Manners and music are fundamental. The essential is to shape men's nature, not to quench it. The ethos is fashioned in men's association with each other and in government. It is made manifest on the ideal of the "superior man."

1. Li: Order is preserved by customs (li, imperatives of conduct). "A nation can be guided only by custom, not by knowledge." The customs create the spirit of the whole and in turn draw their life from it. Only through the virtues of the community does the individual become a man. The li are the unceasing education of all men. They are the forms which create the right frame of mind in all spheres of existence: earnestness, confidence, respect. They guide men through something universal which is acquired by education and becomes second nature, so that the individual comes to experience the universal not as a constraint but as his own being. The forms give the individual firmness, assurance, and freedom.

   Confucius set forth the li as a whole; he observed them, collected them, formulated and arranged them. His vision embraced the whole world of Chinese customs: the right way of walking, greeting, behaving in company, always in accordance with the particular situation; the ways of conducting sacrifices and observing holidays; the rites of marriage, birth, death, and burial; the rules of administration; the customs governing work, war, the family, the priesthood, the court; the order of the days and seasons, the stages of life.

   In Confucius there is nothing absolute about the li. "A man is awakened by the Odes, strengthened by the li, perfected by music." Mere form, like mere knowledge, has no value without the originality that fulfills it, without the humanity that is enacted in it. "A man who does not love his fellow man-what will the li avail him?"

   He who "overcomes his self and takes upon himself the restrictions of the li, the laws of custom"-he becomes a man. Although righteousness is essential, "in practicing it the superior man is guided by the li." There must be a balance between the li and the content (a man's original nature). "He in whom the content predominates is uncouth; he in whom the form predominates is a scribe [intellectual dandy]." In the practice of the forms, the essential is "freedom and lightness," but the freedom must be "regulated by the rhythm of set rules." Tzu-Kung wished to do away with the sacrifice that was customary on the first of the month. Said the master: "My dear Tzu, you are concerned with the sheep, I with the custom."

   Confucius drew no distinction between custom, morality, and justice and thus perceived their common root all the more clearly. Nor did he distinguish between ethical obligation and aesthetic considerations involving no responsibility, between the good and the beautiful. The beautiful is not beautiful unless it is good, while the good to be good must be beautiful.

    

2. Music: For Confucius, music, side by side with the li, was a primary factor in education. The spirit of the community is formed by the music it hears; in music the individual finds the themes that order his life. Hence the government must encourage one kind of music and forbid another: Take Shao music with its rhythms, but forbid Cheng music, for the songs of the Cheng are dissolute."

    

3. Nature and formation: Confucius assents to all that is natural. To each thing he assigns its order, its measure, its place, and rejects nothing. He advocates self-mastery, not asceticism. Nature requires to be shaped, but violence can only harm it. Even hatred and anger have their place. The good man can love and hate in the right way. For example: "He hates those who themselves are base and slander those who are above them; he hates the bold who know no morality; he hates the reckless, bigoted fanatics."

    

4. Human intercourse: For Confucius human intercourse is the life element. "The superior man does not neglect his neighbors." But in our association with men, we encounter both good and bad. "Have no friend who is not your equal," says Confucius, but he rejects the maxim: "Associate those who are worthy of it; as for those who are unworthy, keep them at a distance." Instead he declares: "The superior man honors the worthy and tolerates all men." But in his dealings with others the superior man keeps his wits about him: "He may let others lie to him but not make a fool of him. The superior man encourages what is beautiful in men; the inferior man, what is unbeautiful." Thus the spirit of men living together develops in one direction or the other. "What makes a place beautiful is the humanity that dwells there. He who is able to choose and does not settle among humane people is not wise."

   Human relations are governed by the following fundamental attitudes. Toward the ages of life: "let me respect the tranquility of the ages; let me be loyal to my friends; let me love children tenderly." The right conduct toward parents: Serve them in life, bury them properly after death, thereafter sacrifice to them. It is not enough to feed your parents; "if respect is absent, wherein should we differ from the beasts?" In case they seem to be mistaken, we may remonstrate, but respectfully, and we must obey them. A son must cover up his father's mistakes. Toward friends: Take no friends that are not at least as good as yourself. Loyalty is the foundation. Friends should "loyally admonish one another and tactfully set one another right." Friends can be relied on: "Even if the season be cold, we know that pines and cypress are evergreen." Toward the authorities: "A good official serves his prince in the right way; if that is impossible, he withdraws." He will "not circumvent the prince but oppose him openly"; "he will speak cautiously." Towards subordinates: The superior man gives his servants no ground for complaint that he makes insufficient use of them, but (unlike the inferior man) he does not expect perfection; he takes men's abilities into account and does not dismiss old and trusted servants without grave cause.

   One is struck by Confucius' indifference toward women. He has nothing to say of conduct in matrimony, speaks disparagingly of women, has only contempt for a pair of lovers who have committed suicide together, and frequently remarks that nothing is so hard to handle as a woman. The atmosphere around him is distinctly masculine.

    

5. Government: Government is the center of men's lives and all other considerations derive from it. Confucius sees a polarity between what must be made and what must grow. Good government is possible only in a sound social condition, molded by the li, the right music, the right modes of human intercourse. Such a condition can only grow. But though it cannot be made, it can be fostered or impeded.

   Laws are a means of government. But only to a limited degree do they bring results. And intrinsically, they are harmful. Example is better than law. For where the laws govern, the people are shameless in evading punishment. But where example governs, the people have a sense of shame and improve. When an appeal is made to the laws, it means that something is not in order. "When it comes to hearing complaints, I am no better than anyone else. What interests me is to see that no complaint arises."

   A good government must be concerned with three things: sufficient food, a sufficient army, and the confidence of the people. If one of these must be sacrificed, the government can most readily do without the army; next in line comes food ("men have always had to die"); but a government cannot do without confidence. "If the people have no confidence, all government is impossible." But in planning its policy, a government cannot begin with the demand for confidence. Confidence cannot be demanded but must be brought to grow spontaneously. As to policy, above all "make the people prosperous." The next most important thing is to "educate them."

   Good government requires a good prince. He taps the natural sources of wealth. He chooses carefully what work the people should undertake; then they do not grumble. He is superior without being haughty; whether dealing with many or few, with great or small, he is not disdainful. He commands respect without a show of force. Like the polestar, he stands fast and lets everything move around him in its order. Because he desires the good, the people become good. "If the authorities love good conduct, the people will be easy to handle." "If a ruler is right in his own person, he has no need to command, things are done without commanding."

   A good prince knows how to choose the right officials. One who knows and desires the good cannot rule with evil helpers:"Oh, the rabble. Is it possible to serve the prince in collaboration with them?"

   Confucius has innumerable maxims about government. All are of a general ethical nature. For example: "Do nothing overhastily; that will not succeed. Do not consider the small advantage, for no great work can prosper in this way." In all these reflections he has in mind a statesman selected by the prince and governing with his consent and understanding. A great statesman proves himself by restoring and reinforcing the ethical-political edifice as a whole.

   Such intervention in historical reality is subject to two main principles: (1) A capable man must stand in the right place. "If a man possesses the throne but lacks the necessary strength of mind, he should not venture to make cultural changes. Similarly, if he has strength of mind but not the highest authority, he should not venture to make cultural changes." (2) The political conditions must be such as to make effective action, the true statesman remains in hiding. He waits. He refuses to compound with evil, to enter into relations with base people. These principles contain an element of Plato's belief that human conditions will not improve until philosophers become kings or kings philosophers. Confucius spent his whole life looking for a prince to whom he might lend his intelligence. But in vain.

    

6. The superior man: All goodness, truth, beauty are combined in the ideal of the superior man (Chun-tzu). Noble both in birth and endowment, he has the manners of a gentleman and the wisdom of a sage.

   The superior man is no saint. The saint is born; he is what he is; the superior man becomes what he is through self-discipline. "To have the truth is the path of heaven, to seek the truth is the path of men. He who has the truth finds the right action without pains, achieves success without reflection." But he who seeks the truth chooses the good and holds it fast. He investigates, he questions critically, he ponders the truth and resolutely acts on it. "Perhaps others can do it the first time; I must do it ten times; perhaps others can do it the tenth time; I must do it a thousand times. But he who really has the perseverance to go this way-be he foolish, he will become clearheaded; be he weak, he will become strong."

   The character, cast of thought, gestures of the superior man are described. He is contrasted with the inferior man. The superior man is concerned with justice, the inferior man with profit. The superior man is quiet and serene, the inferior man always full of anxiety. The superior man is congenial though never stooping to vulgarity; the inferior man is vulgar without being congenial. The superior man is dignified without arrogance; the inferior man is arrogant without dignity. The superior man is steadfast in distress; the inferior man in distress loses all control of himself. The superior man goes searching for himself; the inferior man goes searching in others. The superior man strives upward; the inferior man strives downward. The superior man is independent. He can endure long misfortune as well as long prosperity, and he lives free from fear. He suffers from his own inability, not from others' failure to understand him. He avoids all competition, but if it must be, then only in archery. He is slow in words and quick in action. He is careful not to let his words outshine his deeds: first act, then speak accordingly.

   The superior man does not waste himself on what is distant, on what is absent. He stands in the here and now, in the real situation. "The superior man's path is like a long journey; you must begin from right here." "The superior man's path begins with the concerns of the common man and woman, but it reaches into the distance, penetrating heaven and earth."