3i. Julia Ching Confucianism - gallery.its.unimelb.edu.au
Transcript of 3i. Julia Ching Confucianism - gallery.its.unimelb.edu.au
Confucianism and a New World Orderl
byJLtZia Ching(Urhversity of Toronto)
心地的duc震on
Just as the government of・・・a householdis modened on the
gOVernmentofone-sself・・・On aC∞untofsim亜ude,匝he Chinese]
Came t:Oequaもe thenotion ofa staもeto thatof ahouse。rfamily,
With the rderrepresenting the head ofthefamily,thus argthng
byvrtueofananalogyfroma魚milyt。advilsociety.2
The eighteenth-Century German p皿osopher Christian WQll王is correcllin
hisint鏡PretatjbnofChinesepo旺caltheory・Toregardastateasaf:m血yis
in manyrespects topromoteapatriardhyofenHghtened despotism・However,
bo regard a hりZid of nadonsas aiamilyla family of nations,is a d鯖erent
matter・eSpeddllyif the notion of the patriardhal rderis replaced by an
internatjbmalorganisation HketheUnited Nationsandits generalsecretariat,
Wi血itsmodera血8,ratherthan domineering roleininternationalcon鮎cts.
工mention this as an e瀧mple of how Confudan e址csタeSPeCiallyits
po咄cal ethics・is to serve a modern and postmodern wodd order.工址nk
thatitretainsits usefdness,PrOVided weareawarebothofitsinsightsand
Ofits]imita丘ons・The Confudan te虻・the Great Learning says:・・...when the
PerSOnal駈eis cultivated・thefamiユy wiu bein order;When theramnyisin
Order・血esti船W皿bewdLlgovemed;Whenthestateisw壬Ⅱgoverned,there
Win be peacein the wodd.・一
The basicinsightis ∞ntainedin the exhortation to personal seH-
Cultivation・Forthe鬼milyofnationstobe wengovemedtoday,thereisneed
On the part of our globalleaders to unite actjon andintention,and to make
Surethattheintentionarisesoutofaweu-Cultivated personal旺eandaweH-
grounded amm.
」・脇stand艇SまCuIt批dJde南砂aJ~dm提g轟け
1・工Wishto drawattentiontoareeentb∞k,mted施缶onsReft,m:L∞Idhg
Ahead A鹿rn駐y】胎alちed・by Eric Fawce憤‥&Hanna Newcombe.(Toronto:
Sdence for Peace,1997).
2・Christjan Wo雌,一一〇n the Philosopher∴IGng and the RuHng Philosopher,一一
SeClゴon6・SeeJuHa Ching and W劃ard G・0XtOby,馳EhlighSem77ent:
Leibni2and雌on Chiha Monumenta seri∽Monograph Series,n0.26
(Nettetal:Steyler Verlag・1992),p・195・Wo聯・s works were read with
admiration by FrederickIIof PrussiaJthe European EnHghtenment,s model
desp。亡,apatrOn,fdrsometimelOfFrance,sVo止aire,andlikeWo聯afhend
Of Chinese dv遭isation.
East and West both needto re∞gniseinthemselves a historyof selr-
CentrednesS・basedonarighlfulsenseofseH一∞nSdousnesstogetherwithan
lgnOranCe that each had°f the other.
There are pardne]Ls as well as∴d出講erenees between the Chinese and
Western Eur。p鍋n dv址sation・We Eindin China a uniquely∞herent and
integrated dv址saaon,andent yet enduring・Which develCPed more orless
independendy of other dviHsations・W細目ms∞me the∞nSdousness of
unlqueneSS and even superiority,a COnSdousness strengthened by the ract
thatthe Chineseciv址isation鍍tendeditsbene鎚sto thewholeof EastAsia.
And・aSthecentreofitswodd,ChinahadalotAT‥regardforaHthat:iscaHed
foreugn,als。∝Lned barbarian・Thisrecalls thecustominancient Greece,tO
CanIlbarbarian一一whatisnotGreek・ButChinesecdturehasen]Oyedamore
COntinuousandlessinterruptedhistory。Verahrgercontinentln‥Landmass,
andspreadovertoJapan,Koreaandwhatisnowvietnam・Greekculture,by
COntraSt,SerVed more as animpetus Forthan as theactual∞ntent ofwhat
today we call Western dv址sation.3
Andthenthereisthe負gureofConfueiuswhonvedinthesinh一艇ntury
B・C・工ntheWest,P∞pleareaccustomed toanimage ofConfueiusas awise
man Or a sage,teaChing about how to Hve a virtu。uSⅢb,mueh as did
Soeratesin andentGreece・Socratesis regardedasahumanist;in fact,he
WaS∞ndemnedbythestateformisleadingyouth・turningthemawayfromthe
godsoftl遁iriathers・Confuciushadhis ownstrugglesw地thestate,but
diedanaturaldeath・Inawoddwherem亜aryvalourwashighlyesteemed,
heinst=mCtedtheyouthsinsteadintheidealofahumaneperson,Whovalued
moral relatjbnships above alleke・Confudus seld。m diseussed re迫gious
matterSand has always been known as a humanist・工ndeed,hetransfomed
theparticularvirtueof脚,thekindnessthatcharacterisedthemanofhigh
birth,intothe universalvirtueofhumanenessthat madeeveryperson who
PraCtisedit・a 一・gendeman・・or junzi(meraHy,the prhce・s sdon).
Understandably,he distancedhimselffromthe reHgionofantiq庇y,W地its
emphasis on divinadon and sacrifice-→nduding human sacri慮ce,WmChheis
rePOrtedtohavecondemnedinstrongterms・And Confudus●teaclhngof脚
WaS e虻ended to the pomi∞l。rder,Whereit-is de丘ned as benevolent°r
humanegovemment・aSgOVernmentofmoralsuasion,inwhichtheleadergrves
thee粗mPleofpersonalintegrityandsel血essdevotiontothep∞ple.
3・ConsultJuiaChing・ChineseRengiotlS(London・MacminanaOrbis,NewYork,
1993),工ntroduc瞳on.
「 ._‾‾ ノー
The Confudanteaching ofmoralreLationships,definedasth°Sebetween
rulerand subject・parent and ehHd・husbandand wif(㌔e虻erand younger
Sibmgs,andfriends・apPearStOupholdaverticalhierarchyinsocietywhile
urglng for responsib亜y and recIPrOCity・工n many waysit did have this
effectsociaHy・Besides,theChineseviewofthehumanbeingtendstoseethe
PerSOninthecont鉱tOfasoeialnetworkratherthanasanindividual.But
the=burth-tO址rd-Century Mencius(372-289 B・C・)further developed
Confuciuslthoughttoarticuhtehis∞nVietionthateveryhumanbeingeodd
be∞me asage・Imphcitin this d。Ctrineofthe universalaccessib亜y of
Sageh∞d亘ateachingofhumanequaHty・OfwhatwemaycE皿,・・moralequal
OPPOrtunity・,l Andweshould rememberthatbecomingasagewastantamount
tO gaLlnlng the rights to kingship,Sineethe most revered sages were the
Sage-kings of ages past.A
TheteaehingsofConfuciusandMenciushavebeenreveredinChinaand
inEastAslafbrseveralthousandyears・Therearetimelesselements,eVenif
therearealsotime-boundelementsintheset鎗Chings,andifthefeudaland
Patriarchtilsocietyin whieh these devebped alsotended to s曲ethe moral
ereal丘vity wmch gave sueh a v岨fom・Confucianism did not give riseto
PO咄caldespotismortopolygamy・althoughitaeceptedthesysteminwhichit
founditself,Seekingtoe淑dseaninflueneethatwasattimesmoderatingand
at Other times almost revolutionary,by pointing to the source of moral
inspirationinthehumanmindandheart,Whichitregardedtoreflectahigher
mOralforce・IfConfudusandMenciuswereaHvetodaylWehavenoreasonto
mnk that they一一eSPedally Mencius一一WOdd approve of any unjust war,
inhumane government or socialsystem,Since they had condemned suehin
Mendus gave voicetoa doGthnejus也Eyingtyrannidde,dedaring that
k亜nga一一tyrant・・isnotk皿nga・憶ng・当MenciusIB:8)・工nfact,theChinese
WOrd forking(脚g)connotedp岨osophicanythemeaningofag00dking,
eVenanideahking・工nanagewhenthealtarsoftheeaJ重心andgrainsigniry
PO虻calauthority・Mendus●Wordswere;MThep∞ple∞meHrst;theakarsof
theearth and grain固e symbels ofthe state]∞me afterwards;the ruler
∞meS hst(7B:14).一一
MendushasalsoafEimedthateveryone∞nbeaYaoanda Shun.Inso
doing,hehasextendedthepossib亜yofsageh00dtoeveryone・Presumably,
having seen thatactualkings were usuaHy not sagesタMendus and others
4・ConsultJu址Ching・ahineseRelゆonS eh.3-4.
_ ▲ ○‾
J
haveimp通dy rede宣ned both kingship and sageh∞d,When they extend
accessib虹ity to everyone.
The United Nations UniversalDeeLaration on Human Rights says that
humanrights shouldbeprotectedby therdeofhw世]manisnottobe
eOmPelledtohavere∞urse・aSaLastresort㍉tOIでbemonagainsttyrannyand
OpPreSSion・l15 工n the∞Se Of China,there has been an age-dd d00Ehne
regarding thelegidmation ofpower:thatthe ruler rules orhy bya divine
mandate・∽nedthe∴MandateofHeaven伍mmiIlg)・Whichhe∞ddlose by
nhsg。Vernment・工ndeed,the chinese w。rdior revdutionis∴HterE皿y,t:〇
一一removethe Mandate一・(geming).
In aneient china・Heaven was regarded as a pers。nal deity.with
PhHosopHcd evo]山tion,Heaven be∽me a symbol for a transcendent moral
foree・The mandate was s皿assodated with∴it,and rders were s皿
でeSPOnSibletothisHeavenfortheirmannerofgoverning.
And so confucian China shares w地Christian Europe theidea∴C膚
Vicarious authorityin kingsmp・But the doctrine of tyrannidde,Whieh
developed soearlyin China,emerged only mudh]Laterin Europe.Thehte
Sixt鎚nth-Century treertises by an anonymous Huguenot authorand by the
SpanishJes血LLhs Mariana were either pub地y burnt or∞ndemned,
although血ey were to wield enormousi血uence・6 工n China t00,SOme Of
MenduslteachingswereeonsideredinHammatory・ThiswastheopiJhonofthe
fourteenth-Century founderofthe Ming dynasty,Whosoughttodeletefrom
theB∞kofMencius血osepassagesthatapprovedoftyranJhdde.7
ImpHcitinthepo咄cHt鈎。hngscitedaboveisthatgovernmentrestson
POpuhr∞nSent・More expHeitly,the址rd-eentury B・C・Confucian址nker
Xunzi(Hstinセu)Speaks of human beings conhng togetherin sodet:y tO
achievethestrengthandhamony w地outwhich theycannot∞nquerother
beings,PreSumably,thebirdsandbeasts・8 BeIbrehim}the睨h-∞nturyB.C.
址nker,Mozi(Mo-t2m)・already diseussed the origin of sodalauthority
5・WalterLaqueurandBarryRubin,meHuman樹tsReader(NewYork:New
Ameri∽n Library,1989),p.197.
6・工amreierringtothe Vitt虚cae∞17的抽nnw(1579)andtoMariana・sDe
regeetregZsinszjtudotle(1598-99).
7.JuHa
1977),
Ching・∽血。anist77and Ch血出血け(Toky。:KodanshaInternatio血,
p.193.
8・一一TheReguhtionsofaKing・,in槻nTZmBasIc脆dngs,tranS・byBurton
Watson・(NewYork:CQlumbiaUniversityPress,1963),p.46.
_4 _一
through aform ofconsentonthe partofhuman beingswho gathertogether
tO prevent disorderandinjury by theelection of wiseleaders.9
2・弛e耽verseand UぶEco垂井霞むSus虚血ab五秒
From the EastAsian viewpoint,thetraditionalbeHt審has been expressed
in aねmiliaradage describing the hamony underhning Chine鍵thoughtand
eiv址sa丘on;t:hatHeaven andhumanity areone-一物nrenhe重工址erally;Heaven
and the human being join as one)・Itisan adage that has frequendy been
misunderst∞dby血ose whocLaimthattheChinese cannotdistinguishbetween
thetweerders,the divineand the human・Butit∴is an adage thatIbeneve
to have onginatedinthat very mysticand ecsta丘c union between血e human
being andthe possessing deityor∴Spirit・Thiswasthepmeva:LeKpehen健,
the experienceof a shaman・It was neverforgotten・工t has been celebrated
in songs,myths and rituals・ 工t was fomuhted philosophiC塩ny as an
銚preSSionofthecontinuum betweenthe human beingasthemicro∞Sm Ofthe
universe as maerocosm・And址s miero∞Sm-maCrOCOSm∞rreSPOndence has
been basic to most of philosophisingin Cmna・工t was also址e profound
敦Perience of many mystics)Whether Confucian〕Taoist,Or Buddhist.工n Later
ages,Wimincreasing Buddhistinflsuenceタit was also transfomedinto the
philosophical adage一一that An Things are one(脆n一朝LZ yj-tV閥n間 yi勧
represendng more pantheism皿an personaltheism・And this ar丘euhtion of
human harmonywith the∞SmOSis what工beHeve to he atthevery heartof
CHLnese hdSdo虜.
The ConfudanorTaoistviewofnatureis d正EerentfromthatoftheWest.
工t d∞SnOt referto whatis o勧erbo theselS but tothat whidhineludesthe
human self・Natureis n∝af∞tO be∞nquered,a reSOurCetO behamessed.
Natureis mother・and we areit:S〔心血dren・Return to natureisin a sense,
retumtothe eternalwomb・Inthis一一nonduaList,●∞nteXt,both Confuciansand
Taois光S regard the human being as the Hdcro∞Sm Ofthe universe,Which:is
the macrocosm.
This reference to nonduaHty suggests as wen a eertain experiential
dimension of awareness,tranSCending the subjeet一〇bject division.We read
aboutthe similarity of what工Can nature mystidsm t:O the dis∞Very Ofthe
Tao・It:is madein an apophatic(abstract or non-imaL車ng)meditative
PrOCeSSeS,emPtying the mind of an ∞neePtSlimages,and afrections.We
understand this be憤er}When we relLect upon血e e拓ort of∞nCentrationin
meditation・beginrhng with concentration on a certain object,be that,あで
9・l一工dentjLfying with One-S Superiors,・・in Burton Watson,Mt,∴TbLu BasIc
Wr1倍hgs(NewYork:C01umbiaUniversityPress,1963),p.34-35.
日園田漢雪
eXamPle・the act of bre創tlhng,but eonduding possibly with a state of
∞nSCiousnesswheretheinnerfaeultiesofmindandheartareallgatheredat
aPOintof stiuness,beyondthesubje∝一〇bject division.This∞ntraStSl.rith
kataphadcmedit遇tjbn,Whichi島nsthenhndwith∞neePtSOrimages,SuChasin
Christian discursive meditation orin visuaHsation exercises,SuCh as of a
Buddha-image・OrOf theinnerviscera of血ebody and the一一Taoist・一deities
that rulethem・In theLatter∞Se,thatis,Of visma:Lisation●an eXPerience
tranSCending me subject一〇bjecl‥(迫vision may als00ccur as the meditator
identifies himseH orherselrinCreaS注nglyw咄h一心eobjectof meditation,fdr
example,the Buddha-image・
To speak of meditatjbnand spirituaHty may seem a diversionfrom the
Subjeet of eanh e址cs,eXCept that nature draws us to bo血 quiet
COntemplation and,at:times,fearofits awesomepower・Wearenotalways
COmPetent一一eVenthough we seekto dowhatwe can一一tO detertheforcesof
nature when these be∞me fearsome,Whetherin earthquake or voIcanic
eruptions・But we canlearn to respectthese rorces,nOt tO PrOVOke these
iorces,andtoappreeiatea]皿themore,theconsohtionsofnatureinhamony
Withitself and with us.
lIOneness between Heaven and Humanity一一 usuaHy reiers to the
eOrreSPOndenceand harmony betweentwor’迫Ims:thehuman,andthe natural
Or∞Smic・We searchin vainin the Analects andin the chssics for an
銚PHcitarticuhdonofthese four c址esewords・However,themeaningis
impHdt as a pmosophicalpresupposition for severalof these texts,in
ParticulartheAppendixtotheB∞kofChanges一一aCtuallyacommentaryadded
intheearlyHandynasty・Andwe血dinMendusap岨osopmcaldevelopment
血atwemaywdHassodatewiththesewords・WedosoifwerememberdLat
WithMencius,thetem tiaIlOrH鎗Ven has∞metOrepresentmuchmoreofa
tranSCendent monalfbrce,rather than the supreme personal deity血atit
appeared to have been with Confueius.
Foraman to givefuIユnea血sation tohis mind orheart:isfbr him
tO understand his own natureタand a man who knows his own
nat:ure Will know Heaven・By reta血hng his mind or heart and
numringhisnatureheisservingHeaven(Mendus7A;1).10
TheChineseword血7maybetranslatedase虹hermind orheart,OraS
both,Sinceitistheseatofbothintemgenceandwill・工ntheabovepassage,
Mendustalksabout一七ea皿sing・一or,一fuH皿ng一一thenhndorheart}bringingout
10・English transhdon adapted from D・C・Lau,喚ndus(Harmondsworth:
Penguin B∞ks,1970),p.182.
一Ij一
its fupotential・and asserl嚢;that such winlead t:〇一一knowing Heaven・l.In
Otherwords・heisproposingacertaincontinuumbetweenthenhndorheart,
Whichiswi址nus・andHeaven,Which∴wetendto址nkofasoutsideofus,
aSaboveus,andastranscendingus・Ashehasalsosaid,
Themyriad址ngsareallwi址nme・Thereisnogreaterjoyfor
me than to血d,On Se15-e粗minadon・that工am true to myseH.
Thisistheshortestwaytohumaneness(脚)(Mendus7A:4).
▼Themyriad址ngs一一isanothertemあrtheexterioruniverse.Butfbr
Mendus・theuniverseisa:Lsointeriortohumanbeings・工tisbothinsideand
OutSide・bothl吐anseendingourhumanhmit急白onsandyetimmanentinus.The
insightexpressedhaspuzZkd manywesternschClarsandpⅢosophers,Who
haveargued thatwh創ヒtranscends cannot alsobewhatisimmanent.Butit
hasakoservedastheprindpaLfc肥ndationfdrmuchofChinesethought,both
iorLaterfc姐owersofMenciusandforp岨osophic壬ITaoism.
The一,oneness betweenHeaven andhumarmyl-hasbeenatroubmgidea
r(虹・Westernphilosophers・工ts蝕nStOdenytheseparationbetWeenObjectand
Subject・thenaturaland humanorders,theotherandtheseLf,tranSCendenee
andimmanence・Andthatwouldindeed beso,韮thestatementweretakenin
itsliteralsense・EvenChinesephilosophyhaswitnessedanentirespectrum
Of positions regarding thisif溝ue・W地ICer血n thinkers wi址n ConfudLanism
andDaoism(and,later・ChanBuddhism)ravouringthe・・oneness・・,tOthepdnt
Ofalmostdenying一一〇therness,一,andotI蛤rthinkerspreferringmoredistinction,
OreVen COmPlete separation betweenthe naturaland the human.Andthere
arethoseothers who understandthe一一oneness一一in an analogicalmanner,aS
maintaining a disthction between the two realms while pointing out a
rehtionshipofthehumanasmicrocosmtothenaturalasmacrocosm.工shaH
bedwe]岨ngespedallyonthis址rdinterpretation.
Thatthetranscendentisalsoimmanentd∞SnOtnecessarilydestroy血e
meaningoftranseendence・Whatis「beingse庇1isnotperiectidentily,butthe
dis∞VeryOfthetranscendentononeleMel,thatofhuman consciousness,in
the depthofthenhndorheart・工amreferringtoaninsightassodatedwith
myStical∞nSdousness:Whatafburteenth-CenturyWestern址nker,NieoLasof
Cusa,hascalledthe・庖ncidenceofopposites一一,heldingthatthedivinemaybe
dis∞Veredinthehumanheart・Wearenotnecessarilyalsosayingthatthe
divineis present onjyin human∞nSdousness・Thisis aninsight also
develQPedbythesevenfeenth-CenturyGemanphilosopherG・W・Leibniz,Who
一rr1-
SenSedapersona:LamnitywithChinesethought・andwhoseownp岨os°phyof
血emonads hasa織medasimihrinsight.ll
Mencius spokein mystical tems about the oneness of H鎗Ven and
humanity・For him,human beings partidpatein the monaJ.fbrcf∋thatis
Heaven・Tmsise血stentiauyscen aCCOuntofthe qi(air,breath,energy)
that‥isin the universe andin a皿・living beings・And址s qItakes on a
SpeCialmo蝿alchara(賞ierinthecaseofhumanbeings・mOraljudgmentbeingthe
disting血shing markbetWeen humansandanimals.
This‥is not tosay that‥the confucian p皿osophers had no址ng more
SPed缶ctosayaboutec010gicalsustainab亜y・Mendustoldakingthat
IfthemulberryispLantedineveryhomesteadof丘Vemuofland,
thenthosewhoare鞭y∽nWearSilk;ifchickensタplgSanddogs
do not mss tht垂r breeding season・then thosewhoare seventy
∞n eat meat 韮ir eahlot of a hundred muis not deprived of
labourduringthebusyseasons,thenfam址eswith severalmouths
to feed wⅢnot go hungry.12
EIsewhere,he∞mPLains about the over一kgglng Of tr∞S and the over-
pasturing of the mountain:
There was a time when the trees wereluxuriant on the Ox
Mountain・Asitisontheoutskirtsofagreatmet:rOPOHs,thetrees
are∞nStantlylopped byaxes・工sitany wonderthattheyare n°
10nger fine?Wid・the respitelhey getim the day andin the
night・and the moiE出ening by the rain and the dew,thereis
Certaimy nclack of new sh00tS∴eonhng out・But血en the ca出e
and sheep∞meto grazeuponthemountain・Thatiswhyit∴isas
Andso,WemayHndasourceforuniversalhamonyand gbbaletl轟csin
the original,myStical・insight・foundin the Chinese tradj帖ion,but tNithits
Paraudin Western n∞-Phtonist philosophy andin the traditions °f
SPirit:uaHtythat:ithelpedt:OnOurish・工mspeakingoftheunitybetWeenthe
human and the heavemy,be thal‥CZmed divinity}nature,or the Tac.工am
SPeakingof血eonenessofa]皿things,thatunityin whichthewholeurhverse
finds mse虹,inlWhich aH human beings are rehted andinterrehted,aS
ll・ConsultJu虹Ching and Winard G・Oxtoby(eds・),44braIEtl耽tenmetm
Ldbmあand雌on c龍na.
12・MenciusIA;3;inD・C・I・au-stranhtion●p.51.
13・Mencius GA:8;Lau,P・165.
一 8一
Children ofheaven and eal費血,aS SteWardsof natureand ofone another,
Without being separated from natureitsem
3・A融gR地心叡)USneSS伍),Econo血ca融So地Jusdbe
Menciustaughtrentogetherwith」Vi(righteousnessorjustice)・Indoing
SO・hefocusedoftenonissuesregar(nngecononhcandsocialjustice.
Inhisconversadonswithvariousrdersofsmallstates●Menciusappearsoften
tO putthe kings on the deiensive regarding th(垂rluxurious暁-Styles.As
King Huiof:Liang,iore粗mPk,St∞d overa pond,he askedMencius:・庖e
SuCh址ngsenJOyedevenbyag∞dandthseman?一,Theanswerwas:,一〇血y
ifamanisg∞dandwiseisheabletoenJOythem…・工t:WaSbysharingth垂r
enJOyments w虻l the p∞Ple that men of antiquity were able to enjoy
themsdves.一一14
He went on to say:
I,Thereisfat meatin your址chenandthereare weH-fed horsesin your
Stables,yetthep∞Plel∞khungryandintheoutsldrtsofcitiesmendrop
dead fromstarvation・Thisisto showanimalsthe waytodevour men….H
then,One whois∴father and mother to the people cannot…aVOid showing
animals the way to devour men・Wherein‥is he father and mother to the
Throughout:Chinese hist:Ory,enHghtened Confueian o綿dals sought to
bring about more equity among the p∞Ple by Land reformブfrequendy
justifying their measures庇h ancient precedents・The Chinese communist
gOVernment also attempted Land refom on a hge scale・Only to end up
during the C此uralRev01ution(1966-76)by making∞mmunes out of hnd
previouslyredistributed・工nrecentyears,ithasreversedtheproeess.工tis
interestingtopointoutthatthepresent-dayprospe址yofTaiwan∞nalsobe
Partlyatthbutedtosuccessfu]「Landref(比m,undertakeninthesixties.
Suchr{垂ommeasuresusuanyhavetheirr∞tSina∞neernfore∞nOnhc
andsocialjustiee・Whichintumisbasedonaconcernrbrhumanwemre,a
∞neern groundedin the Confudan tradition・As afomerexpert from china
eXP址ned・humanrightsencompasstherightto旺e?e∞nOmierights,POmゴcal
14・MendusIA2;SeeD・C・Lau-stranslationlP・50.
15・MendusIA4;I・auタOp・Cit・lP・52.
■害患雅言
rights,andculturalrights・leWeanknowthatthetalkofhumanrights,and
eVen Of eeonomierights,Win not血any st:OmaCh・Butthe enforeementof
reSpeCtforhumanbeings,theirwelfareandtheirneeds}and,ifwewishto
add,their rights,Ⅷgo along way toenhandng e∞nOmic rights.And
indeed,theenhancementofe∞nOmic重工ghtsisinnowayacontI岨dietiontothe
aCeePtanCeOfmore basiclhuman rights.
Thatc皿ectiverightsaremoreimporhntthanindividualrightshasako
beentheargumentofthecommunistgovernment・∴whodaimstohaveliberated
the∞untryfrom eolonialismandimperiansm・aSWeH・as whatit(血Ds,the
llfeudaHsm-10f past oppressions・However,Whatisin呼起edis often that
individualsshouldbesacriHeedwhenneces甜yfbrthe∝Ⅲe’屯vity,andthat
thoseinpowershoulddeeidewhatisg∞dfor皿atcdHectivity.
AnotherareainwhichConfucianhumanismshowsitsHmitationsregards
theroleofwomen・Theprocessforsubjuga。ngwomentomenbeganbefdre
Confucius,Withl吐iedevelopmentofthepatriarchlkinsmp systemasso。ated
tO theancestralcmltinthe hou period・tOgether with confirmation ofthe
hereditarymaleprincipleinsuccessionstothethrone・Theritualt叔SSPeak
aboutthe一一three obediences・・・Subjecting women to their rathers,then to
husbands・and then to sons during widowh00d・17 Doubdess,Confueius
SuPPOrted the patriarchalcharacter of soeietyin general・He has said:
一一Womenand p∞Pleoflow birtharevery hardtodet血∴with・Ⅱyouare
famiHr融hthem,theygetoutofhand・Ifyoukeepyourdistance,they
reSentitn(Analects17;25)・Wemightnot{∋thatwomenandp∞Pleoflowbirth
Wereboth=eXdudedfromeducation・Andw岨eConfudussoughtto bemore
indusiveinhisteachingof disdpLes,he didnotextendthatprivHegeto
Astoryteus howMasterKongoncepaida visittoaladyinfamousfor
herin∞StuOuSrelationships,Nanzi・thewifeofDukeLingofWei.T址action
makesus址nkhewasnotabovesomepontiddngwitharulerIsinnercourt.
Thatithappened shows thatnoble womeninhisljmes were s皿able to
maintain their軸uses whHe en]Oying their notoriety,eVen reeeiving
unrehted maleguestson血eirown・aSiWenaspowe血Ienoughoverdhdr
SpOuSeSregardingthepossibleemploymentofthesemaleguests.Butthisact
greadydispleasedtl蛤∴diseiple狙u・andledtheMastertosw鎗r(址erany;
16・YuHaoeheng・=OnHumanRightsandTheirGuaranteebyLaw,一一in雌hael
C・Davis(ed・)・HumanRigh缶andChin明地ues弓ei助Ph鵬cphi血andP舶calPe櫛Pee慶ves(HongKong:OxrordUniversitypress,1995),P.99.
17・慮一曲Cheng-Chq8:9b.
副四国
Withan arrow),一一IfIhave doneanythingimproper,mayHeaven・scurse beon
me・may Heaven-s curse beon me!・・(6:28).18
Whatdidtheoathmean?Inmyopinion・itwasomyasocialvisit,aS血e
晩sterwasaboveingratjdting himseHsexuaHywitharuler,sspouse,Whidら
aiteran・WOuld beapunishableerime・Butthe question wasofpropriety,
andKongdefendedhimselfon血atground,Whichdemonstratesara血erbroad
Viewofpermissiblesocialinteractionbetweenmenandwomen.
Wi址ntheframeworkofConfucian址nking,theindividualwasregarded
alwaysasamemberofamuchmoreimportant・largergrouplbethatf吐milyor
SOefety・The gender quesdon cons址uted血erefore part and parcelof a
larger∞mplexofquestionsinvdvingtheFiveRelationships・
If we e粕rnine Confucfan texts,We actually find吐血e tneatlnentOf the
POSitionofwomenandtheirobHgations・Butitistheh咄e we do丘ndthat
makes animportant:difrerenee・For example,the Book of Changes was for
ageSPaStanimportanttextforp岨osophicalre”eCtion・ThereltheHe瀧gramS
Qian・(Heaven)and Kun,(Earth)representrespectivelytheyangandtheyh
forces,andtheseintumrepresentthemaleandthefemale・Thuswomanis
tOmanaseart:histoHeaven,10Wlyandinferior,Weakandreceptive.
Meneiusemphasised that human natureis onginally good,andthereIbre
perrectible・Hetaughtthateveryperson∞ddbecomeasage(Mendus6B:2).
Logictmy,the teaclhng has served to strengthen a basic beHt妻in human
equality・regardless of dass or even gender distinetions.Mendus also
emphasisedthatthe tab∞betweenthesexesshould notpreventamanfr°m
helpingtoreseueadrowrmgwoman,SuChasmssister-inJLaw・Letusquote
the eonversadon(Mencius4A:17):l一工sittherdethatmalesandfemalesarenottotoucheach
Otherin givingorreeeivinganything?一一一一工tis the rule.一一
IIIramanlssister-in-LawisdrowningタShouldhestretchhis
hand to rescue her?一・IIHewhowouldnotrescuesuehadrowningwomanisa
beast・Whileitisthe gene離ilruJethatmalesand
remalesnott:OuCheacho血eringllTlngOrreCeiving,itis
aparZjculare粗genCytOStretehone-s handtorescuea
drowning sisteで-in-hw.”
18・The translationis from D・C・Lau・匠ans・),Ccm血dus:Tne AnaIecfs
(Harmondsworth:Penguin B∞ks・1979),P・85・On thepointof血eoath_
taking・∞nSukArthurWaley,(trans・)・meAnaIeczsofCbnmdus(Lond°n:
Allen&Unwin,1938),Pp.240-1.
一日一
ーI2 _
工n址s way・human Heand dignity-ゼ鵬manLsHe and dignity一一WaS
placed beiore rituallaw・On balance・however,the position of women
∞ntinuedtoweakenasconfucianismgainedascendaney・Andit-WOuldfurther
deterioratein hter ages,Withl址emergence of the necdonfucian
p岨osophers・Theconfuciantradition,iore粗mPk}hasalwaysemphasisedthe
importanceofkeepingthebodying∞dfbm,aSa宣岨responsetothegj駈
Ofonelsparentsandancestors・Butfewconfucianpmosophersberorethe
tWentieth(捨nturypr。teSted the customoff∞t-bin’迫ng whichso defomed
WOmen,afIecting not othy t:hdr personal healt:h,but also th亡く迂their
C皿dren・WhiLeiWOmenwereneverfbmany鉱duded・fromthe咄dhgsof
Confucfanhumanism,theywerenonethelessexdudedfrommanyofitsbeneEits,
includingthoseofaiormaleduGal邑on.19
W地thepassageof time,and astheestabHshed sch∞lofthought,
ConfuciaJtismt00konmoreandmore也Lerigidityofid∞logy・Thepositionof
WOmen continued to dechne,Whenever thisid∞logy wasin force.The
eleven仕LCGmturypl血OsopherchengYiisespeeianyrememberedforhaving
Saidthatjtisbettertos出光Vethantoremrry,WhichiswhatZhu粗(Chu
Hsi)reiteratedirlLt1時tWel托heentury・Afteran・・Tostarvetodeatl:しisa
Verysmallmatter,butt01oseone-svirtueisaveryseriousmatter.,・20 And
ZhuXit∞kCheng-sideasseriouslyenoughtowritetoadis。pletourgehim
tO∴counse]「hisl心dowedyoungersisternottoremarry・Hecontinues:
…1etherunderstand thal[justaswhenadynastyfa皿S;I凸記
nthister must remainloyaL so t∞・・・the widow must remain
Chaste…・Fromthepopuhrpointorview,tIhsist:r血yunreaHstic,
butin the eyes ofa gendeman who knows theく址遁Sies,and
understandsprinciples,this言issomethingthatcannotchange.2l
Confuciansodetydidofferafewprotecti’mSforwomen,preSCribing∵that
aWirecoddnotbedivorcedirshehadnohometoreturnto,irshehad
19・工nthisrespect・WeaCCePtthefactthatdespiteConfucius●personale的rts
andthoseofmanyofhis最mowers,educadonremained mailJyditistin
traditionalChina,and appears stinl的be suchin maihhnd China,On
aCCOuntoftherebdngiewschodsandsmanenrohents.
20・ConsultEhJhtmgquanshu(CompLet遁WorksoftheTwoChengs),SPPYed.;
擁shu(Surviving works),22B:3a.
21・Lettert。Chenshizhong・inZhubftmgong鵬tm(CQlleetedWritingsofZhu
Xi)Subu beiyao ed・・26:26b-27a;Consult∴WingセitChan,αね「.礁藍焼野
S蝕王底(Honol血:U血versity ofHawaiiPress,1989),P・540.Menwere
Permittedtodivorcetl議連r、diVesfbranyofsevenreasons:disobeyingthe
parentS-inJLaw・nOtbearingason・adultery,jealousy・ineurablesickness,
excessive tZnkativeness,Ormeft.
一 「ユー
Pertbmedthrt詮yearsofmourthngforaparent-in-law・OrifthefiLJrmyhad
risenfrompovertyorahumblestationtowealthandahighstationafterthe
工ntheorderofnature・thehusband-Wiferelationshippreeedeseventhat
Ofthefat:her-SOn・andcertajhLy・tlmtoftherder-Subject・Intheorderof
SOCidLreauties,however,therdationshipofd咋rWifetothehusbandwasaHer
aHpatternedonthatofl曲LeministertothesovereHn・Aftersungtim諺,
C址esehist:OrywitnessedaninGrt差出ngcentrahsationofstat:eP°Werinthe
handsoftheruler・Whoregardedhisministersasservantsratherthanas
Partners,justasthewomen ofhis haremwereallrhsconcubines.Few
tnrall‘1′、+1._1(∴∴」___」 ⊥_intieHectuals daredtocridcisesuch asystem,
introdueedinthetwentietheentury.
Andtheexperieneeofwomenwasinmany
Werethemselvessubjecttofathersandrulers,
becameincreasingly・・coHectivisedl・without
individualscaughtintheweb・And Confucian
in the same web,Serldng theinterests of the
draineditofits humanisticcontent.
While real Changes were only
WayS Shared by the men,Who
in a patriarchalsodety which
O播ering protection to the
humanism was Hkewise caught
abs01ute state・Which slowly
4・Beingmlmane(托n力Re印eCfingHumanRighB
TheUnit:ed NadonsDedarationon HumanRights,induding apreamble
andsome30Artkゴes,WaS drafledverymuchundertl喪主influenceofthe
Westernnations,inparticuhrtheurhtedStatesofAmerim,attheendofthe
SecondWorldWar・Thesodalandeconomic-rightswereindudedverymuch
attheinsistenceofthecommu血stnations・W址h・however)didnotbe∞me
SHnatOries・Therehasbeen,understandably,discussionandargumentasto
Whetherthestatementofrights∴representsawestern conceptualeonstmct
With]imitedappHcab亜y,OrWhetheritoffersasohdcoreofprindplesthat
deservetherespectofanpeoplesandgovernments・工shanbediseussing
SOmeoftheseproblemshter・butofrerthosepartsoftheDedLaLradonthat工
havequotedasemplesofwhatisconsideredtobetheconでentSOfhuman
rights・Andtheserightsas●●hghts・・areak〕COnSidered一一inthewest一一aS
universalandinaHenable,tObeenJOyedequanybyallwh。arehuman,VJithout
WhichtheyiCannotnvea蝿deemedtObefuy一●humanl・.
And here arises our problem・Is human rightS maiIuy a Western
idedogictnexport(toaccompanyitstradedelegations)b01st:eredbysubde
--.i一一〇一一.-.“一一一.“---
22・Chan,ChuH立言暁憤StudieSp.539.
/ つ ‾
CkhmsofWesternpoliticalandc址uralsuperiority?一Whatvahditycanitdalm
tohaveinnon-Westernculturessuchasinthechinese?
Thereisa problem,iorexample・Withthe word一五ghts・・:nOt justin
Cmesetranslation・butalsoin westernlanguages・Atfirstsight,thetem
repreSentSleganyprote(賞遅den咄ementsofindividualsinsociety・Andmany
have血einやmSSicm言出LatCertainrightstakenforgrantedaLreaSaCredlegaey
from the past.
We turn now to the term・・human=∴∴S丸nce by hu脚rjghts,We are
refbrringtothe吐ghtsofhumanbeings・一▼IshaHnotdwenonthedefi咄on
Of ahuman being,Sinceeven tms∴coddbe eontroversial・Depending on
Whetherwe optforthebiological(rorexample・thefuHgenedc code),the
Philosophical(rationaHty・freeⅧ・SeH-COnSCiousness),OrSOmeOthermodel,
therewillとnwaysbe problemsregardingtheboundary血es・Fore粗mPle,
PeOPlequestionwhetherfetuses,Ortheeomatose,Shouldbe∞nSideredhuman.
工wouldHketodescribehumanrightsasaereatureofrecentbirthwith
afaihylonghneage・Itsmotheris的eralmoralandpo岨ealphilosophy一一the
FrenehEnhghtenment andHberalEnglish址nking,amOngOther址ngs;its
iatherisinternadonalニLaw・W岨eitsnhdwiieisrevolution‥firsttheRevolution
OfAmerican工ndependeneeand thenthe FrenchRepub造nRev01u五〇nofthe
hte eighteenth∴century・Sueh papers as the Ameri∽n Dedaration of
工ndependenceandthe French Dedarationofme Right:SOf Manandofthe
Citizen,maybeeonsidereditsbilthcertificate一⊥・heensuingBimofRights
that becameincorporatedin many national∞nStitutions woddwide,and
eSPeCiany theurhted NationsuniversdDedaration ofHuman Rights(1948),
nhght bedescribed asitsintroduction to highsociety・Butits ancestry
indudes further back,Stoic∞neePtS Of natural・lawand the traditionsof
RomandvilニLawon血econ血entandoftheAnglo-Saxon∞mmonlawtothe
eXtent:thattheselentprotectiontotherightsofcitjzensandofindividuak.23
Faisthechinese wordforLaw・agraphwithawaterradiGalandwhat
COudbeamythicalarhmal,htersymboheofjustice・aSasemantic∞mponent.
Itsetymologyisdiificdt・butitrepresentsatranscendentorder・24∴Auegedly,
inanandentriteorordeal,abullwaspresentedtot]峡∋a山遇rOfthegodof
23・Therearemanyb00ksonhumanrights・Fore地mPleタEugeneKamenkaand
AHce Erh-S∞n Tay,ed・・Humam∴RighiEs(London:Edward ArnQld,1978),
indudesinternationalcontributionsfromp岨osophersandlegalexperts.
24・For亀seeHsdChin-hsiung・Zbomg1匹Ogu地shehui脚zyぜremeIxue
de toushi(Aneient chinese sodety:An Exanhnation of writing and
Anthrop010gy)・Revisededition(Taipei・CommerdalPress,1995),PP.542-3.
一14-
the s血,。Ver whichlustrations were sprinkled・The contestants then read
theiroathsofinnocence・Whiehthegu址ypartywasunabletofinish,andwas
gored to death by the bun.25
Itisinteresting that a mythicalanimalinstimng a sense of fearin
COnteStantSOr旺gantsshoddserveasasymbolofjus丘ce・Jusdce,itwodd
Seem,inspiresfearintheunjust・eSPeCianyinthosewhoseek,Withoutmerit,
tO take advantage of the system・Perhaps,it-is not surprising that the
ChinesehavetraditionaHy anduntHourown daysavoided thelaweourtsin
th(重rsearchfdrcon址ctresolution,PreferringtoavoidiCOn批ct,Oratleast,tO
丘nd arbitration t00VerCOme∞nfLict.
What thelegendary ordeal dIso revedsislhat血e contestants are
SOmehowpresumedg血tyunlessprovedinnocent,WHchimposesnotonlythe
burdenofpr∞f,butalsothetaint:Ofsuspiciononthosewhocontestanissue
Orare detained bytheauthohtiesforaHegedo播ences.
工nancienttexts,鬼designatesthelawofHe盟VentOWhichsagesl00kup,
Whereas another word,XI重gir With a knife radical,Signifiespena]Llaw.And
While血e ancient concept:Of hw wasinterpret:ed as belonglng to血e
tranSCendentorder,Confucian soeietyregardeditseHasbeinggovernedmore
byli(址eraHy,htual・Or址ualLaw)・atemr∞tedin andentreHgion,and
PreSuminga distinetionbetweennob亜yand∞mmOnerS・Limay bedescribed
alsoascustomary・unCOdifiedhw,internalised byindividuals,andgoverning
gentkmenin their personaland socialHvesタin their behaviour toward the
SPiritsaswenastherestof血eworld・Forthatreason,lihas血eextended
諾S誓書嵩rh=慧e器r・A芸S蓋嵩慧霊業educa五〇ninthe rites,Onethatpreparedthe youngnobkts]brⅢe・みon
the other hand・referred to ritual customs,Selected and cod追ed,Which
becameapenalcode,tObeappHedespeciallyto commonerswhohad not也e
Phvilege of a htual educa丘on.
咽ottodount00therswhatyouwodd nothavethem dotoyou.,,This
hstme,COming缶om Confuciushims亜・hasbeencaHed血enegaBveG01den
Rule governing mor。]腫ら But hotATit∴is to be appHedin di]旺erent
dreumstances∞n血uesto beapuzzle・Whatiflheindividual∴負ndshimseH
Or herseHin con紐ct between responsib亜y toward the kinship group and
reSpOnSib址tytowardthestat:e?Howshouldonech00Se?
25・Joseph Needham(ed・)・Sdence and鮮血isadon jn China vQl・2,P.205,
especiaHy note a.
_七一
∴Once told by apubhc‘飼Eidalabout a young man who testifiedagi正nst
his£ath鎌,Who had stolen a sheep,C。nfueius repHed:l-In our vimge・・・,
自thers ∞Ver uP for their sonsl and sons eover up for thelr鬼thersl一
(Andec鯵13:18).
This answer has been perple,dng to mny western schohrs,Who are
astonished to see confucius-en∞uragement of deviousness,and∞neerned
ab。utthe protection ofone-s ramilyasthe sourcet正many pr°blemsin how
SOCiety・relatesit駒elftpthestate・CertaimylSuCh astatementappears na董ve
in the∞SeOfs。meOne Who wantedto serve government)∞n hardlyendear
血espeakerto anyruer,and d∞S nOteXemP駈yany kindoffaudal‥LoyalCy
°n the part of Cdnfucius.
That Confueius notomy saidit,but sfhd soto ahigho縦cialタisvery
relevant・工tisindic告白veof血epriorityofnaturalrelationshipsovera唖eial
Or∞ntraetualones・In the∞urSe。f time,aS the∞untry beGame unified,
andas the state eentraHsedaH powersinits own hands●SOdety∞dd s皿
resIst the st:atels ener00dhmentsinithe name of kinship duties,Whidh the
State,ironically●Often had to support.
工nitsemphasis。ntheunionbetWeenthemoralandthelegtnorders,血e
Chinese traditjbn has su駈used melegalredm with a moral coneern dedved
Rlm Confueian philosophy,WHehis(艇ntered on the universal virtueof脚
(humanity or benevolenee)・血e pracIEiee of wmch renders a person
perfecdy humane.
But」ifineipientideas ofhuman equaHtyand popuhrsovereignty arose
Veryeahyin CHn鎧ethought,theydid notl鎗d toapdLiticalstrueturewhidh
prOteCtS human rights・The twentiethく遁ntury has not seen the proper
developmentoftheinstitutions dfparticipatory demoeraey which∞uld assure
human rightsin China・Unfort:unately,the dangerremainsthatomyanother
Violent revClu邑on∞dd●一ree髄y一一the situationタand so鬼r,reVOlutions have
°nlyrepla∞d onesetbrruHngelitewith anotherset.
me U通ed Nations Dedaration phees prmaryinpOr由nce on every
itlCZi融ualbhumandignity,andthesancBtyofhuman出も 工nCmna,tradition
daims血at anancient sageking reirainedfroma warofconquest wil士Lthe
WOrds:llエwould notshed thebl∞d。foneinnocenthuman beingevenifthat
∞血dgainmetheworld・一一 WhetherthatwasaetuaHysaidisnotsoimportant,
be∞uSe the beZiefin the truth of the statement shows how・import:ant One
individualhumanlilもwasregardedthroughtheages.
一高一
The evolution oflawin China may be described as the devol櫨otl°f
ritual(mintClaw(ia)and oflawintopunishment・26 Forthis reason,hwis
regardedashavingplayedamairnypenalrolein Chinesesociety●prOteCting
therights oftherulersandenjoirhng passiveobe(nenceonthepart ofthe
Subjects・Untjn boday・the Chinese fearlaw,because hw has been an
arbitraryinstmmentinthehandsoftherulers・Throughouthistory,Chinese
law served pubHcinterestonlyinsofarasitalsoserved theinterestsofthe
Eveninapo旺caldespotism,POWerisabsoluteonlyinth∞ry・Andmany
Werethe chtics(痛powerabusesintraditionalChina●indudingthosein the
innercirdes ofp。Weritsdi・Therewere akoothervoices,Of一,dissidents当
intenectut丸leaders・I・Ongalterthe色meofMendus,Cri丘quesofpowerwere
incでeasingly made obHquely orin secret・A sevent鍵nth-Century址nker,
Huang Zongxi,Wen known as a philosopher andintenectual historian,
COndemnedtherders forregardingtht垂rdomainsas theirprivateproperty,
andthdrsubjectsastheirservantsandslaves・Heproposedth:rt]鼠W(自)be
estabnshedfortheinterestofallratherthanofthefewタandthatgovemment
be bylaws rather than human beings・And he denouneed those Laws that
enslave peopLe as,.unlawful Laws・・.27
Unfortunatelyfor China・Huang,sideasdidnotgetthesamerecep丘onas
iorexample・John Locke-sin seventeenth-Century Enghndand beyond.But;
Grantedthehistoricanyalien eharacterofthe∞nCePtOfhumanrights,∞uld
We Stillargue the vali址y of extendingit to the Chinesesituation,On the
basisthatthereisenoughintheculturethat∞uldacceptit?
工n the post-Chhsdan West,meral humanism,beginning as∴ia reVOIt
againsttheism,and eventuanyinnuendng many beHeversinGod,haso播ered
a climate of openness for the assertion and discussion of umversal moral
Values・工n China,Where a westernideology,Marhst-Lenirhsm}nOnhnany
reigns as absolute dogma,the popuhtjbn remembers a native humanist
traditiongoingbackmorethantwomillenniatoConfudus∴andeven鎗rlier.
Leading twentieth-Century Chinese phnosophers Hving outside Cmna,
When∋theybreathe afresherair,haveagr鉾dthattraditionalChinesec咄ure
26・Consult Sa Meng-Wu・Zhongguo丘BZ血I∴丘ixiamg(Chinese Thinking °n
GovernmentbyLaw)(Taibei:Yenb。Press,1978).
27・See MiIlgyidaiZをng ju,Subu beiya。ed追on,Ch・1-3;Eng・tranS.by Wm.
Th∞dorede Bary・胞dng丘Lr統eDa肌A Ph関わr功ePriIICe(NewYork:
Celumbia University Press,1993).
一宮一
COntainl-seeds・・forconeeptshkesdence∴anddemocracywhichhavecomemore
directlyfromthewest・Iamreferringtosuchpersons,HkeCarsunchang,
MouTsung-San・Tangchtin-iandHstiFu-kuan.28
Inthewest・thedevelopment=OfhumanrightSalsoreflectstl記growthof
individuansminthel曲ieOryandpracticeofsociety・Sod亜stshaveehticised
its development,andaskedexphcitlyforeconomicandsoeid・rights.But
PreSumably,Communistchinafduowedthepでeeedentofthesovietunionas
WeH as of the chinese Repubhc of1911in eventuany glVlngitself a
COnStitution・Chinahaspromukatedseveralconstitutions・threetimes(1954,
1975・1978)betbre1982・Thisreflectsaneffortto血dasuitableinstrument
forlegitimation・Sinee each eons址utionlost珊h唖y through the
nOnObservance of the partyin poweで・StjH・theimpressionis・tI珪it a
gOVernmentshotmehstfortheprotecB的Of叡epeQfue鳴Lig由Es・Sothe1982
COnS址ution glVeS dueregardtothe・一eitizens,freedomofspeeeh,Ofthe
PreSS,Of assembly,Of associationM∴and even desehbessuch freedom as
llinviohble・,・工nfact・We∞ncomparethe1982ccnstitutionvJiththeUnited
NaもOnsuniversalDedarationartidebyarti。e,andfindrealparaHeLs.29
5・A施お皿ofPeace(缶重めg)
Confudusgatheredabouthimsdfasmangroupofdisdples}manyOf
Whomsharedhislife・traVelsandtribuhtions・(ContemporaryschoLarsdispute
thetraditionalnumberofthreethousand,andpreferasmaHerfigure,Perhaps
SeVenty-tWO・)工ntheirnhdst・hewasafatherlyHgure,eVenifsomeofthe
discipkswereonJafewyearsyoungerthanhimseH,andafewwereeven
OHer・Hepraetised whatmaybecaHed theartofspiritualgLhdance,
GhortinghisifC姐owerstomoderateth’∋∈淑iCeSSeSOftheirtemperamentsby
Ce地neffortsofseHcontIblaidedbythepracticeofself-reI鰭mination.He
givesthisgeneraladviee‥一一Whenyoumeetsomeonebetterl曲ianyourseH,址nk
aboutem血tinghim・Whenyoumeetsomeonenotasg∞dasyourself,l∞k
insideandexi蘭rhneyourownsem・(Analeets4:17).
28・Cons庇・・AManifestO氏洋theReappraisalofSinClQgyandReconstmetionof
Cmnese c庇ure・一●in carsun chang,meDevekpmentof胸-Cbtm由n
Thought(NewYork・1963),VOl・2,Appendix.
29・Arti〈ユes35∴&370fthe1982ccnstitution・Consult∴Jt止iaching・PrlDbihg
α山地′sso血Re軸,P地場地軸血加地p短R印批(S竺Franciseo:HarperをRow,1990).0.168_ Hn,.,,3、,ハ_ 《《__.____,_〟”LdLJ-LJふいLjU:narPer&Row・1990)・P・168・However,CertHn
ea亜erwerestruckout,SuChastherightforworkersto
right of aihng grievances on waH posters andで一子ヽ↑-章一とゝl二▼ヽ/ヽ●ヽ′う(.〟、__ ′「_COrreSPOndenee・Consult also Andrew∴Nathan,一IPoH邑ciil
C址neseconstitutions,・・inR・RandleEdwardsetaz・(ed.),
Ccmz創岬OratyChina(NewYork;ColumbiaUniversityPress,
一 言一
rights pe咄ed
Strike,and the
Of privacy in
Rights in the
Hu収まか輯鰹jh1986),p.79.
Moral education was confucius-chier∞nCern・He∽nnOt be described
Simplyas a paei丘st・He talked aboutthe need of giving the pe°Ple moral
training for aslong as seven years・beSoreleading them to war(Analects
13:29)・Notdoingso・andyettakingthemtowar,aCCOrdingtohim,WOddbe
Simplyabandoningthep∞Ple(13:30)・Menciusaddedthat
Confudusrejeetedthosewhodotheirbesttowagewaで...
[We noticethat]in wars toacqdreterritory,d鎗d bodiesf粗Ithe
Plains…・De虻h∴its{吐F:is t∞ Hght a punishment for war_
mOngerS・(Mendus AA:15.)
Meneius∴eOndemned King HuiofLiangasaruthless man,Wh〇・一senthis
peOPletowar,makingpulpofthem・forthesakeofgairhngfurtherterritory一一
(7B:1)・Mencius…鵡sosaidthatnoneofthemanywarsでecordedsupposedlyby
ConfudusintheSpring-AutumnAnnals一一COVeringtheyears722t0481B.C.in
thesmanstateofLu・Which・WaSConfudus・homestate一一Werejustwars(7B:2).
Itshowsthathis standardsforwhatwodd beajustwarwas veryhigh
The United Nations Declaration places primaryimportance on every
indi融ua彊humandigrhty・andthesanctityofhumanlilbInChina,tradi五〇n
Claimsthat anandent sageking refrainedfroma warofeonquest w弛Lthe
WOrds:ll工woudnotshedthebl∞dofoneinnoeenthumanbeingevenifthat
COddgainmetheworld・・・WhetherthatwasactuaHysaid‥isnotsoimportant,
be∞uSethe benefin吐e truth ofthe statementshows how・important one
individualhumanliEewasregardedthroughtheages.
Confucian:ism has∴∴SOmetimes been deseribed as an e出血fc・吐adidon.
ActuaHy,ithasalwayshadauniversaHstthrust,SinQeitisat∞reanethieal
humanism・An today,itsi岨uenceis manifestin the entire East Asia,
Stretchingfrom china to Korea・Japan,and Vietnam・In his own days,
Confudus had no aversionあrother p∞Ples・工nd鍵d●heonce expressed a
desiretose咄eamongthe・・barbariantribesoftI唯=eaSt・一一Whensom∞neasked,
llHowcanyouputupwith血eirun∞uthways?・一hisanswerwassimply,一一Ifa
gentleman was∴(。:live withlhem・What‥un∞uthnesswinthere be?当Analects
Cmnese utopianideas have usuanyfoeused on time ratherthan phce.
The chinese view of time has been usuany described as cydieal and
backward-1∞king,aSShowninthepreferred一一utopian・,descriptionofaGolden
Past・eSPeCiauyfoundintheSectioncfmedLiJ沌n(EvolutionofRites)fromthe
B∞k ofRit:eS,Whichspeaks ofaremote past,When the一一wohd belongedto
au,一・CalledtheGreatunity(d副抽mg)・andatimeafterthatmledbydm∋early
○′- i t .一′
khgs・CanedtheLesserProsperity(虹okang)・ThisConfucianvisionofpeace
and universalharmonyisespedallya咄butedtoConfucius:
When the Great Waywas pmqEised,the world wasshared byall
aHke・The worthy and able were promoted t00綿ce and au
practised g∞d EEmh and Hvedin a癒ection…・The age found a
fittingdosetotheir∵Hves,therobusttheiremployment;they。ung
Were PrOVided with an upbhnging and the widow and widower,
the。rPhm and the sick・gOt PrOPer∽re…・This preduded
COnSpiraciestodoevil,aSWeuaS址evesand rebelsタW皿ep∞Pk
COddleavetheirhouse gates unboked・工twastheageof Great
TheSpring-AutumnAnnalswasamoreheonictext・工twaselab。ratedby
a narrative commentary・meAnnaZs cf鴎and a cateehetical∞mmentary,
theGongyang,favouritecommentaryoftheanegoricalsch00l・FouC而ngupon
thep皿。SOPherDongZhongshu・ssuggestions・theseholarHeShiu(129-82BC)
eLaboratedonthe一皿ree Agesl・theory・Whi。L dilddedthe242yearscovered
bytheSpring-AutumnAnnalsinlblhreegroups:theLatestyearswerethose
perSOnaHywtnessed byConfudus・andthen,gdngbackward,Camethosethat
he heard of through oral testjmony,and those hel鎗rnt of through
tranSmitted records・31These一一Three Ages,・Were subsequently describedin
Chron01ogical・Order as those of Disorder・Approadhhg Peace,and Universal
Peace(taiping).
Many r’連bmersin hist:Ory had wanted to restore the age of Lesser
Prosperity,and a few visionaries evenl∞ked back to
thellThreeAges,一th∞ry haspresented thepossib亜y
into the futurein a different way;by daiming the
tmTOugh mstory,thus prodaiming a morelinear view
tem・ZIaZping・Or the great:Or universalpeace,eametO
Wenasadreamoranidealtoberealisedthroughg∞d
the Great Unity.But
Of projee瞳ng the past
POSSibility of progress
Of timeitself. This
Signify peaceitSelf as
gOVernment.
Both Dong Zhongshu and He Shiu belonged to the
Whieh had much t01erance for apoeryphal nt:erature,
in鼠ueneeinproda址ngth垂rfLamboyantreading ofthe
Were reSurrectedin the Late nineteenth-eentury by the
and reiomer Kang Yuweiwho promoted their一一utopian一一
30・Eng・tranS・adapted from w・T・de Bary}ed.,Sources
(ColumbiaUniversity Press,1960),P.191.
31・Dong Zhongshu・CJ九mqiu」島nlu,eh・1;Fung YuTlan,rl十〇__?1_ _ _ _ 〃_
Modem Seript sch∞l
and sought pdLitical
dassies.Theirideas
controversiiLI schohr
the°des to advance
Of C血血ese Tradj筋on
A」亜鏡n聾′ Of C鷹nesePhi血坤Ph男tranS・byDerkBodde・(PrincetonuniersityPress,1953),VOl.2,
‾ ‾‾‾くつ ‾ ‾ ‾“●‾-‾7 -● ‾“i”Oi-′〇一〇ノーノ’ 」教ふ ヽノ■〇〇m■12:>t
p.81.
tL-亭主_ニ
ー 20 _
his own sodo-pOhticH agenda一一anedeetic,Confucian,BuddHst,andeven
anarchistvisionofauniversalhumancommunity.
Theproblemwas:TraditionalChinesep{址ticaltlmughtalwaysassumed
mh〇十∴rh′、.、_._(1___ ____ ..thatmonarchywas me bestfomof
Pastofsage-kingswh。anegedlyruled・C。五言三言言霊yL芸。=::;
benevolentmonarehsandhadnousefortyrants・butconfudanministt賞SWere
unabletokeeptyrantsfromtt唯日出LrOne・Therewereehangesinthedynastic
CyClebuttheindividualswhoacquiredpoweriWereoftenofthewrongkind,
eVeniftheydidsointhenameoftheMandateofHeaven・工ntheHghtof
eVentS,this doctrine be髄me underst∞d by manyas a kind ofhistorical
determinismgoverningthe】riseandfa110fpo亜caldynasdes・Besides,the
Sage-kingidealdidnotbringwith‥itacaref皿yarticuhtedprogrammefor
g∞dgovernment・Theconfucian虹・theInstitutesofChou,PreSumedto
COntainamodelforg∞dgovernment・○播ersmaimyanideaHsedbureaucraey.
T∞muchwasexpededofthepersonaLe址calquamieSOfthesage-king,and
t∞址dewasdonetoregulatehisrule・anOtherreasonfortheidefntobeeome
ageneralisedendorsementofbenevolentdespotism.
Why wasit∴thtthe chinese had veryearlyarticulatedideasabout
humandignityandequaHty,butwereunabletoestab軸apd田島ct丑system
that would proteet tmsく坤印Lity and equaHy?This question has b甜
trOubmg the∴minds of many contemporary chineseintenectuals.The
disintegrationoffeudaHminwesternEuropewaseventuany脚Owedbythe
emPOWermentofthepropertiedchsses,Whoseassertionsoftheirownrights
eVentuallJrCOnthbutedtotheext:enSionofHkerightstothewholepop血tion.
工n China・however,a SyStem of feudaHsm started very early and was
disintegratingbytl唯rtimeofconfueiusandMendus・工tcametoafomalend
WhenthecountrywasuniHedbytheswordundertheFirstEmperor,ahated
despotwhoburntb∞ksandburiedsclmlars(C・213B.C.).
Ineontrastwit:h∴WesternEurope・POWerin chinabecameincreasingly
eentraHsedin the hands ofthe monarch,rather than shared.A titled
aristocracywasstrongduringthedmsicdperiod,atthetimeofConfucius
andMencius,Whenthe∞untrywasdividedintofeudalstates・Itspowers
andprivnegeswerethendiss0lvedbyasuspidousabsoht:emOnarehy,neVer
tObesuccessf皿yrestored・Agovernment-∞ntrouededucationsystemanda
CivHserviceexaminationpromotedtheprindpleofmerit・Whilemonopolising
thesupplyofbureaucrats・Whoweremereadvisorsandadnmstrators,and,
aSthepropertied class・neVerthr鎗tened rebemon・EventuaHy,eVenthe
POSitionoftheprimemiIhster・lNTaSabo亜edinthefourteenthe’mtury,SOthat
一ユ\一
gOVernment・aSitl∞ked back to a Golden
pOWer-Sharingatthetop occurredmoreo紅en舶eunuehsthan融
eOmPetentministers・Therewasneveranindependentjudidary・amOugha
CensorateservedtOChannelpQlicycriticisms.
Theconfuciandoctrineofbenevolentgovernmentfromabovewasnot
Sufficienttoguaranteetherightsofthesubjeetsbelow・andthepopumon
WaSinstructedmoretoservesocialharmonythantoasserttheirownrights.
Powerwasmorecommonlywrestedfromonepartybyanother・throughwars
andrebemons・Startedinturnbythem曲数Ye址eorbythesociauy
deprivedwhohadno址ngtolose・工twasnotproperly(迫stributedand
Ofeourse,democratiewesternEuropeisinmanywaysan馳Ptionon
thegeopoHEicln‥LandmassorEurasLa・andintheworldasawhole,in
aChievingdemocraticinstitudonsafteramereperiodofnearlytwothousand
yearS・Even血ere・itdidnothappenovernight・AndtheproeessevoIved
fromthestrugglefortherightsofthenoblesandpropertied,tOthatforthe
rightsofall・∴正Chinadidnotdevelqplikeins址utionsearlier,COuldsheat
least,aCCePttheimportaneeofhumanrightsasaconceptanddeveIqpthe
I址nkthatphilosophersHkeMenciusandHuangzongxidemonstratethat
thechineseintenectualtraditbnwasweHpreparedfmaeceptingwestern
ideasregardin8日thelegalprotectionofhumanrights・馳nessthe〔出Fdrtsof
inteHectuahinthehtermetmthandeahytwentietheenturywhosoughttoSeeureaeonstituti(malfbImofgovernment,Hrstunderamon的hy,andthen
underarepubHc・Theire縦庇S鬼ilednotsomuehbe剛Sethel/Were
introdueingideaseonsideredaHen・butratherbe剛Sethe∞untrY、wasnot
Pernmed bytheoutsidepowers・bothth(∋WestandJapan,tOevQlve
Beforethecommunistst00koverpower・andinspiteofgreatoddsand
manyimperkdons・theRepubncofChinahadmadehamgprogressw油hits
judieiarysystem・Today・Wecan慮ndencouragementinthoseEastAsian
COu咄esandregionswheretherecordhasimpr。Vedvasdy・eVeniritiss皿
nOtperfe億∴∴wehaveinmindthesitua丘onsinJapan(wherethepost-War
Constit咄onisAmerimn-inspired)・andmorereeendyinsouth∴Koreaand
Taiwan,WhichhaveaHbeenin軋en∞dbythe龍遇d血ngsofconfucian
humanism・Thesecountriesandregionshaveexperieneedrapidecononhc
mOdernisat:ion・aCeOmpaniedbydemocratisationandthemore∞nscientious
enaCtmentandobservanceofhumanrightslegislations・TaiwanタWhichalso
Ca皿sitse虹theRepubHcofchinakabastionofChinesecLnture,distinetfrom
H。ngKongwhichhasbemaBritishcolony,andisonlynowe}中任rimenting
・一一 ュユ‾
- GZ -
」二田二°_
庇hademo的ticlegishtivestructurewhiehthemaihLand governmenthas
threatenedt:Odismantle,andfromsingapore・aneX-BritisheolonywhichHkes
tO Claimits own form of partidpatory democracy under a one-Party
HasthewisdomofChinayets。me址ngtQeHerustoday一一tOChina,and
Myownanswerisa∝mtiousYes・Wherechinaiscon敬ned,Withl曲Le
understandingalsothatl曲Lereisasyet咄eotherculturaloptionavaihbk.
工ntherecentpast,Chinesehumanismhasbeentestedbytheinvasionof
Westernvalues・PuriHedbythefiresofrevolution,andchaHengedbythe
ideoIogyofMarxism-Lerhnism・N010ngerorthodoxorestab血ed,Confucianiism
hasoncemorebecomeadiffusedteachingratherthanastatesystem.駈h
Self-e}鞄minabonandseH-C亜cism・itmayyetfindnew旺e,With∴whiehto
reinvlgOrateatotteringciviHsation・Anditwilldos00myinaplura軸e
SOCiety,aSOneschoolamongmanyothers・thewayitwaswhenconfudus
himselfwasa皿veandt鎗Ching.
WheretherestoIEthe∴worldisconeerned一一eSPeCieⅢywherethewest,
WhichhassochangedChina-sdestiny・isconeerned一一Chinesehumanismhas
Perhapsalsoafew址ngst00ffer:What:SOmepeoplecallfem血yvaluesand
WOrke址e・butwhatmaymoresimplybedeseribedasdisdpHneandtolerance
andanewharmony・Chineseobserversofthewesthavealsopointedout
Whatthewestco血dlearnfromtheEast・Fore測Ple・theyHnd∝eSSive
individ田並ism,a咄giousspiritpromotingcon舶ratherthanhamony,and
eSpedallyinthe-Jn血edStates,anunaCeeptablyhighcrimerat’ゝ∴∴Thereis
akanincr鎗SinggapbetWeentheriehandthepoorincapit=皿st:SOCieties,a
mOnOPOlyofpoliticenele’血oncamp独gnsbythosewhocanafbrdthem,andthe
SOdaldeprivation ofvariousnm。rities・32 wi址n chinaタand庇ho斑cial
tOlerance・reHgionsandspirituaHtjieShavebeenenjoyingam五五一reVivalof
SOrtSduringthereeentde∞des・Andtheancientartofqig(mgOrChinese
yOga・PrOmoting the urhty of body and sp亜・has been reeognised
increasinglyasaheaHngresource・Thepeaceftn・disdpmed,andthriving
SOCj定tjesinEastAsiancountriesoutsideofChina碇hverydensepopuhtions
demonstratethepeopLetsenseofso血harmony・EastAsiansvaluewhat
トトくさ17 ′、.つll L.。._______theycZ皿humaneness,Orhumanwarmth,Whichthey血dladkingin
Wherehumannelatibnshipshavelostapersonaltouch・EastAsians a SyStem
are dso
32・ConsultKishoreMahbubani,一ITheDangersofDecadenoe:lWhattheRestcan
TtjaChthewest・・・Ebr唾nA・範217℃72(Sept・/Oct・,1993),pP.10-14.
一2うー
ー 9 -