Confucius Rules!
There are some interesting discussions about an ancient Chinese story on 井底之蛙。
It is recorded in the Han chronicles that when Emperor Wen visited his pleasure park he went to the area called Tiger Garden. There he questioned the official in charge of the park about the various animals. The official did not respond. The caretaker beside him, however, answered in great detail. Emperor Wen instructed Zhang Shizhi [an attendent] that the caretaker was to be given administration of the gardens because of his ability. But Zhang reminded him of Zhou Bo and Zhang Xiangru, who were virtuous with words to those above them in rank. Zhang advised that if Wen accepted the clever speech of the caretaker as a virtue and raised him in rank, the world must then bow to [the vagaries of] the winds. People will compete in clever speech and truth will become unimportant. The emperor agreed and the clever caretaker was not promoted. Gerhart “Tokugawa Authority ”Monumenta Nipponica 52.1 Story from Shi ji 102
It’s not clear from the story what the caretaker told the emperor. Yet reasonable minds will agree that it’s quite presumptuous to deem him as a slanderer. Indeed, many ancient Chinese stories read like this one, pithy but ambiguous and often don’t stand the test of logic. The conclusion seems always more important than how it is derived.
Back to the story. Had I read it ten years ago, I would have thought that this is just another piece about how a smart emperor should rule his country. But years of cynicism tells me that there is more to the story. This is not a lesson to the ruler. Instead, it is a lesson to the ruled, to all the caretakers out there. The message to them is clear – “don’t open your mouth unless you are allowed to” and “behavior like that will be viewed as slandering and will not be awarded.”
This is the genius stroke of Confucius philosophy. It preaches the ruled subconsciously about what the acceptable behaviors are. Not offend others, obey the rules, respect the existing social hierarchy. Aren’t these the desirable quality of the ruled for the ruler? That’s probably why Confucius philosophy survived several thousands years of Chinese history of many generations of emperors. Mao is actually right on this. Confucius philosophy is a tool for the rulers.
