Core Concepts of Original Confucian Thought#
1. Contractual Relationship Between Ruler and Minister#
The Confucian thought system of Confucius and Mencius is bound by "ritual" and centered on "benevolence," constructing a community of responsibility among the ruler, ministers, and the people. Benevolence requires obligations towards the people and also establishes a contract with the ruler. If a ruler lacks the moral qualities of a leader, according to Mencius, the people have a moral right to revolt. In this case, killing the ruler is merely the act of eliminating an unjust person and does not count as "regicide." In the eighth section of "Mencius, Gongsun Chou," Mencius argues that if a ruler's words and actions are unworthy of being a ruler, according to Confucius's principle of "rectifying names," he is morally no longer a ruler but has become a "tyrant." In the fourteenth section of "Mencius, Jin Xin," Mencius states, "The people are of utmost importance, the state comes next, and the ruler is the least important."
The noble officials who "cultivate the land" must fulfill their responsibility to "govern the people." The "Guo Yu, Zhou Yu" emphasizes that "if the fields are in disarray, the people's strength is exhausted, and grievances arise," the nobility must reduce taxes to maintain balance. This spirit of contract is distilled by Confucius into the ethical principle of "ruler as ruler, minister as minister," which means there are obligations to the people and constraints on the ruler, essentially that "the ruler should treat the minister with propriety." Confucius emphasizes in "The Analects, Ba Yi" that the respect of the ruler for his subordinates should not only be reflected in ritual norms but also be implemented as goodwill in policies. When Duke Ai of Lu inquired about governance, Confucius suggested, "Reduce forced labor and lighten taxes, then the people will prosper," extending the ritual system into the economic and livelihood domains.
2. The Boundaries of "Serving the Ruler with Loyalty"#
Zilu asked about serving the ruler, and Confucius replied, "Do not deceive him, but also do not offend him," bestowing upon ministers the moral obligation to critique the ruler. This "loyalty" is by no means blind obedience but is a political loyalty measured by righteousness. According to Mencius, a sage king must have "a heart of compassion," and "benevolence" is the result of developing that compassion. Compassion must be cultivated through the practice of love, which means "extending oneself to others," and this is the "way of loyalty and forgiveness": once one becomes a king for the people, one must do everything possible to fulfill the duties of a king. In "Mencius, Jin Xin," it states: "All things are present within me. Reflecting upon oneself and acting upon it brings the greatest joy. Acting with strong forgiveness and seeking benevolence brings one closest to it." If a person fully develops their nature, they can not only understand heaven but also unite with it, thus the "way of loyalty and forgiveness" is a requirement for the king, not a demand for the people to be "filial and loyal."
3. Power Constraints#
In "Mencius, Jin Xin," it states, "If the feudal lords endanger the state, they should be replaced." If the feudal lords harm the nation, they should be changed. This reflects Mencius's people-centered thought, emphasizing that the legitimacy of rulers lies in whether they uphold the interests of the state and the people; otherwise, they can be replaced. In "Mencius, Teng Wengong," it states, "The affairs of the people cannot be delayed," referring to matters concerning the populace, such as agricultural production and welfare. Mencius emphasizes that handling the affairs of the people cannot be postponed and must be prioritized, with the welfare of the people being of utmost urgency.
Moral practice: Confucius proposed, "Serve the ruler with the way; if it cannot be done, then stop," granting scholars the right to withdraw if the way is not followed. Mencius further designed a specific procedure for the "noble relatives and officials" to depose a ruler who has lost virtue. When Confucius revised the "Spring and Autumn Annals," he employed "oblique phrases," ostensibly to protect the ruler from the calamities of regicide, but in reality, it was a subtle satire of the ruler's loss of virtue and benevolence, resulting in a downward effect.
Key Nodes of Distortion in Confucian Thought#
1. Dong Zhongshu's "Sole Supremacy of Confucianism"#
After the fall of the Qin Dynasty, various schools of thought revived. During the reigns of Emperor Wen and Emperor Jing, there was a resurgence of Huang-Lao thought. After two dynasties of self-cultivation, the state was restored. During Emperor Wu's time, the feudal lords could not contend with the central authority; the powerful had been eliminated, and the weak submitted, creating a situation of great unity but lacking a theory of great unity. Dong Zhongshu presented the "Three Strategies of Heaven and Man," using "the unity of heaven and man" as a philosophical foundation, proposing that heaven is the supreme deity and that the ruler is ordained by heaven ("the divine right of kings"). However, if the ruler loses the way, heaven will issue warnings through disasters and strange phenomena ("disasters and anomalies as warnings"), and if corrections are not made, it will lead to the collapse of the regime.
Dong Zhongshu proposed a complete theory to prove the will of heaven, asserting that heaven can be observed and explained. The way of heaven is the way of human relationships, which is called the unity of heaven and man. From the changing of the seasons to the smallest details of life, all reflect the will of heaven. The way of heaven is constant, and people must follow heaven's intentions, manifested as the ruler listening to heaven's will, subjects listening to the ruler, sons listening to fathers, and women listening to men, and so forth. "Lower matters serve higher ones, as the earth serves heaven; this is called great loyalty." From then on, the governance of the state was no longer based on the people but rather on heaven (everything depended on heaven's opinions, ordained by heaven, with the ruler becoming heaven, the son of heaven). Of course, "heaven's will" can also constrain the ruler's behavior, requiring him to cultivate virtue and diligently govern. From then on, the ruler is heaven! The ruler's will is heaven's will; who dares to disobey heaven's will? The people's resistance is largely eliminated. Dong Zhongshu's "Three Principles and Five Constants" was distorted into a one-way obedience ethical framework, completely deviating from Confucius and Mencius's original intent of mutual obligations. "If the ruler wants the minister to die, the minister must die" became the label of Confucian "blind loyalty."
2. The Extremization of Song and Ming Neo-Confucianism#
Zhu Xi centered his philosophy on "preserving heavenly principles and extinguishing human desires," viewing "heavenly principles" as the fundamental law of the universe and the ultimate basis of Confucian ethics (benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom). Zhu Xi believed that human nature is inherently good (nature is principle), but postnatal desires can obscure heavenly principles. By "investigating things to extend knowledge," one can exhaust heavenly principles, and by "restraining oneself to return to propriety," one can control desires, ultimately achieving the state of "the heart and principle being one." Zhu Xi advocated for heavenly principles to regulate familial (filial piety and brotherly love) and national (loyalty and righteousness) ethical relationships, maintaining the ritual system of "Three Principles and Five Constants." Originally a ritual system applicable to all levels of society, it was transformed by the ruling class into a cage that suppressed the lower classes.
Wang Yangming's concept of "attaining innate knowledge" (internalizing heavenly principles as the essence of the heart) was ultimately also incorporated into the framework of maintaining rule. On the surface, the logically rigorous Ming rules were secretly transformed by the rulers into a kind of jungle law. Rulers could apply this set of rules to the populace while exempting themselves from the game rules. Thus, two sets of rules operated in parallel, leading to a situation where the "moral" standard was determined by those with discourse power. For instance, in a group, who is deemed virtuous is not determined by the individual's qualities but by the leaders, which explains why everyone strives to enter the system, all to compete for that discourse power, which is the "power of life and death"!
3. The Usurpation of Classics by Imperial Power#
Emperor Hongwu of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang, threatened imperial power with Mencius's "the people are of utmost importance, and the ruler is the least important," expelling Mencius from the Confucian temple and altering the text of "Mencius." In fact, not only Zhu Yuanzhang, but throughout history, any books or discourses unfavorable to the ruling class have been suppressed, leading to literary inquisitions in every dynasty. More severely, since the Han Dynasty, the official selection system required examinations in Confucianism, making Confucianism the official doctrine. Initially, the examination scope was relatively broad, but by the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the "Four Books and Five Classics" became the standard for the imperial examination, and Zhu Xi's interpretations replaced the original meanings of Confucius and Mencius, leading Confucianism to become a tool of governance. The people's thoughts were no longer free, and nationwide ideological uniformity prevailed, with blind loyalty and filial piety rampant.
4. The Convergence of Legalism and Confucianism#
Throughout various dynasties, the policy of "external Confucianism and internal Legalism" superficially respected Confucianism while actually integrating Legalist power tactics. Shang Yang's "weak people" policy (in "Shangjun Shu") and Han Feizi's "Eight Villains" control techniques were contrary to Confucian people-centered thought but became means of governance.
- Han Dynasty: Ostensibly proclaimed "the sole supremacy of Confucianism and the implementation of benevolent governance." In reality, the harsh official Zhang Tang used "Spring and Autumn Annals to decide cases" to enforce severe laws and maintain imperial power, suppressing the powerful.
- Tang Dynasty: Ostensibly claimed "the unity of ritual and law, with virtue leading and punishment assisting." In reality, Wu Zetian used the "Da Yun Jing" to deify her rule while promoting a culture of informants to dismantle aristocratic factions and consolidate personal authority.
- Ming Dynasty: Ostensibly stated "prioritizing agriculture and caring for the people, being frugal and loving the people." In reality, Zhu Yuanzhang used the empty seal case and the Guo Huan case to purge bureaucrats, implicating tens of thousands to eliminate corruption threats and centralize financial control.
- Qing Dynasty: Ostensibly claimed "unity of Manchus and Han, the world belongs to the public." In reality, Yongzheng criticized dissenters with the "Da Yi Jue Mi Lu," strengthening ideological control, eliminating anti-Qing sentiments, and constructing the legitimacy of rule.
Over thousands of years, the thoughts of the lower classes have been firmly pressed down on "loyalty and filial piety," repeatedly washed by those above. Wu Yu said: "Matters of filial piety and loyalty benefit the noble and the elder, but not the lowly; even if rewarded with honor and enticed with positions, there will always be a sense of extreme inequality towards the noble and elder." Lu Xun stated that this is a cannibalistic society, and there is no doubt about it. On one hand, you are asked to lay down your weapons, while on the other, they are sharpening their knives.
Transforming Confucianism into a cannibalistic ritual education is what the rulers most desire. Because this way, the cost is the lowest.