Confucius: The Great Teacher

Confucius is the latinized name of a person known in China as K'ung Tzu. His family name was K'ung, and his personal name was Ch'iu (Tzu). He was born in 551 B.C. in the state of Lu in the southern part of the present Shantung province m eastern China. His ancestors had been members of the ducal house of the state of Sung which was descended from the royal house of Shang, the dynasty that had preceded the Chou. Because of political troubles the family, before the birth of Confucius, had lost its noble position and migrated to Lu.

The most detailed account of Confucius's life is found in the Shih Chi (86 B.C.). From this source we find that Confucius was poor in his youth, and at an early age he was promoted to the position of superintendent of the fields. As a result of political intrigue, Confucius lost his position and went into exile where he wandered throughout China for thirteen years. During these years he tried to find an opportunity to realize his ideal of political and social reform. Nowhere, however, did he succeed, and as an old man he returned to Lu and died in 479 B.C.

Confucius authored and/or preserved many classics that went on to form the social structure of China. They are: I-Ching (Book of Changes) Shu Ching (Book of Poetry), Shih Ching (Book of History), Li Chi (Book of Ceremonies and Rites) and Ch'un Ch'iu (Spring and Autumn Annals).

He is also credited with four books, which may have been authored by him or compiled by later followers: Lun Yu (Analects), Ta Hsueh (Great Learning), Chung Yung (Doctrine of the Mean) and Meng-tse Shu (Book of Mencius).

Confucianism has contributed many social structures to the Chinese culture and the philosophy of kung-fu.
The first is called jen. Jen refers to the relationship between man and man. This relationship must be based on love, benevolence, and compassion. That is why a kung-fu master would rather be hit than hit his opponent unless his life is threatened. Not returning an opponent's attack is meant to teach the aggressor that some people can receive injury and return kindness.

The second concept, chu-tzu, refers to the "superior man." A kung-fu master is supposed to pattern himself after the superior man. Chu-tzu refers to the terms on which the concept of jen exists. It also has been called true manhood and empathy. The superior man "is the only man who is real," says Confucius. He is a man of ethics and morality.

Confucius believed that "this man-to-man (jen) relationship must exist on the terms of the superior man (chu-tzu)." In simpler terms, man-to-man relationships are founded on etiquette toward one another, making it possible to harmonize society with friendship and love.

The third concept, called li, has two distinct meanings.

First, it is propriety. Confucius realized that man, in his search for beauty, serenity, and harmony, must start with something. So Confucius set down various rules. These rules were explained through maxims and anecdotes. These rules followed a middle path or mean, expressed in Confucius's book, The Doctrine of the Mean (Chung Yung). This mean is a middle path between life's extremes. This prevents excess and checks depravity.

The second meaning of li is ritual. When one follows the maxims and anecdotes and lives by the mean, then one's life is a ritual (li). Life is ordered and has meaning. This is not socially imposed, but rather self-imposed betterment.

Lastly there is te, or power. Confucius looked at power not as a method of superior strength but of metaphysical betterment and contentment. It is the power in each of us to do what must he done to carry out li.

This is not the te of the Taoists who believed it to be a means of reason and virtue. The Confucian believed it as a means of self-understanding and betterment. The greatest contribution of Confucianism to kung-fu is the I-Ching, or the Book of Changes. The l-Ching is a collection of sixty-four six-line symbols (oracles), referred to as hexagrams. These hexagrams are made up of two three-line oracles called trigrams, or pa-kua in Chinese.

The oracles themselves are composed of an arrangement of straight, and broken, lines. In days gone by, the one line oracles referred to a simple "yes" or "no" in divination practices. But as time went on the need for greater differentiation seemed necessary. It was at this time the single lines were coupled into pairs.
Later a third line was added. These trigrams were conceived as images and attributes of all that occurs on heaven and earth. They were held to be in constant change, one trigram easily changed into another. This is the fundamental concept of the Book of Changes.
 The pa-kua represents a family in the abstract sense. The family consists of a father, a mother, an oldest son, a second son, a youngest son, an oldest daughter, a second daughter, and a youngest daughter. The sons represent the principles of movement in various stages, beginning of movement, resting in movement, and danger in movement. The daughters represent devotion, that is, gentle penetration, clarity and adaptability, and joyous tranquility.

Although the first person to discover, so to speak, the oracles was Fu Hsi, one of the Three Autumn emperors (2852-2205 B.C.) the perfection of the I-Ching came about under King Wan (1150 B.C.), the Duke of Chou (his son), and Confucius.

King Wan comprised the oracles into a book and wrote commentaries on each of them with the Duke of Chou. When Confucius found the book he modified it by arranging each hexagram in a logical order. He wrote commentaries about each line in each hexagram. Therefore, a straight line in one hexagram differed in meaning from a straight line in another.

The I-Ching, in essence, is a book of philosophical wisdom that tells the kung-fu practitioner what techniques to adapt to what situation. Other uses for the I-Ching have been as a method of divination. It is consulted by casting yarrow sticks or by tossing coins. The line drawn will depend on the faces of three bronze coins tossed. For example, if using pennies, three heads equal a broken line, three tails a solid line, two heads and one tail a solid line, and two tails and one head a broken line.

After the lines are arranged (the bottom line is drawn first and then the one above it and so on), one consults the text for interpretation. Questions asked of the I-Ching should have simple yes or no answers, at least in the beginning. True interpretation of the meaning of the oracles is a lifetime study.

Pa-kua ch'uan, or

Pa-kua, a circular system that gains its strength from ch'i (internal energy) rather than just physical strength, gains its foundation and strategy by the adaptation and strategy found in the trigrams. The specifics of this go beyond the scope of this text. the "Eight Oracle Boxing," places great emphasis on the I-Ching, especially the original eight trigrams. Pa-kua ch'uan (referred to as pa-kua hereafter) is a method of boxing brought from the Kiangu province by Tung Hai-ch'uam of Wenam Hsien village in the Hopeh province. Tung is said to have learned "divine" boxing from a Taoist priest on a trip to Kiangu during the Ch'ing dynasty (1644-1911 A.D.) Pa-kua is one of three internal methods of kung-fu (nei-chia), the others being hsing-yi (mind boxing) and tai ch'i ch'uan (supreme ultimate boxing).