Sarah Min A10627548 November 11, 2014 Why Is Proper Order Fragile? Proper order is a concept that exists in both the Western world as well as the East Asian world. However, compared to the West, proper order is not as significant as it is for East Asians government and cultures. Proper order contains two levels inside of it: self-cultivation and governance. Governance includes governments, society, and local institutions. They provide an order for human beings to live in. Self-cultivation is more on the individual level and explains an important pre condition for proper order in East Asian culture about having character and governance in balance (Magagna, Lecture 7, October 20, 2014). It is important to not only define proper order but to …show more content…
It is also a concept that is hard to achieve and is always the final and ultimate ideal goal for many East Asian governments. Proper order is not something that is brought about easily and takes the effort of many aspects of societies from the self to central governments. But the most important and key feature about proper order that must be addressed is how fragile it is. For proper order to be understood properly, the following questions will be answered: what is proper order, why proper order is fragile, and how proper order can be achieved. There are specific criteria for identifying proper order and these criteria are: Human/Humane, virtuous leadership, beneficent hierarchy, and cosmic resonance (Magagna, Lecture 7, October 20, 2014). The first criterion is human/humane. It is the concept of following the interests of people as well as having respect for them. For many humans, material goods such as food and shelter and firm beliefs and morals are the essential real needs of people. It is as Mencius says: “The appetite for food and sex is part of our nature” (de Bary 89). It is in human nature to want these material and …show more content…
In any society, there is often the possibility of famine that is especially prevalent in pre-industrial societies. This is shown in the Irish Potato Famine that occurred in the 19th century. Since the Irish population was growing at a rapid rate and their diet consisted of mainly potatoes to survive, when disease and parasites infected the potato crops, many of the Irish began to starve. As a result, many responded by moving to America (Magagna, Lecture 10, October 29, 2014). This is a breakdown of proper order because human and humane rights are not being met. If the people are starving, this is a huge deviation from proper order. The social and policy response that occurred during this time was the creation of famine insurance to ensure themselves against future famine. However the Confucian solution in a case of a famine would be the creation of Ever-Normal Granaries. This is food insurance through co-participation (local storage and government granaries) and combines the efforts of government and voluntary social action (Magagna, Lecture 10, October 29,