1.2 Concentrating on Intergroup Relationship and Righteousness-Gain Thought

People always follow their goals to pursue, realize, and create their own social values. Social practice is a kind of activity people consciously take for certain intentions. In the activity, people attempt to construct a world of“meanings”, and make it as a scale to measure the rationality of all human activities. In ancient China, the ideal social state with the holistic harmony and coordinated development of the society had been the value the people consistently pursued.

1.2.1 Benevolence, loyalty, filial piety and moral ethics

In ancient China, people believed that the realization of individual’s unification of body and mind is closely related with social conditions provided by the universality of interpersonal harmony. The traditional Chinese philosophy, besides emphasizing individual’s unification of body and mind, also pays due attention to interpersonal relationship.

1.2.1.1 Views of confucianism

Confucianism contains many thoughts regarding how to handle interpersonal relationships, how to deal with the relationships among different social classes, and how to properly live a rational life.

(1) Benevolence, loyalty, filial piety

According to Confucianism,“benevolence”is firstly a kind of internal realm of virtues or cultural-ethical standards. External manifestation of“benevolence”could be moral behaviors such as“loyalty”,“filial piety”,“propriety”,“morality”and“honesty”. In the view of Confucius, to fundamentally solve the problem of collapsing etiquettes during the Spring and Autumn Period, attention must be paid on“benevolence”, and rules and forms adjusting various social relationships, such as the system of rites, filial piety, loyalty, honesty, which should all be based on the“benevolence”. Form and content, and the external and the internal sides of things should be organically united. If a person is not“benevolent”, how can he formulate and observe the“system of rites”? How can he make good use of the“music”?“Benevolence”is the foundation of the social system of rites and music.

Confucius believed that the core of“benevolence”is“loving people”, that being“owning a heart of benevolent love”. With this benevolent heart, people would fulfill their“filial piety”in daily life so as to honor their elders; in political life, the ruling class would cherish their people and govern them by virtue; in personal morality, individuals would restrain themselves with“rites”without doing anything that was against the rites or upsetting their minds; in interpersonal communication, people would put themselves in the place of others and be compassionate and understanding. In other words, they would want to succeed and also help others do the same thing; they would want to move up and develop and also help others do so; they would not impose what they cannot tolerate upon others. To start with the issues in daily life is the method for implementing“benevolence”. Practicing“benevolence”could produce harmonious interpersonal relationship, including the monarch-minister relation, and the parent-child relation, and there would be no dissatisfaction across the country and within families.

It should be said that the theory of“benevolence”by Confucius is meant more to the rulers. When a disciple asked Confucius:“how is it if a person can satisfy the broad expectation of the people and help others selflessly? Can we say he has reached the realm of“benevolence”? Confucius replied that this was not merely“benevolence”; rather, we should say he was a“saint”! Even the ancient sage emperors like Emperor Yao and Emperor Shun[35] could not achieve this. Confucius believed that the rulers should follow the needs of the people,“do what is beneficial to the people to benefit the people”, and“save resources, love the people, and ask the people to serve the country when they are not busy so that disturbance caused to them could be minimized.”[36] Therefore, Confucius emphasized that the rulers should not only cultivate their own hearts of“benevolence and virtue”, but also should implement“virtuous policies”.

In the mind of Confucius, when the rulers implemented the“virtuous policies”, its effect could be like the Big Dipper being surrounded by stars, and the rulers could win support and respect from the people. Since“virtuous policies”were based on the ruler’s heart of“benevolence and virtue”, thus Confucius required that the ruler should“cultivate themselves”and“rectify their behaviors”.“Cultivate themselves to show respect”,“cultivate themselves to appease others”, and“cultivate themselves to ease the people”.[37] Politics, to some extent, mean to rectify the ruler’s“body and heart”by himself. When the rulers take the lead to rectify themselves, then, who will dare to refuse to do the same thing? When the rulers act properly, it does not matter whether they issue an order or not since people will take him as the model. When the rulers act improperly, the people will not follow them even if he issues order because it is natural that the behaviors of the upper class will be followed by the lower one. When the rulers get their behaviors and conducts upright, it will not be difficult to govern the country. If the rulers cannot act properly, then how do they expect others to rectify themselves? Therefore, the key for a ruler to govern a country is just to require the ruler himself to take a serious and earnest attitude toward government affairs, emphasize credit, save the people’s efforts, practice frugality, and be tolerant to others.

Through the adjustment of“benevolence”, Confucius believed that society could reach the ideal realm. In the ideal realm,“the elders are given peace; friends are given trust; the young are given love”.[38]“All people across the country are brothers and sisters, like in a big family”.[39]“Benevolence”is the foundation of political and social systems such as the system of rites, and the norms for moral conducts, and it is also the core concept for ancient emperors to govern the country. Though as the times and social conditions have changed, and the specific content and forms of the system of rites and music have evolved, yet the basic spirit of“benevolence”remains the same.

When a disciple asked Confucius:“Can we know now what it would be like in ten generations?”Confucius answered: the Yin Dynasty inherited the system of rites from the Xia Dynasty, and in it, there was both loss and benefit. As for these loss and benefit, we already knew them both. The Zhou Dynasty inherited the system of rites from the Yin Dynasty, and in it, there was also both loss and benefit, and we also knew them both, too. If there was another dynasty after the Zhou Dynasty, even if it sustained one hundred generations, we could also know it.

Is there a constant core throughout the history of social development? Are political system and social culture sustainable? If so, what is the relation between this sustainability and social development? Confucius offered his answers to these questions. In the view of Confucius, different periods in history are not independent of each other, and there is always a link to the previous society in a certain historical period. The link could be divided into two aspects. One is loss, and the other, gain. But both loss and gain are based on inheritance. So, when a disciple asked Confucius whether they could know what the world would be like in ten generations later, Confucius replied that, they could know what the world would be like even in one hundred generations. It was because that, after overthrowing the Xia Dynasty, the Shang Dynasty inherited many of its social and political systems; When the Zhou Dynasty replaced the Shang, its systems and culture were founded on the cultures in the Xia and Shang dynasties. This is the conclusion drawn by Confucius after studying the history of the three dynasties mentioned above. Confucius believed that the development of history is not exclusively black or white. Rather, certain elements will be inherited all through the way, and these elements usually remain the same. Confucius lived in the late years of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, and he believed that another dynasty after Zhou would inevitably have systems and cultures with consistence in terms of the fundamental value of the Xia, Shang and Zhou dynasties, which must be“benevolence”.

Confucianism places emphasis on Zhong Shu (loyalty and forbearance), among which, Zhong (loyalty) refers one’s effort to use his benevolent heart to love others and things, usually meaning a kind of positive and sincere personality, and moral cultivation, while Shu (forbearance) refers to treating other people the way you want to be treated, being considerate for others, and having forbearance for others. Confucius attached great importance to loyalty by emphasizing that people should“be well-behaved when staying at home, be serious and prudent when handling affairs, and be honest and sincere when treating others”.[40] Confucius also emphasized forbearance by saying that

“when you express your own benevolence and love to others, you could be treated with benevolence and love from others. When you express your own generosity and tolerance to others, you could be treated with generosity and tolerance from others. Do not impose upon others what you do not want to be done to yourself.”[41]

Generally, loyalty and forbearance are a kind of“methodology of benevolence”in Confucianism, an important approach to implementing benevolence, and a key content of benevolence. Thereafter, Mencius also took loyalty as an important virtue and value for Confucianism by arguing that teaching others to be good was“loyalty”. In later generations, Confucians’ arguments and remarks on loyalty and compassion were more systematic, and established a link between loyalty and respect for the monarch, and love for the country. Thus,“loyalty”became a most important moral rule in the Chinese feudalist ethics.

Xiao Ti (filial piety and respect for elders) are also important moral values of Confucianism. Xiao refers to filial piety for parents, and Ti, respect for elders. Confucius and his disciples regard filial piety and respect for elders as the“fundamentals of benevolence”. Mencius believed that filial piety and respect for elders are“good consciousness”and“good capacity”inborn with human beings. Everyone loves their parents when they are still in childhood, and when they grow up, they also should know how to respect his elder brothers. Loving one’s parents is benevolence, and respecting one’s elders is propriety. Only one who loves his or her parents and respects his or her elders will probably be loyal to the country, and be trustworthy to friends. Thus, filial piety and respect for elders are the precondition for Zhong (loyalty), and representation of Xin (trustworthiness). Therefore, Confucians in later generations usually combined Xiao, Ti, Zhong, Xin together and used them jointly.

(2)“Examining identities”

Confucians in the Han Dynasty inherited and developed the Pre-Qin Confucian values and thoughts on interpersonal relationship, and the relationship between individual and the society. On the one hand, they took benevolence, righteousness, filial piety, respect for elders, loyalty, and trustworthiness proposed by Confucius and Mencius as major value concepts for handling interpersonal relationship, and the relationship between individual and the society, and on the other hand, they absorbed the emphasis on the important role of systems and values in handling interpersonal relationship, and the relationship between individual and the society by Xun Zi, and combined Ren (benevolence), Yi (righteousness), Li (propriety), Zhi (wisdom), and Xin (trustworthiness) as the Wu Chang (Five Constants) for handling interpersonal relationship.

The Five Constants advocated by Confucians in the Han Dynasty are not only rules that people must follow when dealing with interpersonal ethical relations, but also are the fundamental guarantee for the rulers to obtain the Order of Heaven. Thus, the Five Constants are not only of moral significance, but also of political significance. For instance, in the view of Dong Zhongshu, benevolence and righteousness are the key to the Five Constants. The core of benevolence is loving people, and the role of righteousness is rectifying oneself. The method of benevolence lies in loving others but not loving oneself, and the method of righteousness rests with rectifying oneself but not rectifying others.“Benevolence”and“wisdom”are mutually complementary. If there is“benevolence”but no“wisdom”, people will not be able to know others, and if there is“wisdom”but no“benevolence”, people will not be able to love others. Therefore, having“benevolence”without“wisdom”could get people love others but cannot differentiate them, and having“wisdom”without“benevolence”could get people know others but cannot make them take actions. Thus,“benevolence”makes people love others, and“wisdom”makes people reduce their evilness. The theory of Five Constants promoted by Confucians in the Han Dynasty could be endowed with renewed meanings in modern society. For instance, the spirits, such as loving others and helping others promoted among citizens in modern society, could match up with“benevolence”. As for other aspects, such as equality, justice, and behaving righteously could be connected to“righteousness”. And the elements of social role, social responsibility, interpersonal respect, and harmony could be relevant to the“propriety”. Giving full play to one’s wisdom and talent, and conducting one’s duties could match up with“wisdom”. Honesty and the spirit of execution could be relevant to the“trustworthiness”. In short, all the Five Constants have their corresponding counterparts in modern society.

Confucians in the Han Dynasty also proposed the theory of San Gang (the Three Cardinals), believing that, among the interpersonal relationships and the relationship between individual and the society, the most important ones are of monarch-minister, father-son, and husband-wife, and the value concepts of loyalty, filial piety, and respect should respectively be the guides for handling the above three types of relationships. These values uplifted the hierarchy ethics in human relationships in the traditional Chinese society to the height of the perpetual Heavenly Dao, and have had far-reaching influences on later Chinese generations.

To properly handle one’s interpersonal relationship and one’s relationship with the society, Confucians in the Han Dynasty believed that it is firstly required to Zheng Ming (rectifying name) as noted by Confucius, that is, to embed individuals into the general society and clarify his rights, responsibilities, duties in the whole social system. For instance, Dong Zhongshu proposed the idea of Shencha Minghao (examining identities). He further analyzed those concepts of Ming Hao (names and descriptions) and Zhi Fen (posts and duties) of the five different social class identities including Tian Zi (son of heaven), Zhu Hou (duke), Da Fu (senior official), Shi (scholar), and Min (common people), and believed that people in different social classes had different identities, and their social responsibilities are also different.“Tian Zi”could obtain the qualification to become the monarch only after receiving the Order of Heaven. The Order of Heaven received by the monarch is endowed by the Heaven. Thus, those with the identity of“Tian Zi”should regard the Heaven as his father, serve the Heaven with filial piety, and follow the intention of the Heaven to teach and guide his people. Those with the identity of“Zhu Hou”should prudently treat the“Tian Zi”they serve, because the“Hou”in“Zhu Hou”means“to serve”. People with the identity of“Da Fu”should be specially loyal, and strive to promote propriety and righteousness, because the“Da”in“Da Fu”means“great”, indicating that his character and morality must exceed the common people, and reach the extent of teaching and educating others. The“Shi”is“to engage”, meaning to engage oneself in various undertakings, because“Shi”is still short of the qualification of teaching and educating, and could just conduct well his own duties by following orders from the superiors. While,“Min”means“being sleepy or confused”and needs to be taught and educated by others. The five identities, including Tian Zi, Zhu Hou, Da Fu, Shi, and Min, indicate their respective posts and duties. Each part of the posts and duties has its own“Ming”(name). There are more“names”than“descriptions”since Hao (alias) is used for a certain group, while“name”is used to each individual of the group.“Alias”is general, while“name”is specific. As a specific term,“name”is used to differentiate one individual from another, and as a general term,“alias”is used to illustrate an outline.

By proposing“examining identities”, Dong Zhongshu defined the posts and duties of various social identities from Tian Zi to Shi, and to Min. The objective of“examining identities”lies in“rectifying name”.“Name”is used to differentiate and examine the right and the wrong, the true and the false. If an object does not conform to the definition of its“name”, it should be rectified, which is called“rectifying name”. Using“name”to differentiate the right and the wrong is actually using the thoughts, such as San Gang (the Three Cardinals) and Wu Chang (the Five Constants) of Confucianism, as the values to measure whether a social system is proper and reasonable.

(3) Propriety and righteousness indoctrination

Most Confucian philosophers in the Song and Ming dynasties believe that the realization of the ideal social values is completed through“indoctrination”. During this process, the indoctrinators, following objectives and intentions, would impose systematic moral influences on the indoctrinatees by deepening their moral recognition, cultivating their moral sense, enhancing their moral conviction, and making them consciously engage in moral cultivation, implement certain moral duties, and carry out their responsibilities for others and the society. As for how to“indoctrinate”, the Song and Ming philosophers explored various representations and materializing methods for the moral goodness, providing the basic value principles and scales for individual cultivation and social improvement, and making them the general behavioral specification for adjusting various relationships among individuals, individual and the society, and man and the nature.

For mankind and all things existing in the world, the mainstream philosophers in the Song and Ming dynasties believe that they should not be measured by the single standard of utilitarianism, but should be measured by the value standard of morality. The Confucian school of idealist philosophy of the Song and Ming dynasties emphasizes that the representative of the Heavenly Moral Ethics in man is the supreme good in human nature, which is manifested via the human mind. When the mind does not move, it is consistent with the human nature and the heaven principle, and is in the mind of supreme goodness. When the mind moves, the human nature will be converted to emotion, and emotion in turn will be become good or evil. Thus, by the good-evil standard, the mind can be divided into two: one is the mind of the Dao, namely the emotion consistent with the original nature, which is the good one. The other is the mind of the man, namely the emotion inconsistent with the original nature, which is the evil one. The good one is called the heavenly principle, while the evil one human desire. In face of the rampant human desires and collapsing heavenly moral ethics, the School promoted the idea of“differentiating moral ethics from desires”and the request to“upholding heavenly moral ethics whilst annihilating human desires”. Those heavenly moral ethics are usually taken as the cardinal guides and constant virtues in ethics and the patriarchal clan system. While, human desires are often taken as selfish desires violating the cardinal guides and constant virtues. If human desires were to be set free to develop, it would lead to fights for interests among individuals, and among social classes. Thus, from the perspective of maintaining the social stability, human desires should be restrained. The School directly links“upholding heavenly moral ethics whilst annihilating human desires”with“restraining oneself and restoring propriety”in the belief that, as long as all people in the world could uphold heavenly moral ethics, reduce human desires, and follow proprietary norms, the society would naturally become stable and orderly.

1.2.1.2 Views of daoism

(1)“Revering the Dao and its moral ethics”, and“following natural laws”

According to Daoism, the Dao and the Heavenly Moral Ethics are the innate traits of man and all things, and they actually specify the moral standards for human beings and all things in terms of existence and living. Therefore, they should be revered.

In the view of Daoism, man and all things in the world have their own natural disposition, and they are all equal in terms of this disposition. Thus, every person has his or her own talent so there are no“talentless people”, and each thing has its own function so there are no“functionless things”. All things are born in the Dao, and each has its own“moral ethics”or disposition. Though all things have shapes, images, and change all the time, yet they still sustain the“constants”of their moral ethics or disposition. Human’s intention should not be imposed on other people or other things. Instead, natural laws should be followed by man and things to reach their own“origins”and complete their own“disposition”.

From the perspective of Daoism, the nature is the most ideal state of man, and should therefore be the value rule for handling interpersonal relationship. In their natural state, every person is like a newborn that is pure, simple, and free of prejudice or bias. But the development of civilization and accumulation of knowledge could render man into a non-original state that prevents them from returning to their disposition and recovering to the original. Since“the Dao follows the law of the nature”, thus the“natural”value rules of the Dao should be used to correct the disorder of social ethics and impairment to human disposition by civilization, and embrace the existence of man’s original state.

(2)“The world of the supreme virtue”and“the world of the inclusive existence”

Zhuang Zi’s ideal society is“the world of the supreme virtue”, with Qi Wu (equality of things) as its theoretical basis. He believed that, though things in the universe are significantly varied, yet they are running without contradictions, mutually complementary and completing each other, and thus constitute a united oneness. On this basis, Zhuang Zi proposed his ideal society of“the world of the supreme virtue”: man completely being integrated into the nature, and returned to the realm of harmony and unity of man, animals and all things; all people being adapted to their own disposition, living a natural and simple life, and being free of excessive and abnormal civilization; there being no paths or tunnels in the mountains, no boats or bridges in the lakes or across the rivers, no private properties; people only working but with no need to store, giving instead of asking for return; people being all“knowledgeless”and“desireless”, and free from any forms of being constrained by ethics and value rules. This is the realm where“people do not know where the righteousness should be placed, and people do not know where the propriety should be suited”.[42]

Zhuang Zi emphasizes the simplicity and naturalness in the“world of the supreme virtue”, and regarding the approach to governing the country, he opposes any form of subjective rule by man, and advocates the“managementless”governance. In the view of Zhuang Zi, the most ideal political governance rests with non-action and naturalness, that is,“people only see everything existing inclusively, but do not see any rule by man”.[43] He believed that the enlightened monarch should allow all things in the world to naturally develop, but should not make any subjective“management”. As long as all people in the world do not reduce their original nature, and do not change the normality of their naturalness, then the world will need no“management”.“If there were no desire, the world would naturally be peaceful; if there were no action, all things would naturally evolve; if there were no disturbance in the mind, people would be naturally stable.”Zhuang Zi upholds that the subjective“management”is the root cause of all disorders. He therefore admires freedom and naturalness, and in this ideal freedom and naturalness, all people and all things can coexist harmoniously, which is the ideal society of his.

1.2.2 Harmony in diversity, and differentiation for the sake of unity

To handle the relationships between different social systems and classes in the society, the ancient Chinese people came up with mature principles.

1.2.2.1 Harmony promotes everything and identicalness holds back development

In ancient China, the ruling class attached great importance to coordinate and harmonize different classes in governance. At the late Western Zhou Dynasty, amid political plights, some progressive intellectuals started to consider why the crisis occurred. And they tended to believe that the crisis was caused by the escalated political conflicts, which hampered the harmony of the society. Shibo, a thinker at that time, thought that the chaos of the Western Zhou Dynasty was incurred by the fact that rulers made light of“harmony”but focused on“being identical”.“Harmony”means the coexistence and unity of different things and factors, while“being identical”refers to the simple addition and sameness of similar things. Therefore, the two concepts are quite different.

Duke Huan of Zheng, the founder of the state of Zheng and Minister of Land during the reign of the King You of Zhou, felt very horrified and anxious when he saw that the Zhou state was plagued with countless disasters and was at stake. So he consulted Tai Shibo over the destiny of the Zhou Dynasty, and how to unfetter from this plight. Shibo thought the wane of the Zhou Dynasty and the wax of Rongdi was inevitable as the rulers were alien to virtuous courtiers and close to knavish ones. At the theoretical level, this is called“discarding harmony and seeking identicalness”. As for this, Shibo proposed that“harmony promotes everything and identicalness holds back development”, which means that a harmonious political atmosphere ensures a sound development of the society and everything, but if governors require everything to follow the mindset of them, the society will lose the vigor of development.

The“harmony”put forward by Shibo refers to that if different things with different attributes harmoniously form an entity, they can enrich and grow well.“Being identical”means if we put similar things together and make no change, new objects will never emerge, and so“we will lose everything”. To oppose to the thought of“discarding harmony and seeking identicalness”and plump for his own view, Shibo gave a series of proofs. For example, everything in nature is composed of five basic elements: metal, wood, water, fire and earth; delicious food come out of adjusting five flavors: sour, sweet, bitter, spicy and salty; melodious music are made by setting the six temperaments, namely Huangzhong, Taicu, Guxi, Ruibin, Yize and Wushe, and so on.

In politics, we also need to follow the principle of harmony. Emperors must take attaining social harmony as the objective of governance, reconcile the contradictions between princes and dukes, ministers, scholars and others, and government officials also need to practice it. Emperors also need to choose women with different surnames as their queens, and appoint government officials with different political views. Only by practicing these, can emperors have a harmonious political environment, and can the society embrace harmony and stability. As Shibo says that a reasonable society must be a society pursuing harmony in diversity, and if we just seek common grounds but discard differences, the society will be in turmoil.

Since“harmony”and“unification”are inseparable periods in the development of things, Shibo put forward the thought of“harmony promotes everything”, which must be taken seriously in a peaceful and stable society. Only“harmony”can foster a stable society, and only harmony in diversity can make the society vibrant and progressive.

1.2.2.2 In practicing the rules of propriety, harmony is to be prized

Being worried about the social status in the Spring and Autumn Period, Confucius thought efforts should be made to ease class contradictions and recover the harmony and stability of the society. It is difficult to run a state if the class and social conflicts are too severe, and to put a state in order, the rulers must appease contradictions and meet the benefits of all classes. To achieve this, Confucius thought they need to tend to“propriety”, for it is useful to allay class and social contradictions.

Propriety is very important to advance the harmony of society.“In practicing the rules of propriety, harmony is to be prized.”Social harmony can be accomplished only when everything, regardless of major or minor things, are governed by rites. That is to say, harmony needs to be standardized and measured by rites. Otherwise, pursuing harmony is nothing but empty talk. If rulers govern the people only in accordance with laws and regulations and by imposing tough penalties, people may not commit crimes, but they will not foster evilness, shame and disgust rather than a sense of goodness. However, if rulers govern people by morality and virtue, people can not only avoid wrongdoings but also abide by rules with a sense of shame and disgust. That is to say that“if people are led by laws, and uniformity sought to be given them by punishments, they will try to avoid the punishment, but have no sense of shame; if they are led by virtue, and uniformity sought to be given them by the rules of propriety, they will have the sense of shame, and moreover will behave well”.[44]

How to achieve the rule of virtue? In Confucius’s view, rectifying names holds the key because if names are not correct, words are not in accordance with the truth of things; if words are not in accordance with the truth of things, affairs cannot be carried on to success. When affairs cannot be carried on to success, proprieties and music will not flourish. When proprieties and music do not flourish, punishments will not be properly awarded. When punishments are not properly awarded, the people do not know how to move hand or foot. Under such circumstances, how can a country be governed properly? Therefore, a gentleman considers it necessary that the names he uses may be spoken appropriately and what he speaks may be carried out appropriately.

1.2.2.3 Everything comes in pairs

Actually,“harmony”never means rejecting“difference”and“contradiction”. Shimo, a historian of the Jin Dynasty in the Spring and Autumn Period, raised a philosophy proposition that“everything comes in pairs”, which, from the perspective of the struggle of contradictions, demonstrates the necessity of the existence of contradictions, and the struggle of opposites promoting the development of things. This does not go against the“harmony”stressed by Shibo, for“harmony”never means no difference, no conflict, no change or no development.

In Shimo’s view, everything is born in twos and threes, and can always find its opposites. In nature, up in the sky, there is the sun, the moon and stars, and down on the earth, there are five elements: metal, wood, water, fire and earth, and every object has its left side and right side, so we can see everything has its opposites. In society, the opposing forces between kings and dukes, princes and ministers also embody the struggle of contradictions. The existence of“twos”makes everything in the process of struggling and developing.

In nature, as we know,“high hills can change into valleys, and deep valleys can change into hills”. And the society also follows the laws that“nothing is permanent and all things perish in time”. So as Shimo maintained, contradictions exist in everything and among things. The struggle between opposites drives the change and development of things, and help contradictions to transform to their opposites. And this transformation promotes to achieve a more sound, reasonable, and higher level development of a harmonious society.

1.2.2.4 Attaching importance to rites and laws, and making distinctions for the sake of unification

In Confucianism, there is a notion that we can adjust and handle the relationships among people by institutional systems, which attaches great importance to upholding values and improving those systems. For example, as for how to deal with the relationships between different people and different classes, Xun Zi proposed to“attach importance to rites and laws and make distinctions for the sake of unification”.

Why the relationships among people entail to be regulated and restricted by rites, laws and regulations? In Xun Zi’s view, the main reason is that people are different from wild animals and objects. As a kind of social and gregarious animal, people are not competent to cattle and horses in strength and speed. But why cattle and horses are enslaved by people? It is because that people know how to unite the overall strength of groups but cattle and horses cannot. If groups can coexist and unite as one, they will be so strong that other creatures will be subject to them. Therefore, people cannot live alone without societies and groups.

Mankind dominates over other creatures through grouping together, and we cannot live when separated from each other. But if a group has no systems, regulations and values, fierce clashes and conflicts will come thick and fast. People are different in nature, and if their differences are erased, imbalances and arguments will occur inside of them, and arguments lead to chaos, which consequently causes discord. If people cannot unite themselves as one, the whole society will go downhill and they cannot have command over other things. As a result, they will live in chaos and turmoil. To avoid this, the best way is to“make distinctions for the sake of unification”.

“Distinction”is very critical to“living together”and lays foundation for social survival and development. In Xun Zi’s view,“distinction”has two connotations:“differentiation between the nature and people”, which means since they each assumes their duties, so that people can know what they need to do; the second is“differentiation among peoples”. The system and principles on rites and laws, advocated by Xun Zi, aim at differentiating peoples. By“upholding rites and respecting virtuous people”and“revering laws and loving people”, the world can achieve great harmony. In the eyes of Xun Zi, making distinctions between people includes ensuring the differentiations between the internal and external rites, fathers and sons, men and women, and superiors and inferiors. To be specific, what we should do is guarantee the affiliation between monarchs and courtiers, affection between fathers and sons, distinction between husbands and wives. The lifeblood of the country lies in the system of rites. Rulers can grapple the power if they attach importance to ritual system and respect sages, and even they can dominate over the nobilities if they value legal systems and people. But a country will be in peril if its cunning rulers covet interests, and a country will doom to collapse if its rulers harm people through political trickeries and tactics. Therefore, we need to differentiate virtuous people from the silly ones, uphold rites and respect sages, and make sure that sages are superior to morons. We should ascertain that virtuous and capable people are appointed by weighing their talents rather than their positions and classes. We should also lose no time in dismissing those who are incompetent and lax in action, resolutely persecute vicious and treacherous people. And it is advisable to rectify the name by the order of father and children, young and old, close and distant. For those who disobey rites and righteousness, they should be deemed as ordinary people even if they are descendent of the nobilities. Conversely, for those with humble birth, if they learn culture and knowledge, behave properly, abide by laws and rites, they can be promoted to be officials with high ranks.

Xun Zi believed that it is people who cause disasters like the vagueness of social values, the absence of rites and probity, promiscuous conducts between men and women, discredit between fathers and sons, and the discord between rulers and subjects. Since disasters made by people are the most horrible, so to run a society well, it is of significant importance to know how to handle the relations between monarchs and subjects, fathers and sons, husbands and wives. We need to make a clear distinction of the duties and ensure that everyone can shoulder his responsibilities willingly and consciously, never bear grudge against destinies and shirk duties. According to these ideas, we can properly handle the relationships among people, between people and the society, so as to attain the stability, peace and harmony of the world.

1.2.2.5 When nothing is done, nothing is left undone

Daoism emphasizes that social life and governance must work by following natural laws, which should be the most ideal state of the society. When running the country, rulers of moral ethics do not intentionally employ methods but conform to the nature of people and the laws of things so as to achieve governance through non-action. The so-called“governance by non-action”, far from doing nothing, means acting in accordance with the internal laws and nature of things, and finally delivers fruitful results through“non-action, which is not intended to acting recklessly. If people don’t act recklessly but act in tune with the laws of things, anything can be accomplished. The Dao is not associated with any intentional action, but is concerned with acting by following the nature of people and the development laws of things. If the rulers govern the country not by their own wisdoms but by following the real conditions of all things, then the great harmony will be achieved. As a result, to govern the country and the world, besides subjective will of the rulers and the action of people, the more important thing is to take actions in accordance with the laws of the nature.

Actually, Daoism does not reject all civilized systems but opposes the ones that cause the alienation of people’s nature. Civilized systems are formulated in accordance with the nature of people and the laws of things. If these systems lose their original traits, they will rule people in an improper and unnatural way. People will go against the nature of themselves and other things, and so that people’s nature will be suppressed and become alienated.

1.2.3 The concepts of Yi-Li (righteousness-gain), and Gong-Si (public-private), Qun-Ji (group-individual)

As for handling interpersonal and group relationships, concepts like Yi-Li (righteousness-gain), Gong-Si (public-private) and Qun-Ji (group-individual) have been drawing people’s attention and constitute the very important parts of traditional Chinese values.

1.2.3.1 Yi-Li concept

The character“Yi”(義Righteousness), originally founded in inscriptions on bones, tortoise, and bronzes, has the meaning of magnificence, goodness and suitability. It has gradually become the generic name of appropriate moral and conduct codes. Generally speaking, in Chinese culture,“Yi”means being in line with the moral principles advocated by a certain times and society.“Li”(利 gain) refers to personal interests or benefits. So, the Yi-Li thought is associated with the origin of values, assessment standards of values, and the social functions of values. In history, there are different opinions on righteousness and personal gains.

(1) A gentleman seeks righteousness, while a vile one seeks personal gains

Confucianism, with Confucius and Mencius as its representatives, esteems righteousness and belittles personal gains. Confucius advocates righteousness and believed that“A gentleman man considers righteousness to be essential in everything”, and“A gentleman holds righteousness to be of greatest importance”. Therefore, people of moral ethics should revere righteousness, belittle personal gains, and should be worried by seeking truth rather than by poverty. They shouldn’t abandon righteousness and if they act with a persistent view on their own advantages, they will be stuck in a much“troublesome”situation.

In Confucius’s eyes, acting on account of righteousness differentiates gentlemen from vile men.“The mind of a gentleman is conversant with righteousness; the mind of a vile one is conversant with personal gains.”What a gentleman is concerned with is righteousness and a vile man, his own interests. Confucius deems that a gentleman should consider righteousness to be essential in everything, perform according to the rules of propriety and bear in mind them forever even if they are in poverty. With these virtues, they can claim them to be superior to others. Therefore, practicing propriety before personal gains is one of the important standards to see whether a man is a gentleman or not.

As Mencius sees it, propriety is an important value steming from people’s sense of shame and disgust. Mencius objects personal interests. When he went to see King Hui of Liang, he said that“Why must you speak of personal gains? What I have for you all is humaneness and righteousness”.[45] He believed that a gentleman should not be driven by personal gains but by benevolence and righteousness. The Yi-Li thought has inherited and developed the thoughts of Confucius.

(2) Upholding righteousness and seeking truth over personal gains

Since the Han Dynasty, scholars of Confucianism start to associate teleology with deontology, and denounce material gains. In the Western Han Dynasty, Dong Zhongshu proposes“Five Constant Virtues”, namely righteousness, benevolence, propriety, wisdom and faithfulness. Later, the five virtues become fundamental principles of practice in traditional Chinese culture. Dong Zhongshu says“People should pursue integrity not profit, seek truth not consider personal interests”,[46] and thinks that the determined scholars and the men of virtue should act in line with integrity, but not act in purpose of seeking profit.

According to the record of The Memoir of Dong Zhongshu of the History of Han Dynasty, Dong Zhongshu was ever appointed as the prime minister of Prince Yi in Jiangdu. King Yi thought he was assisted by three virtuous men, namely Xie Yong, Wen Zhong and Fan Li. King Yi compared himself to the Duke Huan, and wanted to be the leader of all the princes with the assistance of Dong Zhongshu. However, Dong Zhongshu disagreed with Prince Yi on the notion and thought by arguing that even the youth were shamed of mentioning the five hegemons in the Spring and Autumn Period, for the five bullies championed for fraudulence and discarded benevolence and righteousness.

(3) If people act with righteousness and interests will come upon them

In general, the philosophy of the Song and Ming dynasties takes“public gains”as the criterion to assess values. It advocates that public benefits are essential and people should“be concerned about affairs of the state before others, and enjoy comforts after others”. The philosophers defended their views on“differentiating righteousness from personal gains”by arguing that morality should be put above material gains and underscore righteousness. As Chen Hao put it,“Benefits come from discarding righteousness, and righteousness is maintained by giving up personal gains. All the affairs of the world are about righteousness and personal gains”.[47]

Neo-Confucian philosopher Zhu Xi inherited the notions of Dong Zhongshu, Cheng Yi and Cheng Hao. He believed that justice is the main criteria for the ideal character of the gentlemen.“If people act with righteousness and gains will come upon them. If people only concern themselves with gains, they may not benefit from it at all”,[48] he pointed out. These arguments emphasize the importance of valuing righteousness. Later on, on the basis of these thoughts, Confucian thinkers of the Song and Ming dynasties proposed the value of“upholding heavenly moral ethics whilst annihilating human desires”.

In fact, the main thought of Confucianism prefers righteousness to personal gains by arguing that people should make decisions concerning issues of material gains according to the principle of righteousness rather than be profit-driven or abandon their moral ethics.

(4) The virtuous should do good deeds to and remove the evils from the world

Actually, there are so many arguments on the thought of righteousness and personal gains. For example, Mo Zi and the Utilitarian School of the Southern Song Dynasty disagreed over the thought of Confucianism.

Mo Zi thinks that“righteousness”means favoring other people, which is important to judge one’s values and ethics. In his eyes,“righteousness can benefit men”. Therefore, people of grand ideals should remain committed to“do good deeds to and remove the evils from the world”.[49]

Righteousness is of paramount importance so that it is essential to procure benefits and averting calamities for the world. Mencius once said, if a man with heavy loads of rice on his back was unable to rise to his knees, the passers-by, regardless of young and old, in high or low ranks, should offer a hand to him, which is an example of righteousness. So it is not right to say“righteousness is inseparable with personal gains and righteousness means no benefits”. Then, Mo Zi further proposed the thought that“Of the multitude of things none is more valuable than righteousness”. This shows that righteousness is even more valuable than one’s own body. And Mo Zi believed that the virtuous should practice righteousness in life and even devote their life to righteousness.

The Utilitarian School of the Southern Song Dynasty believed that righteousness and personal gains are one entity and we should attach equal importance to both moral ethics and material gains. Chen Liang advocated that we should make profits and preserve righteousness by arguing that“People would be said to have become virtuous when they succeeded and made due contribution to the world”.[50] Ye Shi also agrees with the idea of seeking worldly gains by proposing the thought of“the coexistence of righteousness and personal gains”and highlighting the idea of“making personal achievements”with“upholding righteousness and moral ethics”. In the Qing Dynasty, another famous Confucian Yan Yuan remarked that“Profits come from practicing integrity and personal gains come from seeking truth. Doing things without considering personal gains is hypocritical and an act of putrid bookworms”and“Is there a person sowing without considering reaping or angling without caring about fish?”[51]

1.2.3.2 Gong-Si concept

The debates over righteousness and personal gains are always associated with the distinction of public interests and personal interests. In traditional Chinese philosophy, the differences between these interests are embodied in the differences from one county to another, from oneself to other people, from oneself to other things, and from the public to the individuals. The traditional values are in line with both personal gains and the gains of other people, and of the society, and it is believed that the realization of personal interests is inseparable with the society people live in. So people should strike a balance between personal interests and public interests and unify individual development with social development.

(1) Righteousness and personal gains are of public and private interests

It can be said that“achievements”and“gains”in the Pre-Qin periods refer to two different concepts.“Achievements”corresponds to something“objective”and is the result delivered by people’s acts, while“gains”corresponds to righteousness and refers to the real interests that people obtain. Confucius and Mencius both exalt righteousness and stand for the argument that righteousness should outweigh personal gains.

The Confucian philosophers in the Song and Ming dynasties tended to associate righteousness and interest with public and personal interest. Cheng Yi pointed out that“righteousness and personal gains are of public and private interests”. Cheng Yi values righteousness as well as the distinction of personal gains, righteousness, public interests and personal ones needs deep deliberation. However, it seems contradictory in history that Confucius respected the Zhou Dynasty but Mencius encouraged the Qi and Liang State to be the leader of the world. However, the two thoughts are similar in connotation. At the times of Confucius, following the rites of the Zhou Dynasty could promote the harmony of the society, so Confucius respected the Zhou Dynasty and asked other princes to preserve the authority of the emperor of the Zhou Dynasty. But things had changed by the times of Mencius when the codes of the Zhou Dynasty were scraped and the king of the Zhou Dynasty were overthrew, so Mencius encouraged the Qi and Liang State to rule over the world. The two actions were both taken for the purpose of public interests.

After studying history, Cheng Yi argued that on the prerequisite of being in line with righteousness, the functionality and the principle of utilitarianism should be taken into consideration. Denying the subjectivity of values evaluation, he insisted that the criteria to judge values is objective, and this criteria is in nature of righteousness, so the criteria is of ever-lasting value.

As for the debates over righteousness and personal gains, Lu Jiuyuan pointed out that what is right and wrong should be decided according to the motives, which falls in line with his self-cultivation thoughts and conforms to his soul ontology philosophy. When interpreting the sentence of“A gentleman seeks righteousness, while a vile one seeks personal gains”in the Analects of Confucius, he believed that although being addicted to make profits is not right, yet the“righteousness”in verbal and cognitive level is not real righteousness. It is just like some people who pretend to be virtuous but actually act shamelessly. And some people behave seemingly in accordance with righteousness, but in fact they are doing so to make personal interests in the name of righteousness. In Lu Jiuyuan’s mind, true righteousness is a virtue in people’s heart, and is a fundamental basis of people’s emotion, knowledge and conducts. Even reading classics with a motive of seeking personal gains is a kind of unrighteous act. As Lu Jiuyuan says, we cannot comprehend the essence of righteousness if we externalize it. Lu Jiuyuan’s outlook on life values the internal motive of people, assimilates Zhu Xi’s ontology philosophy, and abandons the search for physics and human relationship, which is unrelated to morality cultivation but goes deep to the heart of people and arbitrate on the basis of people’s motives.

(2) Being public-oriented and no form a clique to pursue selfish interests; honoring public interests and getting rid of selfishness

Zhuang Zi and Daoism both appreciate“public interests”, viewing it as an important channel to achieve the“Dao”. Lao Zi said in the 16th chapter of Dao De Jing that“The knowledge of the unchanging rule produces a grand capacity and forbearance, and that capacity and forbearance lead to a community of feeling with all things. From this community of feeling comes a kingliness of character; and he who is king-like goes on to be heaven-like. In that likeness to heaven he possesses the Dao. Possessed of the Dao, he endures long; and to the end of his life, he is exempt from all dangers of decay”. Zhuang Zi also praised the thoughts of those virtues men such as Peng Meng, Tian Pian, and Shen Dao“who are being public-oriented and do not form a clique to pursue selfish interests; who are honoring the public interests while getting rid of their selfishness”.

It is recorded in The Book of Guanzi (Xin Shu vol. 2) that“The saint embraces all things unselfishly like the heaven, and bears all things unselfishly like the earth”. And it is advocated in Lü Shi Chun Qiu (Lü’s Commentaries of History) that we should“honor public interests and get rid of selfishness”. According to the chapter of Gui Gong(貴公Advocating Public Interests) of this book, the sage kings must give righteousness and impartiality the priority, and that“When the sage kings of ancient times govern the world, they regard impartiality as the most important principle. Governing the world according to the guidelines of the impartiality, the world will be in a state of peace and order”. The toppling of the throne is accounted for largely by impartiality.“I have known this by doing research on documents from ancient times. Those sovereigns who have unified the world successfully throughout history do it largely by the introduction of impartiality”. In the chapter of Qu Si (去私Get rid of Selfishness), there are examples like Emperor Yao who abdicated the throne in favor of Emperor Shun rather than his own son, and Shun who did the same thing to Emperor Yu. And Duke Huan of Qi recommended the sons of his personal enemies. These examples are supposed to tell us how the ancient saints get rid of their selfishness and how“Heaven does not give unprincipled protection to anything. Earth does not hold anything out of partiality. The sun and the moon do not illuminate anything out of bias. Nor do the four seasons move out of favoritism. They benefit all things, so the things can develop fully”.[52]

There are so many philosophies concerning the relation between the public and the individuals, such as“the world belongs to people living in it”,“being open to the public”,“upholding righteousness and fairness”,“getting rid of selfishness by honoring righteousness”, and“being justified through reasons”, etc. In general, on the evaluation of values, Chinese philosophies employ“public interests”as the criteria and advocate“being concerned about the affairs of the state before others, and enjoying comfort after others”. They believe that public interests are prior to individual interests, and moral values outweigh material gains. And they hold the view that national development and social progress provide individuals with favorable conditions to achieve personal benefits. So, when individuals make contributions to the country and assume their obligations to other social citizens, they are achieving their own values.

1.2.3.3 Qun-Ji concept

People live in groups in the society which has certain regulations to abide by. What’s how group and individual relationships came into being. In the traditional Chinese culture, the view on public-individual relationship is closely related to the righteousness-benefit issue and the public-individual issue.

(1) Treating others the way you expect to be treated by them, and convincing others with your moral ethics

In both history and real life, since people’s acts may jeopardize others and the society, we must seriously handle the relationship between the public and individual. As for the principles, Confucius argued that“Anyone who expects to receive benevolence must be benevolent to others; anyone who expect to receive generosity must be generous to others”, and“People should put themselves in others’ place”. In addition, people should not consider others as the tool to meet their own desires and interests.

Mencius thinks that people should handle interpersonal relationship in accordance with moral ethics rather than“forces”. People should win popularity with kindness rather than suppress others by violence, or subject others to serve their own interests. Therefore, in an ideal society, people of small honors follow people of great honors, but in the domineering society, the weak succumb to the strong.

(2) Condemning hypocrisy and treachery, and acting at one’s will

Different social groups consist of different individuals. Every individual is unique, so to achieve social progress, we need to respect rather than stifle everyone’s personality. Therefore, Lao Zi believed that the civilization systems of the public are made in light of the personality of the individuals and the nature of things. The society needs to respect the character of them and should not distort their personality and freedom. If the inner sprits and external forms of these systems are separated, then the systems will lose their nature and constrain people in an inappropriate and unnatural way, and as a result, people will fall out of tune with their nature and other things. People’s nature will therefore be stifled and alienated in this way.

In fact, Lao Zi did not strictly reject systems and social life, and he simply believed that people should make use of these systems within an appropriate range.

Views on the public-individual relationship in Chinese history are listed as follows:

The first view is that individuals are of vital importance and the society must submit to them. In the Warring States Period, the School of Yang-Zhu proposed that“Even if he could have helped the whole world by plucking out a single hair, he would not do so”. Mencius says that“Yang Zi believes in every man for himself. If he could have helped the whole world by plucking out a single hair, he would not do so”. These thoughts represent Yang-Zhu School’s notion on honoring an individual body, which is not willing to help the world at the expense of a single hair. Because they think that the world is not as important as a single hair of the body.

The second view is that the society is of vital importance and individuals should be subject to the society. In the modern times, Kang Youwei maintained that all the miseries of people and the society are caused by nine barriers, such as the autocratic monarchy system and feudal patriarchal systems. Only by getting rid of these nine barriers can the world achieve Great Harmony.

The third view is that society and individual are one organic entity that the former needs individuals to serve it and individuals also need the existence of the society. Huang Zongxi, a famous philosophy of the late Ming and early Qing Dynasty, believed that governing the country is like hauling a heavy piece of wood. People in the front haul it with singing chant, and others at the back push it by echoing the chant. Emperors, subjects and people are like those hauling the wood. Emperors are those in the front and subjects and people are those at the end. So the world belongs to all people, and the peace and chaos of the world is not led by some people but rely on all people. Therefore, everyone should shoulder the responsibility of governing the world.