The Tap Root of Common Sense

If anything, the sayings of Confucius show that common sense is timeless, or at least as old as dirt. But not every word of it is gemstone. Consider this whiffle ball:

The Master said, "If a man in the morning hear the right way, he may die in the evening without regret." - Analects IV:8 (tr. James Legge)

Strike! It is no wonder that Confucius attracted opprobriums in his own day. Indeed the Chinese intellect was finely burnished by the sixth century BCE and we can understand why his contemporaries might chafe at the dry homilies of Confucius. Lo! Stop what you're doing and soak up this aphorism:

The Master said, "Who can go out but by the door? How is it that men will not walk according to these ways?" - Analects VI.14 (tr. James Legge)

This riddle is but the mental equivalent of a paper cut. And sometimes Confucius is just darn silly:

The Master said, "A cornered vessel without corners. A strange cornered vessel! A strange cornered vessel!" - Analects V.23 (tr. James Legge)

There might have been a silly tune to go with this one that has been lost in the black abyss of time. Any scholar would point out that Confucius did not compose the Analects himself. Rather, it was his bits wisdom subsequently pieced together by his acolytes downstream on the calendar of human events. And to be fair, nowhere do we read The Master said, "They chose wisely."

Yet is the Analects really nothing more than, say, a like experience to reading through a box of fortune cookies? No. But it takes a little work, and more than a little patience to extract the nutrients from the victuals he offers.

Confucius is conservative. He preaches ceaselessly against any deviation from traditional ways:

The Master said, "I am not one who was born in the possession of knowledge; I am one who is fond of antiquity, and earnest in seeking it there." - Analects V.19 (tr. James Legge)

So, for Confucius, conservatism is necessary, because it is the philosophy that promotes knowledge. And in his times, there was no notion that there is ever anything new to know. There is no concept of human progress. Think about it. If you're a farmer in ancient China, your methods and implements are essentially unchanged from those of your great-great-great-grandfather. What then is "progress"? What are talking about? Change occurred very slowly, and actually imperceptibly over the course of a human lifetime, so that the very idea of progress was alien to the mind.

But his conservatism is simply context for his better angels. In this petri dish grows two great teachings: 1) virtue and ethics, and 2) competency of the state. Here, Confucius is worthy of our rapt attention. In particular, it is worth asking if there are lessons for us, as Americans, in our own troubled times. Side-by-side with virtue, he emphasized etiquette, and with governing, attentiveness to the needs of the people and confidence of the people in their rulers.

The Master said, "Respectfulness, without the rules of propriety, becomes laborious bustle; carefulness, without the rules of propriety, becomes timidity; boldness, without the rules of propriety, becomes insubordination; straightforwardness, without the rules of propriety, becomes rudeness." - Analects VII.2 verse 1 (tr. James Legge)

Well, I dare say we can see these effects in our culture today. The rules of propriety suffer from willful neglect in our public discourse, and Confucius would tell us that is part of our problem. Of course, we can figure that out for ourselves. But there is added force in noting, not just in passing, that we've known this stuff for the better part of three millenia. So what's our problem?

We convince ourselves that as we interact with "the other" that this other is undeserving of the application of the rules of propriety. That applying the rules of propriety is somehow a concession, an abrogation of our principles. Hence, boldness becomes insubordination, and straightforwardness becomes rudeness, and worse. But how do we fix it?

The repair relies on the fact that the problem is perpetuated by a fairly small class of people who reside in the political sphere and an agenda-driven subset of radio and television pundits, and to some extent their "fans." The vast majority of Americans do not agree with this injury to simple civility and the commonsense principles of negotiating, with propriety, through inevitable disagreements.

So, the civil majority has to throw the flag. Our electoral politics don't support that, you say? Yes it does. Voter apathy is the real problem. We get the government we deserve. If the Koch brothers "speak" (by which we mean spend big $$$), who says we have to listen? Here's an idea. Let's go vote, and frustrate them with how much money they flushed down the toilet.

Confucius's other principle is the competency of the prince, and is devotion to the well being of the people.

1. Tsze-kung asked about government. The Master said, "The requisites of government are that there be sufficiency of food, sufficiency of military equipment, and the confidence of the people in their ruler."
2. Tsze-kung said, "If it cannot be helped, and one of these must be dispensed with, which of the three should be forgone first?" "The military equipment," said the Master.
3. Tsze-kung again asked, "If it cannot be helped, and one of the remaining two must be dispensed with, which of them should be foregone?" The Master answered, "Part with the food. From of old, death has been the lot of all men; but if the people have no faith in their rulers, there is no standing for the State." - Analects XII.7 (tr. James Legge)

The State is a lifeboat, and nothing can be of greater consequence than her seaworthiness, and the trust among her skipper and crew. Having that, all needs can be fulfilled with effort, however strenuous. Is it possible that we can be weakened by gratuitous prosperity? That we become churlish upon experiencing want? Perhaps it is so indeed if "there is no standing for the State."

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Originally published October 14, 2014 on blog.com