Zee Blog

Maybe the Chinese had it right

A mid-day post! Boo-yah!

I've been thinking about some of the stuff I've been learning in my Chinese class over the past couple of months. I've been pretty bad about that class. I couldn't get too interested in it at first and so I skipped a lot of the original lectures. Yet, now that we are getting into the meat of the literature I'm hooked.

I'm not sure if too many of you have read anything from the Confucian writers of the Chinese culture. Confucius, Mencius, and Chu Hsi are just a few of them. They were philosophers that basically started a religion, but they were generally different in their philosophy. They were interested in the philosophy of living, hardly breaking the seal of things like, "Why are we alive?" or "Is God real?"

Their philosophy grew from the idea of how one should lead their life, and how a King should lead their people. At this point in our history we don't have Kings, but I think that every person that hopes to be a President, Governor, or even business manager should be forced to go through a years seclusion where they can be made to read these pieces.

In these books you find some very simple yet very powerful concepts on what it is to be a stand-up leader. What it means to take responsibility for your actions, and learning how to amend them. For example, here is a tid-bit that has some astounding relevance to today's current events as told by the Chinese Philosopher Mencius:

Mencius,Pg. 88, Book 2: Part B:4

Mencius went to P'ing Lu. 'Would you or would you not,' said he to the governer, 'dismiss a lancer who has failed three times in one day to report for duty?'

'I would not wait for the third time.'

'But you yourself have failed to report for duty many times. In years of famine close on a thousand of your people suffered, the old and the young being abandoned in the gutter, the able-bodied scattered in all directions.'

'It was not within my power to do anything about this.'

'Supposing a man were entrusted with the care of cattle and sheep. Surely he ought to seek pasturage and fodder for the animals. If he found that this could not be done, should he return his charge to the owner or should he stand by and watch the animals die?'

'In this I am at fault.'

On another day Mencius saw the King. 'Of the officials who are in charge of your provinces,' said he, 'I know five. The only one who realizes his own fault is K'ung Chu-hsin. May I repeat our conversation for you.'

'In this I am really the one at fault,' said the King.


There are so many things like this within this book. This isn't a bash against our government or anything like that. Rather, I think it is a concept I feel anyone from a parent to a leader should look into. This is not something about religious dogma, but what it is to work towards being a good human being.

To be honest, I consider myself Buddhist. There is a great rift between Confucian and Buddhist belief, but I find that there can be much to learn between the two. I think both of them actually go well hand-in-hand when both are studied for what they are.

Anyways, my moment of enlightenment for the day. Take care all! :)