Confucius

Japanese: 孔子 - こうし

An ancient Chinese thinker. The founder of Confucianism. His name was Qiu. His pen name was Zhongni. The "Zi" in Confucius is an honorific. He was from the state of Lu (Shandong Province).

[Kei Honda December 14, 2015]

Life

Confucius was born to Shuliang He, a low-ranking warrior of the state of Lu, and his common-law wife Zheng Zai. His father was a powerful man who distinguished himself in battles with the state of Qi. His father died when Confucius was three years old, and he studied while working as a storehouse keeper and a farm animal keeper, so he did not have a fixed teacher. At that time, the world was in the grip of a climate of overthrowing the ruling class. The feudal lords disregarded the authority of the Zhou royal family, and in the feudal lords' countries, the chief retainers surpassed their lords. In the state of Lu, the three chief retainers, the Huans (Jisun, Shusun, and Mengsun), held real power in the country. Duke Zhao (reigned 541-510 BC), the ruler of Lu, resented the tyranny of the Three Huans and attempted to use force to defeat them, but failed, and fled to the state of Qi. At the age of 36, Confucius went to Qi for some reason and stayed there for several years. At the age of 43, Duke Ding (reigned 509-495 BC) ascended to the throne, and Confucius returned to Lu. From this time on, disciples such as Zilu (Jilu) and Min Ziqian gathered around Confucius, and his fame grew. At the age of 52, he became the magistrate (deputy governor) of Zhongdu. At the age of 53, a peace conference was held between Lu and Qi in Jianggu (Shandong Province). The ruler of Qi tried to threaten the ruler of Lu with violence. Confucius, who was the attendant of the ruler of Lu, instead scolded the ruler of Qi and led the negotiations in his favor. At the age of 54, Confucius became the Grand Minister of Justice of Lu. The following year, he plotted to reduce the power of the Three Huans, but his plan was exposed and he failed. For the next 14 years, he wandered through the states of Cao (Shandong Province), Wei, Song, Zheng, Chen, Cai (all in Henan Province), and Chu (Hubei Province). Confucius searched for a ruler who would implement his ideal government, but wherever he went he was not hired, and sometimes he was mistaken for someone else and nearly killed, and sometimes he starved. At the age of 69, he returned to Lu. After that, he gave up on politics and devoted himself to educating his disciples. He had 3,000 disciples, of which 72 were skilled in the "Six Arts" (ritual, music, archery, imperial decree, calligraphy, and mathematics). According to Confucius, Yan Yuan (Gan Hui), Min Ziqian, Ran Boyu, and Ran Zhonggong were excellent in virtue, Zai Wo and Zigong in language, Ran You and Ji Lu in politics, and Zi You and Zi Xia in literature. He died at the age of 74.

[Kei Honda December 14, 2015]

Publications

Confucius is said to have been involved in all six arts. That is, he compiled the Book of Songs and the Book of Documents, established the Book of Rites and Music, annotated the Book of Changes, and created the Spring and Autumn Annals. Although this is doubted today, these scriptures had authority in old China because of the belief that they were written by Confucius. After Confucius' death, his disciples or those who passed them down to him compiled a record of Confucius' words and deeds. These are the 20 chapters of the Analects, which are the only reliable source for understanding Confucius' thought.

[Kei Honda December 14, 2015]

Thought

Confucius believed that in order to govern troubled times, the system established at the beginning of the Zhou dynasty should be restored. "After observing the two dynasties (Xia and Yin), I found the Zhou to be sophisticated and well-written. I will follow the Zhou system" (The Analects, Chapter Eight). However, Confucius hardly talks about what the specific system was like at the beginning of the Zhou dynasty. It seems that Confucius entrusted his ideal form of governance to the ancients. Confucius believed that rulers must be virtuous, and that the ideal form of governance was to teach people morality and etiquette, rather than strict regulations through laws and government decrees. "If one guides this through government and regulates it through punishment, the people will be spared and there will be no shame. If one guides this through virtue and regulates it through etiquette, there will be no shame and it will be correct" (The Political Affairs Chapter).

Confucius called the highest morality "ren" and gave various explanations of it to several of his disciples. The clearest definition was in response to a question from Jiaochi, when he defined it as "loving others" (Yan Yuan chapter). It seems similar to Christian philanthropy and Buddhist compassion, but it is somewhat different in that it is centered on filial piety and brotherly love, which is a deep affection for parents and siblings, and extends to others in a centrifugal manner. The politics based on morality that Confucius spoke of could be said to be politics based on filial piety and brotherly love. When someone asked him, "Why don't you get into politics?" Confucius replied, "Being filial to parents and getting along with siblings is also politics" (Wei Zheng chapter). It may seem roundabout, but the old Chinese form of rule saved the effort of rule by leaving security at the bottom to the self-governance of the townships. This is why Confucianism, which is centered on family morality, was used as the ruling ideology for 2,000 years, from the Han to the Qing dynasties.

In Confucius' time, people would use magic to inquire into the will of the gods and act accordingly. Confucius wrote, "Serve the people as they should, respect the ghosts and keep them at bay" (Yongya chapter). Humans should act only according to the dictates of their conscience, not according to the will of the gods. For this reason, while respecting the gods, they should be left alone as unknowable beings. Herein lies the groundbreaking significance of Confucius in the history of thought.

[Kei Honda December 14, 2015]

Later impacts

Confucius strongly refused to be called a saint. However, 100 years after his death, Mencius and others clearly called Confucius a saint. During the Han dynasty, when Confucianism became the state religion (136 B.C.), Confucius was treated as a mystical prophet, and at the end of the Western Han dynasty, he was given a posthumous name (2 C.E.). After the Eastern Han dynasty, successive dynasties usually enshrined Confucius and his disciples in schools and Confucius temples. However, after the Republican Revolution (1912), Wu Yu and Lu Xun attacked Confucius as the root of China's feudal bad customs. This argument was inherited by People's China, and reached its peak in the "Criticize Forestry and Criticize Confucius" movement in 1973, but it calmed down after the downfall of the Gang of Four.

[Kei Honda December 14, 2015]

"Confucius" by Tetsuro Watsuji (1938, Iwanami Shoten/Iwanami Bunko)" ▽ "The Life of Confucius" by Shizuka Shirakawa (1972, Chuokoron-Shinsha/Chuokoron-Bunko)" ▽ "Confucius" by Shigeki Kaizuka (Iwanami Shinsho)

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

Japanese:

中国古代の思想家。儒教の祖。名は丘(きゅう)。字(あざな)は仲尼(ちゅうじ)。孔子の「子」は尊称。魯(ろ)の国（山東省）の人。

［本田　濟　2015年12月14日］

生涯

孔子は、魯の下級武士叔梁紇(しゅくりょうこつ)と、その内縁の妻徴在(ちょうざい)との間に生まれた。父は大力で斉(せい)との戦闘で武勲をあげている。孔子3歳のとき父が没し、倉庫番や牧場の飼育係をしながら学問に励んだので定まった師匠はない。当時の天下は下剋上(げこくじょう)の風が瀰漫(びまん)していた。諸侯は周(しゅう)の王室の権威をないがしろにし、諸侯の国では家老が主君をしのぐ。魯の国でも家老の三桓(さんかん)（季孫(きそん)、叔孫(しゅくそん)、孟孫(もうそん)）が一国の実権を握っていた。魯の君の昭公（在位前541〜前510）は、三桓の専横を憤り、武力でこれを討とうとして失敗、斉の国に亡命した。36歳の孔子はこのときなぜか斉に行き、数年間斉にとどまる。43歳、定公（在位前509〜前495）が即位すると、孔子は魯に帰る。このころから子路(しろ)（季路）、閔子騫(びんしけん)らの弟子が集まり、孔子の名声が高まる。52歳、中都の宰(さい)（代官）となる。53歳のとき、夾谷(きょうこく)（山東省）で魯と斉との和平会議があった。斉の君は暴力で魯の君を脅迫しようとした。魯君の介添えの孔子は、逆に斉の君を叱咤(しった)し交渉を有利に導いた。54歳、魯の大司寇(だいしこう)（司法大臣）となる。翌年、孔子は三桓の勢力を削減しようと謀るが、露顕して失敗。以後14年間、曹(そう)（山東省）、衛、宋(そう)、鄭(てい)、陳(ちん)、蔡(さい)（以上河南省）、楚(そ)（湖北省）の諸国を流浪。孔子は、自分の理想の政治を実施してくれる君主を探し求めたのだが、どこへ行っても採用されず、ときには人違いで殺されかけたり、飢えたりした。69歳で魯に帰る。以後は政界に望みを絶ち、弟子の教育に専念する。弟子の数3000人。うち「六芸(りくげい)」（礼、楽(がく)、射(しゃ)、御(ぎょ)、書、数）に通じた者72人。孔子によれば、徳行には顔淵(がんえん)（顔回）・閔子騫・冉伯牛(ぜんはくぎゅう)・冉仲弓(ちゅうきゅう)、言語には宰我(さいが)・子貢(しこう)、政事には冉有(ぜんゆう)・季路(きろ)、文学には子游(しゆう)・子夏(しか)が優れる。74歳没。

［本田　濟　2015年12月14日］

著作

孔子は六芸のすべてにかかわったとされる。すなわち『詩経』『書経』を編纂(へんさん)、「礼」「楽」を制定、『易経』を注釈、『春秋』を創作したという。このことは今日では疑われているが、これらの経典が旧中国で権威を有したのは、孔子の手になるという信仰のためである。孔子の死後、その弟子または再伝の弟子が孔子の言行録を編んだ。『論語』20篇(ぺん)がそれで、孔子の思想を知るための唯一の信用すべき資料である。

［本田　濟　2015年12月14日］

思想

孔子は、乱世を治めるためには、周の初めの制度に復帰すべきだと考える。「周は二代（夏(か)・殷(いん)）に監(かんが)みて、郁郁乎(いくいくこ)として文なるかな。吾(わ)れは周に従わん」（『論語』八佾(はちいつ)篇）。しかし、具体的に周初の制度がどのようなものだったのか、孔子はほとんど語ってはいない。孔子は、自分の理想とする統治形態をいにしえに託したらしい。孔子は、為政者は有徳者でなければならず、法律や政令による厳しい規制よりも、道徳や礼儀による教化こそが理想的な支配の方式だと考える。「これを道(みち)びくに政(まつりごと)を以(もっ)てし、これを斉(ととの)うるに刑を以てすれば、民免(まぬか)れて恥なし。これを道びくに徳を以てし、これを斉うるに礼を以てすれば、恥あり且(か)つ格(ただ)し」（為政篇）。

　孔子は最高の道徳を「仁(じん)」とよび、幾人もの弟子にさまざまの説明を与えている。もっとも明瞭(めいりょう)なのは、燓遅(はんち)の問いに答えて「人を愛すること」といった定義である（顔淵篇）。キリスト教の博愛、仏教の慈悲に似ているようだが、親兄弟に対する骨肉の愛情――孝悌(こうてい)を中心として、遠心的に他人にまで及ぼすという点で、やや異質である。孔子のいう道徳による政治とは、孝悌による政治といってもよい。ある人に「先生はどうして政界に乗り出さないのか」と問われて、孔子は「親に孝行、兄弟仲良くすること、これも政治だ」と答えた（為政篇）。迂遠(うえん)なようであるが、旧中国の支配形態は、底辺の治安を郷党(きょうとう)の自治にゆだねることで、支配のための労力を節約してきた。家族道徳中心の儒教が、漢から清(しん)までの2000年間、支配のイデオロギーとして用いられた理由はそこにある。

　孔子のころの人々は、呪術(じゅじゅつ)で神意をうかがい、それに従って行動するのが常であった。孔子は「民の義を務め、鬼神(きじん)を敬してこれを遠ざく」（雍也(ようや)篇）という。人間は良心の命令によってのみ行動すべく、神の意志によって行動すべきでない。そのために神々は、これを尊敬しながらも不可知(ふかち)のものとしてそっとしておけ、というのである。ここに思想史上の孔子の画期的な意味がある。

［本田　濟　2015年12月14日］

その後の影響

孔子は自分が聖人だといわれることを強く拒否していた。しかしその死後100年を経た孟子(もうし)などは、明瞭に孔子を聖人とよぶ。漢代、儒教が国教となると（前136）、孔子はいよいよ神秘的予言者扱いされ、前漢末には諡(おくりな)を贈られる（後2）。後漢(ごかん)以後、歴代王朝は、学校や孔子廟(びょう)に孔子とその高弟を祀(まつ)るのが常であった。しかし民国革命（1912）後、呉虞(ごぐ)や魯迅(ろじん)は、孔子を中国の封建的陋習(ろうしゅう)の根源として攻撃した。その論法は人民中国にも受け継がれ、1973年の「批林批孔(ひりんひこう)」運動で頂点に達したが、四人組失脚後は鎮静化している。

［本田　濟　2015年12月14日］

『和辻哲郎著『孔子』（1938・岩波書店／岩波文庫）』▽『白川静著『孔子伝』（1972・中央公論社／中公文庫）』▽『貝塚茂樹著『孔子』（岩波新書）』

[参照項目] | 顔回 | 孔子廟 | 子夏 | 子貢 | 子游 | 子路 | 論語

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