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[From Liberty magazine, November 1999, pp. 39-40.] Arms in the Celestial Kingdom by Dave Kopel In the eastern hemisphere, perhaps no
person has had more enduring influence than the Chinese philosopher Confucius
(born 551 B.C.E.). He is usually thought of as a strong supporter of the
authoritarian state, and few people would imagine that he understood the
importance of an armed, responsible population in a well-ordered society.
"Confucius," by the way, is an 18th century Western mistranslation of his name.
So let's call him what his students called him, "Master K'ung."
Master K'ung spent much of his energy advising
governments about right conduct. "To govern a state of middle size" (ideal in
Master K'ung's view, which extolled moderation in all things), the ruler should,
among other things, "mobilize the people only at the right times." (1:5). [Most
of Master K'ung's teachings which have been preserved for us come through his Analects,
a book-length series of anecdotes and teachings collected by his disciples. All
citations to the Analects provide the chapter and the verse to Simon Leys' 1997
translation.]
This advice about mobilization suggests that the
state is not to be protected by a standing army, but instead by a force of "the
people" which is only mobilized under certain conditions. This force of "the
people" seems to resemble what 17th century Englishmen would have
called "the militia."
This proto-militia required training and
cultivation, as did everything else: "The Master said: 'The people need to be
taught by good men for seven years before they can take arms.' The Master said:
'To send a people to war that has not been properly taught is wasting them.'"
(13:29-30).
Skill at shooting was important for much more
than war, however. As a young man, Master K'ung made sure to master the "Six
Arts" of a Chinese gentleman. These arts were ritual, music, charioteering,
calligraphy, arithmetic, and archery.
Would Master K'ung agree with persons who find
the shooting sports barbaric? "The Master said: 'A gentleman avoids competition.
Still, if he must compete let it be at archery. There, as he bows and exchanges
civilities both before the contest and over drinks afterward, he remains a
gentleman, even in competition.'" (3:7). In modern America, which form of
competition builds character better: high school football, in which boys taunt
other players after slamming them to the ground, or target shooting, for which
self-control is required at all times?
Master K'ung might have agreed with Thomas
Jefferson, who advised his nephew: "Games played with a bat and ball are too
violent, and stamp no character on the mind . . . [A]s to the species of
exercise, I advise the gun."
The shooting sports emphasized focus and control
over strength: "In archery, it does not matter whether one pierces the target,
for archers may be of uneven strengths. Such was the view of the ancients."
(3:16).
To Master K'ung, the point of archery, like any
of the other Six Arts, was character development in a spirit of moderation.
Thus, one passage records Master K'ung's ironic reply to criticism that he was
not an expert in anything:
"A man from Daxiang said: 'Your Confucius is
really great! With his vast learning, he has still not managed to excel in any
particular field.' The Master heard of this and said to his disciples: 'Which
skill should I cultivate? Shall I take up charioteering? Shall I take up
archery? All right, I shall take up charioteering.'" (9:2).
Not just a target shooter, Master K'ung was a
hunter. A responsible one, of course, who emphasized skill and fair play: "The
Master fished with a line, not with a net. When hunting, he never shot a
roosting bird." (7:27).
Some of Master K'ung's teachings speak directly
to our current political situation: "Lead them by political maneuvers, restrain
them with punishments: the people will become cunning and shameless. Lead them
by virtue, restrain them with ritual: they will develop a sense of shame and a
sense of participation." (2:3). Our current President presides over a mammoth
state, and is correctly regarded as a slick hypocrite. Our first President
presided over a government of
Asked what would be the first step if a
government sought his advice, "The Master said: "It would certainly be to
rectify the names . . . If the names are not correct, language is without an
object.'" (13:3). In modern America, the failure to "rectify the names" is at
the heart of the gun control problem. The gun prohibition lobbies succeed to the
extent that they can label guns like the M-1 Garand an "assault weapon."
Likewise, inexpensive handguns used for self-defense by poor people are "junk
guns" or "Saturday Night Specials." And people who stand up for the Constitution
are "extremists."
Today, East Asian tyrants portray Confucianism
as a philosophy demanding that the masses submit to tyranny, but this is a
falsehood. Master K'ung certainly placed tremendous emphasis on respect for
parents as the foundation for society, on benign paternalist government, on
temperate and polite behavior, and on
"The Head of the Ji Family was richer than a
king, and yet Ran Qiu kept
Mencius, the most influential developer of
Master K'ung's thought, also
Compare Mencius's philosophy with the second
paragraph of the Declaration of Independence, which affirms that rights come to
the people directly from Heaven, from the "Creator," and that government which
does not conform to the will of the people may properly be changed by the
people, with violence if necessary.
Great minds in different places and
circumstances often come to the same conclusion. (Compare what Westerners call
"the Golden Rule," with Mencius's "Try your best to treat others as you would
wish to be treated yourself, and you will find that this is the shortest way to
humanity.")
Pursuant to the teachings of Master K'ung and
Mencius, Confucian scholars in 220 C.E. led a peasant rebellion which brought
down the tyrannical Han Dynasty.
In contrast to the Taoists, many of whom chose
to live as hermits to contemplate nature, the philosophy of Master K'ung
emphasized the moral imperative of engagement in public affairs. In one passage,
a man asks the Master, "Can a man be called virtuous if he keeps his talents to
himself while his country is going astray? I do not think so. Can a man be
called wise if he is eager to act, yet misses every opportunity to do so? I do
not thing so. The days and months go by, time is not with us."
Master K'ung replies, "All right, I shall accept
an office." (17:1).
If you believe in the Constitution, but never
volunteer your time to defend it, can you be called virtuous?
In America, the philosophical heritage of the
right to keep and bear arms can be traced directly to the English philosophers
of the 17th and 18th centuries. But as the teachings of Master K'ung illustrate,
understanding the importance of an armed, responsible population in a
well-ordered society was not a unique accomplishment of Englishmen. Throughout
world history, our greatest philosophers, including Master K'ung, have taught us
that an armed society is a polite society. |
