was expected of them. This opened the way to anarchy and chaos. It
should be added that in the Chinese worldview there was no supreme
deity, no universal lawgiver, and no belief in punishment after death.
It was thus up to human beings to construct a human order.
An ordered society, Confucius believed and taught, required
three things: the inculcation of moral qualities; a defined social hier-
archy; and the proper example of those who stood at the apex of
society. The moral qualities Confucius prized included first and
foremost ren, sometimes translated as ‘human-heartedness’ or
‘humaneness’, meaning something like philanthropic benevolence
towards others and concern for their well-being. It became recognised
as the essential quality of Chinese humanism. Other qualities included
filial piety (xiao) and the duties that went with it; loyalty (zhong) to a
principled superior; courage (yong) to act and speak out; righteousness
(yi) expressed particularly in commitment to a just order; reciprocity
(shu); and that combination of intellect and integrity (xian) that is the
essential quality a minister must possess in order to advise his lord as
he should. One who embodied and expressed these qualities was a jun-
zi, a ‘gentleman’ in the ideal Confucian sense of one whose thought
and action reflected his true moral worth. It was the goal of Confucius
and the school of thought he founded to educate and produce such
men, who would provide the moral core of the Chinese social and
political order.^2
Confucius was no democrat. There is never the slightest
notion of social equality in his thinking. For him, the proper and
harmonious ordering of society required the recognition and active
reinforcement of social hierarchy. The jun-ziformed a cultured elite;
but not for a moment should they think of usurping the hereditary
right of rulers to rule. Their duty was to give advice to rulers, not to
become philosopher-kings of the Platonic kind. Such high-principled
men were formed through moral education, which all should under-
take. Candidates were not confined to sons of the aristocracy and
Confucius accepted disciples from all social levels, but the upward
The Chinese view of the world