Courage in The Analects: A Genealogical Survey of the Confucian Virtue of Courage
Frontiers of Philosophy in China, Volume 5, Number 1.
By Lisheng Chen
The different meanings of “courage” in The Analects were expressed in Confucius’ remark on Zilu’s bravery. The typological analysis of courage in Mencius and Xunzi focused on the shaping of the personalities of brave persons. “Great courage” and “superior courage”, as the virtues of “great
men” or “shi junzi
士君子 (intellectuals with noble characters)”, exhibit not only the
uprightness of the “internal sagacity”, but also the rich implications
of the “external kingship”. The prototype of these brave persons could
be said to be between Zengzi’s courage and King Wen’s courage. The
discussion entered a new stage of Neo-Confucianism in the Song and Ming
dynasties, when admiration for “Yanzi’s great valor” became the key of
various arguments. The order of “the three cardinal virtues” was also
discussed because it concerned the relationship between “finished
virtue” and “novice virtue”; hence, the virtue of courage became
internalized as an essence of the internal virtuous life. At the turn
of the 20th century, when China was trembling under the threat of foreign powers, intellectuals remodeled the tradition of courage by
redefining “Confucius’ great valor”, as Liang Qichao did in representative fashion in his book Chinese Bushido. Hu Shi’s Lun Ru 论儒 (On Ru)
was no more than a repetition of Liang’s opinion. In the theoretical
structures of the modern Confucians, courage is hardly given a place.
As one of the three cardinal virtues, bravery is but a concept. In a
contemporary society where heroes and sages exist only in history
books, do we need to talk about courage? How should it be discussed?
These are questions which deserve our consideration.
Read the article.
(Something interesting I found)Posted: Monday, April 19, 2010