The Golden Rule Of Confucianism

The Golden Rule for Confucianism according to the Analects is, “What I do not wish men to do to me, I also wish not to do to men” (Lau V: XI). In other words do onto others what you would like to be done to you. That is that one of the central ideas of Confucianism, which can teach men to be a gentleman or Nobel person. Rather than someone coming from a Nobel social class, they are taught to be a Nobel person. It’s interesting how the Master says, “At first my way with men was to hear their words, and give them credit for their conduct. Now my way is to hear their words, and look at their conduct” (Lau V: IX). It seems like he is saying people will say things, things to make them sound like great workers and overall people, but words are just …show more content…
An important concept for them to believe and follow would be the Five Great Relationships, which would ultimately help the government and society run smoother. A gentleman needs to have a heart of virtue and no worry, he must be knowledgeable and wise without perplexity, and be brave yet have no fear. He should be able to acknowledge faults within himself and improve. A gentleman should want to create harmony, but not follow other men blindly. Actions speak louder than words, so a gentleman should choose his words carefully, but act quickly. His words shouldn’t speak louder than his actions. A gentleman should be at peace and calm, but never appear arrogant. Gentleman are to help others do good, he should convey himself with modesty, and achieve righteousness through faithfulness. A gentleman is seeking the truth, he is not seeking earthly objects, or even food. “A superior man cannot be known in little matters; but he may be in trusted with great concerns. The small man may not be in trusted with great concerns, but he may be known in little matters” (Lau XV: XXXIII). A superior man may not be familiar with small details, but he can be trusted with something larger, or of more value, unlike the small man. The small man is out to seek comfort rather than virtue. The small man is not the goal Confucius wants the men to strive for, yet most do because it is a road …show more content…
I see no real faults in him, in the least if someone attempted to follow the vast amount of ‘rules’ he would in turn be a better person. Some of the rules would be difficult, almost near impossible for the average person to perform every day. Let alone, a lot of people would just disagree to some of the viewpoints. I know people personally who would turn down the Five Great Relationships because they don’t believe anyone should be higher than another, while the gentleman might exercise them on a daily basis. I feel like I couldn’t find much information on the smaller man, but I suppose he would just be and do the opposite of everything the Nobel man does. Confusions wasn’t a fan of the social classes and hierarchy, then why would he call the men he is transforming Nobel men? Nobel still implies power over others. So it confuses me on how he can say the gentleman should practice the Five Great Relationships, but Confucius isn’t much for social classes. Maybe he could have gone into more detail in why it was such an issue to be a small man, I wouldn’t think that it would particularly make you a bad person. Possibly not a great contributor to society or others, but I am not sure how selfish that would really make a