Wang
Yan（王焱）
Abstract: Goodness (Ren) is the core of Confucian thought, in which the
conception of moderate desire is a crucial part. Moderate desire
means harmony between ritual (Li) and desire, avoiding deficiency
of indulgence and
mortification. Confucian conception of moderate desire has a
far–reaching realistic
significance, which could effect a radical cure of the social
maladies such as desire flooding and excessive dissipation.
Key words:
Confucius; Goodness; moderate desire; ritual; The Analects
According to Yang Bojun’s statistic in The Variorum
Analects,
Goodness (Ren) was mentioned 109 times in The Analects.
[4] To
a large extent, Goodness is not only the core of Confucian
thought, but the ideal personality in his mind.
Asked about what was the Goodness by Yan Yuan, a
disciple of Confucius, he replied, “To subdue one’s self and
return to ritual is Goodness. All will ascribe Goodness to a man
who can someday control himself and return to ritual (Li). Whether
or not to possess Goodness depends on a man himself, not others.”
[5]（The Analects·Yan Yuan）In
other words, Goodness means meeting the requirement of ritual with
restrained desire .When requested specific steps of the process,
Confucius answered, “To look at nothing in defiance of ritual, to
listen to nothing in defiance of ritual, to speak of nothing in
defiance of ritual, and to make no movement in defiance of
ritual.”
[6]（The Analects·Yan Yuan）For
Confucius ,the above-mentioned process shows that Goodness cannot
exist without ritual ,which is the criterion of behavior as well
as the only way to approach Goodness.
What we should pay attention to is that “to subdue
one’s self ” used by Confucius was distinct from “to eliminate
one’s desire” advocated by scholars devoted to the study of the
classics with a so-called rational approach in the Sung Dynasty
and the Ming Dynasty. While acknowledging the reasonable existence
of self(desire), Confucius emphasized the importance of
self-control .In fact, he admitted Goodness was based on desire
,on the other hand , he also realized desire was not Goodness and
could not turn into Goodness of itself .To possess Goodness,
desire should be restrained so that all deeds could be in
conformity with ritual .A person able to attain this ideal was
considered a “Gentleman”, in the Confucian mind, namely “a man who
could cultivate himself”[7]
(The Analects· Xian Wen) Effectively, this means one who
could restrict himself in the light of ritual. Confucius assumed
the whole of society could live and work in peace and contentment
on the condition that each person cultivated and subdued
him/herself.
To summarize the Confucian view of desire, it is
neither indulgence nor abstinence, but moderation, which is
harmony between ritual and desire. While acknowledging the rationality of desire, Confucius
further claimed desire should be restricted within the sensible
limitation of ritual, so as to be coordinated between individual
and society.
On the one hand, Confucius admitted rationality of
satisfaction of desire, just as he said in The Ritual Usages, “Water, food, men and women are vital desires of human.”[8]
(The Ritual Usages·Ritual Movement)The meaning of desires
for water and food can be extended as pursuit for matter, “ Riches
and honors are what human desire…Poverty and meanness are what
human dislike”[9]
(The Analects· Li Ren) , said Confucius, “To be poor
without murmuring is difficult”[10]
(The Analects· Xian Wen). The meaning of desires for women
and men can be extended as need for sex. Obviously, Confucius
affirmed the necessity of reasonable gratification of two basic
desires--matter and sex. Therefore he proposed that governors
should in a way suffice the worldly desires of people in order to
be well-off. Questioned by
Zigong, one of his followers, how to govern the state, the Master
responded, “sufficient food, sufficient weapons, and the
confidence of the common.”[11]
(The Analects· Yan Yuan) Confucius also held enrichment
first followed by teaching, saying “Enrich them” ,then “Teach
them”[12]
(The Analects· Zi Lu),which proves that Confucius was aware
of the consequence of contentment at the basic worldly desires to
cultivation for the mass, and believed that rational gratification
at desires was the premise of seeking after Goodness.
Meanwhile, Confucius also emphasized, “Unless riches
and honors can be obtained in the proper way, they should not be
held”[13]
(The Analects· Li Ren), “Riches and honors acquired in a
unmoral way are to me as a floating cloud”
[14] (The Analects·Shu Er) , and one should “pursue what he desires without being
covetous”[15] (The Analects·Yao Yue),which shows one must confine
the expansion of his desire to ritual in order to possess Goodness
.
The conception of moderate desire was embodied as
thrift in appetite for matter and anti-carnality for sex.
Against luxury, stating that “In festive rituals, it is
better to be sparing than extravagant”
[16] (The Analects·Ba Yi),
Confucius adored frugality all along, even if “With coarse rice to
eat, with water to drink, and with bended arm as a pillow, I have
still enjoyed in the midst of these things.”[17]
(The Analects·Shu Er) In the past, the caps were made of liner
prescribed by the rules of ritual, and afterwards of economical
black silk. Confucius approved this: “I follow the general
practice.”[18]
(The Analects·Zi Han) Confucius admired highly the thrifty character of his adherent Yan Hui and acclaimed, “Admirable indeed was the virtue of Hui! With a
single bamboo dish of rice, a single gourd of drink, and living in
his mean narrow lane, others could not have endured the distress;
but to Hui, he did not make his joy affected by it. Admirable
indeed was the virtue of Hui!”[19] (The Analects·Yong Ye)
In addition, Confucius despised covetousness for beauty
and indulgence in carnality all the time. He bemoaned “I have not
seen one who loves virtue as he loves beauty”
[20] (The Analects·Zi Han,
The Analects·Wei Ling Gong) as twice in The Analects,
he shows he was deeply anxious about the universal conditions that
morality and cultivation could not hold down the expansion of lust
for sex .When Confucius took charge of the minister of justice in
State Lu, State Qi sent 80 beauties and female entertainers for
the sake of catering to pleasure of the governor prince Ding of
Lu, who enjoyed wanton songs and seductive dance. As a result he
abandoned himself throughout the day in sensual pleasures, wine
and beauties for instance, paying no attention to affairs of the
government. Confucius objected repeatedly but in vain and finally
had to resign the post, leaving State Lu and starting to tour the
various states with vagrancy.
Confucius advanced “There are three things which the
Gentleman guards against”, and “when young, he should guard
against lust (desire for sex); when strong, he should guard
against strife (desire for attack), when old ,he should guard
against covetousness (desire for matter).”
[21] (The Analects·Ji Shi)
Based on the characteristics of
desires at different ages, Confucius cautioned people not to
pamper their own appetence.
In Confucian opinion, only those who have few desires
are perfect. Asked how to be a COMPLETE (perfect) man by Zilu, a
disciple of Confucius, he returned, “as Gongchuo (a high official
in State Lu) with freedom from covetousness”[22]
(The Analects·Xian Wen).Confucius deemed that the evils of
human resulted from the abandoned desire, because the more desire
the less straightforward. The Master rebutted, “Cheng (a adherent
of Confucius) is at the mercy of his desire, how can he be
pronounced straightforward?”[23]
(The Analects·GongYe Chang) He also emphasized, “The
straightforward, the firm, the simple, and the modest together are
near to Goodness.”
[24] (The Analects·Zi Lu)
The characteristics of Goodness are incarnation of unyielding to
desire.
Confucian view of desire means harmony between ritual
and desire, avoiding the deficiency of indulgence and
mortification, which incarnates ZHONG YONG-- the “way” of Golden
Mean he advocated, which Zhu Xi, a renowned philosopher in the
Ming Dynasty, explained in The Variorum Analects, “ZHONG means
impartial, neither exceed nor fall short; YONG means mediocrity.”
[25] Confucius thought of the
Golden Mean as the indispensable character of Gentlemen, saying in
The Doctrine of the Mean, “The Gentlemen embody the course of the
Golden Mean, the common act contrary to it. The Gentlemen embody
the course of the Golden Mean, because they are superior men, and
always maintain the Mean. The common act contrary to it because
they are inferior men, and have no caution.”
[26]Confucius applauded, “How
transcendent the moral power of the Golden Mean is!”[27] (The Analects·Yong Ye) This means the Golden Mean is
the highest and perfect merit. “To exceed is as bad as to fall
short”
[28] (The
Analects·Xian Jing), said Confucius, because they are not
virtuous and both deviate from the appropriate way. He also
believed, “Pleasure not carried to the point of debauchery, grief
not carried to the point of self –injury”[29] (The Analects·Ba Yi).Thus it can be seen that, as the
excellent feature of Gentlemen, the Mean is not only an impartial
methodology, but also a moderate philosophy. Confucius assumed
that “He who keeps himself within the bounds of the rules of
ritual seldom errs.”
[30](The Analects·Li Ren) This proves rational restriction can guarantee the
realization of Goodness.
Confucius mentioned Gain and Righteousness many times.
Gain means personal benefits, which can be regarded as the human
pursuit for selfish desire, while Righteousness means the morality
of society, which can be considered as the ritual constraint of
selfish desire. Confucius held in pursuit of selfish desire,
people should maintain the moral principle and be encouraged to be
a man who “thinks of righteousness whenever lured by gain”[31](The
Analects·Xian Wen), because righteousness serves as the
yardstick of all social acts. Confucius viewed whether or not to
act in light of righteousness as the standard of distinguishing
the Gentlemen from the common. He contended “The mind of Gentlemen
is conversant with righteousness, while the mind of the common is
conversant with gain.”[32] (The Analects·Li Ren) which means the common only
care their own selfish benefits, while the Gentlemen are concerned
about morality besides benefits. Indulgence of selfish desire will
bring about harmful consequences, just as Confucius said, “He who
acts in terms of his selfish desire will be much murmured
against.”
[33](The Analects·Li Ren)
When desire conflicts with righteousness, we should “restrict gain
with righteousness”
[34] (The Works of Hsün-tzu·Wang Ba).Under
the extreme conditions, one even can devote his life to being an
advocate for Righteousness. “The perfect men will not seek to live
at the expense of injuring their virtue, even sacrifice their
lives to preserve their complete virtue.”[35] (The Analects·Wei Ling Gong), said Confucius. Because
of remonstrating against Zhou, the lord of Wei fled, the lord of
Qi became a slave and Bi Gan was sentenced to death. The three
men, for Goodness in the bottom of their heart, all gave up their
selfish desires such as seeking benefits and avoiding hurt.
Therefore, Confucius commended “The Yin dynasty possessed these
three men of Goodness.”
[36] (The Analects·Wei Zi)
Confucianism established by
Confucius has been regarded as the backbone and strain of Chinese
traditional culture. He is extolled as the spiritual chief and
ideal sage of ancient
China, whose notion of sensible desire has been ingrained into
deep cultural psychology, determining the temperate way that China
developed. Confucianism we conceived is diametrically different
from the founder Confucian own thoughts, which have been
inconsistent with the Confucian original thoughts through notable
changes of many dynasties.
As far as the conception of desire
is concerned, which of Confucianism generally experienced three
periods: the original and indigenous conception of moderate desire
during the era before the Chin Dynasty as well as the era of the
Former and Later Han Dynasty; the one of asceticism influenced by
Buddhism during the era of the Sui Dynasty, the Tang Dynasty, the
Sung Dynasty and the Ming Dynasty; the one of liberation of desire
impacted by enlightened thoughts in West during the era of the
Ming Dynasty and the Qing Dynasty. The original thoughts of
Confucius have been distorted seriously by means of reconstruction
and castration of patriarchal clan system of feudalism for great
discrepancies among the three periods.
However many scholars confound them one with another, being apt to
demote Confucius as the initiator of inhumane asceticism, blaming
the tardy development of Chinese economy on the initiator of
Confucianism--Confucius, and even alleging that China is bound to
flourish at the cost of sacrifice of Confucianism. Nevertheless,
the asceticism is exactly in contradiction with Confucian view of
modest desire. The writer Zhang Wei held “Confucius is temperate
and sober fundamentally, and the ‘Way’of the Golden Mean is a
dialectic culture.”[37] But it is a pity that in the process of practical operation
of the theory, people sometimes abnegate the “Way” of the Golden
Mean and fail to enter the interior of dialectic, which causes
history collide with the two poles of asceticism and carnalism and
wander from one extreme to another.
The world-famous Jewish novelist
Saul Bellow stated in his novel More Died of Heart “The
deficiencies of the undeveloped countries in the Orient lie in
shortage of matter, while the maladies of the developed countries
in the Occident consist in expansion of desires.”[38] Perhaps the conclusion is to the point and profound. The
Orient is indeed not the same as a whole, where there are some
richer countries, however, the large majority of poorer countries
in which were influenced by asceticism from religions. The
countries in the cultural circle of Buddhism and Islam are
definitely such cases, and it is hard to say the comedown of
China since the Ming Dynasty has nothing to do with it. The
attitude of holding back need for matter has caused the slow
progress of material civilization in these countries. The Western
world transferred the mortification of Christianity into the
adoration to lust and enjoyment through the Enlightenment
Movement, opposing divinity by humanity, because they believe
humanity is the incarnation of desire, and the goal of life is the
fulfillment at desire. The attitude of indulging desire led to the
rapid improvement of material civilization of the West, but on the
other hand, resulted in the terrible flooding of worldly desires.
Nowadays, the developed capitalist countries have entered into the
age when desires dominate lives, and the production of subsequent
desires is as fast as or even faster than the appeasement of
previous desires. The excessive consumption of matter makes for
destructive disasters to environment, and the unlimited chase for
sex gives birth to falling apart of families. If the situation of
indulgence continues, people will never step out of the abysm of
desire, and the spiritual paradise of the whole of human will be
destroyed by ourselves.
As a matter of fact, the desire
itself is not faulty, hence reasonable contentment of some basic
desires is necessary and essential, and “elimination of desire” is
extremely merciless. Nevertheless, the deep desire is boundless
and endless, as after one is fulfilled, another produced
naturally, and after the fulfillment, appeared the newer…The
desire is quite difficult to be gratified ultimately. The German
philosopher Schopenhauer ever compared the desire to a
forever-hungry and never-full stomach, or a forever-open mouth.
The pursuit for limitless desire will not only cause the
periodical disappointment after the relative affluence of matter,
but also induce the breakdown of natural and cultural environment.
Accordingly, human will bury them in the sea of desire after all
unless we can contain ourselves. Although desire is the drive of
social development, uninhibited hankering is merely a moment’s
relief or pleasure but can bring never-ending sufferings, just
like drinking poison with the aim of quenching one’s thirst. The
history has witnessed neither of indulgence and mortification
conducive to fit the evolution of social ecosystem, just as Oscar
Wilde put forward, “Extravagance is the same with oppression,
which will both incur punishment. ” As to environment,
mortification causes barrenness, while indulgence induces
ruination, and nothing but moderation can create paradise. As to
economy, mortification causes poverty, while indulgence induces
luxury, and nothing but moderation can create the continuous
prosperity. As to spirit, mortification causes oppression, while
indulgence induces covetousness, and nothing but moderation can
create a healthy mind.
Thus it can be concluded that, the
conception of moderate desire is definitely good medicine which
could effect a radical cure of the social maladies such as desire
flooding and excessive dissipation. In this point, Confucian
conception of moderate desire has a very far–reaching realistic
significance. Therefore, we should enhance and glorify the value
and wisdom of Confucius once again, holding back the flood of
unrestrained desire, putting production and realization of desire
into the rational range, and adjusting the rising rhythm of the
desire chain, so as to achieve the healthy and sustainable
development of human being.
Notes：
[4]
Yang Bojun, The Variorum Analects，Beijing,
China: China
publishing
bureau, 1980. p.16
[5]
Confucius, The Analects, Changsha, China: Yuelu press,
2002, p.106
[8]
Chen Hao, The Variorum Ritual Usages , Shanghai, China: Shanghai
classics publishing house, 1987,p.24.
[9]
Confucius, The Analects , Changsha, China: Yuelu press,
2002,p.28.
This English version is based on the
original in Chinese with some modification and supplement of
notes, which was published in The Eternal Way, Volume 2（2003）edited
by Ju Xi.
