Confucianism and East Asia Cultural roots (327-336)

This lesson is based on Essential Question #2- How has Religion, Philosophy, and Ideology affected East Asia?

Student learning objective: Students will be able to explain tenets of Confucianism and how it historically affected East Asian culture and how it still does.

Class brainstorm of most important relationships in life
Class pinpointed what Confucius thought were the 5 key relationships and what he called them
We brainstormed how those relationships should work in 5 separate groups
Confucius explained everything through 5 relationships especially:
Chinese superiority/Ethnocentrism
Mandate of heaven
Male dominance
family dynamic
hard work
homosexuality taboo

CONFUCIAN QUOTES ON THE FIVE PRINCIPAL RELATIONSHIPS

Ruler and subject:

• “Let the ruler be a ruler, the subject a subject, the father a father, the son a son.” "Truly if the ruler be not a ruler, the subject not a subject, the father not a father, the son not a son, then even if there be grain, would I get to eat it?” 12:11
• “To govern is to correct. If you set an example be being correct, who would dare to remain incorrect?”
• The Master said about government, “Encourage the people to work hard by setting an example yourself. Do not allow your efforts to slacken.” 13:1
• “In serving one’s lord, one should approach one’s duties with reverence (respect) and consider one’s pay as of secondary importance.” 15:38

Father and Son:

• “…Being good as a son and obedient as a young man is, perhaps, the root of a man’s character.” 1:2
• “Simply by being a good son and friendly to his brothers a man can exert an influence upon government.” 2:21
• “Honor your parents and make your brothers friends – this too is good government”
• “…Fathers cover up for their sons, and sons cover up for their fathers. Straightness is to be found in such behavior.” 13:18
• “If, for three years, a man makes no changes to his father’s ways, he can be said to be a good son.” 4:20
• “Everyone speaks up for his own son whether he is talented or not…” 11:8
• “In serving your father and mother you ought to dissuade them from doing wrong in the gentlest way. If you see your advice being ignored, you should not become disobedient but remain reverent. You should not complain even if in so doing you wear yourself out.” 4:18
• “When your parents are alive, you should not go too far afield in your travels. If you do, your whereabouts should always be known.” 4:19
• “A man should not be ignorant of the age of his father and mother. It is a matter, on the one hand, for rejoicing and, on the other, for anxiety.” 4:21
• “Nowadays for a man to be filial means no more than that he is able to provide his parents with      food. Even hounds and horses are, in some way, provided with food. If a man shows no reverence (respect), where is the difference?” 2:7

Elder Brother and Younger Brother:

• “What a good son Min Tzu-ch’ien is! No one can find fault with what his parents and brothers have to say about him.” 11:5
• Ju Yu asked the Master, “Should one immediately put into practice what one has heard?” “As your father and elder brothers are still alive, you are hardly in a position immediately to put into practice what you have heard.” 11:22

Husband and Wife:

• “In one’s household, it is the women and the small men that are difficult to deal with. If you let them get too close, they become insolent (disrespectful). If you keep them at a distance, they complain.” 17:25

Friend and Friend:

• “Make it your guiding principle to do your best for others and to be trustworthy in what you say. Do not accept as friend anyone who is not as good as you. When you make a mistake do not be afraid of mending your ways.” 9:25
• “Is it not a joy to have friends come from afar?” 1:1
• “To be importunate with one’s lord will mean humiliation. To be importunate (demanding) with one’s friends will mean estrangement (distancing).” 4:26
• “He stands to benefit who makes friends with three kinds of people. Equally he stands to lose who makes friends with three other kinds of people. To make friends with the straight, the trustworthy in word and the well informed is to benefit. To make friends with the ingratiating (flattering in order to gain favor) in action, the pleasant in appearance and the plausible (possible) in speech is to lose.” 16:4
• “A gentleman makes friends through being cultivated, but looks to friends for support in benevolence (goodwill).” 12:24

Revisit Student learning objective: Students will be able to explain tenets of Confucianism and how it historically affected East Asian culture and how it still does.