The Histories Volume 7 | Issue 2 Article 4 Confucius the Shi: The eS arch for the Historical Confucius by Way of His Class Interest Christopher Schwartz La Salle University Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.lasalle.edu/the_histories Part of the History Commons Recommended Citation Schwartz, Christopher () "Confucius the Shi: The eS arch for the Historical Confucius by Way of His Class Interest," The Histories: Vol. 7 : Iss. 2 , Article 4. Available at: https://digitalcommons.lasalle.edu/the_histories/vol7/iss2/4 This Paper is brought to you for free and open access by the Scholarship at La Salle University Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in The iH stories by an authorized editor of La Salle University Digital Commons. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. The Histories, Volume 7, Number 2 17 IV. Confucius the Shi: The Search for the Historical Confucius by Wav of His Class Interest By Christopher Schwartz (Graduate Student) INTRODUCTION The historical Confucius was a member of the Shi (knightly) class. As such, he was subject to the socioeconomic transformations that affected his class during the Spring and Autumn Period—transformations that eventually evolved them into the basis for China’s original intelligentsia, the Rujia. Therefore, I will focus upon the philosopher’s social rank and profession as the key to understanding the man he may have actually been. Specifically, my question is whether Confucius’s philosophy of “sagehood” or “authoritative personhood” (Pinyin: ren; Wade-Giles: jen*) was reflective of his class conditions and interests, and if so, in which ways? I argue that his condition as a member of the Shi class was a crucial factor, for his class interest informed, if not led to, his philosophy of intersubjective “person building.” A statement of rationale is in order, for our Platonic heritage tends to bias we Westerners against the notion that fundamentally worldly concerns can and do motivate abstract moral inquiry.