Following

the Dao
Week 3: The Analects, Fate, and Effort

Overview
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Housekeeping
Recap
Learning
Fate and fatalism
Fatalism in the Analects?

Housekeeping
Tutorials
Moodle discussion forum

Overview
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Housekeeping
Recap
Learning
Fate and fatalism
Fatalism in the Analects?

Recap

Background to the Analects

Virtue
Family
Today:
o Learning
o Start talking about fate and fatalism

Overview
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Housekeeping
Recap
Learning
Fate and fatalism
Fatalism in the Analects?

Learning

The Master said, I transmit but do not innovate.

(7.1)
Everyone agrees this isnt exactly true!
But it does indicate the stress placed on learning
and on tradition
We become better largely by learning the lessons
of the past, as transmitted in ancient texts
Especially: by learning about ancient sages and
worthies

Learning

The Master said, If one learns from others but does not
think, one will be bewildered. If, on the other hand, one
thinks but does not learn from others, one will be in peril.
(2.15)
si (thinking) vs. xue (learning, studying)

The Master said, I once spent all day thinking without

taking food and all night thinking without going to bed, but
I found that I gained nothing from it. It would have been
better for me to have spent the time in learning. (15.31)

Work

The Master said, As in the case of making a

mound, if, before the very last basketful, I stop,
then I shall have stopped. As in the case of leveling
the ground, if, though tipping only one basketful, I
am going forward, then I shall be making progress.
(9.19)

Work

The Master said, At fifteen I set my heart on

learning; at thirty I took my stand; at forty I came to
be free from doubts; at fifty I understood the Decree
of Heaven; at sixty my ear was attuned; at seventy I
followed my hearts desire without overstepping the
line. (2.4)

Work

The Master said, Grant me a few more years so

that I may study at the age of fifty and I shall be
free from major errors. (7.17)
Translation issue: likely hes saying that with fifty
more years to study

Confucius as learner

The Master said, Quietly to store up knowledge in

my mind, to learn without flagging, to teach without
growing weary, these present me with no
difficulties. (7.2)

Confucius as learner

The Governor of She asked Zilu about Confucius.

Zilu did not answer. The Master said, Why did you
not simply say something to this effect: he is the
sort of man who forgets to eat when he tries to
solve a problem that has been driving him to
distraction, who is so full of joy that he forgets his
worries and who does not notice the onset of old
age. (7.19)

Confucius as learner

The Master said, In a hamlet of ten households,

there are bound to be those who are my equal in
doing their best for others and in being trustworthy
in what they say, but they are unlikely to be as
eager to learn as I am. (5.28)

The Master said, I transmit but do not innovate; I

am truthful in what I say and devoted to antiquity.
(7.1)

Confucius as learner

The Master said, I was not born with knowledge

but, being fond of antiquity, I am quick to seek it.
(7.20)

The Master said, There are presumably men who

innovate without possessing knowledge, but that is
not a fault I have. I use my ears widely and follow
what is good in what I have heard; I use my eyes
widely and retain what I have seen in my mind. This
constitutes a lower level of knowledge. (7.28)

Good students

Zigong said, Poor without being obsequious,

wealthy without being arrogant. What do you think
of this saying?
The Master said, That will do, but better still Poor
yet delighting in the Way, wealthy yet observant of
the rites. (1.15)

Good students

Zigong said, The Odes say, Like bone cut, like horn
polished, like jade carved, like stone ground. Is not
what you have said a case in point?
The Master said, Si, only with a man like you can
one discuss the Odes. Tell such a man something
and he can see its relevance to what he has not
been told. (1.16)

Good students

The Master said, I never enlighten anyone who has

not been driven to distraction by trying to
understand a difficulty or who has not got into a
frenzy trying to put his ideas into words. When I
have pointed out one corner of a square to anyone
and he does not come back with the other three, I
will not point it out to him a second time. (7.8)

Yan Hui
A model student!

The Master said to Zigong, Who is the better man, you

or Hui?
How dare I compare myself with Hui? When he is told
one thing he understands ten. When I am told one thing
I understand only two.
The Master said, You are not as good as he is. Neither
of us is as good as he is. (5.9)

Yan Hui

The Master said, I can speak to Hui all day without

his disagreeing with me in any way. Thus he would
seem to be stupid. However, when I take a closer
look at what he does in private after he has
withdrawn from my presence, I discover that it
does, in fact, throw light on what I said. Hui is not
stupid after all. (2.9)

Self-cultivation

The Master said, One cannot but give assent to

exemplary words, but what is important is that one
should rectify oneself. One cannot but be pleased
with tactful words, but what is important is that one
should reform oneself. I can do nothing with the
man who gives assent but does not rectify himself
or the man who is pleased but does not reform
himself. (9.24)

Self-cultivation

Zengzi said, Every day I examine myself on three

counts. In what I have undertaken on anothers
behalf, have I failed to do my best? In my dealings
with my friends have I failed to be trustworthy in
what I say? Have I passed on to others anything
that I have not tried out myself? (1.4)

Self-cultivation

The Master said, When you meet someone better

than yourself, turn your thoughts to becoming his
equal. When you meet someone not as good as you
are, look within and examine your own self. (4.17)

Self-cultivation

The Master said, Even when walking in the

company of two other men, I am bound to be able
to learn from them. The good points of the one I
copy; the bad points of the other I correct in
myself. (7.22)

Weakness

The Master said, Faced with what is right, to

leave it undone shows a lack of courage. (2.24)

The Master said, It is these things that cause me

concern: failure to cultivate virtue, failure to go
more deeply into what I have learned, inability,
when I am told what is right, to move to where it is,
and inability to reform myself when I have defects.
(7.3)

Weakness

Ran Qiu said, It is not that I am not pleased with

your way, but rather that my strength gives out.
The Master said, A man whose strength gives out
collapses along the course (dao ). In your case
you set the limits beforehand. (6.12)

Weakness

Zai Yu was in bed in the daytime. The Master said,

A piece of rotten wood cannot be carved, nor can a
wall of dried dung be trowelled. As far as Yu is
concerned what is the use of condemning him?
(5.10)

Overview
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Housekeeping
Recap
Learning
Fate and fatalism
Fatalism in the Analects?

Fate (Ming )
Literally: command
Generally: things outside your control
o Normatively: what you should do
o Descriptively: things that happen regardless of what you do

Usually seen as issuing from heaven (tian ):

tianming, the Mandate of Heaven
But: sometimes these are implicitly distinguished
o Tian: a force for good
o Ming: morally neutral; why bad things happen to good people

Ming was especially associated with your lifespan,

as if heaven allots each person a certain number
of years to live, and at the end of their ming, they
die

Fatalism
In the early Chinese context, fatalism is the view
that important aspects of our lives are settled by
mingthat is, they are outside of our control
In particular, it says that many important
outcomes are outside our control: things will turn
out that way no matter what we do
Fatalists said that ming was responsible for such
things as: how long you live, how wealthy you
are, how successful you are in politics

Fatalism and determinism

Fatalism is distinct from determinism
o Determinism: everything we do is fixed in advance
o Fatalism: it may not be fixed in advance what we will do, but no matter
what we do, it will lead to the same outcomes

Confucians and
Mohists on fate
As well see, the Mohists argued vigorously that
there is no fate
And they claimed that Confucians believed in fate:

They also insist that there is fate, arguing, A long or

short life, poverty or wealth, safety or danger, order or
disorder---these inherently have tian ming, they
cannot be reduced or increased. Failure or success,
reward or punishment, good or bad fortune---these are
fixed, peoples wisdom and strength can do nothing
about them. (Mozi, Book 39)

Confucian fatalism?
Many scholars think the Mohists were wrong to
consider Confucians fatalists
Butwell see that this is a complicated issue

Overview
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Housekeeping
Recap
Learning
Fate and fatalism
Fatalism in the Analects?

The death of Yan Hui

When Duke Ai asked which of his disciples was eager to learn,

Confucius answered, There was one Yan Hui who was eager
to learn. He did not vent his anger upon an innocent person,
nor did he make the same mistake twice. Unfortunately his
ming was a short one and he died. Now there is no one. No
one eager to learn has come to my notice. (6.3)
Lau translates ming as allotted span here
This appeals to ming to explain an event that does not
make moral sense (why bad things happen to good people)
See also 11.7 (also about Yan Hui) and 6.10 (about another
follower, Boniu)

Bad things
Those passages do not really sound like fatalism
unless admitting that sometimes people get sick or
die for no reason is fatalism
They dont even try to explain away the fact that bad
things sometimes happen to good people
o Saying that its because of ming is a bit like saying it happened for no reason
o Contrast: they got sick or died because of Heaven

If this is the view that the Mohists attacked, too bad

for the Mohists
Now Ill present an argument that there really is
something like fatalism in the Analects. (Its similar to
the one given in the reading by Perkins)
o Dont just trust me! Think about how you would read these passages

Wealth, fate, and virtue

Sima Niu appeared worried, saying, All men have brothers, I

alone have none. Zixia said, I have heard it said: life and
death are a matter of ming; wealth and honour depend on
Heaven. The gentleman is reverent and does nothing amiss, is
respectful towards others and observant of the rites, and all
within the four seas are his brothers. What need is there for the
gentleman to worry about not having any brothers? (12.5)
Notice: heaven and ming are equivalent here
The point: you cant control how long youll live or how
wealthy or honoured youll be, so dont worry about those
Worry about virtue, about being a gentleman

What to worry about

The Master said, Do not worry because you have no

official position. Worry about your qualifications. Do not
worry because no one appreciates your abilities. Seek
to be worthy of appreciation. (4.14)

The Master said, It is not the failure of others to

appreciate your abilities that should trouble you, but
rather your failure to appreciate theirs. (1.16)
The main idea: worry about your own character, not
about what other people think about you

What to worry about

Sima Niu asked about the gentleman. The Master said,

The gentleman is free from worries and fears. In that
case, can a man be said to be a gentleman simply
because he is free from worries and fears? The Master
said, If, on examining himself, a man finds nothing to
reproach himself for, what worries and fears can he
have? (12.4)
The only thing to worry about is whether you have
anything to reproach yourself with
Implicitly: its your character thats important, not
success

What to worry about

The contrast in these passages has been between
your own character, on the one hand, and
material and social success, on the other
It sounds like theyre saying: care more about
morality than about self-interest
But: remember that the aim is to gain political
power or influence in order to bring virtue to
government
Not being concerned with success means not
being concerned with being able to make things
better for people

Filial piety as governing

We saw this passage last time:

Someone said to Confucius, Why do you not take part in

government? The Master said, The Book of History says,
Oh! Simply by being a good son and friendly to his
brothers a man can exert influence on government. In so
doing a man is, in fact, taking part in government. How can
there be any question of his having actively to take part in
government? (2.21)
Even if you do not have power or official influence, if you
are virtuous, that counts
So: no need to worry about getting an official position

Confucius

The Master said, In unstinted effort I can compare with others,

but in being a practising gentleman I have had, as yet, no
success. (7.33)

Zigong said, If you had a piece of beautiful jade here, would you
put it away safely in a box or would you try to sell it for a good
price? The Master said, Of course I would sell it. Of course I
would sell it. All I am waiting for is the right offer. (9.13)
Confucius is explaining why he has not taken an official post,
and says: its because I have not had the right sort of offer yet
What would be the right sort of offer?

When to show yourself

The Master said, Have the firm faith to devote yourself to

learning, and abide to the death in the good way. Enter not
a state that is in peril; stay not in a state that is in danger.
Show yourself when the Way prevails in the Empire, but
hide yourself when it does not. It is a shameful matter to
be poor and humble when the Way prevails in the state.
Equally, it is a shameful matter to be rich and noble when
the Way falls into disuse in the state. (8.13)
Only take part in government when its already going
well? Dont try to do anything to make it better?

Perkins reading
In the assigned secondary reading, Frank Perkins ends with an
interesting suggestion
A lot of what the Analects has to say about success and
failure and fate makes a lot of sense on a personal levela
lot of things really are out of our control, and often were
better off focusing on things that we can directly affect
And you can imagine Confucius counselling his followers this
way
But: once you raise these ideas to the status of a general
doctrine, it does start sounding like youre saying that people
shouldnt worry about contributing to society, they should
just worry about themselves
So: maybe the Mohist arguments that Confucians were
fatalists werent so far off after all