The Way of Harmony in the Four Books

Abstract

This article is to examine the way of harmony that is initiated in the Analects of Confucius, and further elaborated in the other three of the Four Books. It will argue that the Confucian harmony is a philosophy defining the relation between the self and the other and among the elements of the unity, that it is a way of living and behaving that leads to modesty and flexibility, and that it is a moral process starting from the self and reaching the Middle Way. It concludes that the way of harmony is not only theoretically important for Confucian philosophy but also practically significant for Chinese culture because it later became central to the doctrinal foundation on which all philosophical schools operated.

Social Practice of a Career Guidance Project Based on the Wisdom of theClassic of Changes

“…The Classic of Changes reveals in its opening passages the significance of harmony in the ceaseless yin-yang fluxions and transformation of things and situations: ‘The way of heaven/ yang is transformation, so that each thing obtains its own genuine life and is maintained in great harmony (乾道變化, 各正性命, 保合太和; Nelson, 2011). ’ Harmony is a philosophy defining the relations among the elements of the unity in diversity, a way of living and behaving that leads to modesty and flexibility, and a moral process starting from self-examination and reaching the Middle Way (中庸之道; Yao, 2013). Being harmonious ( 和 ) is different from being identical (同).…”

“…Actually, inclusive opposites are the power and energy of the harmonising process in yin-yang philosophy. Through harmonising, elements are brought into a dialectic relationship in which they contradict and yet mutually supplement each other and are thereby constructed in a new relation to form a new unit (Cheng, 2009b; Shen, 2003; Yao, 2013).…”

“…What is the underlying meaning of life of one's career vision? Confucian interpretations of the Classic of Changes are primarily ethical (Yao, 2013). At the individual level, Confucian ethics are about how to realise oneself as fully self-conscious being-for-itself.…”

“…At the relational level, Confucius makes a gentleman (君子) distinctive from a petty person (小人), the former being harmonious but not identical (和而不同), while the latter is the opposite (同而不和). Such harmony is interpreted as the result of principled conciliation with others, in which the morally cultivated person seeks good from others and at the same time exerts good effect on these others, by which a new, interactive and harmonious relationship is established (Yao, 2013). Moral quality demonstrated in the harmonising process is not only descriptive, but also simultaneously a political ideal.…”

“…Two perspectives constitute the Confucian ideal of rulership: inward sageliness and outward kingliness (內聖外王; Liu, J., 2014; Kim, 2012; Yao, 2013). Hanfeizi, the most sophisticated political theorist of Legalism in ancient China, criticised the Confucian political ideal by pointing out that: (1) even within the family, parental love falls short of making the children orderly; and (2) ren as love (仁愛) inevitably confuses what is right/meritorious with what is not, and thus disrupts the legal system.…”