Rectification of the Mind

十八

~What does Confucius mean by the rectification of names? What is the scope of his rectification? How is this rectification to be accomplished?

~Why is the rectification of names the last step in the development of the chun-tzu? What does it contribute to the character of the chun-tzu?

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Chang, 2013

“Rectify whatever there is to be rectified about the things, search your own mind, and trust your own intuition which is good by nature.”

In Manuel Dy’s The Confucian Jen, he provided the sequence for the development of the superior man (the eight steps in The Great Learning): when things are investigated, knowledge is extended; when knowledge is extended, the will becomes sincere; when the will becomes sincere, the mind is rectified; when the personal life is cultivated, the family is regulated; when the family is regulated, the state will be in order; and when the state is in order, there will be peace throughout the world. Therefore, in order to become a superior man or a jen man, he must start with himself and he must start it correctly. He should investigate things, seek for and gain the knowledge, do well in making his will sincere, and rectify his mind. By doing so, he cultivates himself and when cultivated, he helps his family, his state, and the world. The four steps for the development of the superior man must be accomplished before he can fully cultivate himself. 

A person with a rectified mind will not so easily be swayed. The human mind, taking the definition of Tucker (1989), refers to the physical form of the senses responding to what they desire. An untamed mind is often equated to a wild horse- where one’s senses go on a rampage, driving the mind in a chaotic state and making it lose all its control over the body, the heart, and the mind. An untamed mind will but generate bad decisions and bad actions that in turn result in a bad outcome. The mind becomes irrational and illogical. To avoid such mishap, one must rectify his mind so as to correct his ways and his thoughts. The same thing also goes to a person with an unbalanced way of thinking. Dwelling only in negative thoughts would inevitably sour the mood of the person and this in turn will make him ill towards others. Too much confidence in the mind will also cause one to overlook things and his carelessness will result in his own downfall. Chapter 7 of The Great Learning have also described a person’s uncertified state of mind. 

de Bary, 2013

Zhen Zhangfang, Essay on the Learning of the Emperors

“What is called ‘cultivation of the person’ lies in rectifying one’s mind.’ If the person is moved by passion, he will not achieve correctness; if he is moved by fondness for something, he will not achieve correctness; if he is moved by sorrow and distress, he will not achieve correctness.”

Chang, 2013

“So, we as human beings have to be sincere and moving. Where are we moving to? To a better status, to make ourselves better human beings. In others words, we must give our mind a new direction; we must rectify our mind.”

Zheng Shen, one of Confucius’ disciples, found that in order for one to put his mind to a good use, all he needs to do is to rectify it, “four emotions usually exercise bad influences on the mind: anger, fear, exhilaration, and worry. The way to ‘rectify’ one’s mind is to get rid of these four emotions” (Chang, 2013). Chen Te-hsiu, a major Neo-Confucian scholar and an official in the late Sung dynasty, also echoed the same thoughts regarding the rectification of the mind. He strongly believes that correcting the mind is the very foundation of self-cultivation, which is  the basis for moral rulership (Taylor & Choy, 2005). With a rectified mind, one can do well in discerning his thoughts from right and wrong. One can discipline his thoughts and his actions. He does not put on airs and walks the talk. A rectified mind also takes note with names and their actualities. As he is a careful man, he makes sure that names are in accordance with their purpose and strives hard to correct and do something about the ranks, duties, and functions that are out of place. If we allow our mind to do as it please, then all will end in disharmony. Our mind lies in the “control room” of our physical body. Regulating our desires and keeping our emotions from bursting out is a good way keeping ourselves from falling all over the place or from straying away from the path. Allowing our desire for material things is also not the way to go. If we keep our senses and our thoughts in check and not allow one to dominate over the rest is a way to rectify the mind. 

Tucker, 1989

“…if we want to rectify the mind-and-heart, we must first make our will sincere. If we are already sincere in loving good and disliking evil, rectifying the mind-and-heart should be easy. Rectification means that the seven emotions of happiness, anger, sadness, enjoyment, love, hate, and desire which arise in the mind-and-heart are in correct measure with neither excess of deficiency. This means being happy when we should be happy, but not being excessive in that happiness; being angry when we should be angry,but not being excessive in anger. Other emotions should also be expressed in a similar manner. If the seven emotions are balanced with either excess nor deficiency, we will not be swayed within the heart and there will always be harmony. This is rectifying the mind-and-heart.”

As the mind is the very foundation of the self (Dietz, 2010), rectification of the mind would mean cleansing away prejudices, false orientations, and wrong perceptions of the self. Cleansing the thoughts of such things, we can see things more clearly- we can see them as they are and with this, our actions will be in accordance to harmony and how we associate with others would be correct. And because prior to this that we have already investigated things, extended our knowledge, and made our wills sincere, we can correct our minds with full knowledge of doing so, correctly and sincerely. 

Dietz, 2010

“…With a rectified mind, superior people cultivate every aspect of their lives to better honour and benefit all things. Superior people use the self to protect and manifest their understanding. Superior people do not live carelessly. They live to nourish their mind and to act to the great benefit of the world…”

Chang, 2013

Wang Shou-ren: [the mind] can also be “reason itself". He believed that no reason existed outside the mind; and no thing existed outside the mind. The mind is reason because it knows how to arrange things. The mind is also virtue, because it has compassion (ren) and the ability to distinguish right from wrong. All a man needs to do, in order to find a right answer to a question, is to search his own mind…

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