The Master Said...

In Book 4, we see how Confucius introduces us to the superior man. Reading about the superior man I saw how he could be described as good, impartial, smart in his affairs, and understanding. He is basically a role model for everyone to follow. Reading this book I noticed that it was always about men but it never mentions women. Do women have the same rules

By talking about the superior man Confucius was talking about how a true gentleman should be formed. A person who no matter the circumstances would always choose right over wrong. I believe everyone is born to be the superior man but as we grow some challenges get harder and some choose to do bad over good. Then again, these are different times.

1. Riches and honors are what men desire.


2. If they cannot be obtained in the proper way, they should not be held.


3. Poverty and meanness are what men dislike.


4. If they cannot be avoided in the proper way, they should not be avoided.
   

My paraphrase:

1. Being wealthy is what everyone wants.


2. If you don't reach wealth the proper way, then let it go because it wasn´t meant to be.


3. Being poor and mean is what people don't like.


4. If there is no way to avoid them, then don't try to.

From what I understood here, Confucius was saying that things can only happen if you follow the Way to get to them. If you do not follow the "guidelines", it is unfair for you to obtain these objects. Only through Goodness can one hope to be successful and complete. Even though they talk about good stuff they also mention poverty and being mean which cant be avoided either. The last two sentences show that even though you are going to come across good and wealth, roadblocks will be in your path and you'll just have to embrace them.

I found that like in the Bible, in the Analects there are popular sayings like: “What I do not wish men to do to me, I also wish not to do to men." Even though now we say them in a different way they mean the same thing and carry the same message to the person you say it too. I that particular example it could be "don't do to others what you wouldn´t want done to yourself." We saw the same thing happened with the Bible but mostly for titles like Inherit the Wind.

In Book 5, we got a view of politics from Confucius. He talks about the leaders and I got a feeling that he didn't agree with some of the things they did but he thought some of them were good just because they followed the way. I guess that if you rule with goodness and guide people toward the way, Confucius approves. If he had to vote for the next Colombian president, who would he vote for?

1. Where the solid qualities are in excess of accomplishments, we have rusticity


2. Where the accomplishments are in excess of the solid qualities, we have the manners of a clerk


3. When the accomplishments and solid qualities are equally blended, we then have the man of virtue.

Me:

1. Where the good qualities are full of praise, there is simplicity.


2. Where accomplishments are plentiful in comparison to good qualities, there is a working man.


3. When accomplishments and good qualities are balanced, we have a man full of virtue.

What I understood from this is that to truly be a man of virtue you have to balance your behavior and your accomplishments. I think that to achieve the bast accomplishments you rely truly on your qualities because they are your strengths. You also have to be humble about your affairs and don't devote yourself completely to gaining more and more because that goes against goodness.

Up to now I am enjoying the Analects a bit more than the Bible but I miss the story way of explaining the teachings. Here we just have a guy talking with his friends. Still the lessons here are clearer to decipher.