How does Huang Zongxi view the relationship between the prince () and the people? To what extent are his views different from Confucian ideas? In the reading Waiting For The Dawn, it explains the role of a prince in the society. Humans all have their own priority in what may benefit them as well as what they want to avoid as it may harm them and give them unpleasant feelings. Everyone tends to think only for themselves and neglects the benefits and harms of the whole society. However, there are still a few people who do care about the benefit and harm of everyone and work an extra mile for it, but refuse to become a prince. It then caused a change in the figure of a “prince” the society was expecting. Princes own the privilege of controlling …show more content…
The prince instead treated the people heartlessly, all for the sake of building his own empire. He holds on to everyone’s right to have the benefit they deserve as it is said “That no one can find peace and happiness anywhere is all on account of the prince.” (p. 92). It is a form of irrelevance in use of power that should be originally to help, turns into subjection. Confucian’s idea regarding the relationship between the prince and the people is that the prince should be a ruler that governs with virtue and benevolence, prioritizing the welfare of their subjects by acting justly with proper rituals and etiquette. They should also create wise decisions that benefit all their people. In return, the people will show respect and obedience to their ruler and their orders as they believe the ruler rules with a goal to prosper the people’s life. This shows a significant difference between the view of Huang Zongxi and Confucian in how a ruler should be. One views a prince to be abusive of power and works based on personal interest, whereas Confucian views a prince to be a ruler that shows a good example to their people as well as prioritizing the welfare of their
To begin, Confucianism is a system of philosophical and ethical teachings founded by Confucius. Confucianism was the code of ethics accepted as the certified religion of most of the immense empires in the territory since the Han Dynasty. Confucianism provided an outline of ethical and religious beliefs that most of the Chinese expanded to make other religions such as Daoism and Legalism. To expand, Confucianism was founded by Confucius and his beliefs on the political and social order of China. Confucius believed that everything would fall into place if children had respect for their parents and if the rulers were honest. In Confucianism, specific roles were followed by each person in the family. The head of the family, the father, was the one primarily in control and then it was the oldest son that was next in line. Confucius had the belief that a ruler has to be everything he wants
Confucius was a philosopher, political intellect and an educator whose philosophies have significantly prejudiced not only the Chinese principles but the entire world evolution. He lived through the “Spring” and “Autumn” epoch of Chinese history, when east central China was separated over a dozen fighting states. The inordinate ailment and grief he saw swayed his political thoughts, which highlighted command, grading and the rule of a compassionate self-governing state.
A prince should still not worry about his reputation, and be cruel when necessary to others versus showing mercy to everyone. For example, if you let a few bad citizens go without punishment, they will continue to hurt the rest of the people in one way or another. If you choose to punish one or a small group of people who do harm to the community, less people will be hurt in the long run. Furthermore, every prince should be somewhat feared by his people. If you are not feared, as well as show too much compassion, then you will not be
Another topic he covers is cruelty, if cruelty is used in the right way the prince will gain much respect and it will preserve a prince’s safety or will help secure the state; it is safer for a prince to be feared than it is for him to be loved because no one will listen or respect a leader who they take to be a joke. Men fear punishment, and this can be used to a prince’s advantage. Men will not disobey if there is a chance of them being killed or thrown in
...he Confucius Way. The secretaries will trust in him again, and thus, good relations amongst the Emperor and the secretaries will be positive again. This unity will allow more focus on other important issues, and therefore better decisions will be made for the people of China. This will lead to happiness among the people and prosperity in our government. Master once said, “If a man sets his heart on benevolence, he will be free from evil.” I have set my heart on benevolence by grounding my viewpoints from the depths of Confucius’s teachings. Confucius’ teachings clearly show that choosing Changlou as an heir and removing Lady Zheng and Kang Hua will clear the dangerous cloud of evil covering our city. If I have insulted you in any way, great Wan Li, I apologize. I only hope to advise you in the best way possible. Emperor, I hope you find benevolence in my memorial.
Throughout the years many rulers and princes have strived to be the best. The book some believe set the standards for a prince is Niccolo Machiavelli's "The Morals of a Prince." Machiavelli states "Hence it is necessary for a prince wishing to hold his own to know how to do wrong, and to make use of it or not according to necessity" proving that he believes it vital for a prince to know wrong in order to thrive and flourish (Machiavelli 331). Machiavelli undoubtedly has key points that reveal his feelings about being a successful, wrong prince. However, at times his ideology can be rather harsh.
The relationship between ruler and subject is that the ruler must work to protect and govern, while subjects must provide their ruler with loyalty. The father is responsible for caring for his son and providing him an education, while the son must show his father obedience and honor. In the husband and wife relationship, the husband is to provide for his wife, while the wife shows obedience and takes care of the home. The older brother has the responsibility to take care of his younger brother and look after him, while the younger brother must show obedience. Lastly, the relationship between elder and younger places the elder with the responsibility of taking care of the younger. The younger must then show respect and obedience toward the elder. In the even that the elder is unable to care for themselves, as in the case of aging parents, it is the younger’s responsibility to care for the elder. The idea is that when each person is doing their duty in each relationship, society will run much more smoothly and harmoniously. While Confucianism focuses on social aspects, it does not consider the
Confucianism became popular during the Han Dynasty as it was the state religion and had a great impact on East Asia (Confucianism 1, pg. 7). Born in 551 BCE in the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, Confucius himself absorbed the teachings of Mahavira and the Buddha (Confucianism 1, pg. 2) He had a set of virtues that he believed a functioning society should stand by such as benevolence, love and rites. Confucius wanted China to return to the old days when people were loyal to their rulers and rulers were polite and caring towards their people. He believed rulers s...
Confucianism is a philosophy and way of life formed in China by Confucius, an early Chinese philosopher. It began as a simple concept with ideals of personal virtue, simple filial piety, and basic gender distinctions and social inequalities. But, over time with the emergence of Neo-Confucianism it began to transform into a way of life that was degrading towards women with certain hostilities towards rivaling religions. In its early period, from around 500 B.C.E to the Common Era, Confucianism changed in that it became the leading belief system and a major part of Chinese tradition. From the transition into the Common Era to the end of the Classical time period, Confucianism was altered because of a loss of popularity following the collapse of the Han dynasty and the corruption in the governing political system. In its ending period, the post-classical era, Confucianism underwent perhaps its biggest adjustments with the emergence of Neo-Confucianism. The ideas and virtues presented in the “rebirth of Confucian philosophies” of intolerance of foreign religions and extreme filial piety...
society and the goal of The Prince is to instruct a prince, or ruler, on how to maintain his state.
Confucianism is a moral and religious system of China. Its origins go back to the Analects, the sayings attributed to Confucius, and to ancient writings, including that of Mencius. Confucius was born a mandarin under the name Kongzi. It was developed around 550 B.C. In its earliest form Confucianism was primarily a system of ethical concepts for the control of society. It saw man as a social creature that is bound to his fellow men by jen, or “humanity.” Jen is expressed through the five relationships—sovereign and subject, parent and child, elder and younger brother, husband and wife, and friend and friend. Of these, the filial relation is most important.
Written during the Period of Warring States, The Analects consists of what Confucius and his disciples believed to be the key values required for a harmonious society. Through various exchanges between an entity only recognized as “The Master” and people of other backgrounds such as Dukes and students, the disciples define the fundamental Confucian values that everyone in society must conform to such as ren (kindness), yi (altruism), li (everyday norms), and zhi (morality). The discourses evince a very conservative stance when it comes to citizens conforming to these values in that “The Master”, or Confucius, is unrelenting in his criticism of the “small man” or anyone led astray from the traditional Confucian values. Centrally, Confucius argues
Confucius played a major role during the time of the Zhou dynasty. “Confucius was a thinker, a political figure, an educator” (“Confucius”). The Analects of Confucius contain information on how one should interact with others and conduct their daily lives, and how deeply people should participate in society and government. These ideas then spread to his students, and eventually to many regions of Asia. This
Confucian culture has persistence, so it does not disappear with the annihilation of the old system. Confucian culture, formed under two thousand years of feudal autocratic rule, not only exists for a long time, but also still has important influence on Chinese contemporary political life and political culture with its strong vitality. The theme of moderation is to educate people consciously to self-improve, self supervise, and self educate, and train themselves have the ideal personality. Fundamentally, the Confucian thinks that the root of governing revolution lies in the will of people, therefore, it should govern from the will of people if it wants to achieve the social governance, which has its profound meaning (Chan, Cho, 2014). The emergence of a lot of social problems, in the final analysis, is due to the lack of governance...
Confucius (551–479 B.C.) was a Chinese philosopher and founder of the Confucian school of thought, which greatly influenced political and social life in China. His teachings are known primarily through the Analects of Confucius, a collection of "brief aphoristic fragments", which was compiled many years after his death. Although he didn’t write any books, his students did the writing based on his teachings and millions of people still rely on Confucius's philosophy as a guide to live. Until the twentieth century, Confucianism was the state religion of China. Confucius (Master K'ung Ch'iu), His philosophy emphasized personal and governmental morality, correctness of social relationships, justice and sincerity. These values gained prominence in China over other doctrines, such as Legalism or Daoism. Legalism was a third Chinese philosophy, a Classical Chinese philosophy that emphasizes the need for order above all other human concerns. At the other extreme was the philosophy known as Legalism. Proponents of Legalism did not concern themselves with Confucian values of ethical and mor...