The Meaning and Purpose of Courtesy by Confucius

胡文棋

Abstract：“Courtesy” was one of the core ideas of Confucius theory， but what was the meaning and purpose of Courtesy？ From reading the Analects， I think there were different requirements for both monarch and common people. The purpose was to form a harmonious society.

Key words：Confucius；Meaning；Influence

1. Beginning

During the Spring and Autumn period in ancient China， not only the noble but the normal villagers benefited from the education which caused the rapid development of the intellectual class， forming a situation of contention of a hundred schools of thought. Some of these schools separated themselves from the past and created their own unique ideas. Some of these schools concluded their theory by summarizing different kinds of classics from the past.

The origin of “Courtesy “advocated by Confucius was the early political system in China. He said “the system of politics and Courtesy in Zhou Dynasty benefits from Xia and Shang Dynasty. What a rich system it is！ I observe all of the things in Zhou Dynasty.”So the Courtesy was from the Zhou Dynasty .Courtesy was a system that served for the Patriarchal clan system， aiming to strengthen monarchs domination. But， why did Confucius advocate Courtesy as well？ Did it mean he wanted to restore the supreme position of Zhou monarch with its authority fading day after day？

2. Meaning

To know the true meaning of Confucius Courtesy theory， we should start with the specific expression of it. In accordance with the dynasty development， the whole plain was still under Dong Zhous domination， so theoretically we could divide the Central Plain into two parts， the monarch and all his people.

However Confucius believed the theory also had different requirements for these two types of people. For the monarch， he said “if this land has law， formulating Courtesy and starting a war will be decided by the monarch. If not， they will be decided by the vassal…If this land has law， literati and officialdom wont seize the political power.” We could infer the highest authority in a country was mastering Courtesy and war which needed monarch to decide. He also said “monarch should dominate ministers according to the Courtesy， minister should serve monarch with loyalty.” which meant the monarch not only had to work out the specific rules of courtesy， but also had to obey them first to set an example.

As to the next section which was the majority of a country， how did Courtesy require them？ First of all， no matter which class you are in， from vassals to civilians should obey the rules of their behavior including system level and moral level. Confucius said “When the vassal of Lu kingdom held the ceremony， I was unwilling to see it as soon as the sacrificial wine was offered for the first time.” Only by monarch could this ceremony be held， whereas because of one special case， the vassal of this nation continued holding this ceremony for a long time. Confucius thought this action broke the rules that the vassal need obey monarch， so he didnt want to see it anymore. The Analects recorded “Confucius talks about Ji that he let 68 dancers dance for him in his yard， and if this kind of things could be borne， then what else couldnt be？” Ji was a literati officialdom， which was the dominant class under the vassal. At that time， only the monarch could have 68 dancers while the amount of dancers for literati officialdom needed to be controlled less than 32， so Ji challenged the authority of the monarch deliberately. This made Confucius very angry， considering it as a ruthless thing. When the vassal or literati officialdom held the similar activities as the monarch， there must be distinct boundaries between them. We can conclude the Courtesy advocated by Confucius must differ in diverse social classes.

In fact， there existed some direct explanations for Courtesy in the Analects. He said “What a meaningful question！ For courtesy， luxury isnt as good as thrift. For arranging a funeral， being ceremonious and thorough isnt as good as mourning the dead with grief.” Interestingly， Confucius answer put forward a new concept of thrift which is a kind of moral character. That is to say， Confucius has brought morals into the scope of Courtesy. When we cast our eyes on the common people， the Analects recorded “After holding the ceremony in the countryside， not until the elder people went out， could I go out.” “When Confucius meets whoever is wearing the mourning or wearing the ceremonial dress or being blind， he will stand up to show respect even they are younger. When Confucius passes by these people， he will walk in shorter steps respectfully as quickly as he can.”These two examples described Confucius respect and compassion towards the old and vulnerable people， reflecting the noble personality of Confucius. Thus， the Courtesy theory contained morals and Confucius tried to use it to restrict peoples behavior. The Analects had lots of records of Confucius daily behavior. Confucius paid attention to his conduct from the basic necessities， like the color and material of clothes， the manner of dining ， so we can find the noble character behind the thorough norms. For instance， “Gentleman doesnt edge his clothes with black textile and doesnt use either red or purple textile to make casual clothes which are worn at home. Even during the hot summer， we should wear lined shirts.”In view of the fact that the black was often used by formal dress， we couldnt use it to do the edge-piping. Due to the fact that both red and purple are valuable colors， we couldnt use it liberally. Despite the hot weather in summer， he must wear lined shirt. These reflected the meticulousness and comprehensiveness of Confucius， showing his respect to others from daily dress.

Second of all， another expression of Courtesy was the true emotion. Use the former sentence again “For arranging a funeral， being ceremonious and thorough isnt as good as mourning the dead with grief.” In Confucius opinion， being thoughtful in the ceremony wasnt as good as feeling and expressing the deep sorrow. Therefore， Confucius wasnt a person who just focused on the rules and surface. What he emphasized was making the behavior in accordance with the heart and the reason why he did this wasnt the existence of the authority system， but the motivation from the inner emotion.

3. Purpose

In the eyes of Confucius， the complex Courtesy should be involved in everyones life. However， Why did Confucius carry forward Courtesy so strongly？ The Analects recorded a dialogue said by Confucius son “One day， my father stood alone once again， I walked across the yard in shorter steps. My father asked me ‘Have you learned Courtesy？ I said： ‘Not yet. He replied ‘If you dont learn Courtesy， you wont have a foothold in the society. I went back to learn Courtesy as quickly as I can.” As a recognized wise man， he didnt favor his son. There were two demands for his son， one was learning poem the other was learning Courtesy. Confucius taught his son “if you dont learn Courtesy， you wont have a foothold in the society.” So， on the one hand， from Confucius perspective， Courtesy was the foundation of having a position in society. Confucius thought “officialdom is the natural outlet for good scholars.” One of the evaluations for an official was the degree of Courtesy he mastered. Only if you learnt Courtesy well， then you had the qualification to be an official. But， why did officials must understand Courtesy？ The answer was simple， which meant on the other hand they needed it to govern the country. There was a proof of it. He said “if you know the Di theory in memorial ceremony， it‘s just as easy as putting object on your palm when you govern the country.” The concept which was using Courtesy to govern the country， also appeared in a famous chapter called “sitting with Confucius” in the Analects. In Zi Lu， Ran You and Gong Xi Huas political ambitions， they all mentioned the importance of Courtesy either directly or indirectly. At last， one of his students Zeng Xi asked him the cause of his smile when he heard Zi Lus ambition. He said it was due to the fact that Zi Lu‘s utterance wasnt modest at all. Therefore， we can see an excellent official who used Courtesy must be modest and this was also the expression for Courtesy in moral level.

4. Influence

Confucius spared no efforts to advocate Courtesy during his whole lifetime， so what was the influence of putting Courtesy in practice？ His students summarized “We consider harmony as the valuable function of adopting Courtesy and this is the way of governing countries for wise vassal.” From my perspective， this sentence brought up the eventual aim of Courtesy that was forming a harmonious society. This matched Confucius ideal social environment. Confucius tried to regulate peoples behavior in order to achieve harmonious atmosphere， so that everyone could live comfortably and freely. Confucius saw the positive impact of the Zhou Dynasty system， but he didnt notice the development of the era. During the increasingly powerful spring and autumn period， it was impossible to maintain the Courtesy system. On the contrary， the original intention of Confucius was warmhearted. His purpose wasnt to consolidate governance of the monarch， but to attach his heart to the happy life of common people， creating a peaceful world for them.

5. Evaluation

“Courtesy” was one of the core ideas of Confucius theory， regulating himself with the standard of Courtesy to set an example for the rest of the world. People who understand him would use his theory to manage politics but who didnt would laugh at his fruitless efforts like Chang Ju， Jie Ni who retired from the world. By contrast， regardless of countless barriers， Confucius stuck to his theory without regret. For the time being， we didnt assess the practical possibility of Courtesy and the negative effect caused by the later rulers. It was the starting point of considering the happiness of the world as him own duty that should be praised. This should be the greatness of Confucius that we are obligated to learn.