The Economic Principles of Confucius and His School (Volume 1)

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1911. Excerpt: ... BOOK IV. CONSUMPTION CHAPTER XII General Pr1nc1ples Of Consumpt1on 1. Human Wants All founders of religions turn their attention to God, but Confucius turns his to man. In the Evolution of Civilization, he says: Man is the product of the attributes of Heaven and Earth, by the interaction of the dual forces of nature, the union of the animal and intelligent souls, and the finest subtle matter of the five elements. 1 By this statement he means that man is a spiritual being. Again, he says: Man is the heart and mind of Heaven and Earth, and the visible embodiment of the five elements. He lives in the enjoyment of all flavors, the discriminating of all notes of harmony, and the enrobing of all colors. 2 By this passage, Confucius means that man is also a material being. He takes the feelings of man as the basis of his philosophy. Or, as Confucius himself puts it: The sage cultivates the feelings of man as the fields, so that man regards the sage as the landlord. 8 Now, what are the feelings of man? According to Confucius, man has seven feelings which are given to him by nature and not by learning, namely, joy, anger, sadness, fear, love, hatred and desire.4 The last one, desire or want, 1 Li Ki, bk. vii, p. 380. 'Ibid., p. 382. Ibid., p. 384. lbid., p. 379. is the strongest of all. Confucius says: For food and drink and sexual pleasure, there is the greatest desire of man; against death and poverty, there is the greatest hatred of man. Thus desire and hatred are the two great elements in the mind of man. 1 In fact, Confucianism is more human than any other religion. Mankind is the object of its teaching. Human feeling is the field of its work. Since desire is the strongest feeling of man, no matter how spiritual he may be, the economic wants for f...