Confucius What It Means To Be A Superior Person Analysis

What Does It Mean to be a Superior Person? Despite humanity 's flaws and failures, Confucius still saw hope for people. He dedicated his life to trying to possess all the virtues and cultural practices, and trying to convince others to follow his lead. He hoped that his attempts would save humanity and put them back on the path to the Way. According to Confucius, one could achieve the Way through devotion to traditional cultural forms. One who has eventually mastered all these forms is said to be a gentleman and they now possess the virtue of ren. Ren is described as goodness, or caring for others, and for those who have mastered the Way, ren has become a second nature to them. In this paper I will discuss what it means to be a gentlemen, …show more content…
He also says that the gentleman inspires others to follow his moral actions and “if the gentleman is kind to his relatives, the people will be inspired toward ren.” (Analects pg.23, 8.2). A gentleman is someone who creates a civilized society where there is no “uncouthness.” They instruct others in the art of ritual practice and music to help them on their path to the Way, and their words never exceed their actions. The title "gentleman" belongs to someone who focuses on self-cultivation in order to benefit others and “bring peace to people”(Analects pg. 40, 14.44). The gentleman is a virtuous person who remains in adversity because they possess genuine virtue, doing the right thing in difficult situations. Although possessing virtue goes beyond doing the right thing, their values and motivation must also be in line. Even a gentleman needs to have balance; having too much of something can affect the outcome of something else. “A gentleman who possessed courage but lacked a sense of rightness would create great disorder.”(Analects pg. 46,