One part of the seemingly hierarchical system that Confucius wants to see exist that I find interesting is the many many different possible ways one could address someone they are talking to, depending entirely on the relationship between the two speakers. By creating a system (or perhaps building on top of a system) that has such a heavily structured system of addressing ones fellow members of society, Confucius is also in a very effective way advocating for a system that creates very clear communication between people. By having such an extensive set of rules for communication, it would seem near impossible for one to misunderstand something due to ambiguity. You could almost say that Confucius was trying to make it easier for people to understand one another as a part of his ideal for how people should behave.
Not really sure if I have a question for this one, but it's something I though was interesting.
That is indeed and interesting point. I would be very curious as to Confucius' intentions behind the usage of his philosophy with the language, if contextual interpretation allows it. I would however, wonder if Confucius influenced the Chinese language, or if the language influenced Confucius.
ReplyDeleteThe influence goes both ways, of course.
DeleteGreat point, Kaz. It is perfectly clear from the Analects that precision of communication among people was uppermost in Confucius' mind.
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