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AND NEO-CONFUCIANISM were a great number of recent immigrants. In 1922 the not attending Catholic schools. It designed programs to confraternity was organized in the diocese of Los Ange- meet a variety of situations, urban and rural: Sunday les under the auspices of the Office of Catholic Charities school, released time, and summer vacation school. In ad- to reach out to the immigrant families from Mexico who dition, the CCD had three other special areas of concern: were moving into the area. The diocesan and parochial preschool children and their parents, the further Catholic structure of the Los Angeles CCD became the model for education of adults in general, and, greatest of all, the other dioceses. hardly touched harvest of those outside the Church. By the early 1930s the CCD had become a national In no other country was the confraternity as highly movement, and Bishop Edwin V. ’HARA of Great Falls, organized as in the U.S. Yet with the publication of the Montana, gained permission from the Holy See to estab- General Catechetical Directory in 1971, which made no lish a national office to coordinate its activities. An epis- mention of the CCD, the structures of the confraternity copal committee with O’Hara as president was named in went into decline. In 1975 the National Center of Reli- 1934, and it in turn established the national center for gious Education–CCD was suppressed and its ministry CCD under the auspices of National Catholic Welfare assigned to the department of education of the United Conference in 1935. Throughout the first quarter century States Catholic Conference. For a while CCD served as of its existence the national center reflected the zeal of a generic term for non-school programs, but it no longer Bishop O’Hara, the guiding spirit in its foundation, and signified the highly organized and, in many places, very that of Miss Miriam MARKS, early aide to Bishop O’Hara successful program of the early years. and executive secretary from 1935 to 1960. Bibliography: The Confraternity Comes of Age: A Historical The national center developed a highly structured Symposium (Paterson, NJ 1956). J. B. COLLINS,Religious Education model for the confraternity at the parish level. At its head and CCD in the United States: Early Years (1902–1935), American was the priest-director, the pastor or his delegate, whose Ecclesiastical Review 169 (1975) 48–67; Bishop O’Hara and a Na- tional CCD, ibid., 237–255. function was to direct the members’ activity and form them spiritually. Collaborating with him was a lay execu- [J. E. KRAUS/EDS.] tive board consisting of the officers and the chairs of each of six departments: teachers, fishers, helpers, parent- educators, discussion clubs, and the Apostolate of Will for those who were not members of the Church. CONFUCIANISM AND NEO- After the Second Vatican Council diocesan directors of CONFUCIANISM the confraternity formed the National Conference of Di- The term ‘‘Confucianism’’ was originally coined by ocesan Directors–CCD to coordinate their efforts. Its ex- 16th century Jesuits missionaries to as a neologism ecutive secretary acted as liaison with the national center. for the venerable, all-encompassing tradition rooted in It was the forerunner of the NATIONAL CONFERENCE OF and philosophical-religious thought that CATECHETICAL LEADERSHIP. is variously referred to in the as rujia The national center offered many support services to (School of the Literati), rujiao (Traditions of the Litera- the field in the way of congresses, handbooks, catecheti- ), ruxue (Teachings of the Literati) or simply as (lite- cal resources, and graded catechisms. Every year from rati). While the vision and ideas of and his 1935 to World War II it organized national congresses, followers such as (Mengzi) and (Hsün- the first held at Rochester, N.Y.; after the war, the nation- tzu) played a key role in animating and enriching the ru al congresses were held every five years, the last in 1971 tradition, the ru tradition itself predated Confucius. The in Miami. To make the Scriptures more accessible to both efforts of and his Jesuit companions to can- CCD teacher and student, Bishop O’Hara took the initia- onize Confucius as the ‘‘founder’’ of Confucianism had tive in organizing the Catholic Biblical Association and more to do with missiological exigencies than being an commissioning it to produce the confraternity edition of accurate description of the ru movement in its socio- the New Testament, which was later subsumed into the historical setting. In the absence of an appropriate term, NEW AMERICAN BIBLE. In 1964 the national center began the term ‘‘Confucianism’’ is used as a convenient label publication of The Living Light, a quarterly under the edi- for the Chinese cultural-philosophical tradition shaped by torship of Mary Perkins RYAN designed to provide re- Confucius and his followers beginning from the period sources and pastoral counsel to catechists. of the Warring States (481–221 B.C.) and leading up to the dynasty (A.D. 960–1279). Although the early focus of the confraternity in the U.S. was on immigrant families, its principal concern The term ‘‘Neo-Confucianism’’ is often used to refer came to be the religious instruction of children who were to the developments in Confucian thought from the Song

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A traditional Confucian spring rite. (©Nathan Benn/CORBIS) dynasty to the collapse of the dynasty (1644–1911). Book of History (Shujing), (Liji), Book of It has been similarly criticized for its misleading portray- Changes (Yijing) and the al of a unified and normative movement, overgeneraliz- (Chunqiu). A sixth Classic, the Book of Music (Yuejing) ing the reality of a diverse plurality of vibrant, competing is no longer extant. Although Xi (-hsi), the great schools of thought in China during the period from that Neo-Confucian formulated a canonical list included Daoxue (School of the Way), Lixue (School of of the Four Books ( shu)—Lunyu (Confucian Ana- ), and Xinxue (School of the Mind), to name a lects), Mengzi (Mencius), Daxue (‘‘’’) few. These schools regarded Confucius as their inspira- and Zhongyong (‘‘’’) for use in the tion and his teachings as a common cultural- Chinese examinations from 1313 to 1905, philosophical heritage, but developed his ideas in innova- there was no official orthodoxy or revealed dogmas on tive ways that he would never have recognized. The how these Four Books or the Five Classics were to be in- problem is compounded by the fact that the Chinese terpreted and appropriated. This paved the way for the themselves never saw fit to coin a single term to describe emergence of diverse creative and novel interpretations, the diversity of competing schools. all claiming to be faithful to the teachings of the First Teacher himself. Canonical Texts. One major characteristic of Con- fucianism and Neo-Confucianism is the absence of any Existential Quest. The point of convergence of vari- creeds or official dogmas. The traditional Confucian cor- ous schools within Confucianism and Neo-Confucianism pus is identified with the Five Classics ( ) that is the existential-religious questions of the ultimate val- Confucius supposedly edited: Book of Poetry (Shijing), ues that shape human living: ‘‘What does it mean to be

96 NEW CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA CONFUCIANISM AND NEO-CONFUCIANISM human as opposed to or animals?’’ ‘‘What became a major contentious point between Mencius makes life worth living as humans?’’ ‘‘What are the (Mengzi) and Xunzi (Hsün-tzu), the two major Confu- ideals and that are needed to inspire everyone cian representing the idealist and rationalist from emperor to peasant to participate in the creation and wings of Confucianism during the period of the Warring maintenance of a harmonious and civilized as op- States (481–221 B.C.). Mencius argued that ‘‘original posed to chaos and destruction?’’ ‘‘Where are these human ’’ (benxing) at one’s birth is good but incip- ideals and virtues to be found?’’ ient and underdeveloped. At birth, the benxing comprises The responses to these questions that Confucius and the four virtuous tendencies of commiseration, shame, his successors formulated reveal a dynamic, relational deference and preference that are incipient, underdevel- understanding of ‘‘knowing’’ in Chinese thinking that is oped and fragile. With proper education and self cultiva- not concerned with discovering the truth via abstract, es- tion, these tendencies could mature and blossom into the sentialist conceptualizations of the natural world. Instead, four cardinal virtues of ‘‘human-ness’’ (), appropri- ‘‘knowing’’ for Confucius and his followers is about ateness (), propriety () and () in a fully - knowing how to be adept in one’s relations with others, veloped (renxing). Xunzi rejected how to make use of the possibilities arising from these Mencius’ position, insisting that the inherent human ten- relations, and how to trust in the validity of these rela- dency is toward , and goodness can only be imposed tions as the cornerstone for familial and social harmony. externally through education and disciplined self- Hence, knowing how to be a ruler or a parent is not know- cultivation. Although Mencius and Xunzi had diametri- ing the proper behavioral qualities that define an - cally opposite understandings of human nature, they con- type ruler or parent, but knowing how to relate genuinely verged in agreement on the need for proper education and to one’s subjects or one’s children, fulfill one’s responsi- personal self-cultivation. While Xunzi’s position found bilities toward them, and in turn to earn their respect, def- a receptive response during the , his inter- erence and their trust. pretation was marginalized and eventually supplanted by Mencius’ idealist understanding, which became the au- All schools of Confucianism and Neo-Confucianism thoritative interpretation accepted by the various Neo- never begin their quest for authentic human living ex - Confucian schools. hilo, but rely on innovative, contextualized appropria- tions of ancient folk traditions and the traditions of the Five Constants (Wu chang). The Confucian exis- Former Kings (Xianwang)—the legendary sage-kings tential quest for meaningfulness is not limited to the Yao, Shun and Yu, and the first three rulers of the Zhou human-self, but is contextualized in a unity of the cosmo- dynasty, Wen, Wu and Zhou Gong (the )— logical, social, familial and individual dimensions of to provide answers as to what is appropriate in each age. human living. Confucius and his followers called this the Confucians and Neo-Confucians have been adept at ad- Way of Heaven and its Mandate (Tianming) for virtuous ding interpretive layers of meaning to the classic termi- living. The classical Confucian paradigm for virtuous liv- nology rather than creating entirely new systems of ing is the proper self-cultivation of the ‘‘Five Constants’’ thought in their existential quest for meaningfulness in (Wu chang)—ren (jen, ‘‘human-ness’’), yi (i, ‘‘appropri- human living. ateness’’), li (propriety), zhi (chih, ‘‘wisdom in thought Achieving the Fullness of Being Human. It is im- and action’’), and (hsin, ‘‘keeping to one’s word’’). portant to recognize the interrelationality and intersubjec- Merely knowing these virtues in an intellectual, theoreti- tivity of the Confucian and Neo-Confucian quest that cal sense is not enough. Each school within Confucian- seeks to realize the fullness of renxing (jen-hsing, ism and Neo-Confucianism insists on the need for actual ‘‘human nature’’). The ideal Confucian is always and ev- personal self-cultivation of the ‘‘Five Constants,’’ each erywhere one among many, to be fully human in relation proposing different approaches to this quest. to others within the wider world of humanity, and seeking Five Relations (Wu lun). Another classical Confu- the ultimate, existential values within human living. Con- cian paradigm is the Five Relations (Wu lun), which de- fucius called this existential quest the highest of fines the five foundational relations of a Confucian ren (jen, ‘‘human-ness’’). Not to seek ren (‘‘human- society: parent-child, ruler-subject, husband-wife, elder- ness’’) is tantamount to a denial of the fullness of one’s younger sibling, and friend-friend. The first four relations humanity in relation to others. Various schools of Neo- are hierarchical relations, while the fifth is a relation of Confucianism would propose different methodological equals. Within the Confucian conception of society, there approaches and call it by different names (e.g., ‘‘princi- are no strangers in society, the basic relation is at least ple’’ or li), but the quest remains the same. friend-to-friend. The Five Relations reveals that the hier- Human Nature. While Confucius himself never archical ordering of familial relations is the principal spoke much about human nature (renxing, jen-hsing), it foundation upon which complex, interlocking human re-

NEW CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA 97 CONFUCIANISM AND NEO-CONFUCIANISM lations in the Chinese society are constructed. Before a Daoist metaphysical diagrams to offer an nascent meta- person is able to do great things in society, that person physical cosmology for Confucianism. (Chang must first be a proper spouse, parent, child, sibling or Tsai) proposed a materialist understanding of (, friend to another. ‘‘energy’’) as the building block of everything (i.e., spir- it, matter and energy) in the universe. The two brothers Filiality and Ancestor Veneration. For Confucians and formulated the theory of ‘‘prin- and Neo-Confucians, the proper relational ordering of so- ciple’’ (li) as the universal and primordial potentiality ciety as a human macrocosm takes the family as its inspi- from which all living things are ordered. ration and starting point. Society is ordered and harmony is promoted based at all levels based on filiality, the and the School of Principle. It was the great source of order and harmony within a family. Ritually, Neo-Confucian scholar Zhu Xi (Chu-hsi, 1130–1200) filiality is expressed through ancestor veneration offered who synthesized the efforts of these five Neo-Confucian by son to father, by scholar-gentry to Confucius as ances- scholars into a coherent metaphysical framework that tor par excellence, and by emperor to his ancestors and later became the foundational tenets of his rationalist to (Heaven) for the well-being of the nation. Be- School of Principle (Lixue). The starting point for Zhu Xi cause filiality together with its public ritual expression of is ‘‘principle’’ (li) as predictable and observable patterns ancestor veneration became the glue that held religion, of potentialities in the world upon which qi (energy) crys- culture and society together in imperial China, the at- tallizes and forms all living things. There was one univer- tempts by some missionaries in the 17th and 18th centu- sal and primordial li (principle) that is objectively ries to prohibit Chinese Catholic converts from descriptive (i.e., it describes why things are) and morally participating in ancestor veneration were viewed as at- prescriptive (it prescribes what can be done to these tacks on filiality and on the very cohesion of Chinese cul- things). Adapting the Mencian assertion that ‘‘original ture and society. This triggered the CHINESE RITES human nature’’ (benxing) is wholly good, Zhu Xi claimed CONTROVERSY that lasted more than three centuries. that li (principle) is wholly good, and evil arises not from li (principle) but turgid qi (bad energy), which can be Emergence of Neo-Confucian Schools. After - clarified through disciplined self-cultivation. The pur- turies of competing intellectually and spiritually with pose of education is to acquire knowledge of the descrip- Daoism and , Confucian scholars in the Song tive and prescriptive aspects of li (principle) through the Dynasty initiated a process of reinterpreting traditional ‘‘investigation of all things’’ (ge wu). He insisted on the Confucian classical texts to formulate new answers that necessity of investigating all things, arguing that if one responded to the challenges brought by Daoism and Bud- merely investigate one thing, there is no basis for differ- dhism. This process gave rise to new innovative schools entiating particularity from universality within the li of thought. This revival and revitalization of Confucian- (principle) that constitutes that one thing. ism started with the writings of the Northern Song schol- ars (Chou Tun-i, 1017–73), and the School of the Mind. (Shao Yung, 1011–77), (Chang Tsai, Wang Yangming (1472–1529), the idealist Neo- 1020–77), and the brothers (Ch’eng Hao, Confucian scholar of the dynasty who synthesized 1032–85) and Cheng Yi (Ch’eng I, 1033–77). the principal teachings of the School of the Mind (Xinx- ue), rejected the rationalist approach of Zhu Xi. He pro- Early Neo-Confucian Developments. While overt- pounded a doctrine of the ‘‘unity of knowledge and ly condemning Buddhism and Daoism, these scholars action’’ (zhi xing he yi) based on the notion that principle were busy combining metaphysical elements borrowed (li) is found wholly within the mind (xin), because the from those two religions with traditional themes from mind is the repository of the innate knowledge of all Confucian classics such as the , the Mencius, the goodness (liangzhi). To investigate these moral princi- Book of Changes, the Book of Rituals. In doing so, the ples is to ‘‘rectify the mind’’ (chengyi). Thus, for Wang Neo-Confucians did not view their actions as distorting Yangming, the ‘‘investigation of things for attaining and betraying their predecessors’ vision. On the contrary, knowledge’’ (ge wu zhi zhi) is unnecessary, all that is the innovations were adopted to justify and strengthen the needed is a contemplative and introspective ‘‘rectifica- Confucian vision of life that was under threat from its two tion of the mind’’ (chengyi). main rivals. Nevertheless, what emerged from the - nations of these scholars was a novel and innovative See Also: BUDDHISM. metaphysical framework for Confucianism that was de- Bibliography: W. T. CHAN, A Sourcebook in Chinese Philoso- signed to counter the attractiveness of rival Daoist and phy (Princeton 1963). W. T. DE BARY et al, The Unfolding of Neo- Buddhist metaphysical systems. Zhou Dunyi (Chou Confucianism (New York 1975). J. CHING, To Acquire Wisdom: The Tun-i) and Shao Yong (Shao Yung) had reinterpreted Way of Wang Yang-ming (New York 1976). W.-M. TU, Neo-

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Confucian Thought in Action: Wang Yang-ming’s Youth (1472–1509) (Berkeley, Calif. 1976). W.-M. TU, Confucian Thought: Selfhood as Creative Transformation (Albany, N.Y. 1985). B. I. SCHWARTZ, The World of Thought in Ancient China (Cambridge, Mass. 1985). I. EBER, Confucianism, the Dynamics of Tradition (New York 1986). D. K. GARDNER, Chu-Hsi and the Ta- hsueh: Neo-Confucian Reflection on the Confucian Canon (Cam- bridge, Mass. 1986). W. T. CHAN, ed. Chu-Hsi and Neo- Confucianism (Honolulu 1986). W. T. CHAN, Chu Hsi, Life and Thought ( Kong 1987). W. T. CHAN, Chu Hsi: New Studies (Honolulu 1989). A. C. GRAHAM, Disputers of the : Philosophi- cal Argument in Ancient China (La Salle, Ill. 1989). W. T. DE BARY, The Trouble with Confucianism (Cambridge, Mass. 1991). D. L. HALL and R. T. AMES, Thinking Through Confucius (Albany N.Y. 1987). D. L. HALL and R. T. AMES, Anticipating China: Thinking Through the Narratives of Chinese and Western Culture (Albany, N.Y. 1995). D. L. HALL and R. T. AMES, Thinking from the Han: Self, Truth and Transcendence in Chinese and Western Culture (Albany, N.Y. 1997). L. M. JENSEN, Manufacturing Confucianism: Chinese Traditions & Universal Civilization (Durham 1997). J. H. BERTHRONG, Transformations of the Confucian Way (Boulder, Colo. 1998). X. YAO, An Introduction to Confucianism (Cambridge, Eng. 2000). J. CHING, The Religious Thought of Chu Hsi (New York 2000).

[J. Y. TAN]

CONFUCIUS (KONGFUZI) Honorific title for China’s preeminent philosopher, teacher, social thinker and political theorist; real name Kongqiu (K’ung Ch’iu); literary name Zhongni (Chung- ni); b. 551 B.C., (Ch’ü-fu) in the state of (mod- ern-day province in northeastern China); d. Confucius. (Archive Photos/Popperfoto) 479 B.C. Confucius is the Latinization form of the Chi- nese Kongfuzi (K’ung Fu-Tzu) or Kongzi (K’ung-Tzu), in English, ‘‘Master Kong.’’ Chinese aristocratic families who could afford to hire a ru as a private tutor for their children. An enthusiastic and charismatic teacher, Confucius was able to gather some Biographical Information thirty men as his first batch of students. As a teacher, he Confucius lived during China’s Spring and Autumn made no distinction between the sons of or peas- Period (722–481 B.C.), the twilight years of the Zhou antry, accepting whatever payment they could afford for (Chou) Dynasty that witnessed the gradual disintegration his services (see Analects 7:7, 15:38). In return, he ex- of the Zhou feudal structure into the turbulent Warring pected a high degree of commitment toward learning and States period. Born into a family of petty aristocracy that self-cultivation from his students, and was intolerant of had fallen upon hard times, he was a prolific scholar who those who were lazy or unenthusiastic (Analects 7:8). His had distinguished himself in learning as a member of the curriculum of the traditional ‘‘,’’ (1) ritual and class of ru (ju), i.e., itinerant scholars who were usually ceremony (li), (2) music, (3) archery, (4) charioteering, sons of petty aristocratic families that had fallen upon (5) calligraphy and (6) mathematics, was geared as much hard times and were now wandering from court to court, toward personal cultivation and character refinement as offering their services as teachers, masters of ritual, as- toward training for employment as function- tronomers and specialists in calendrical computations. aries. Viewing himself as a transmitter rather than an in- A firm believer in education as the sine qua non for novator (‘‘following the proper way, I do not forge new one’s self-cultivation, Confucius achieved fame by estab- paths,’’ Analects 7:1), he made his students study the an- lishing China’s first school of learning more than a centu- cient —the Book of Poetry (Shijing), the ry before had established his academy in Athens. Book of History (Shujing) and the Book of Changes (Yij- Before this, education was available only to the wealthy ing).

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