An Essay on Confucius and Zhuangzi
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The differences between Confucius and Zhuangzi are numerous. As Professor Ashmore stated in lecture, Confucius as a traditionalist (Ru) focuses on ritual and sacrifice whereas Zhuangzi emphasizes the intricacies and nuances of language. Nevertheless, and despite how often the two scholars contradict and conflict with one another, there is a powerful shared space between the two and their underlying beliefs on wisdom and sagehood. Ultimately, both Confucius in The Analects, particularly in 1:15 of Chapter 1, and Zhuangzi in his “The Way of Heaven,” agree that knowledge is self-taught and absolute truths can not be transmitted but instead must be earned by self-actualization and exploration.
For instance, in 1:15 of The Analects, Zigong and Confucius are engaging in discourse on how an individual can embody seemingly contradictory aspects. Indeed, Zigong ponders how a man could be “poor without servility, [and] rich without arrogance” (The Analects, pg. 5). When Confucius corrects his student by modifying the original question, Zigong immediate relates his master’s instructions with a story in the Poems. Confucius, delighted to see how Zigong quickly applied the Poems to his own journey of learning and enlightenment, beams “I tell you one thing, and you can figure out the rest” (1:15, 5). This thematic statement highlights Confucius’s belief that excellence can not be transmitted or taught; it must be earned by one’s own self-exploration and journey. Confucius can not force his students to become enlightened, nor can he force them to choose the right path or steps. The destination to the road of wisdom and sagehood is a road with no easy shortcuts and detours. Consequently, Confucius aims to help his students walk such a road, to “tell” them one thing and have them “figure out the rest.”
Moreover, the chaotically unstructured order of The Analects further underscores Confucius’s ideals on wisdom as a process of self-actualization. Confucius sees no simple or universal answer to life’s riddles and questions. There is no collective answer or notion, and instead everything must be weighed on a case by case basis. The readers of The Analects, then, must not blindly follow and parrot Confucius and his ideals. Instead, they must study how he thinks, not necessarily what he thinks, and apply concepts espoused in The Analects to their own experiences and lives. While Confucius makes such a notion clear in The Analects, he furthers it through the very unstructured ordering of his works. It is up to the reader to apply his or her own critical thinking skills to piece Confucius’s lessons together. Confucius additionally reinforces this notion with intricate metaphors and analogies that force the reader to actively read to make sense of his reasoning. Confucius’s modifying analogy, “poor, yet cheerful; rich, yet considerate” (The Analects, pg. 5), administers a tone of uncertainty in the reader. The reader immediately attempts to rationalize the analogy in the context of Confucius’s ultimate argument. Through such active reading, the individual is able to better understand the purpose of the dialogue in this particular context. For instance, once the reader understands that Confucius’s analogy essentially argues that an ideal attitude, regardless of socioeconomic status, would be to embody empathy and kindness, Zigong’s next argument becomes clearer. Likening his master’s analogy to a certain story in the Poems, where carving horn is “like sculpting ivory” (The Analects, pg. 5), Zigong essentially embodies the learning process Confucius is trying to convey to his readers. Likewise, the readers of The Analects