Moral Code Of Confucianism

Confucianism was one of the many ideas to come out of the “Hundred Schools of Thought.” Each intellectual way of thinking had one goal and that was to bring peace to the Warring States and unify all of China. Confucianism tried to take a very peaceful way of ending the war by making the people believe that one should follow a strict moral code. This moral code is called the ‘Junzi” or the “The Gentlemen.” The junzi was meant to have men act good towards one another by insuring that it was the only way to be successful. But what if Confucius was not trying to make the perfect man but make a man that could push Confucius’s ideas through the government? Confucius exploited the junzi by making them subjects that would be placed in government to …show more content…
It was a new idea for the government and it gave men a quick answer to being powerful and rich. They could turn to the Confucianism to answer questions about their future. Confucius tells his followers that, “Riches and honors are things people desire; but if one obtains them by not following the Way, then one will not be able to hold them.” (Sourcebook, 20) Confucius is telling his followers that if they want power and a long lasting position in government then he must follow the Way. The Way is a way of life one should live which is interpreted by Confucius. So Confucius gets to tell them how exactly the Way affects their lives. He instills fear into them saying that if they do not follow his ideas that they will lose their power and wealth. Another example of this is when Confucius says “The gentleman concerns himself with the Way; he does not worry about his salary.” (Sourcebook, 18) One is meant to believe that following the Way means that they’ll become successful, almost carrying the believer through their career. But the Way doesn’t have any power in the getting a job. It is used as a tool to have the members of Confucianism believe that they will eventually become powerful. He goes on to tell them not to worry about salary showing them that not everyone is guaranteed to be great. There will always be hope hanging over the people that one day they will obtain some wealth and power. …show more content…
With the faith of wealth and power riding on the follower’s minds Confucius would be able to control them by pushing his thinking into the government. Confucius tells his followers of the junzi that “The gentleman reveres three things. He reveres the mandate of Heaven; he revers great people; and he reveres the words of the sages.” (Sourcebook, 18) This quote shows that Confucius told the junzi to listen to three things, the heavens, great people who follow the Confucianism and high officials within Confucianism. The mandate of heaven can be changed by the interpretation of the leaders of Confucianism. The junzi can only follow the mandate of heaven if the Confucius teaching agree with him. So once the ruler does something not in line with Confucianism teaching, the junzi can go against him and bring to power someone who does. To believe and respect great people the junzi would have to believe in people who think the same way they do. This means that the junzi will only associate himself with people who they see fit their beliefs. Within the group of great people there are no new ideas that are brought up. They become blinded by one way of thinking and their ideas become factual just because they have little outside voices or criticism in what they are doing. The last person Confucius says they should worry about is the sages. These sages were