Confucius praises those who are able to hold themselves accountable and commit to positive change when they realize they are wrong about something, but he is about to give up hope, for he has not met a man who is willing to do that. While gentleman aspire to benevolence because they know it is an important quality, small men aspire to it because they imagine that it will be to their advantage to appear benevolent. He does not want to do away with the tradition.įor Confucius, cultivating the quality of benevolence is of the utmost importance. When someone wants to do away with the tradition of sacrificing sheep on the day of the new moon, Confucius is upset. Confucius cares deeply about the rites of antiquity, and he wishes for them to be preserved. After he leaves, someone who was also there is confused-Confucius is said to be an expert in the rites, but if that’s true, why did he ask so many questions? When Confucius hears of this, he says that asking questions in itself is a rite. On one occasion, the Master enters the Great Temple and asks many questions.

For instance, he believes one must both be willing to learn from others and think for oneself. In the Master’s opinion, acquiring knowledge is of the utmost importance, and one must develop effective learning techniques. Parents need to be treated with reverence. For the Master, this is silly-one provides one’s animals with food, as well without deep respect for one’s parents, then, providing them with food is essentially offering them the same treatment that one offers one’s animals. This is what it means to be filial, at least in antiquity nowadays, the Master explains, many people interpret being “filial” as simply providing one’s parents with food and drink so that they don’t have to worry about supporting themselves in their old age. For him, one can judge whether a son is loyal or not to his parents if, three years after his father’s death, the son has not strayed from copying his father’s ways. Indeed, the Master believes that respect for one’s parents is of the utmost importance.

Yu, one of his disciples, comments that the root of a man’s character is his behavior during childhood if, during childhood, a boy is obedient, he will grow into a man who has respect for his superiors and does not instigate rebellion. Confucius, also known as the Master, says that he enjoys studying philosophy and slowly integrating the lessons he has learned into his daily life.

Fable charles yu summary