of his time. It is said that he edited the Shu Jing and the Shi Jing
and added explanatory notes to the I-Jing. He also compiled the Chun Qiu
and examined and revised the Li Jing and the Yue Jing.
This Chinese Sage is perhaps the most consummate of sages, the loftiest
moralist and the most subtle and penetrating intellect that China has ever
seen. A Western Sinologist, Lionel Giles, went further by saying that Kong Zi
is the greatest and noblest representative of the greatest, happiest and
the most highly civilized people on earth.
Kong's immediate success as a teacher was remarkable. He may not
have been a Socrates who produced Plato, who in turn produced Aristotle.
But to all China, Kong Zi has been the Master for the past two thousand four
hundred years.
 The philosophy of the Master is rather secular, even perhaps
anthropocentric. Indeed Kong Zi invested so much of his life in the study of
a philosophy that centered on man. In fact for him, philosophy started with
man and any discussion should focus on this phenomenon. He determined
the outstanding characteristics of a philosophy that centered on humanism.
But why did the brightest young men of his day sit at his feet? Lun Yu
the Analects provides the answer. The man was "bold, poised, stimulating,
humane and wholesome."
Kong Zi had a message to impart. He proposed a socio-politico-moral
philosophy founded on Benevolence, Righteousness, Propriety, Wisdom and
Sincerity. Towards this goal he offered a positive, constructive, decorous and
humanistic course. For him the ideal society was one that promoted har-
monious relationships among morally perfected individuals with a well-or-
dered structure based on the citizen's mutual attachment to individual
obligations.
The Master never proposed a religion nor did he claim to have intro-
duced anything new. He said repeatedly that he was only a transmitter of
ancient wisdom. By such claim he became the first professional teacher of
China. Still it cannot be refuted that in the process of transmitting the wisdom
of the ancients, he infused into it his own wisdom.
It was said that the Master spent many years wandering, hoping that
his idea of Benevolent Government might find its rightful king for implemen-
tation, but he tried in vain. Finally, in 474 B.C a disappointed old man, he
returned to his hometown in the State of Lu. Five years later, he died amidst
his closest disciples. He was seventy-three.
A few centuries later, the Grand Historian of the Han Dynasty, Sima
Qian paid a visit to the burial place of Kong Zi Overwhelmed by the reverence
paid to the Old Master he said with amazement, "When I contemplated the
hall of the funeral temple, his chariot, his vestments, his ritual utensils. All
those who at the prescribed time performed the rites in his dwelling, I tarried
there and could not depart. There are legions in this world that have enjoyed
in their lifetime a glory that ended in their deaths. But the glory of Kong Zi,
though he was not a man of noble class, has been handed down to more
than ten generations. Emperors, Dukes, and all in the Middle Kingdom
have honored this Master and took his teachings for guidance. That is
what is called perfect sanctity."
 The Lun Yu, the Analects or the Conversations is the book attributed to Kong
Zi. It is a collection of twenty books of aphorisms and politico-moral discourse
between the Master and his disciples. Kong Zi did not actually write this book
attributed to him. The Lun Yu is a compilation of wise sayings of the Master
collected by his disciples only after his death. It incorporates the wisdom of Kong
Zi, acquired from years of intense and sensitive observation of life. The sayings
are short and may appear simple. They are instructive but not dogmatic,
sincere and inspiring but never pedantic. Expressed in straightforward and
direct discourse, they can easily convince the readers that true nobility of
thought and action is the only way to virtue and happiness.
Kong Zi always considered man the center of his philosophy and tried to
develop the microcosmic man as the paragon of a perfect family and a perfect
society. His teachings are found throughout the books, and it is up to his
readers to find them therein. There are, however, very basic teachings in the
Lun Yu that can hardly escape any reader and these are the more important
doctrines we shall tackle here.
Kong Zi belongs to the Ru Jia, School of Literati. Although most
Westerners prefer to call it Confucianism, the Chinese scholars retain the same
reference to Ru Jia. Ru Jia has something to do with the “lettered class”, with
scholarship, with the learned. There is something quite distinctive in the
teaching of this Master in that his thought can be taught through their
ideographic roots. This method may not work with Daoism, but we shall
comfortably approach Ru Jia by going over the ideogram of its philosophical
concept.

Kong Zi on Ren1

Ren is a concept so variedly translated by different scholars. James Legge

translates it as "Benevolence" while Arthur Waley has it as Goodness. Still some
other scholars render the term as "Human-heartedness," Compassion, Pity,
Love, Virtue, Virtue of virtues, Supreme Goodness but always with reservations.
In fact Ren is a term of plurisignifications that embraces all of the above and yet
signifies something more.
Ren is in fact a compound ideogram taken from two characters, ren A*
literally meaning man, and erh - signifying "two" or "second" in the Chinese
numerical system. Having made the character ren standing beside erh, the
combined ideogram would signify literally "man and a second". However, there is
no equivalent English term to capture this moral percep-
tion. One convenient way of translating it is to introduce a series of terms
hyphenated together to suggest the message. I would suggest Ren to mean
"consciousness-of-human-others"--a man becoming morally aware of the fact
that he is not alone. Existentially, the idea signifies one's realization that he is
not in solitude but that there exists someone else. As a philosophical moral
concept, Ren has two dimensions: the universal and the particular. In the
universal sense, Ren is the primary principle of human action. In its particular
dimension, Ren is used as a principle of moral justification. Kong Zi considers the
universal Ren as the first true moral consciousness in the reflection of humanity
because the cognition of the other is man's first moral awakening: I am not alone
for there is someone else other than I ready to receive me as much as he is
ready to receive attention from me. Alas, without God, not everything is
permissible, contrary to the claim of Dostoyevsky, for without God, there exists
the human other ready to censure my behavior. In the eyes of the Master, the
consciousness of Ren is not a difficult task as it is almost connected with one's
consciousness. "When I want true humanity, Lo, there it is, right by me." Ren
is, however, also a substantive principle of human conduct. It is love for humanity
in the sense of conscious concern for the well being of others. Kong Zi elaborates
this idea very appropriately in his anthropocentric proverb. "Do unto others what
you wish others to do unto you" and "Do not do unto others what you do not
want others to do unto you." This Golden Rule of Kong Zi is also to be found later
in a Christian dictum.
Kong Zi’s Golden Rule presupposes that there is such a thing as human nature
and on this very assumption; he tried to build his moral imperative. In his effort
to transform the inner moral consciousness of Ren into concrete form, he tried to
elaborate the overlying unity of his teaching. Zeng Zi said, "The Way of the Master
is none other than Zhong and Shu.4

Kong Zi on Zhong and Shu

Now the ideogram Zhong is a compound character composed of two

independent characters. The superior character zhong literally signifies center,
central or middle while the inferior character Xin literally means "heart" which is
essentially associated with emotion. Xin also signifies the "mind", the unwavering
reason. The character Shu fi5 is a complex ideogram composed of several
radicals: Nu meaning "woman" or "feminine"; Kuo meaning "mouth", implying
the idea of communication; and once again Xin "heart" or "mind". In both
instances, both characters relate
the interrelationship of Ren and the human reason. Zhong therefore is the
positive aspect of the practice of Ren. One must be conscious of others. A
person of Ren is one "who, in desiring to sustain himself, sustains others; and
in desiring to develop himself, develops others." All these radiate from the center
of one's unwavering mind and unperturbed heart where one's whole being
become the fulcrum of his judgment and action. Zhong represents the positive
saying of the Golden Rule, "Do unto others as you would like others do unto
you". In Zhong Yong or the Doctrine of the Mean we find this saying: "Serve your
father as you would require your son serve you. Serve your ruler, as you would
require your subordinate serve you. Serve your brother, as you would require your
younger brother serve you. Set the example in behaving among your friends as
you would require them to behave with you."
Shu on the other hand signifies a cautious and prohibitive advice. A
comforting reminder comes right from the heart of a woman; possibly a
mother. The origin of the character NU or "woman" is taken from the pictogram
of a woman carrying a baby. "Do not do unto others what you do not want others
do unto you,” explains the moral concept Shu. We thus find in Da Xue or the
Great Learning: "Do not use what you dislike in your superiors in the
employment of your inferiors. Do not use what you dislike in your inferior in the
service of your superiors. Do not use what you dislike in those who are before
you to prove to those who are behind you. Do not use what you dislike at the
right to display towards the left. Do not use what you dislike at the left to display
towards the right."
These twin aspects of the Golden Rule of Kong Zi became known as the
"principle of the measuring square." This means, the principle by which a man of
Ren uses himself as a standard for regulating conduct and behavior towards
others. The proper execution of the moral consciousness of Ren encompasses
both the positive as well as the negative aspects—the positive is understood to
mean "moral injunction" and the negative, to mean "moral refrain". This is what
Kong Zi means by saying that Ren is the "rule of practice for one's life". Man
becomes a measure of good or evil; if I want a true answer to true goodness, all
that it takes is serious and honest self-inquiry and the answer is there right
before me.

Kong Zi on Yi

Internal moral awareness however, must be empowered with moral force.

This leads us to the second moral concept Yi. Some Sinologists
translate Yi to mean "rectitude" or "duty." Still others translate it as "obligation"
or "righteousness." Again, they are all partly correct. But a closer look at the
Chinese ideogram may reveal a secret in the character. The ideogram Yi shows
us that it is a compound character composed of the superior part and the inferior
part. The inferior part of the character is Wo which literally means "I" or "Myself"
or the "Ego." But the superior part is not as self-evident. There are two schools
of thought on this. One says that the root of the superior character is Yang. While
the other school claims that the root is taken from the character Wang JL . The
ideogram Wo placed at the inferior part of the compound ideogram
pictographically suggests "I carry something." But what do I carry? If we take
the first interpretation, we will have the following: The superior character is
taken from Yang and the Yang literally means "goat" or "sheep", a pastoral
animal that essentially gives milk. Then an analogy should clear the point. "I carry
a goat or a sheep,” suggests the idea that "I carry my duty as would a mother
goat rears her young." On the other hand, if one takes the second interpretation,
claiming that the superior character is taken from Wang, we will have the
following: Wang literally means "King." Pictographically, the character therefore
conveys the idea "I carry a King." But whether the ideogram Yi is taken from the
first root Yang or second root Wang, it conveys the same idea of a kind of "duty
imposed upon me" from which I have no way of escaping.
As a moral concept, Yi may thus be translated to mean "consciousness of
one's moral imperative." This moral imperative is something that one inherits at
birth. The moment I become self-conscious of Ren, I also become aware of the
duty imposed upon me by the society into which I was born. Immediately, this
self-moral perception of human duty is at once sublime in that like Sisyphus, one
is condemned, better still, enslaved to duty. Sisyphus was condemned to carry
the boulder up to the summit but every time he reached the top, the boulder
rolled back down. Sisyphus would then go back to the bottom, pick up the boulder
and carry it again up the hill, and he blamed no one nor complained to no one.
To him it was not important whether he would eventually succeed in putting the
rock on the summit or not. What truly counted for him was his determined will
to carry the rock to the top. Yi is similar to this kind of self-moral injunction. I
have to perform my duty because I have to do it even if I am naturally inclined to
do otherwise.
Yi being a moral-imperative acquired at birth is closely interwoven with one's
social appellation. It is social philosophy based on duty. In his famous doctrine
Zheng Ming, we find Kong Zi’s famous conversation with his disciple, Chi Gang.
Chi Kang asked Kong Zi how to govern a state. The Master
answered, "To govern means to rectify. If you lead the people in rectitude, who
will dare not to be rectified?"7 Kong Zi firmly believed that the art of government
consists mainly in putting every individual in his proper place in society. He felt
that the first step towards the transformation of anarchic society was to have
everyone recognize and fulfill the Yi essentially associated with his social
appellation. When Zi Lu said, "The Prince of Wei is awaiting you to take his
government. What will be your first measure?" Kong Zi replied, "It would be the
Rectification of Names." And the Master continued, "If the names are not correct,
then words are inappropriate. When words are inappropriate, then things
cannot be accomplished." The doctrine of Zheng Ming is essentially rooted in Yi
that is also the very first principle of good government. Yi makes social structure
and social control possible. A Ming or social title defines one's relationship with
others as well as his duty towards them. Everyone in society requires
responsibility by virtue of Yi. Kong Zi thus said, "Let a ruler be a ruler; a minister,
minister; a father, father:

and a son, son." For to rectify a person's name is to set up an objective standard
of moral duty according to the social appellation he assumes in society. Indeed,
social appellation spells out man's duty at the same time as the person is
impelled to fulfill the responsibilities associated with the social name he assumes,
be that of a father or son, husband or wife. One is never devoid of responsibility
and purpose in life. The ruler's Yi is to be just; that of a father, to be benevolent;
a mother, to be submissive; a son, to be filial, and so on. In this form of social
set up, we see harmony among people who are willing to renounce rights but in
return receive benefits. This eventual harmonious relationship fulfills the
criteria of the doctrine of Zheng Ming and the ideal moral imperative of Yi.
Perhaps the highest vision of this doctrine is that one is a being with a
multifarious Yi. He may be a son to his father but can also become a father to his
future son. He may be a younger brother to his elder brother but he is an elder
brother to his junior brother. He may be senior or junior to his friend and if the
mandate of Tian comes, may become the ruler to subjects. Because of the
complexity of one's Yi, man for Kong Zi becomes a perpetual moral project.

Kong Zi on Li

The ideogram Li is made up of two components, the left and the right
characters. The character on the left literally means to worship. Pictographically,
the combined character reveals a person worshiping ceremoniously before an urn
j[ where two joss sticks have just been planted. The character may thus be taken
to mean rite, ceremony,
 Ill

decorum, deportment, politeness, good manners, propriety, or civility. In

short, it is the proper ritual of a civilized life. The oldest Chinese dictionary
defines the term as "conduct to worship the spirit and obtain happiness".
Originally the term was used to refer to religious rites. Eventually, Ru Jia
drew this meaning from Zhou which already had the meaning broadened to
accommodate their anthropocentric tendency. Thus the term Li in Ru Jia
included customs, traditions, and laws. The term came to include all social,
habitual, customary practices. Li became so important in the state that it
shared the nature of law. But Li was distinguished from Law or Fa in that
the first was customary while the second was promulgated. Li commanded
positive action and Fa or Law was prohibitory. While the violation of Fa was
punishable by the state, that of Li was visited merely by social pressure
or censure. In effect, Li was for the aristocrats, scholars and mandarins
who were above the law, while Fa applied to the rest of renmin or the
multitude. Thus, we should not be surprised at the passage from the Li Ji
which says, "Li does not go down to the common people; punishment does
not reach up to the Great Prefects." Li was thus a means of training in virtue
and of avoiding evil; it was prophylactic. On the other hand, Fa was the
cure for evil. Thus, every virtuous social pattern, every virtue-enhancing
habit, every custom that was meant for social happiness and peace was
included in Li. In Shu Jing we read about a repentant emperor saying, "I was
violating all the rules of right and proper conduct Li, the result must have
been a speedy ruin to my person." Li dictates the proper decorum befitting
a man of moral rectitude. Li, moreover, anchors human behavior in its
proper place. Kong Zi said: "While parents live, serve them with Li. When they
are dead, bury them with Li and sacrifice to them with Li." He further
elaborated this by saying, "Respectfulness without Li becomes laborious
bustle; carefulness without Li becomes timidity; boldness without Li becomes
insubordination; straight-forwardness without Li becomes rudeness." It is
therefore in Li that one finds the golden mean of civilized life. It is in Li where
one finds a perfect balance between the excessive and the deficient conduct
of life. Li serves as the concrete expression of the inner morality of Ren. It
prescribes a certain way of expressing one's moral consciousness and it has
to be done without excuse or explanation. For the Chinese, Li represents the
proper way of expressing one's consciousness of Humanity.
One of the greatest exponents of Kong Zi, Xun Zi elevated the meaning
of Li to an aesthetic standard with the expression of aesthetic impulses. "All
rites and rules of proper conduct," Xun Zi said, "begin in accumulating rules;
they are perfected in becoming beautiful and end in producing joy. Hence,
when they have reached perfection, man's emotion and sense of beauty
are both fully expressed in Li. In a civilization where members seem to possess
good histrionic powers, it is natural for the sense of beauty to express itself in
ordinary conduct. Li is the sublime expression of emotion for it enhances the
feeling of dignity, greatness, and illustriousness."13 Li is human emotion
expressed, harmonized, and beautified as to become aesthetic as well as moral.
It uses features, voices, garments, food and dwelling and gives each its
appropriate means of expressing human emotion. In this sense, Xunzi combined,
in a remarkable way, the inner emotion and outward observances to make a
harmonious rule of action. By means of Li, the degenerate son is kept from
becoming worse than a beast, and the aggressive man is prevented from
injuring himself. Li, at this instance, becomes an instrument used in beautifying
a person's original nature by means of an acquired characteristic that could not
be gained by himself. Finally, Li becomes the refined way of expressing the
internal moral consciousness of Ren and the metaphysico-moral imperative of
Yi.

Kong Zi on Zhi

The concept of Zhi is a complex ideogram composed of three radical parts:

left, right and bottom. The left character Zhi is taken from the meaning the act of
knowing. Kuo literally means mouth, and yueh means to say, or to express, or
spoken. "This is perhaps the most ancient Chinese ideogram comparable to the
combined Greek terms logos + sophia, of the Indian word Darsana which signifies
wisdom. The Chinese character Zhi literally signifies spoken wisdom or transmitted
knowledge. While the Chinese used the word Zhi to signify transmitted knowledge
in expressing the highest form of rational enlightenment, the Greeks had two
separate concepts, logos + sophia. The concept "philosophy" which signifies "love
of wisdom" conveys the message of an intrinsic separation of knowledge and
action as in the case of someone who loves wisdom but may not posses it. A
person who loves wisdom but possesses no wisdom is incapable of conveying
wisdom. Zhi implies the necessity of possessing and transmitting wisdom. To live
in accordance with one's philosophical conviction is part of one's philosophical
activity. This demand for unity is a much more ambitious program of philosophy
than the view emanating from Wittgenstein that the philosopher's function is to
clarify and "tidy-up" by the proper understanding of language. To Kon Zi, to
posses Zhi is to possess virtue, for virtue is at the same time knowledge. An
action devoid of consciousness is devoid of moral significance. Moral thinking
and moral discourse are intended for action, as they are to be transformed en
concerto. Kong Zi was primarily interested
 113

in the phenomenon of the moral agent, the person who must act to make
decisions and choices. The "good" here is significantly defined in terms of
philosophical activity of "examining oneself which reflection directs his life. Finally,
Zhi is a virtue attached to the refined gentleman of letters, to the literati, and to
the scholar. Kong Zi was almost chauvinistic when he said that a Xiao Ren or an
ordinary person prefers to perform Li because he chooses to do things from
tradition; while the Da Renl or the superior person of letters prefers to
contemplate on Zhi which thus becomes an essential virtue of an authentic moral
gentleman — one who knows more, acts more, and appreciates things more. As
Kong Zi said, "To know what is good and yet not do anything about it, what use
is there then for that knowledge?"

Kong Zi on Xin

Many people seem to give so little importance to their words and yet Kong
Zi insisted that the human being must be attached to language. The moral
virtue associated with this is called Xin. 1
The compound ideogram Xin is composed of the left and the right
characters. The left character is taken from ren A. which literally means, "man"
and Yin "which literally means word or logos. It is often translated as
"faithfulness" or "good faith" but better still, the Spanish word, palabra de honor.
In ancient China, the term is associated with "keeping promise" or fulfilling
what one says. For a person of Ren is not only conscious of other humans nor is
he simply asserting responsibility for others. He also does not only try to act
well and know what he is doing, but strives to be respectable in order to convey
what he knows with dignity and self-esteem.
A man must be committed to the spoken word. For what else should a moral
person do if not to keep vigil over his word which is an intermediary between
thought and action? As we think so do we speak; as we speak, so do we act.
It is very difficulty for a non-Chinese to understand that Chinese society puts
more importance on the spoken rather than the written word. Millions of
Chinese transactions are done by just the power of this spoken word. One's word
is as good as anything of value under the sun. Many debts and payments are done
without any written contract. It will perhaps be very difficult to find another
culture where people have developed a very close attachment to the spoken
word. Xin develops in a given people trust, confidence, unity and progress.
Kong Zi on Knowledge and Learning

The Master was the first to perceive that learning is an ongoing and an unending
process. Only the man with an unperturbed mind and the most determined will could
sustain Kong Zi's demand for learning. He defined the true scholarly spirit that we
continue to uphold in our time—the spirit of Liberal Education. The Lun Yu tells us that
"There were four things that Kong Zi was determined to eradicate: "a biased mind,
arbitrary judgments, obstinacy, and egotism."

In various instances, the Master reminds us that "by nature men are pretty much
alike; it is learning and practice that set them apart. Then he says, “In education
there is no class distinction.” All men are naturally gifted with the power for
learning. But he cautions, “Learning without thinking is labor lost; thinking
without learning is perilous.”

In another instance he says, "Hear as much as you can, put aside what strikes
you as doubtful, be cautious in speaking of what remains, and there will be few
faults in your actions. Knowledge then consists in regarding what one knows as
the known, and what one does not know as the unknown."
Learning for Kong Zi took a unique course with reference to that of the
Western mode. Fundamentally, the Master was more preoccupied with the
problem of ethics. Philosophical thought on how to evaluate issues did not
depend on distinctions as in the West's familiar hair-splitting dichotomy. For
instance, while Plato and his disciples used language to focus on metaphysics,
epistemology and logic, Kong Zi used language more in psychological
techniques to shape inclinations and feelings which direct behavior in
accordance with the moral way. Kong Zi’s aphoristic approach to teaching was
the practical method of Chinese learning directed to transform the individual
and not just merely to inform him. The Master placed great importance on the
propriety of utterance because an utterance is an action with behavioral
consequences and not merely a means of conveying information. Indeed, true
wisdom for the Master is "knowing to" and not "knowing that" as it is in the
West.

Kong Zi on Virtuous Government

Kong Zi's political views are based on virtue. He claims that if the people are
guided by virtue, the people can develop a sense of shame and of right.
Government by virtue makes its appeal to the moral sense and allows free action.
The moral awakening of the individual is regarded as its founding
block. As Kong Zi would have it said: "When the person is correct, matters will
proceed with no need of commands, but when the person is incorrect, he may
issue commands, but the people will not obey them. Thus, if there is no lofty
moral character inherent in the leaders who give orders, it is not expected that
the orders will secure obedience from the multitude. Kong Zi believes that a
government becomes perfect only if the ruler and the ruled are virtuous.
The task of being virtuous must first come from the ruler. Kong Zi says, "He
who brings virtue to the task of government could be likened to the North Star
fixed in its place with all the constellations around it." In this way, with mutual
understanding between the ruler and the ruled, the government can be
conducted in complete harmony. When asked about the secret of good
government, Kong Zi answered, "It consists in making a king being a king, a
minister being a minister, a father being a father, a son being a son." The most
important requisite for a good government is the mutual discharge of respective
duties as dictated by the individual's moral conscience and social station.
Kong Zi was undoubtedly concerned with a government structure founded on
moral awareness of the individual, without which, he says, a man would never
have a happy moral life.
Meanwhile, politics must be subordinated to morals. Kong Zi argued that
the destiny of man is the attainment of happiness, and if that happiness is
marked by social harmony, prosperity and peace, then only a morally
righteous man could lead the society to such a noble end.
In fact no one has ever placed so much importance on the supremacy of a
morally superior man over an agent of law more than Kong Zi. This basic notion
was so embedded in the collective Chinese socio-political psyche that very early
in time, they conceived and developed the idea of civil service examinations
in order to cultivate morally educated men to run the state.
The examination given to the aspiring government servants did not
contain problems and questions on political science or history. Instead, it
delved into the problem of ethics and the question of good and evil; for it was
believed that while a man may learn the daily routine of his office, if he was,
however, devoid of the sense of right and wrong, good and evil, truth and
falsity, he would not be able to lead such an office to its right end.

Kong Zi' s philosophy provides a political justification for the government's

state of being and at the same time provides a moral rectitude for the
government to lead itself to its rightful goal. For this Chinese sage,
man's built-in moral tendency constitutes the solid basis for the socio-political order.
This inherent moral nature rightly leads one to direct the state according to reason,
truth and wisdom.

The test of a truly enlightened society is its ability to live in peace, tranquility,
and prosperity and to promote the moral perfection of its populace. Any deviation
from such a course could lead to the state's downfall.

The highest burden of government, however, is placed on the ruler. Kong Zl

exhorted the ruler to be virtuous and to lead his people by example and moral
rectitude. Otherwise he loses his mandate to rule. Since his mandate comes from
heaven and heaven sees as the people see, the ruler is directly accountable to the
people he governs. We see here a political philosophy that insists on the importance
of morality, similar to the role religion played in medieval Christian Europe. In fact
"Confucianism" filled the religious vacuum in Chinese culture that therefore allowed
it to replace the role of religion.

"Confucianism" may be said to be an "ism" which can be equated with the

Western religion. But this "ism" proposes a grand design aimed at establishing a
perfect life within this very human world The "Confucian" Da Tung or Great
Commonwealth reads thus: "When the Great Way prevailed, every person was a
part of public society, and public society belonged to everyone. The virtuous and
the able were chosen for public office. All valued fidelity and friendliness. People not
only loved their own parents and children, but loved the parents and children of
others as well. The elderly lived their years in happiness; able-bodied adults were
usefully employed, children were reared properly. Widowers, widows, orphans, the
childless aged, the crippled and the ailing were cared for. All men shared their social
responsibilities, and all women had their social responsibilities and respective roles.
Natural resources were fully used to benefit all, and were not appropriated for selfish
ends. People wanted to contribute their strength and ability to society for public
gain. Trickery and intrigues could not occur in such a society. Robbery, larceny and
other crimes all disappeared. Gates and doors were not locked; no one ever thought
of stealing. This was the age of the great commonwealth of peace and prosperity."

Kong Zl's perfect model for the state exercised a dominant role in the
development of Chinese civilization. Seven hundred years after his death, the first
Han Emperor went to Kong Zl's burial place in Qu Fu to pay homage and respect to
the great teacher-philosopher-sage. This imperial gesture established a precedence
that all the succeeding emperors followed. This brought about the practice of a
"Confucian" cult for all government officials
 117

to follow. Temples were erected in his honor and he was given many honorific
titles, at times extravagant. Many people call this cult the Confucian religion.
It is not too much to say that if we were to characterize in one word the
Chinese way of life, the right word would be "Confucian". No other individual in
Chinese history has so deeply influenced the life and thought of his people, as
teacher, transmitter, creative interpreter of ancient culture, and molder of
the Chinese collective politico-moral psyche and character as has Kong Zi Many
Chinese have professed themselves to be Buddhist, Taoist, even Catholic or
Muslim, but they have seldom ceased to be Confucian. For Confucianism is
more than just a creed. It has become an inseparable part of Chinese society
and of the spirit of the Chinese nation in general, and of the concept of being
a civilized and moral Chinese gentleman, in particular.
 Lao Zi

No one knows if the man Lao Zi (566-470 B.C) ever existed. Historians are
not certain who he was or when he lived. His name is just as symbolic as his life
is mysterious. Lao literally means old, while Zi literally means Master. Lao Zi could
therefore be literally translated as the Old Master! Could it be that Lao Zi
represents the wise men of the olden days; that the work attributed to him, the
Dao De Jing, is a collection of the philosophy of the olden times; and that
therefore Lao Zi is a mythical man who never really existed? My present
position is that the issue is irrelevant. If history is accepted as myth, then Lao
Zi is China's greatest philosophical myth. As long as the Chinese civilization is
willing to assert that a man Lao Zi existed, then he exists immortally in its
collective consciousness.
Tradition places Lao Zi as having lived between 566 and 470 B.C. Early
historians, including the celebrated Han dynasty Grand Historian Sima Qian
claim that he must have been an early contemporary of Kong Zi. Lao Zi is said
to be a native of Chu of modern-day Honan province. His family name was Li,
private name, Erh and posthumous name, Dan. He is therefore also known in
literature and history as Li Erh or Lao Dan. Lao Zi is said to have served as a
custodian in the Imperial Archives, and in his old age, retired to the west. At the
request of the gatekeeper, he wrote the famous work on the Way and its virtue,
which work is known today as the Dao De Jing.
Lao Zi came to life in the famous story of in Se Ji, Records of the Historian
Sima Qian narrates that Kong Zi, after having formulated his thought, went
eagerly to consult Lao Zi on his idea of Li, Lao Zi answered: "All those men of
whom you speak have long since moldered away with their bones. Only their
words remain. When capable man's time comes, he rises: If he does not, then
he just wanders wearily away. I have heard that good merchants keep their
goods buried deeply to make it look as if they had none and that a superior man
whose character is perfected will feign stupidity. Give lap sir, your proud airs,
your many wishes, mannerisms, and extravagant claims. They won't do you any
good, sir! That's all I have to tell you." Kong Zi went off and told his students, "I
know that birds can fly and fish can swim and beasts can run. Snares can be
set for things that run, nets for those that swim and arrows for whatever that
flies. But dragons! I shall never know how dragons ride winds and clouds up into
the sky. Today I saw Lao Zi. What a dragon!

We can almost vividly picture the legendary, but surely very dramatic,
encounter between the two towering sages. One cannot help but see the fine
contrast between the interests of these two philosophers. It is not important
if the two great masters of ancient China ever had that historical encounter
or not, or if the Grand Historian Sima Qian's narrative was purely legendary.
The fact remains that Sima Qian delivered a message with great efficacy:
Kong Zi was interested in the here and now, the mundane world, the problem
of ethics. He was not interested in the world beyond, the hereafter, the supra
mundane, and the problem of mysticism which were the very preoccupations
of Lao Zi.
There can be no doubt that Lao Zi was the father of a totally different
philosophy that was later to become known as Dao Jia. This philosophy is
contained in the little book entitled Dao De Jing, a small classic of about
5,250 Chinese characters distributed in 81 poems. To the Western reader,
Dao De Jing is by far, the most influential work of Dao Jia. No other Chinese
classic of such size has exercised so much influence over its readers both in
the East and in the West; and no other Chinese classic has exerted so much
impact.
Dao De Jing is the second most translated book after the Bible. In the
English language alone, there are over fifty translations available. We can also
find it in French, Spanish, Italian, German, Norwegian, and many other
languages. It is a book that challenges the power of philosophy of all ages.
What makes the Dao De Jing inspirational is that it presents an
alternative to the philosophy proposed by many. Dao Jia proposes a carefree
flight from respectability and the conventional duties of society. In place, for
instance, of the "Confucian" concern for things human and mundane, it holds
out a vision of the other transcendental world of the spirit. If Kong Zi
represented the mind of the Chinese scholar-mandarin-gentleman in his
office or study, being a conscientious bureaucrat, a good citizen and a
benevolent family man, Lao Zi represented the same gentleman in his private
chamber or a mountain retreat, seeking surcease from the concerns of official
life, perhaps a bit drunk, but more likely intoxicated by the beauty of nature
and the world of the spirit. Without the Daoist leaven of poetry and mysticism
Chinese literature and thought would prove to be poorer if not shallower.
Dao De Jing is a combination of philosophy, mysticism, political view, and military
view written in poetry form. Its vague and cryptic character makes interpretation
and translation extremely difficult. It is perhaps for this reason that ancient and
contemporary hermeneutic continue to have difficulty unfolding the message of Lao
Zi The work contains the distilled essence of
Chinese wisdom - infinitely rich in vision, intellectually challenging, spiritually
uplifting, aesthetically sublime and emotionally heartwarming.
In the words of a contemporary Chinese philosopher, Lin yutang, "If there
is one book that can claim to interpret for us the spirit of the orient, or that is
necessary to the understanding of characteristic Chinese behavior, including
literally 'the ways that are dark,' it is the Book of Dao." No other Chinese classic
has created so much controversy over interpretation and translation as has this
Daoist classic. Until recently, many Chinese readers have always understood
the Dao De Jing or even Western Sinologists to be a teaching based upon the
great underlying principle of the great Dao. The Dao is the source of all beings
and the governor of all life, human and natural. It is the basic undivided unity
in which all contradictions and distinctions of existence are ultimately resolved.
The whole endeavor seems to deal with the nature and working of this
mysterious First Principle, the Dao, while at the same time admitting that it
must remain essentially indescribable. The followers of this school of thought
claim that Daoism is marked by a kind of yielding passivity, proposing a life
devoid of strife and coercion, proposing a manner of life that is completely
spontaneous, effortless arid indeed inexhaustible.
Traditionally, the Dao De Jing is divided into two sections: The first section
from Poem One to Thirty-Seven, deals with the Principle of Dao known as Dao
Jing; the second section from Poem Thirty-Eight to Eighty-One, is concerned
with the Principle of De known as De Jing.

The Key Concepts in Dao De Jing

Readers of the Book of Lao Zi are puzzled by the message it carries. The
language used is either transparent or opaque. There is almost no end to its
interpretation. It is however helpful to note that there are basic concepts that
one should try to understand beforehand lest he fail to grasp the essence of this
philosophy.

The different interpreters of Dao Jia repeatedly borrow the following ten
common concepts. It may prove helpful to have them as background.
The character ill, Dao is the central theme of the Book of Dao; it is a term
of plurisignification. It means The Truth, The Absolute, Nature, The
Encompassing, The Principle, The Pervading Reality, The Universal Law, The
Universal Pattern, The Way, The Right Path, The Way of Nature, etc. Dao as
the Truth means the Absolute, the all-pervading Reality. Dao as Nature means the
totality of nature and the universal law. Dao as Way means the path a person
should take in life, hence, the law of morality. In short Dao is the Absolute, the
Way of the Absolute and the Way to the Absolute.
Whereas in other schools of thought Dao means a system of moral truth, in
Lao Zi it is the one, the natural, eternal, spontaneous, nameless, indescribable
Reality.
M- De literally means virtue, character, influence, moral elan. The character
is a complex ideogram composed of three characters, which means "to go"; & ,
which means "straight"; and ', which means "heart". Literally, the character
signifies the idea of "going-straight-to-one's heart". The word taken as a whole
signifies the motivation by inward rectitude; also the outward effect of an
individual and the inward effect of the self.
The third concept Wei-Wu-Wei is a paradoxical expression which we find quite
often in the Dao De Jing. Strictly speaking, the expression has no equivalent in any
foreign language. However, we may try to explain the character this way:
Wei is a verb corresponding to the positive such as "to be," "to do," and
"to act." While Wu ££ is equivalent to negative or negation such as: "not to be,"
"not to do," and "not to act." Taken together, Wei-Wu-Wei would be roughly
translated to mean, "to be by not being," "to do by not doing," and "to act by not
acting." This paradoxical expression which finds convenient application in almost
all fields of sciences could mean to allow things to grow and pass without any sign
of effort and that one must be such that the Dao may act through him without
hindrance.

Zhe Ran, literally means "naturally" "of itself," "spontaneous."

The character Pu, literally means "a kind of tree". It signifies a "virgin-block"
or what Aristotle would call a tabula rasa - an uncarved block, which is
substantially plain, simple, sincere, pure, untouched, and non-artificial. As it is
an uncarved block, it is full of potentiality; it is in itself infinitely possible.

Wu Ming means "Namelessness", without a distinguishing feature, which

name can be frequently used to describe the absolute Dao.
Ai in Dao Jia is drawn from its primitive meaning which means "to want for
oneself, "to covet", or "to be stingy".
 Seng Ren is the paragon of a Daoist sage, a wise, enlightened person. Seng
Ren is one who has the duty to listen to the voice of wisdom.
Tian may be translated as Heaven or Sky, taken from the pictograph that
represents the Supreme Ancestor. Tian in Dao Jia is impersonal.

The Absolute Being and Non-Being

Reality is Absolute Reality. It is the One, the all-embracing unity from which
nothing can be separated. It is the nameless Being. As name is conditioned by
space-time and human categories, the Absolute cannot be named. Truth is
nameless, indescribable, beyond telling, for anything said of it is inadequate. The
best way to describe it is by not describing it.
"The Dao that can be named is not the eternal Dao. The Name that can be
named is not the eternal Name. Nameless is the origin of all things."2
But the word "nameless" or "nothing" or "void" is the Daoist medium of
expressing the inexpressible - a nothing and a nameless from which something
came into being. Non-Being is the cause of Being. The paradox goes in the
passage: "Nameless indeed is the source of all things. But things has its mother
and she has name."
Man, with the desire to ascribe names to everything, gives it a name. A true
enlightened man would not know what name to give it, but tries to give it a name
just the same. "I do not know its name, a name for it is Dao. Pressed for a
designation, I call it Great. Great means outgoing, outgoing, far-reaching. Far-
reaching, return."
Wang Bi, the greatest commentator of Lao Zi says that non-being is the mind
(essence) of simplicity, which is the Dao, the mind of Heaven and Earth. To
attain the permanent Dao, it is necessary for a Chinese to experience vacuity,
emptiness or nothingness to the infinite extreme degree. That there can be no
unity without it.8 Wang Bi further claims that although it is valuable to have non-
being as function, nevertheless, there cannot be substance without non-being.
Every conscious human effort to give it a name only ends up futile. But that
which is unnamed is the master of all accomplishments. It is the One that is
responsible for the thousand things. It is the One that accomplishes the whole
Reality, and the One that is the origin of the many. As he describes
it very simply "The Dao begets one, the one, two, then the two begets three,
and the three, the ten thousand things."
The Absolute is never demonstrated, proved nor named in the East. The
Absolute cannot be talked about, for human language is confined within the
limit of space-time continuum. The Absolute is therefore beyond the paleness
of human verbiage and truth cannot be proved but can only be suggested.
The higher the truth, the less the human language is able to describe it. It
may well be said that language is inversely proportional to the Highest Truth.
One can only therefore say what the Dao is not, but never what the Dao is.

On the Way of the Dao

If the Dao is unknowable and the Dao is also the path or the way the
individual should follow, how can one know the way of the Absolute? We read
this answer: "Man models himself after Earth. Earth models itself after
Heaven. Heaven models itself after the Dao (Way) and Dao (Virtue) models
itself after Nature."10
Also according to the Dao De Jing, the moral guiding principle of man is
the Law of Nature. Man has to be one with the whole cosmic movement -
forever simple, placid, effortless and final. Nature is unaffected by culture or
human conventions.
The Way of Nature and the Way of Dao (Absolute) is one. The Way is
always still, at rest and yet everything is done."11
This makes the movement of Nature and Dao forever paradoxical. It
moves without moving, does without doing, yet everything is done perfectly.

Here is a splendid description of the Way of the Absolute: "A good runner
leaves no track. A good speech leaves no flaws. A good computer has no
tallies. A good door is well shut without bolts and cannot be opened. A good
knot is tied without rope and cannot be loosened."12
The whole idea of Lao Zi is for the individual to live as closely to nature as
possible and be at one with it. One's life must be non-artificial and non-preten-
tious. Only when one has fully learned how to run can he leave no track. Only
when one has mastered his language can he leave nothing to censure. Only
when one has mastered his numbers will he need no tallies. Only when one's
door is not infiltrated can one claim that it is well shut. And only when two
are united in mind and heart will there be no need for rope to tie them
together.
 In the eyes of Lao Zi, knowing the Way of the Dao is not very difficult.
One just has to be simple and pure in heart, sincere in intention, unaffected
by artificialities - and the way of Dao will be known.
Lao Zi deplores the effect of culture, tradition and civilization as a whole.
To him it has only made man more pretentious and more ruinous. In his
criticism of "civilized society" and the evils that it has created, his words
sound like an outright call for the renunciation of life and the work of
centuries, and a summon to return to an unimaginable primitive existence.
We read: "Get rid of the 'wise men'. Put out the cunning. Then the people
will profit a hundred fold. Away with the 'kind' ones, those 'righteous' men,
too and let the people return to the graces of home. Root out the artisans.
Banish the profiteers and there will be no thieves and robbers."
This criticism of a "civilized world" comes directly even to our times.
Civilization, culture and technology have rendered man either a handmaid
of the machine or an insignificant part of the society.
Lao Zi believes that the movement of the Dao is a beautiful movement
of Nature. It is a movement of all seasons. It is the natural movement of
all time. One may not be able to describe how nature moves, but one
can naturally move with it for nobody can go against the rhythm of life.
Lao Zi urges man to return to his natural purity and simplicity,
persuading him to cease striving for things that are essentially temporary
and evanescent and to realize the wrongs and tyrannies of all that striving.
That way one may attain quiet, solitary wisdom and achieve true virtue, to
the extent that one succeeds in putting himself in harmony with the natural
order.
In his commentary on Lao Zi's Dao De Jing, Wang Bi asserts that
Heaven and Earth leave Zhe Ran alone. They do nothing and create nothing.
The myriad things manage and order themselves... If one discards oneself
and leaves things alone, then everything will be in order.14 Again, if one acts
according to Zhe Ran without creating or starting things, things will therefore
reach their goal.15 When things are left alone, they will arise, have support
and be preserved.

Zhe Ran

The way of Nature is infinitely mysterious. Wang Bi explains that the Dao
of Zhe Ran is like a tree; the farther we go to the branches, the farther
away are we from the roots.1'17 As regards with the inspiration of the universe,
to follow the Zhe Ran means to follow the principles.18 With reference to the
ways of the man and things, to follow Zhe Ran means to follow their Nature for
the nature of the myriad things is Zhe Ran, It should be followed and not be
interfered with.19 One's ignorance is caused by his inability to see, feel, touch
and taste reality as it is. Because of his tendency to go contrary to the natural
movement, one injures his Zhe Ran.20 He must therefore follow the nature of
things.21 When Zhe Ran prevails all is well and nothing is wanting, for Zhe Ran is
self-sufficient. When everything is left in the state of Zhe Ran... they cannot
be exhausted. It therefore becomes mandatory for any searcher of the Dao to
understand Zhe Ran. The one who realizes the way of Dao in Zhe Ran is a sage.
The sage understands Zhe Ran perfectly and knows the condition of all things.
Therefore he goes along with them but takes no unnatural action. He is in
harmony with them but does not impose anything on them. Things will then be
contented with their nature.
Lao Zi is telling us that Nature can speak for itself quite eloquently and it can
work through us. All one has to do is to be at-one with the Dao.

Creative Non-Action

Lao Zi claims that the Universe speaks through the constant struggle of two
opposing yet complementary forces of the Yin and the Yang. Yang literally means
bright but as a concept, it signifies the "Positive" code of reality, thus, light,
masculine, active, hot, dry, beneficent etc. In contrast, Yin literally means
shadow but as a concept, it signifies the "Negative" code of reality. Thus, dark,
feminine, passive, cold, moist, malignant etc. The Yin Yang symbol is drawn as
a circle that is divided equally and gracefully, as it were, by a serpentine line,
into two opposing forces. Ideally, the two forces are supposed to occupy the same
space representing the moment that is forever. It is in their state of equilibrium
that the two forces are in perfect balance. The disturbance of these forces
however triggers manifestations of ten thousand things, and the dialectical
motion of the two forces generates what we see phenomenally as good or bad,
light and shadow. We therefore see how united these two are as forces of things
in the phenomenal world, such as disaster and fortune, soft and hard, strong
and weak, more and less, above and below, early and late, truth and falsity,
honor and shame, clever and stupid, and all such contradictions in things and
the transformation of the opposites.
 In all things, the Yin and the Yang are always present and are never to
be separated - functioning together in perpetual interaction. At one moment, one
is uppermost, and in the next, the other. In man the Yang preponderates; in
woman, the Yin. Yet, in each are both.
The Dao works exactly in the same manner. "The Way of Heaven is indeed
like the bending of a bow. When the string is high, bring it down. When it is low,
raise it up. When it is excessive, reduce."25 Then we see: "The Way is always still,
at rest, and yet everything is done." (26)
Dao is forever paradoxical. It moves without moving, does without doing, and
yet everything is done perfectly. Thus the saying: The conquest of the world
comes invariably from doing nothing. (27) Reversing is the movement of the
Dao. (28); to go further and further means to revert again. (29)
Fung yu lan said that the general rule for those "practicing enlightenment"
is that if they want to achieve anything, they must start with its opposite; and if
they want to retain anything, they must admit in it something of its opposite. If
one wants to be strong, one must start with a feeling that one is weak. (30) Thus
Lao Zi tells as; "The sage, putting himself in the background, is always to the
fore. Remaining outside, he is always there. And again, "He does not show
himself, therefore he is everywhere. He does not define himself therefore he is
distinct. (32) He does not assert himself; therefore he succeeds. He does not
boast of his work; therefore he endures. He does not contend, and for that very
reason no one in the world can contend with him."33
We also find such inspiring passages saying, "What is most perfect seems to
have something missing, yet its use is unimpaired. What is most full seems empty,
yet its use is inexhaustible. What is most straight seems like crookedness. The
greatest skill seems like clumsiness. The greatest eloquence seems like
stuttering."34 Again, Lao Zi says "Be twisted and one shall be whole. Be crooked
and one shall be straight. Be hollow and one shall be filled. Be tattered and one
shall be renewed. Have little and one shall obtain. But have much and one shall
be perplexed."
We can in the main say that Lao Zi and Kong Zi agreed in centering the seat
of the world-shaping power in man. They differ, however, as to the depth and the
manner by which this power might be awakened. Lao Zi honored a self-search,
meditative method, returning to the state of “uncarved block,” where it would
be found to lie deeper than the named,
the formed, the honored, and he rejected operating through antimonies. Wu-
wei was their shibboleth and the way of paradox.
Kong Zi, on the other hand, taught that the extroverted way of sincere,
respectful attention to the arts of music, poetry, ritual, lore, were the awakeners
of the sentiments of kindness, gentleness, goodness which was acquired, and
endowed with grace, and a person's social Intercourse with others.36
The value of Dao lies in its power to reconcile opposites on a higher plane of
consciousness. It is symbolically expressed as light. To reconcile the polarities in
order to achieve a balanced way of living and a higher integration becomes an
endeavor of everybody seeking enlightenment. A Daoist enlightened person
becomes a Seng Ren, a "holy recluse".

Political View

Lao Zi invariably teaches a philosophy that requires complete at-one-

ment with the Absolute Dao and the inevitable consequence of living naturally
and spontaneously once such union has been attained.
Because the Dao is the only Absolute and unchanging reality and its way is the
only flawless movement, it logically follows that the ideal government of Lao Zi
will have to take that same form.
It is only the Seng Ren who can best rule the state. The duty of this Seng Ren
is not to do things, but rather to undo them or not to do anything. This is based
on the premise that the problem in a pretentious and ruinous society is that so
many unnatural things are done which caused more misery to the people. The
best way to act therefore is by not acting. We find this passage from Lao Zi.
"The more rules and prohibitions in the world there are, the poorer the people
become. The more sharp weapons the people produce, the more trouble will
there be in the country. The more cunning craftsmen there will be, the more
pernicious contrivances will appear. The more laws promulgated, the more
thieves and bandits there will be." (37) The best way to govern then is to destroy
all the artificial laws that man has made, for they cause more miseries and
misfortune. Banish all these "learned and let them learn the path of Dao" Lao Zi
exhorts. "Do not exalt the 'worthies,' and the people will no longer be
contentious. Do not value treasures and there will be no more thieves. If the
people do not see things that excite desires, their mind will not be confused.
Therefore the sage rules the people by emptying
the minds, filling their bellies, weakening their wills, and toughening their
sinews, ever making the people without 'knowledge' and without desires."38
Once the Seng Ren has fully mastered the way of the Dao, which is always
simple and natural and spontaneous, and then he will have thoroughly mastered
the art of government. We find this passage in Dao De Jing: "I act not and the
people of themselves are transformed. I have quiescence and the people of
themselves go straight. I concern myself with nothing, and the people of
themselves are simple.
The sage ruler does nothing and yet everything is done or Lao Zi would himself
say, "The Dao invariably does nothing and yet there is nothing that is not done."
A sage ruler allows everything to flow naturally, each according to his sincere,
simple and natural capacity. One need not pretend to do what he cannot and
thus people will not unnecessarily expect anything. Allowing each one to act,
behave and perform according to his natural capacity will stop confusion in the
world. The trouble is that people tend to speak, behave and act according to what
they really are not and not according to what they really are. They have lost
their original childlike innocence and purity and honesty. Thus we are not
surprised when Lao Zi says, "The sage treats all as children" with pure hearts
and minds unaffected by ruinous human pretentions brought about by false
education and culture. The problem with customs is that we have become so
attached to them that even if they are wrong we no longer see them as such.
And so Lao Zi says that the sage ruler "does not make them enlightened, but
keeps them ignorant." Ignorance here is equated with the ignorance referred to
in Socrates' words: "What I know is that I do not know" or the Buddha's silence
on the question of highest truth, or even the Daoist's smile when he sees or
hears the light of truth.
A Seng Ren or sage ruler should cease from meddling in the lives of the
multitude, give up warfare and luxurious living, and guide his people back to a
state of innocence, simplicity and harmony with the Dao. This reminds us of a
state of existence in the most remote times before human civilization appeared
to arouse the material desires of the people and spur them to strife and warfare,
and before morality was even invented to befuddle their minds and beguile them
with fine and vain distinctions of reality.
Such a sublime concept of government could only have come out of a mind
whose mission is plain, simple and pure. Lao Zi says, "The ideal land is small, its
people few. Where tools abound ten times or yet a hundredfold, beyond their
eyes and where people die and die again but never emigrate.
Have boats and carts that no one rides. Weapons have they and armor too,
but none displayed. The folk returns to use again the knotted cords. Their
meal is sweet, their clothes adorned, and their hours at peace. Their
customs charm. Their neighbor's lands are juxtaposed, so each may hear
the barking dogs, the crowing cocks across the way; and never once
exchange a call."42
It is clear that Lao Zi anticipated the folly of the human race and cried
halt to it two thousand five hundred years ago. But his cry fell on deaf ears.
The ideal land may no longer be found, human "civilization" is destroying
nature at a rate no one can ever imagine, not even Lao Zi.
The sublimity of Lao Zi's thoughts prompted him to set them down in
poetic form for poetry allows one "to take the flight of a bird soaring high and
quitting the terrestrial ground". However, when it became necessary to focus
on higher truths, he readily turned to silence. He very wisely made use of
paradox, for unlike the idea of contradiction, which allows two opposing
terms to cancel each other, paradoxical ideas simply appear opposing on one
level, but mutually complementary on another. Also, the plurisignificative
natures of the Chinese philosophical concepts are made more complicated,
but always quite refreshing, if not relieving in Dao De Jing. For indeed the
higher the truth, the less it can be described in one expression or definition.
Truth acquires new and fresh meaning as it treads life's experiences. This
plurisignificative nature of Lao Zi's language also leaves its readers infinite
possibilities for hermeneutics. It can always render each interpretation valid,
in the same way that it can allow the same interpretation to be perceived as
doubtful or even false.
What makes the work of Lao Zi endure time and space is the brilliance of
his style and the depth of his thought. The Book of Dao is all that is said of
it and all that is not said of it. This spirit conveys a deep and fundamental
trait of Chinese thinking as a whole, while at the same time it presents the
pervasive Chinese attitude towards life, society and the world. Lao Zi's work
also affords one the only safe and romantic release from the severity and
restraint advanced by other philosophies. It is no wonder that the Book of
Lao Zi continues to attract readers and translators; and it is not surprising
that many people continue to agree and disagree with Daojing,43 - and agree
or disagree they must, for the Book of Dao weaves perpetual spell on its
readers.
When quasi-sophisticated culture and civilization disappears, then the
natural self appears. When man tires of pseudo-sophisticated doctrine, he
wants to look back to original simple views. When man has exhausted
himself in search of values in the materialistic, pretentious and ruinous world,
he will again focus his life-quest on eternal values. And when he is drowning
in a flood of moral ambiguity and the excesses of a licentious life, he will then
be ready to experience once more the long lost tranquility and mental
composure of inner peace. Man will probably rediscover then that the true Reality
cannot be found through the road of science and technology, but only through the
natural movement of Dao, for indeed, the way to Reality is a Return.

From Alfredo P. Co, Blooming of A Hundred Flowers Philosophy of

Ancient China, (Manila: University of Santo Tomas, 2002.)