Ritual In Confucianism

In Analects 7:1 of The Analects of Confucius, Confucius states that “I transmit, but do not innovate”. This can be interpreted as meaning that Confucius is not introducing new ideas to Chinese culture, but rather is reminding people of traditional teachings and the ancient ways of Chinese societies. Confucius believes that his current society, the Eastern Zhou dynasty, is in a state of instability because they have deviated from traditional ways. In order to become stable again, they must return to these ways. Confucius acts as a teacher who transmits and instructs society on these ancient ways, so society can again return to the order that was observed in the previous era. However, I will argue that while Confucius uses traditional ideas,

In Analects 2:3, virtue is the guiding force that rulers use to guide people, while ritual keeps them in line, as it encourages them to act virtuously even though the tendency to do bad will never leave them. In Analects 8:2 this theme is further examined. Ritual is used to restrain and shape human tendencies so they are more inline with the ideas of virtue (see Analects 8:2 subscript). It is used as a way to keep virtue from becoming a vice by insuring that there is still order and obligations that people must attend to. In the eras before Confucius, ritual had a slightly different meaning. In the original Zhou dynasty, ritual was only truly important to the king as his proper observance of ritual would allow him to keep Heaven’s Mandate. As mentioned previously, ritual and virtue were not limited to rulers in Confucianism, and Heaven’s Mandate was more of a guide for acting or ruling rather than a power bestowed upon an emperor. It was also important in the Zhou interpretation of ritual that the rituals were done with sincerity and good intention as this would be the only form of ritual acceptable to Heaven (Slingerland 2003, p.xix). This idea of good intention is further elaborated in Confucianism, more so than in the Zhou texts. The decline of ritual is thought of in Confucius to be the reason for current societal chaos, as ritual promotes