THE SOCIAL COMPACT IN CONFUCIAN AND CHINESE TRADITIONS:

Confucius is the dominant thinker in the Chinese paradigm⁽¹⁰⁷⁾. He believed that reality was throughout the world of which man was a part. It was neither inside of man, as in Plato, nor outside of man, as in Aristotle. Man was a part of it like salt in the sea.

His basic idea was jen; the ideal relationship among human beings⁽¹⁰⁸⁾. Confucius affirms the idea of natural law in that "the seeds of (jen) are not to be found outside of man's basic nature."⁽¹⁰⁹⁾ He then takes another step; "any direct expression of one's own nature would have to be restrained by li - the rules of propriety - in order to adhere to the principles of jen."⁽¹¹⁰⁾ "Li is the distinguishing quality of man without which man and wild animals would be the same and human society would cease to exist. ... if man does not know li he does not know how to behave like a man."⁽¹¹¹⁾ Finally, the tao is "the Way to an ideal government and society, and of a virtuous man."⁽¹¹²⁾ The Chün-tzu is a "good man" who "has a thorough understanding of jen and constantly practices it. He acts always according to li, and the rules of propriety are so much a part of his life nature that he never can violate them. ... Above all, (he) treasures and seeks the tao."⁽¹¹³⁾ The man who does not do this is a petty man, a hsiao-jen. For Confucius, "society would not be peaceful if each individual man did not behave properly, according to his social station. ... the individual was important, but only insofar as he could help bring about peace and harmony in society."⁽¹¹⁴⁾

The Mo Tzu⁽¹¹⁵⁾ challenged Confucius' concept of li and tao. In li, "Mo Ti is emphatic in asserting the basically equal worth of men. He insists that a sovereign ruler must honor the virtuous and the capable regardless of `their family connection, financial status, and their physical appearances.'"⁽¹¹⁶⁾ Man behaves according to the example he follows and the company he keeps, and rulers rise and fall because of the quality of their advisors. His tao is based in a concept of universal love which "is good because it brings untold and immeasurable benefit to mankind, and because whatever benefits mankind must be right and good."⁽¹¹⁷⁾ Any proper standard is always set by the superior for the inferior to observe, and since Heaven is the supreme authority, it is Heaven who sets the universal standards. As man improved over the animals there was a selection of the most virtuous and capable man in the world to serve as the Son of Heaven. He established the uniform standard which is to be observed.⁽¹¹⁸⁾

Menicius⁽¹¹⁹⁾ did more to establish Confucianism as the controlling orthodoxy in Chinese thought than any one except Chu Hsi⁽¹²⁰⁾ As with Mo Ti, Menicius focused on the li. The source of natural law, the elements of the social compact, is found in the innate goodness which can be observed in an unobstructed child.⁽¹²¹⁾ He delineated these as "the four good beginnings". "The sense of mercy is the beginning of jen; the sense of shame should lead man to a sense of righteousness (i); the sense of courtesy, if allowed to develop, would give man decorum; and the sense of right and wrong is the foundation of wisdom."⁽¹²²⁾ i is also the sense of justice and fairness⁽¹²³⁾. The leader of a society which has come together on these bases rules by moral magnetism⁽¹²⁴⁾, and individual effort to seek personal gain causes strife both inside and outside of government⁽¹²⁵⁾. The ruler must keep the people first, the state second, and himself last. The people who have aptitudes of brain work with their minds and are destined to rule, while those with aptitudes for brawn work with their hands to feed the former and are ruled by them.⁽¹²⁶⁾ If the ruler does not rule in pursuit of the tao, he loses his Heavenly Mandate, and the people have the right to rebel⁽¹²⁷⁾. The man without jen or i is a scoundrel and a scourge, who deserves defeat regardless of his social station⁽¹²⁸⁾.

Chuang Chou⁽¹²⁹⁾ believed that all conflict stemmed from a divergence from the tao⁽¹³⁰⁾. Everything in the universe, including man, instinctively understands the tao, but man attempts to make artificial distinctions in it, these distinctions create confusion, and they are necessarily incomplete⁽¹³¹⁾. Chuang wanted man to abolish the artificial political and social institutions⁽¹³²⁾ in the hope that man would live as part of nature and desist from analyzing the universe in abstraction⁽¹³³⁾.

Han Fei⁽¹³⁴⁾ believed that nothing interests man except material profit⁽¹³⁵⁾, so all laws should be based on the "two helms" of rewards and punishments⁽¹³⁶⁾. On a more positive note, Han urged the development of a single standard of law and authority⁽¹³⁷⁾. When this standard was complete, the people would know what to do without the need for a ruler to make any move⁽¹³⁸⁾. Both until, and after, the standard was complete, the wise sovereign should rule merely by showing his awe-inspiring majesty⁽¹³⁹⁾.

There is a very good argument that the Taoist authors of Tao Te Ching⁽¹⁴⁰⁾ were Confucian reformers like Jesus and Martin Luther. They denied that there was any need - or basis - for men to develop a single standard of law. The tao already existed as the First Cause and the Ultimate Pattern.⁽¹⁴¹⁾ The tao existed in each person from infancy, so if the ruler would do nothing the people would still behave properly.⁽¹⁴²⁾

Tai Sheng⁽¹⁴³⁾ set the standard for Chinese education and government up to the end of the 19th Century.⁽¹⁴⁴⁾ It articulated three principles of the art of government; "people of themselves will do exactly what the ruler does", "recognize and make use of wise and moral", and "esteem of what is right above what is materially profitable".⁽¹⁴⁵⁾ The final goal of individual self-cultivation is maintenance of a peaceful and prosperous world.⁽¹⁴⁶⁾ This Great Learning even implies a right of disposition of tyrants who are not "sincere". Such insincere men must be removed and exiled to the "land of the barbarians and never allowed to return".⁽¹⁴⁷⁾

Part of the evidence for a social compact, and the natural law which it implies, can be found in the consistency between the basic ideas in the Hellenic-Western and the Confucian-Chinese theorists. St Augustine would not be surprised to learn that the tao, which he called beata unita, was indigenous to every individual. Nor would he be taken back that frustration stemmed from divergence from the tao. Marx sought a single standard, and believed in forceful use of rewards and punishments to accomplish it. Rousseau believed in the general will, and the feasibility of forcing people to be free. Jesus would agree with jen, li, and i.

It is possible that as the Western systems, in which the individual is distinct from his environment, continues to be confronted by the Confucian paradigm, in which the individual is an incremental part of their environment, a new paradigm shift will occur.

American business presently complains that government and business are adversaries. This is an illustration of our

Aristotelian-Aquinian paradigm under which business attempts to place demands on government, and government attempts to regulate business. The second part of this same complaint is that in Japan government and big business⁽¹⁴⁸⁾ are in partnership. This is an illustration of the Confucian paradigm in which business and government are both parts of the total environment.

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