What Is a Good Ruler in Confuciuss View free essay sample

What makes a good ruler, in Confucius’s view? A good minister? In Confuciuss view,the most important characteristic a ruler should have is virtue, to be more specific, humanity and unselfish love for his people, and should always use ritual to make his virtue a paragon and make his people follow his virtue. In analects 2:3, he said lead them by political manoeuvre, restrain them with punishment, the people will become cunning and shameless. He is against using strong law or harsh political manoeuvre to control peoples behavior, instead, a good ruler , in his word lead them by virtue, restrain them with ritual: they will develop a sense of shame and a sense of participation. Though virtue is a general idea and is hard to measure, Confucius still believe that for a ruler, virtue is required. In 6:30, Confucius believe the ancient ruler of China, Shun and Yu, are the paragon of rulers in terms of virtue,and he mentions these two emperor in analects several time to show his respe ct for their decency. We will write a custom essay sample on What Is a Good Ruler in Confuciuss View? or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Shun and yu is famous for giving power to other people who is capable of ruling their community, not to their son or relatives. Their unselfish act and the love for their people make them the ideal emperor in Confucius’s standard. In analects 2;1, he compares ruler with virtue with the polestar which always remains constant and compares his people to others star revolves around it. It also shows Confucius’s idea that normal people must respect their king and follow his moral conduct. If the king behaves improperly or lose his virtue, his people will have no sense of good or evil, and the society will descend to chaos. Confucius also believe that a good minister must remain loyal to his king and should always follow the ritual, which is mostly done by following kings order . In 3:19, his student asks him how should a minister serve his ruler? , his answer is simple and concise,a minister should treat his lord with loyalty In 12:7, he says that a minister must obey kings order as long as it is not to the point of murdering father or lord, and must resign when conflict arises between minister and ruler. Since Confucius believe a true king posses almost all the virtue of human beings and is set to be the moral paragon of his people, a minister must obey a kings order considering that a minister should be inferior in terms of virtue as compared to a king. He wants a minister to follow the ritual of the court, which is like the filial piety , son must obey his father and minister must obey his ruler, only by this will keep the society in order and harmony.. In 12:11, he says lord is lord, subject is subject, which means a minister only have to do a ministers job and should never supercede to do king’s job. This is one of the reasons why lots of ancient chinese kings adopt Confucius’s philosophy because it keeps his regime from being overturned by his ministers or people. So in confuciuss view, a good king must have virtue and must be the moral paragon of his people ; a good minister must always know his position, respect and follow kings order.