The Importance of Tradition

四

~What does Confucius mean by tradition? Which tradition is he talking about?

~What role does tradition play in the philosophy of Confucius?

~How does Confucius deal with tradition?

*****

The time of Confucius’ “arrival” in China had been most appropriate. It was as if that Heaven had intentionally designed him to appear at a time when the country’s long standing ideologies were at risk. The traditional Chinese beliefs began its decay which have invariably resulted in social disharmony and moral decline. To name some of the happenings during this time, we can go back to Creel on his Chinese Thoughts: From Confucius to Mao and pinpoint several events that portrayed disharmony and decline. The decentralisation of the state, murder, conspiracy, revolts, usurpation, exploitation, and some others domed the whole of China before and during Confucius’ time. Later on, the Master will see this as a chance to revive and reinforce the societal morals and tradition.

Moving forward, during the time of Dr. Sun Yat-sen (1866-1925), the influence of Christianity and Western culture have severely penetrated the Chinese community. Between 1900 and 1920, when the Qing dynasty was at its end, a revolt against Confucianism emerged on the grounds that old traditions and ideas were the main causes of China’s problems. In 1905, China began to abandon the Confucian system of education. Afterwhich, a series of events followed through until the end the the World War II. As a result, the major doctrine of the Mandate of Heaven (T’ien Ming) became irrelevant because there was no more emperor. (In the Confucian political system, the emperor’s role as a god to be worshipped and as the pillar that supports the society.) 

During these times, the identity of China was being torn in two- to keep the taxing Confucian traditions or to face and accept the social and political realities that were washed upon the shores of China:

Berling, 1982

“Great Confucians sought periodically to revive and renew the moral, intellectual, and spiritual vigour of the tradition.. Until the 1890s, serious-minded Chinese saw Confucianism, despite its failures to realise its ideal society, as the source of hope for China and the core of what it meant to be Chinese.

Fung, 1984

(The Permanent and Changeable in Chinese Philosophy)

“When China is industrialised, the old system must go and with it will go its Confucianistic rational justification. But this is not to say that there is nothing that is not relative in the social philosophy of Confucianism.”

Looking at change in the perspective of time, we can see that the essence of the problem remained the same and this problem did not only victimise China but most of the states all over the world have also experienced the same circumstance under different conditions. However, this is not the highlight. What we should understand is that ancient times or contemporary times: the world will always be at the mercy of change. In fact, it is correct to say that change will always change and just like how there are two sides of a coin, there are those will oppose change just as there will be other who will be more accepting. Wing-Tsit Chan even described the universe as a realm of perennial activity. 

The Analects 2:11, 7:1, and 7:19 expressed the importance of tradition. As a man who reviews the old so as to find the new (2:11), Confucius articulated his love for tradition through the Analects 7:1 and 7:19.

“I transmit but do not create. I believe in and love the ancients…”

“I am one who is fond of antiquity, and earnest in seeking it there.”

Earlier, the people of contemporary China abandoned tradition on the grounds that it is the root cause of the problems that they are facing. If we look at it in the Confucian point of view, we will see that it is not the case but rather, it will tell us that breaking off from tradition is one of the many causes of social disharmony. Traditions are established by following the Way and neglecting it means that we are also neglecting traditions. 

He who places value on tradition is a gentleman. Tradition makes culture and society. It defines one’s heritage, lifestyle, and individuality. However, modern times and industrialisation continues to pose a threat that can make or break tradition. 

Things are changing, that’s a given. All the rituals and customs that we are practicing nowadays are nothing compared to the ones before. The diversity of the world is hard to manage and people are always in conflict with each other in terms of their interests, beliefs, and practices. However, change can also be seen as good. Change have allowed us to live our lives comfortably and easily. Embracing change allowed us to keep up with the modern demands of the now. So how are we to approach this? 

We can accept change but we must always look back and allow tradition to keep us in line. The problems of the now can be seen in the old and the only way to solve them is to “go back to nature”. The people of the old are more experienced. They understand the nature of things and the nature of life better than the people of the now do. Just as modernity gave birth to new things, it also created new distractions that stalls us from being able to do the things that we are supposed to do as well as keeping us away from the right path. Through the preservation of tradition, one will always be reminded of the Way and the importance if its learnings regardless of time. Expressing it through rituals and imprinting the traditional virtues inside us thereby making it as our guide, one can always be sure that his or her actions are in accordance to the Way. 

*****