Analect Three - The lack of virtue of kindness

[ChiDragon]

子曰：「巧言令色，鮮矣仁！」

孔子說：“花言巧語，一副討好人的臉色，這樣的人是很少有仁德的。”

Confucius said: "Those whom are using blandishments with a gratifying face; this kind of people are seldom have any virtue of kindness."

Edited November 15, 2012 by ChiDragon

[manitou]

Well, first I had to look up 'blandishments'. somehow in all my 66 years of existence this word had never come to my notice.

 

This stands to reason. If someone is enticing or attempting to convince someone of something (and puposefully doing so with a gratifying face) this is a salesman. The person who knows doesn't speak. the person who speaks doesn't know. If someone is trying to entice someone into something, this is against the Tao. How does kindness fit into this? I'm not sure, ChiDragon - maybe you can figure it out? Because kindness is opposed to convincing in some way? Because the man of knowledge would kindly look upon the other man's position and realize that that's where he is at this place in time?

 

Maybe you can expand on this?

[ChiDragon]

When we stepping in the philosophy of Confucius, we are step out of Taoism.

"How does kindness fit into this?"

Well, if someone is enticing or attempting to convince someone of something (and puposefully doing so with a gratifying face) this is a salesman. With that sneaky look and a gratifying face, don't you think it is kind of suspicious which he has malice in mind. As a salesman, that's all he has in mind was to take your money away from you. Even though after you told him that you needed the money to save your mother's life. You think he cares your mother lives or not....??? He wants to make a sale by all means. As the result of his intention, do you think there is kindness in the salesman's heart....???

Edited January 20, 2013 by ChiDragon

[manitou]

You know, maybe I'm wrong here, but I just never felt that Confucius went deep enough. That's why I will allude to Tao even though I know we're doing Confucius - but in order to triangulate Confucius I always use the Tao as my cornerstone. May be way too simplistic though.

 

Good expansion, by the way

 

 

 

t

Edited January 21, 2013 by manitou

[JustARandomPanda]

You know, maybe I'm wrong here, but I just never felt that Confucius went deep enough. That's why I will allude to Tao even though I know we're doing Confucius - but in order to triangulate Confucius I always use the Tao as my cornerstone. May be way too simplistic though.

 

Good expansion, by the way

 

 

 

t

 

 

You need a good translation of Confucius to see the depth of his teachings. Most translations don't provide that.

 

I've had a few but the one I really rely upon is the following:

 

The Analects of Confucius by Chichung Huang

 

Each Analect has notes explaining what's behind it. Mainland Chinese who've studied Confucius in-depth already know this stuff but lay-Chinese and of course foreigners don't.

 

After reading this and several other books on Confucius I now see why his works were among the most studied/esteemed for centuries of taking the Imperial Exams. It's the Chinese equivalent of a Westerner who spent their life studying the depth of Plato, Kant or Hegal's works/thoughts, etc.

 

Try the following books to understand better why the Chinese revered Confucius and his school for so long

 

Zhu Xi's Reading of the Analects:Canon, Commentary and the Classical Tradition

 

and

 

The Four Books: The Basic Teachings of the Later Confucian Tradition

 

 

 

p.s. For a 2nd more in-depth treatment of The Analects try the one by Arthur Waley

[JustARandomPanda]

From the Huang translation

 

Analect 1.3

 

 

The Master said: "Sweet words and a pleasing countenance have indeed little humanity in them!

 

 

Note:

 

One has to understand Confucius' teaching of humanity itself before one can begin to make out why Confucius said what he did in the above quote. In the Confucius tradition "humanity" is a very high level of self-development.

 

It was a subtle (but imo accurate) commentary that the mass of humans react to their internal-life far more than they're willing to concede. Today there are scientific experiments that are only beginning to scratch the surface of what Confucius was trying to get at. For example...the body begins to react before the areas of the brain that 'have a reason' for the action even activate. If that's the case then just how 'self-developed' are we really?