NEW SCHOOLS 181
were not able to read his books, he would have to practice "quiet sitting and
preservation (or concentration) of the mind" (chongjwa chonsim).4^0
The key Confucian term for this approach to learning was "seriousness"
(kyong), defined by Yu as keeping one's mind under strict control at all times,
as if one were conducting a rite at an ancestral shrine or having a formal inter-
view with one's father or ruler. If one's mind were serious on the inside, then
the external manifestation would be a correct appearance in clothing and deport-
ment' respect in all actions, and the utmost filial piety.
On the requirements of filial behavior Yu left nothing to chance, spelling out
in great detail the actions required of the filial son and the norms of behavior in
most social situations: choosing and associating with friends, interacting with
members of the family at home, entertaining guests according to age and sta-
tus, providing mutual aid to members of the village community, and demon-
strating loyalty and true-heartedness toward all, especially government
authorities. In school the student was to rectify and polish himself, at home or
in the outside world to act in accordance with Heaven's principles and strive to
abandon private desires. Moral theory always had to be carried out in action,
and strict conformity with rules and procedures was required at all school rites
- lining up in the proper order, kowtowing and bowing in the proper way and
in the correct sequence.4'
School regulations thus pertained to every facet of life whether in or out of
school, and the most serious violations were transgressions of moral standards
of behavior, more reprehensible than poor scholarship. Of a list of about two
dozen reasons for disciplinary action against students, only one pertained to inat-
tention to studies. The rest included poor deportment, mendacity, lack of sin-
cerity toward one's father, disrespectfulness toward a teacher, insulting superiors,
seeking favors from influential people, involvement in disputes and lawsuits,
gambling, association with prostitutes, disruptive behavior in the local com-
munity, violation of funeral and ancestral rituals, failure to pay taxes or to obey
the law. Belief in heterodox doctrines was, of course, proscribed as well. Vio-
lation of these norms would earn the student a demerit and a lowering of his
seating position in class. Serious cases were to be treated by expulsion from the
study hall or dormitory and suspension for a year or two. If a recalcitrant stu-
dent failed to improve, he would be dismissed and enrolled for military service.^42
Yu's puritanical disdain for any form of frivolity was also revealed in his sharp
criticism of current practices of hazing successful examination passers and asso-
ciating with denizens of the gay quarters. The usual practice was to lead new
degree-holders "around the streets for three days of revelry" visiting singers
and musicians. Congratulatory parties were held to which actors, singers, and
puppeteers were invited, and established officials subjected the new degree-hold-
ers to severe hazing, "treating the newcomers as if they were animals." Yu dis-
dained these customs as vestiges of northern barbarian (Mongol or Manchu?)
influence. Furthermore, the contemporary examination celebrations were held
ostensibly in honor of the successful degree-holder's father, but in fact these
