The Ethics of Confucius Author:Confucius Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: The Ethics of Confucius CHAPTER I WHAT CONSTITUTES THE SUPERIOR MAN The central idea of Confucius is that every . normal human being cherishes the aspir... more »ation to become a superior man—superior to his fellows, if possible, but surely superior to his own past and present self. This does not more than hint at perfection as a goal; and it is said of him that one of the subjects concerning which the Master rarely spoke, was "perfect virtue." (Analects, bk. ix., c. i.) He also said, "They who know virtue, are few" (Analects, bk. xv., c. iii.), and was far from teaching a perfectionist doctrine. It refers rather to the perpetually relative, the condition of being superior to that to which one may be superior, be it high or low,—that hopeful possibility which has ever lured mankind toward higher things.' This accords well with the ameliorating and progressive principle of evolution which in these days offers a substantial reward, both for a man;.. '' and for his''progeny, if he will but cultivate, higher and. Vp]we useful traits and qualities.. The aim tp.exfcel, if respected of all, approved and accepted by. Common consent, would appeal to every child $nd, logically presented to its mind and enforced V'V'Cy universal recognition of its validity, would I become a conviction and a scheme for the art of living, of transforming power and compelling JvigourS In various sayings Confucius, his disciples, and Mencius present the attributes of the superior man, whom the sage adjures his disciples to admire without ceasing, to emulate without turning, and to imitate without let or hindrance. These are some of them: Purpose: "The superior man learns in order to attain to the utmost of his principles." (Analects, bk. xix., c. vii.) Poise: "The superior man in his thought does...« less