Social Thought Structures and Morality
It is no coincidence that civilizations have been built on a religion or a comprehensive philosophy according to their material and cultural climates. Religion and social thought structures have functioned as a definitional basis that creates cultural identity and as codes that justify different forms of societal organization. The narratives that mediate them make socially advantageous behaviors the norm through the dialectic of good and bad. In this way, humanity has constructed an order by breaking away from the wild action-reaction balance of nature.
If we consider that humanity’s experiential heritage is formed in a wild natural environment, philosophy and ritual can be seen as treatments against the stress and selfishness triggered by inherited primitive nature and violent collective memories. While ritual is important to create new, harmonious collective experiences, philosophy is a step toward establishing harmonious human behavior on a rational basis.
In the moral sense, the concepts of “good” and “bad” are guiding emotions that our species has developed on a social scale. These concepts are tools that justify sustainable behavior based on societal integrity and make unsustainable behavior difficult. Just as life has developed warning measures to protect the integrity of living beings throughout the evolutionary process, healthy societies have developed moral measures against unsustainable behavior that threatens their integrity. In this sense, virtue and morality are important to the societal nervous system.
About Confucius
Confucius (born Kong Qiu 孔丘) was born in 551 BC in present-day Shandong Province, China, and lived during the Spring and Autumn Period (770–476 BC), when the Zhou Dynasty was weakening and feudal lords were gaining power. This period stands out when wars and political instability shook society. Kong Qiu was a member of a family of noble origin but struggling with economic hardships amidst the political and social turmoil of the period. His father died a few years after Kong Qiu was born, and his mother raised him in modest circumstances.
Kong Qiu devoted himself to education during childhood and youth, reading classical works early on and developing his knowledge of history, poetry, and rituals. Thanks to his noble background, Kong Qiu earned his living by working in various jobs such as treasury, sheep, and horsemanship in the state in his twenties, and he gave lessons on wisdom, ethics, and management until his middle age.
During this period, his teachings resonated with the administrators, and Kong Qiu quickly gained recognition. In his fifties, Confucius came to a high administrative position (Minister of Crimes) in the Lu state. During his tenure, he tried to combat corruption, centralize the administration, and increase the welfare of the people. However, he needed help implementing his ideas due to conflicts of interest of local administrators and external threats. He must have thought these difficulties were specific to the state he served in, so he left his post and wandered for about 14 years to share his political ideas with the administrators of neighboring states.
According to the Zuo Zhuan texts and Sima Qian’s famous work Shiji, which covers the historical process of China, Confucius returned to the Lu state at the age of 68 upon the invitation of the chief administrator of the Lu state. He spent his last years editing the Five Classics, which formed the basis of his teachings, with his 3,000 students.
Confucius’ teachings were later transformed into a detailed set of rules and practices in the Analects (论语 lún yǔ) by his numerous students and followers. These teachings were later spread by students who would become officials in China’s imperial palaces, thus giving Confucianism its first large-scale test. Confucius’ students and his only grandson, Zisi (子思), continued his school of philosophy after his death.
A Brief Look at the Confucian Approach
Societal order was determined by family ties and hierarchical relationships within the feudal structure during Confucius’s time. However, this system began to degenerate due to political conflicts. In this chaos, Confucius defined himself as a transmitter of past teachings to the present day, emphasizing that individuals and administrators should exhibit virtuous behavior.
Someone asked Confucius: Why are you not in government?
The Master said: Shujing (the Book of Documents) says: be filial, just be filial, be friendly to your elder and younger brothers—this is a contribution to government. To do this is actually to participate in government. Why do I need to be “in government”? (Analects, Book Two, 21)
The relationship between government and virtue is organic. In this context, Filial Piety (Ancestor Love, 孝 xiào) can be seen as a bottom-up approach to the administration of law. The perspective that links law and virtue is frequently encountered in Confucian thought. In this relationship, Confucius attaches more importance to virtue:
The Master said: Guide them with government orders, regulate with punishments; the people try to break the law and are not ashamed. Guide them with virtue and regulate them with ritual; they will feel ashamed and be honest. (Analects, Book Two, 3)
Confucius does not ignore the importance of law; on the contrary, he provides a means to create the will to obey the law. Unlike other religions, Confucianism has not created a transcendent narrative about the human soul to discipline individual behavior. Its teachings are not separated from practical matters such as family and country, reflecting Chinese people’s commitment to social practice.
A belief system with principles justified by metaphysical fiction is more encompassing than one that directly relates its principles to life practices. Therefore, Confucianism’s transformative cocoon is thinner than that of other religions. Thus, there is relatively little difference between overcoming Confucianism and not overcoming it.
As in many religious teachings that have separated the individual from his selfishness and directed him towards society, individual gain is also belittled in Confucian philosophy.
The Master said: The gentleman pays attention to what is right. The petty man pays attention to what is profitable. (Analects, Book Four, 16)
As we can see from ourselves, when we want to influence human behavior, a dialectical approach is more useful than simply stating the ideal. In most religions, this dichotomy is given through heaven, hell, angels, and the devil. In such narratives, a social code is created that distances immoral behavior. Thus, the path to virtuous behavior is supported by avoiding immoral behavior and longing for virtue. In Confucian philosophy, the “petty man” stands opposite the “gentleman” as a lower status. The status implied by the “petty man” is the “petty man” in the minds of individuals, and the “gentleman” is not a title but a behavior that contributes to the societal order.
Zi Gong asked: Can a single word guide a person through life?
The Master replied: Reciprocity! Do not let others experience a situation you would not choose for yourself. (Analects, Book Fifteen, 23)
Conclusion
Confucianism, regarded as a conceptual system to be overcome during revolutionary processes (e.g., the Qin Dynasty and the Chinese Revolution), regained its place in societal memory during periods of order and stability. Adopted as the state ideology during the Han Dynasty (206 BCE–220 CE), Confucianism was institutionalized as the cornerstone of the imperial examination system during the Sui Dynasty (581–618 CE). In 1905, as part of modernization efforts, the Confucian examination system was officially abolished under the reign of Emperor Guangxu (光绪帝).
