Five Classics (not "Confucian" until the 20th c. search for Christian counterparts; also technically not &quo

1. Five Classics (not "Confucian" until the 20th c. search for Christian counterparts; also technically not "canons" if "canons" means "fixed texts") 1. Odes(Shijing詩經), also called the Book of Poetry or the Book of Songs 2. Documents (Shujing書經), also called the Book of History 3. Rites classics, three texts: the Yili儀禮 [earliest], or Ceremonial; the Liji禮記 (best known now), or Rites Records; and the Zhouli周禮, or Rites of Zhou. 4. Chunqiu春秋, or Annals (the Spring and Autumn Annals), only work ascribed to Kongzi/Confucius. 5. Yijing/I ching易經, or Classics of Changes, the divination text.

2. Old Duke古公 Danfu, ultimate ancestor of the Zhou, symbol of the power of self-possession and ceding 1. Bodies and geographic bodies (the "body politic") are permeable. 2. They are also expandable, since they depend upon flow and change. 3. Neither the body nor the state is the "possession of one man"; both are held in trust for others. 4. Order emanates from a stable center attuned to the changing social and cosmic patterns. In the body, that stable center is the heart, or xin, and in the state, it is the ruler. Stability is won through deliberate activities and powerful suasive examples. 5. Boundaries exist mainly for ritual reasons, to demarcate super-sacred space. 6. Such ritual boundaries, like social hierarchies, played a limited role as auxiliary supports to the twin centers of the heart and ruler. 7. True power rests upon the steady buildup of one's moral merits, not upon one's possessions. 8. No possession is intrinsically good or lucky. Only proper use of possessions for constructive ends can confer benefits and blessings. Sharing tends to the good.

3. King Wen文 of Zhou, "pre-dynastic founder" who dies ca. 1050 BC 1. marriage to a good woman is celebrated in the first ode of the Odes entitled "Guanju"; 2. service as "Western Protector" for the last Shang king, who is not worth such loyalty; 3. imprisonment at Youli, where King Wen turns bad fortune into good and writes part of the Yijing; 4. builder of pleasure parks and towers, who shares them with the people.

4. Duke of Zhou (chief exemplar for Kongzi, fl. ca. 1050 BC) • accused of treason, • he is, in fact, the one person who has offered his very life for the stability of the new dynasty (in exchange for the life of the desperately ill King Wu). moral of the story: secret virtue is the right model for officials

5. Great Plan/Hong fan 鴻範 • Heaven helps the ruler, aiding them to be harmonious among themselves and with the cosmos; the story of Kun, who tried to damn up the River, vs. Yu the Great, who quelled the floods by a different method; then the Five Resources paralleled by the Five Human Capacities (bodily demeanor; speech; sight; hearing; thinking. • Government must pay attention to: (1) food, (2) creation of sufficient means; (3) sacrifices; (4-7), and last (8) the army. • Sovereign Perfection: The ruler "concentrates in his own person the five sources of pleasure and then distributes them to the multitude of the people. The ruler shows himself to be preoccupied with excellent behavior; he sees that the disadvantaged will not only not be mistreated, but helped to prosper. Officials will be appointed because they epitomize right behavior. The ruler is, in effect, the parent of the people. • Government, above all, is impartial, in administering justice and handing out offices. • There are three modes of government: the Middle Way for most; strong rule for the violent; mild rule towards those who have distinguished themselves. • How to rule when there are doubts: consult different groups. (The ruler does not rule on his own. The ancestors appear in two modes of divination, tortoise and yarrow; ministers, officers, and common people are also consulted. The ruler has no more "weight" in the deliberations than the common people OR the bureaucracy (ministers and officers). • Five Blessings & Six Misfortunes: The Five Blessings are long life, [sufficient] wealth, health (mind and body), concern with virtue, and a good end. The Six Misfortunes = short life, sickness, distress in mind, poverty, evildoing, weakness.

6. Yao, Shun, and Yu(figures mentioned later, but put earlier in time) • Yao in the "Canon of Yao" = perfect ruler of the cosmos (see Nylan's book). • Shun: perfectly filial son, who "knows men" and employs good people when he ascends to power (Gao Yao = his minister; Yu the flood-queller = his successor). • Yu: epitome of "public virtue over familial care"; one who "works and worry" because sages work on behalf of others.

7. Gao Yao, known for his good counsel "Effect a generous kindness and nice observance of distinctions among the nine branches of kin." Then the ruler's influence will extend from near to far. "From Heaven comes the social duties, each with their distinctive obligations." The ruler is to epitomize a balance of virtuous attitudes. Ex: his mildness is to be tempered by resolution when something needs doing, and his martial valor, by uprightness, so that his warlike impulses only serve the Right. Beyond that, the ruler must avoid indolence (even its appearance). The ruler's first duties are to (a) know men (be able to discern distinctive capacities and failings of each); and (b) be generous to others. In that way, he can obviate the worst sort of problems.

8. on punishments/penal law "It is not Heaven who deals with men in a biased manner; it is men who ruin themselves!" Everything dealing with punishments should hit a due Mean. Intention is to be factored into judgments; the powerful are not to go scot free. When there is doubt, the accused is to go free, for it is better to free a guilty person than to kill or maim an innocent person. Above all, those in high places must take responsibility for the crimes of those below.

9. Fu Xi/Bao Xi, primeval ruler(last to be mentioned in the early texts) Fu Xi/Bao Xi (looked up, looked down) to discern the patterns of the cosmos. Seeing and hearing clearly = the keys to good bodily life and the good body politic. As the Yijing says, an appreciation of the workings of the cosmos provides the basis for efficacious action in the human realm. The model is selfless Heaven, that distributes light and life to all below. Humans are in what Ames calls a "co-creative relationship with the world around us," where there is no dichotomy between nature and culture.