During the Confucian time of the Chinese periods of thoughts, society was then best described as a disoriented group of chaotic people. Disoriented, not in the sense that they were crazy or somewhat mentally-challenged kind of people, but disoriented in the sense that they were supposedly united with each other but then again they were not. There were a lot of wars, killings, and other forms of violence. A lot were killed, or at least, subjected to exile or should I say, societal isolation like that of the Master. Well, why then Confucius went to an exile? What was then the story behind?
As we know, Confucius was back then one of the noble men, chun tzu in Chinese, which literally means the "son of a lord" which justifies their occupation in that of the public office. He was the one appointed in to office to govern the people of his place, Lu, but later on was kicked out of the office. According to the natural order of things in the Ancient China (Sir Rex Rola, The Confucian Perception of the Philosophical Problem), a chun tzu can only be out of office when (1) he is found guilty of not being a good public officer or technically, for doing something wrong or, (2) the system or the people wronged him by putting someone undeserving to that of the office. But since, it was said and justified that Confucius is indeed a good example of what is really a chun tzu, it is safe to say that the reason why he was thrown out of the office is because of the system's error of putting the good ones out of the office, and replacing it with someone who is not worthy to be a chun tzu. In analyzing such, how can then the people chose those undeserving ones to office? What could then be the problem with the system, or simply, the people why did such error happen to occur? It was then believed that they were 'asleep' for not allowing the Way to prevail. This Way or the Tao referred here is the path of what is for the good of the people. It must be lived with and one must not go astray outside the said path. In other words, it is the moral principle which the people of the Ancient China must pay adherence to. But since the Way was not observed, as the bad people went violent and the good ones became silent, the society suffered and tore apart. Confucius then identified such problem as the "societal disorder". Yes, of course, it's kind'a superficial to name such for the fact that it is really about a 'disorder' that is happening inside the 'society'; particularly that of the Ancient China. Such problem can be identified then to be that of the occurrence of anything unscrupulous; from that of simple stealing to unjust killings, that is happening within the borders of the society.
But then again, such 'disorder' come about because of: (1) the violence of the bad people, because back then, most of the people were craving for that of power and one can only acquire such if one steps over the other. By stepping to that of the other happens violence, and if one will not do so, then there's no power, as they happened to define such to be; and (2) the silence of the good ones, because the other part of the people chose to accept things as they appear to be and become submissive enough to shut their mouths up. But then we ask ourselves: Why would it come to happen? Who or what promulgated such terror? And finally, how did the Master deal with and see the said problem? What was the precept in perceiving the problem and its root?
Now, if we are to look closely, the root of the problem comes from that of the ruler; the central political system. For us to know, such opportunity to be a ruler was given, or somehow, prioritized to those who were of indubitable power; people of great influence. But is it really the real characteristic of a potential ruler; to be powerful/influential? As Confucius would answer, which is somehow evident and justifiable in his impositions that are found in the Analects: No! It is the virtuous heart of service and peace-making which constitutes the character of a ruler. The ruler is ought to rule like a measuring stick of how must the people behave in the society, for what?, for peace and harmony, and not of violence and calling of arms. According to Fung Yu Lan, such issue about power-hungry rulers is still apparent nowadays. Rulers today promise us that they will promote peace and societal harmony, but actually what they mean as promoting peace is that they are preparing for war, (A history of Chinese Philosophy) For example, (TV SHOW: THE BOTTOMLINE, January 3, 2015) the ruling in Maguindanao, Philippines. It was said lately by Datu Esmael Mangudadatu, the current ruler of the said whereabouts, in an interview that: "In Maguindanao, you can only win the elections if you have the power and supremacy that can be seen in the number of your private armies". Using the said context, we can somehow justify that the 'ruler' referred by Mr. Mangudadatu and also that of the Ancient Chinese people during that time happened to be not a ruler at all, but rather some sort of a military general that exercises the value of might and power. In shorter words, it is a 'ruler' that is not a ruler. Now, we ask: How was this possible? Of course, how can you say a 'ruler' is not a ruler? You called him a 'ruler', but how come at the same time he is not? There rises the primordial problem, which is what Confucius referred as the need for the rectification of names. Since the names then, like the "ruler", is not following its authentic definition, or simply, what really it is.
In our present context, there are still a lot of words/names that are in need of rectification like a 'starfish' which is neither a star, nor a fish; 'jellyfish', 'catfish', 'pineapple', and more of that things that are named after random nouns like phones which are named 'galaxy', computers that are named 'apple', and even that of the drinking waters which are named 'crystal'. Yes, there these certain innovations and new changes our world is dealing with since the immemorial times, but can't one just at least name something by means of using its suitable definition as the medium? There could be lots and lots of names out there which could fit to a certain matter's definition, why use another which is not appropriate? Perhaps, the same questions were pondered by Confucius, which led him to presuppose that such mistake is the main cause of all destruction and chaos in the society and once it is solved, it could be the main ingredient for the harmonization of the society. Such common mistake was elaborated in the Analects by the Master as he said that when he's given the chance to rule, his first task will be that of rectifying the names for according to him: "If names are not rectified, then language will not be in accord with truth. If language is not in accord with truth, then things cannot be accomplished. If things cannot be accomplished, then ceremonies and music will not flourish. If ceremonies and music will not flourish, then punishment will not be just. If punishments are not just, then the people will not know how to move hand and foot" (13:3).
The philosophy then here of Confucius in his act of perceiving the main philosophical problem lies on the resemblance of the names to its actualities. Since philosophy, as we are to use the term, is the single system that synthesizes all the other facets of matter, especially that of knowledge, we can say that the very problem here is also the very philosophy which Confucius tried to talk about. This so-called 'root of the problem' is the single intuition of all the other matters, it is the one which holds all the other aspects that constitutes all of these that there are. And in identifying the real problem, the one that is considered to be the root of all the other problems which perhaps is the strain between that of the names and actualities, we can then come up in creating a solution which will solve that primordial problem, and finally, the other problems that existed and persisted because of that of the said problem. And with that thing of the names and actualities: Yes, if these things were disunited with one another it will branch up to that bundle of problems which was categorized as the societal disorder that involves wars, killings, conflicts, tensions, etc. In other words, it is the single structure that will cause all the bad things to happen. Thus, the correspondence of that of the names and actualities is the main principle, or so to say, the philosophy, Confucius, has been carrying out in sensing the basic philosophical problem.
(REFERENCES ARE TO BE UPDATED)
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