荒原

Personal Cultivation: a Combining Point of Confucianism and Christianity

1.     Introduction

Of all the thoughts and teachings in Chinese history, Confucianism was undoubtedly the most influential in shaping the nation’s character and molding all its people’s personalities, and it remains so even today when Marxism dominates in government operation. Consciously or not, people conform to “Goodness, righteousness, propriety, wisdom and trustworthiness.” set by Confucius, being filial as sons or daughters, being respectful to seniors, being loyal to friends and worshiping peace and harmony as the most valuable in community. With the development of China and its increasing influence on the world affairs, the new century is witnessing a wide spread of Confucianism around the world. On December 11^th in 2009, the fourth Confucius Institute Conference was held in Beijing, with representatives from 500 Confucius institutes attending. Up to then, there have been 282 Confucius institutes and 272 Confucian classes in 88 regions of different countries around the world (http://www.gov.cn/jrzg/2009-12/04/content_1480766.htm). Meanwhile, the International Confucian Association established in 1994 is now playing a major role in spreading and popularizing Confucian teachings to the world.

On the other hand, Christianity, one of the three cultural pillars (the other two being the ancient Greece’s logic and the ancient Roman’s law institution) of the western civilization, is now seeing a brighter future for development. According to the Fu Xianwei, the president of the Three-self Patriotic Movement of the Protestant Churches in China, the number of Christians in china had exceeded 16 million in 2005, over 20 times more than that in 1949, and now there are over 20 million Christians and more than 55,000 gathering places and churches. Besides, 18 Theological Seminaries have been established with over 1,800 students. With more freedom given to the spreading of Christianity by the government and further contextualization of the western religion, Christianity is hoped to enjoy a better development.

It is safe to say that the further development of Confucianism in the western world and the more wide-spread admission of Christianity are largely attributable to the economic globalization, the more democratic and freer political atmosphere and the increasingly frequent communication between the east and the west, but there must be some inner reasons. Previous studies have thrown light on the historical and political reasons for Christianity’s rapid spread in China, mentioning the similarity between Confucius’s “仁” and Christian “love” (Liu Yi, 2009), and comparisons have also been made between Confucianism as human-oriented and Christianity as divinity-oriented (Chen Jianxin, 2002), but few study has been done on the aspect of personal cultivation in both Confucianism and Christianity.

This paper is thus to explore the personal cultivation of individuals as instructed in both Confucianism and Christianity. Through a comparison between the two teachings on the aspects ranging from love, honesty, humbleness, righteousness, tolerance and peace of mind to correcting one’s errors, the author is to prove that there are critical similarities between Confucianism and Christianity in teaching individuals how to live a noble life, and these similarities make the two kinds of personal cultivation bear the same fruit, which is actually the connecting point of the two teachings. And this, to a certain extent, can explain a further fusion of Confucianism and Christianity in the new era.

2.      Body 

Before moving to the similarities, it is necessary to point out that there are undoubtedly lots of differences between Confucianism and Christianity even on the aspect of personal cultivation. For example, the concept of love they emphasize in both teachings is different from each other in essence, in objects, and in practice, that is, Confucianism stresses love for family members and  masters and then further for the whole society, while Christianity stresses love for God and then further for all brothers and sisters; the former means love with hierarchy, and the latter equal love.(Li Qin, 1994) But regardless of all these differences, the two seemingly different kinds of "love" actually bear the same fruit--- the universal love among all in the society. And this paper is going to explore how the same fruit can be borne from the perspective of personal cultivation in two teachings.  

2.1  On love 

The core thought of Confucianism is generally considered to be "Goodness"(仁). In The Analects, Confucius doesn't give an exact definition to "Goodness", but this concept runs through the book and is illustrated as love for parents, masters, friends, neighbors, the young and the old.  “Fan Ch’ih asked about the Good. The master said, he loves men [1]”. Here Confucius describes what attitude a Good man would adopt towards others. Love for parents Confucius stresses a lot and he says" while father and mother are alive, a good son does not wander far afield; or if he does so, goes only where he has said he was going". (Confucius, p44)There are also a lot other teachings concerned with filialty, such as mourning one's father for three years, deference for parents, and so on.(Confucius, p44) A universal love can be reflected in Mencius's words, “Treat with the reverence due to age the elders in your own family, so that the elders in the families of others shall be similarly treated; treat with the kindness due to youth the young in your own family, so that the young in the families of others shall be similarly treated ",(Mencius,1998 ) and similar words can be found in The Analects, “the Master said, in dealing with the aged, to be of comfort to them; in dealing with friends, to be of good faith with them; in dealing with the young, to cherish them".(Confucius, p62) If every one can behave in this way, then families are happy together, friends are close to each other, the young and the old are properly cared, and what a harmonious society it would be!

In the Bible which is a book of God's love, similar teachings can be found everywhere. The fifth of the Ten Commandments tells "Honor your father and your mother" (Bible, p118), which teaches Christians to love and respect parents. Christianity is also known for its stress on equal love for everyone as brothers and sisters. Believers of Christianity should not get angry, and "everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council... So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift". (Bible nt, p7) Teachings like "Do not rebuke an older man but encourage him as you would a father, younger men as brothers, older women as mothers, younger women as sisters, in all purity "(timothy 5:1,2 p362) can almost find equivalence in Confucianism as mentioned in last paragraph. Although such an equal love is different from love classified according to relations in Confucianism, it bears the same fruits as the latter, that is, to spread love and peace among all in the society.            
                
2.2 On Honesty                                         

Honesty is also an important quality for humans. Confucius said “I do not see what use a man can be put to, whose word cannot be trusted"(Confucius, p20), and "Man's very life is honesty, in that without it he will be lucky indeed if he escapes with his life"(Confucius, p73). By honesty he means one should keep his promise and avoid clever talk, and a gentleman is one who "always stands by his word, who undertakes nothing that he does not bring to achievement "(Confucius, p169), while "clever talk and a pretentious manner are seldom found in the Good"(p235). 

The same stress is given to honesty in Christianity. In the Bible, one of the proverbs of Solomon goes like this: "A false witness will not go unpunished, and he who breathes out lies will not escape"(p1035 proverbs 19:16), and another one says "A faithful man will abound with blessings, but whoever hastens to be rich will not go unpunished". (P1050 proverbs 28: 20) These teachings are coincidently consistent with those in Confucianism, and many others can be found in the scripture. 

2.3 On Righteousness

Confucius advocates righteousness and considers it to be one important quality in personal cultivation. He said, "by piling up moral force is meant taking loyalty and good faith as one's guiding principles, and migrating to places where right prevails.(p151)", and "A gentleman takes as much trouble to discover what is right as lesser men take to discover what will pay". These words teach people to worship righteousness and reflect more on righteousness rather than some material advantages. (p45 book 4:16) Words like "Any thought of accepting wealth and rank by means that I know to be wrong is as remote from me as the clouds that float above" (p85 book7:15) teach people to obtain wealth in a right way. Generally speaking, in The Analects righteousness mean conforming to morality, selflessness in helping others, and propriety in one's practice in pursuing Goodness. (Jia Junshi, 2004)
In Bile, righteousness also carries complicated meanings. "Righteous man" is mentioned many times in Proverbs, and many descriptions are given about what is a righteous man like. The righteous are favored in that "the offspring of the righteous will be delivered" and "the righteous will flourish like a green leaf". Here "the righteous" are contrasted with "the evil", referring to kindness.(proverbs11:21, 11:28) Righteousness also means proper behaviors in getting benefit, resembling its meaning in Confucianism. For example, “treasures gained by wickedness do not profit, but righteousness delivers from death” (proverbs 10:2). It also means selflessness in "the righteousness gives and does not hold back".(proverbs21: 26)

2.4 On Self- reflection

Confucianism regards "to have faults and to be making no effort to amend them is to have faults indeed!"(p209) and "if you have made a mistake, do not afraid of admitting the fact and amending your ways"(book9: 24 p115). These words prove that Confucianism allows people to make errors, but one should be conscious of his errors and try to make up for them and never repeat them, otherwise it would be one's real failure in life. "In the presence of a good man, think all the time how you may learn to equal him. In the presence of a bad man, turn your gaze within"(p45 book4: 17), here self-reflection is advocated as a good habit, and Confucius teaches people to be always guardful against those bad things in their minds. 

Similar teachings about self-reflection can be traced in Christianity as confession and getting salvation. According to Christianity, all humans have committed sins before they come to the secular world. If they follow God's will and behave according to God's teachings and take confessions whenever they're aware of their wrong deeds, they will get salvation from God and go to heaven after death. For example, in the Bible God keeps reminding His followers to "Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you did at first"(Revelation 2: 5 p426). Although Christian self- reflection is somewhat out of fear for God's punishment, being different from Confucian self- conscious way, the result of the two teachings are the same in keeping people aware that they've made mistakes and need to amend their ways.

2.5 On Peace of Mind and Simple Life

In Confucianism, "A true gentleman is calm and at ease; the Small Man is fretful and ill at ease"(p93 book7: 36), that is to say one should seek inner peace to be a noble man. How to achieve inner peace? Confucius thinks this can be achieved by living a simple life. "He who seeks only coarse food to eat, water to drink and a bent arm for pillow, will without looking for it find happiness to boot. Any thought of accepting wealth and rank by means that I know to be wrong is as remote from me as the clouds that float above".(p85 book7:15) Confucius considers Yan Hui as incomparable because he lives in such a way--- "A handful of rice to eat, a gourdful of water to drink, living in a mean street" and still fees cheerful everyday"(p69).

Christ teaches His followers "not to be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on"(Matthew 6:25 p11). And in Christianity a simple life with peace and love is better than a wealthy life with anxiety and trouble. For example, God says “Better is a little with the fear of the Lord than great treasure and trouble with it”, “better is a dinner of herbs where love is than a fattened ox and hatred with it"(Proverbs 15:16, 17). Even though Confucian inner peace means more time for self-reflection and learning while Christian peace means pure adoration for God, the ultimate goals are the same, that is, do not fish for fame and wealth, but pay more attention to one's mental world and try to be a noble man in mind.

3. Conclusion

Up to now, some important virtues have been discussed, ranging from universal love, honesty, righteousness and self-reflection to inner peace, and a comparison has been made between Confucianism and Christianity concerning their teachings on all the qualities, with emphasis on the similarities. With so many examples and words quoted from The Analects and the Bible, it is convincing that both teaching show their emphasis on these cardinal virtues and ask for their followers to amend their ways in the same manner.

You may say besides all the virtues mentioned above, there are still others that are not covered, such as tolerance and humbleness.  But all those discussed in this paper are those cardinal virtues worshiped in Confucianism, and they are indispensible in making a noble man. Coincidentally, all of them can be trace in the teaching of Christianity. Despite that they might be based on different values and thinking ways and carry different intensive and extensive meanings, conformity to them will bear the same fruit, which will lead to one's personal cultivation as well as a noble world. 

Under the trend of globalization, it is more than ever to be open-minded and seek common ground while reserving differences. Therefore, in an era with freer and more tolerant political and cultural atmosphere, the two great teachings are naturally to enjoy a better fusion, with the western Christianity seeing a wider spread in China and the oriental Confucianism being embraced more easily by the western world.