1 00:00:05,400 --> 00:00:09,440 Since the dawn of civilisation, the forces of nature 2 00:00:09,440 --> 00:00:13,400 and the whims of gods held sway over humanity. 3 00:00:15,800 --> 00:00:17,480 But 2,500 years ago, 4 00:00:17,480 --> 00:00:21,240 humankind experienced a profound transformation. 5 00:00:24,440 --> 00:00:27,960 Suddenly, there were new possibilities. 6 00:00:27,960 --> 00:00:32,440 This is a time when rationality overrode superstition and belief. 7 00:00:32,440 --> 00:00:36,040 This is an ethic which does not rely on the gods. 8 00:00:36,040 --> 00:00:39,640 The world is now explained in terms of natural forces. 9 00:00:39,640 --> 00:00:42,680 We are now responsible for our own destiny. 10 00:00:46,400 --> 00:00:49,800 Upheavals across the globe sparked an ambitious 11 00:00:49,800 --> 00:00:52,880 vision of what humans could achieve, 12 00:00:52,880 --> 00:00:56,000 spearheaded by three trailblazers. 13 00:00:57,200 --> 00:01:00,080 Socrates, Confucius and the Buddha - 14 00:01:00,080 --> 00:01:02,640 great thinkers from the ancient world 15 00:01:02,640 --> 00:01:05,520 whose ideas still shape our own lives. 16 00:01:07,200 --> 00:01:09,840 Is wealth a good thing? 17 00:01:09,840 --> 00:01:12,440 How do you create a just society? 18 00:01:13,840 --> 00:01:15,560 How do I live a good life? 19 00:01:17,800 --> 00:01:20,080 By daring to think the unthinkable, 20 00:01:20,080 --> 00:01:23,440 they laid the foundations of our modern world. 21 00:01:24,480 --> 00:01:27,680 I've always been intrigued by the fact that these men, 22 00:01:27,680 --> 00:01:30,480 who lived many thousands of miles apart, 23 00:01:30,480 --> 00:01:35,040 seemed almost spontaneously, within 100 years of one another, 24 00:01:35,040 --> 00:01:38,120 to come up with such radical ways of thinking. 25 00:01:42,160 --> 00:01:44,120 So, what was going on? 26 00:01:44,120 --> 00:01:47,800 I want to investigate their revolutionary ideas 27 00:01:47,800 --> 00:01:50,640 to understand what set them in motion. 28 00:01:50,640 --> 00:01:53,880 In this programme, I'm on the trail of that quintessential 29 00:01:53,880 --> 00:01:56,920 Eastern sage - Confucius. 30 00:01:56,920 --> 00:02:01,560 He had a mission. But many people at that time did not agree with him. 31 00:02:01,560 --> 00:02:05,880 His vision was modelled on the power of the past and the family. 32 00:02:05,880 --> 00:02:09,240 He believed that education could transform both individuals 33 00:02:09,240 --> 00:02:10,960 and society. 34 00:02:10,960 --> 00:02:16,640 He is talking about your state of mind. Your feelings. 35 00:02:16,640 --> 00:02:21,840 But in the 20th century, Confucius was declared an enemy of communism. 36 00:02:21,840 --> 00:02:24,400 So now, he should be out of favour. 37 00:02:24,400 --> 00:02:27,080 But that hardly seems to be the case. 38 00:02:28,120 --> 00:02:32,040 This is the longest continuous civilisation in the world, 39 00:02:32,040 --> 00:02:34,440 and Confucius has a huge role in that. 40 00:02:34,440 --> 00:02:37,720 It's so amazing to be so close to them. My heart is beating! 41 00:02:53,760 --> 00:02:59,200 In 551 BC, an elderly ex-soldier from the ancient state of Lu 42 00:02:59,200 --> 00:03:01,760 faced a grave predicament. 43 00:03:01,760 --> 00:03:04,720 His family line was in danger of ending. 44 00:03:04,720 --> 00:03:07,960 He needed a son to continue his name, 45 00:03:07,960 --> 00:03:12,080 someone who would be able to perform the vital rituals to honour him 46 00:03:12,080 --> 00:03:13,640 and his ancestors. 47 00:03:16,480 --> 00:03:18,960 The old man took a young wife. 48 00:03:18,960 --> 00:03:21,480 We are told that she went to a sacred mountain 49 00:03:21,480 --> 00:03:23,280 and prayed hard for a boy. 50 00:03:25,480 --> 00:03:28,840 The son she bore would be known as Master Kong. 51 00:03:28,840 --> 00:03:31,680 In Chinese, Kong Fuzi. 52 00:03:31,680 --> 00:03:35,080 In the West, we call him Confucius. 53 00:03:40,800 --> 00:03:43,880 Confucius was born into one of the most advanced 54 00:03:43,880 --> 00:03:46,480 civilisations in the world. 55 00:03:46,480 --> 00:03:49,200 The ancient Chinese were innovators in art, 56 00:03:49,200 --> 00:03:52,200 metal work, agriculture and weaponry. 57 00:03:57,760 --> 00:04:00,080 And from around 1000 BC, 58 00:04:00,080 --> 00:04:03,640 they developed a sophisticated political system. 59 00:04:03,640 --> 00:04:07,280 A network of vassal lords who bore allegiance to one king. 60 00:04:10,680 --> 00:04:13,400 But by the time Confucius was going up, 61 00:04:13,400 --> 00:04:16,600 stability had turned to chaos. 62 00:04:16,600 --> 00:04:19,400 This was an age when all of ancient China 63 00:04:19,400 --> 00:04:22,240 was trapped in a ruthless cycle of war. 64 00:04:27,840 --> 00:04:31,320 Tribal invasions from the west, along with rebellion amongst 65 00:04:31,320 --> 00:04:35,440 the lords, splintered the empire into independent states. 66 00:04:39,640 --> 00:04:41,280 All vying for power. 67 00:04:45,400 --> 00:04:49,120 Spurred on by a kind of arms race, now that cast iron meant that 68 00:04:49,120 --> 00:04:53,280 weapons could be mass-produced, families attacked families. 69 00:04:53,280 --> 00:04:54,840 This was total war. 70 00:04:57,640 --> 00:05:00,240 This collapse in society would become 71 00:05:00,240 --> 00:05:04,320 the catalyst for Confucius' ground-breaking philosophy. 72 00:05:11,360 --> 00:05:15,600 The oldest record of Confucius' life and ideas, the Analects, 73 00:05:15,600 --> 00:05:18,280 were compiled about a century after his death. 74 00:05:19,680 --> 00:05:21,960 These fragments of his conversations, 75 00:05:21,960 --> 00:05:26,000 along with other later histories, give us clues to his life story. 76 00:05:28,240 --> 00:05:32,760 We are told that Confucius was just three when his father died. 77 00:05:32,760 --> 00:05:36,160 Old aristocracy, he had fallen on hard times - 78 00:05:36,160 --> 00:05:38,960 one of the victims of the turmoil of the age - 79 00:05:38,960 --> 00:05:43,160 leaving Confucius' mother to raise her son on her own 80 00:05:43,160 --> 00:05:45,080 in a kind of genteel poverty. 81 00:05:47,760 --> 00:05:52,760 Interestingly, it seems that education was Confucius' lifeline. 82 00:05:52,760 --> 00:05:55,800 Somehow, probably through a mix of private teachers 83 00:05:55,800 --> 00:06:00,280 and home-schooling and, you suspect, the sheer grit and determination 84 00:06:00,280 --> 00:06:06,280 of his mother, Confucius was taught history, poetry and ritual. 85 00:06:12,360 --> 00:06:16,040 While other children played with toys, he's said to have acted 86 00:06:16,040 --> 00:06:20,080 out sacred rituals by laying out cups and bowls. 87 00:06:21,680 --> 00:06:24,200 Now, these weren't just empty gestures, 88 00:06:24,200 --> 00:06:26,520 a bit of spiritual theatre. 89 00:06:26,520 --> 00:06:30,600 The kinds of rituals that Confucius learned played a crucial role 90 00:06:30,600 --> 00:06:34,000 in the ancient Chinese world view. 91 00:06:34,000 --> 00:06:36,720 A world view in which order and harmony, 92 00:06:36,720 --> 00:06:39,000 both on Earth and in the cosmos, 93 00:06:39,000 --> 00:06:41,240 were considered essential goals 94 00:06:41,240 --> 00:06:43,600 if life on Earth was to continue. 95 00:06:58,040 --> 00:07:01,920 The ancient rites that young Confucius knew were performed here, 96 00:07:01,920 --> 00:07:05,880 at the Temple of Heaven in Beijing, right up until the 20th century. 97 00:07:09,360 --> 00:07:12,640 The Chinese had a particular religious outlook which 98 00:07:12,640 --> 00:07:16,320 meant that these rituals weren't directed towards a deity. 99 00:07:17,480 --> 00:07:19,560 There is no creative god. 100 00:07:19,560 --> 00:07:22,040 There's nothing like the idea 101 00:07:22,040 --> 00:07:24,600 of a supreme power that dreams 102 00:07:24,600 --> 00:07:26,240 everything into being. 103 00:07:26,240 --> 00:07:29,480 What it posits instead is this notion that there are 104 00:07:29,480 --> 00:07:32,760 two cosmic forces. They're not even really divine, 105 00:07:32,760 --> 00:07:36,240 they're just natural forces, a bit like gravity in a sense. 106 00:07:36,240 --> 00:07:41,400 And on the temple here, you have perhaps the most common, 107 00:07:41,400 --> 00:07:44,600 the most powerful symbols of these two great forces. 108 00:07:44,600 --> 00:07:47,360 And that is the dragon, the heavenly force. 109 00:07:47,360 --> 00:07:51,160 And the phoenix is the female, the cold, the earthly force. 110 00:07:51,160 --> 00:07:55,120 And they are locked in perpetual struggle. 111 00:07:55,120 --> 00:07:57,200 They try to overcome each other. 112 00:07:57,200 --> 00:08:01,400 And it's this incredible dance of power 113 00:08:01,400 --> 00:08:04,000 out of which all life pours. 114 00:08:04,000 --> 00:08:06,520 So what's humanity's role in all of this? 115 00:08:06,520 --> 00:08:10,760 We're fundamental to this. You've got these two great cosmic forces 116 00:08:10,760 --> 00:08:15,720 and our role is to keep the balance, and we do this through ritual. 117 00:08:15,720 --> 00:08:18,920 And that's what this kind of temple complex was built for. 118 00:08:18,920 --> 00:08:22,280 This is where the ruler would come to make offerings to 119 00:08:22,280 --> 00:08:24,880 rebalance these two forces. 120 00:08:24,880 --> 00:08:28,840 And it wasn't just for the rulers, it took place in every single temple, 121 00:08:28,840 --> 00:08:31,840 every local shrine, right down to the household. 122 00:08:31,840 --> 00:08:34,640 Sounds like a potent and a pervasive world view 123 00:08:34,640 --> 00:08:36,640 that Confucius is being brought up with. 124 00:08:36,640 --> 00:08:39,320 Absolutely. It's the only world view he knows. 125 00:08:47,120 --> 00:08:50,320 As he reached adulthood, it looks as though Confucius grew to 126 00:08:50,320 --> 00:08:56,040 appreciate the gaping disparity between the ancient ideal of order 127 00:08:56,040 --> 00:09:00,520 and the reality of life subject to the chaos that raged all around him. 128 00:09:01,720 --> 00:09:05,640 His search for a solution to that intractable problem 129 00:09:05,640 --> 00:09:08,560 at the very heart of Chinese society 130 00:09:08,560 --> 00:09:11,120 would prove to be his life's work. 131 00:09:16,760 --> 00:09:21,160 Fortunately, conditions across the ancient world were nourishing 132 00:09:21,160 --> 00:09:23,760 new ways of thinking. 133 00:09:23,760 --> 00:09:26,760 Improvements in agriculture, increased trade, 134 00:09:26,760 --> 00:09:30,920 and growing urbanisation meant that some in society were less 135 00:09:30,920 --> 00:09:35,000 tied to a life of subsistence, creating the opportunity for 136 00:09:35,000 --> 00:09:39,960 men like Socrates, the Buddha and Confucius to develop their ideas. 137 00:09:42,200 --> 00:09:45,880 The scale of change - economic and technological - 138 00:09:45,880 --> 00:09:49,280 is reflected in archaeological remains, 139 00:09:49,280 --> 00:09:52,440 like this monumental grain store. 140 00:10:05,080 --> 00:10:08,840 Advances in technology from the Iron Age onwards led to an increase 141 00:10:08,840 --> 00:10:14,440 in agricultural yields that were stored in massive pits like this. 142 00:10:14,440 --> 00:10:17,720 Suddenly, for ordinary people, because they had enough food, 143 00:10:17,720 --> 00:10:22,920 life just wasn't a grinding cycle of a kind of hand-to-mouth existence. 144 00:10:22,920 --> 00:10:26,320 Obviously, stores like this provided grain, 145 00:10:26,320 --> 00:10:31,000 but they also gave another great gift - time to think. 146 00:10:34,560 --> 00:10:37,080 When Confucius was about 20, we're told 147 00:10:37,080 --> 00:10:41,640 he landed a bureaucratic job managing grain stores like this. 148 00:10:41,640 --> 00:10:45,480 But his mind was occupied by the turmoil of the day. 149 00:10:47,280 --> 00:10:48,640 Looking around him, 150 00:10:48,640 --> 00:10:52,800 it seemed obvious to Confucius that humanity needed help. 151 00:10:52,800 --> 00:10:57,080 And how he responded is considered a first in Chinese history. 152 00:10:58,240 --> 00:11:02,800 He began to engage in systematic philosophical enquiry. 153 00:11:14,720 --> 00:11:17,480 One thing I like about Confucius is the sense that you get 154 00:11:17,480 --> 00:11:20,560 that he had a kind of natural curiosity, 155 00:11:20,560 --> 00:11:24,800 that he felt compelled to explore, and to try to understand the world. 156 00:11:24,800 --> 00:11:29,640 And in his early 20s, he decided to leave his home state of Lu, 157 00:11:29,640 --> 00:11:30,920 and get on the road. 158 00:11:34,520 --> 00:11:37,440 Travelling west, he would have eventually met the great 159 00:11:37,440 --> 00:11:38,760 Yellow River. 160 00:11:42,240 --> 00:11:43,840 I think we have to imagine him 161 00:11:43,840 --> 00:11:46,480 at this point in his life as a kind of ethnographer, 162 00:11:46,480 --> 00:11:49,400 going from one place to another with open eyes 163 00:11:49,400 --> 00:11:53,840 and an open mind, gathering together experiences and encounters. 164 00:11:59,720 --> 00:12:02,920 The Analects describe Confucius meeting people who had 165 00:12:02,920 --> 00:12:06,400 renounced civilised society and lived amongst nature. 166 00:12:08,160 --> 00:12:11,280 These recluses were the forerunners of Daoism, 167 00:12:11,280 --> 00:12:14,840 that other great belief system of ancient China. 168 00:12:14,840 --> 00:12:18,160 They believed in something known as the Way. 169 00:12:19,840 --> 00:12:23,200 Could you explain to me what exactly the Way is? 170 00:12:38,320 --> 00:12:42,520 Is it possible for humans to influence or control the Way? 171 00:12:52,360 --> 00:12:53,880 Xiexie. Xiexie. 172 00:12:58,920 --> 00:13:04,320 The Daoists believed that developed society diverted us from the Way. 173 00:13:04,320 --> 00:13:08,560 Society was artificial, something people imposed on the natural 174 00:13:08,560 --> 00:13:10,600 spontaneous way of the universe. 175 00:13:11,680 --> 00:13:14,520 Only by reconnecting with the forces of nature could 176 00:13:14,520 --> 00:13:16,880 we achieve harmony once again. 177 00:13:19,240 --> 00:13:22,840 Confucius reacted to Daoist belief with a kind of frustrated 178 00:13:22,840 --> 00:13:24,760 indignation. 179 00:13:24,760 --> 00:13:27,440 "We can't go and live with the birds and the beasts. 180 00:13:27,440 --> 00:13:29,600 "Am I not a man among men? 181 00:13:29,600 --> 00:13:32,400 "If the Way prevailed in the world, there would be no need for me 182 00:13:32,400 --> 00:13:33,720 "to change it." 183 00:13:36,920 --> 00:13:40,040 Confucius' search for solutions to the problems of his day 184 00:13:40,040 --> 00:13:43,840 took on a more practical, political dimension. 185 00:13:43,840 --> 00:13:48,080 For him, the Way wasn't an intangible cosmic force. 186 00:13:49,600 --> 00:13:52,880 Instead, he saw it as the harmony that could be brought about 187 00:13:52,880 --> 00:13:55,720 by a perfectly ordered society, 188 00:13:55,720 --> 00:13:59,920 something attainable by human action. 189 00:13:59,920 --> 00:14:03,400 It was a claim the Daoists thought the height of arrogance. 190 00:14:05,880 --> 00:14:10,000 This critical dispute is embodied in one legendary encounter. 191 00:14:11,240 --> 00:14:15,000 Confucius is said to have come here, the city of Luoyang. 192 00:14:20,760 --> 00:14:23,240 As he was studying in the state archives, 193 00:14:23,240 --> 00:14:27,120 he met an older man and they struck up a philosophical discussion. 194 00:14:31,240 --> 00:14:34,760 As Confucius got up to leave, the old man chastised him. 195 00:14:35,760 --> 00:14:39,200 "Put away your proud air and many desires, 196 00:14:39,200 --> 00:14:43,000 "your insinuating habit and wild will. 197 00:14:43,000 --> 00:14:46,000 "These are of no advantage to you." 198 00:14:48,360 --> 00:14:53,240 The enigmatic old man was none other than Laozi, 199 00:14:53,240 --> 00:14:55,760 credited as the founder of Daoism. 200 00:14:57,000 --> 00:15:00,840 Whether it's true or not, this pairing with such a great figure 201 00:15:00,840 --> 00:15:04,720 reveals the iconic status Confucius would later reach. 202 00:15:04,720 --> 00:15:07,080 And it tells us something else. 203 00:15:07,080 --> 00:15:12,560 That setting in the archive gives us a clue to Confucius' methods. 204 00:15:12,560 --> 00:15:17,480 For him, solutions to contemporary problems lay in a close study 205 00:15:17,480 --> 00:15:19,040 of what had gone before. 206 00:15:20,240 --> 00:15:24,000 The past was a kind of reservoir of truth. 207 00:15:29,520 --> 00:15:34,200 Ever since he was a boy, he had been schooled in ancient texts. 208 00:15:34,200 --> 00:15:37,520 Now, as a man, they became the inspiration for, 209 00:15:37,520 --> 00:15:40,520 and the very foundation of his philosophy. 210 00:15:42,280 --> 00:15:45,840 Recent discoveries have shed new light on these classic texts 211 00:15:45,840 --> 00:15:47,720 of Chinese history - 212 00:15:47,720 --> 00:15:52,080 800 bamboo slips which contain the earliest 213 00:15:52,080 --> 00:15:54,920 evidence of Confucius's words. 214 00:15:54,920 --> 00:16:00,960 They were found in 1993 in the tomb of an old noble man. 215 00:16:00,960 --> 00:16:03,840 Amazing. And they date back to when? 216 00:16:03,840 --> 00:16:08,800 Oh, these were dated to the 4th century BCE, 217 00:16:08,800 --> 00:16:13,200 roughly 100 years after Confucius. 218 00:16:13,200 --> 00:16:15,600 It says something like, 219 00:16:15,600 --> 00:16:20,000 "Set your mind on the way and be virtuous. 220 00:16:20,000 --> 00:16:23,880 "Do everything in accordance with humanity." 221 00:16:24,960 --> 00:16:28,960 Not only the earliest words of Confucius but beautiful words too. 222 00:16:28,960 --> 00:16:30,880 Wow. 223 00:16:30,880 --> 00:16:34,320 And they were so amazing because they provide us new 224 00:16:34,320 --> 00:16:38,800 information on early classics that were very important 225 00:16:38,800 --> 00:16:40,440 to Confucius himself. 226 00:16:40,440 --> 00:16:44,160 And, for example, this particular slip 227 00:16:44,160 --> 00:16:48,280 mention about the classics he would have read. 228 00:16:49,720 --> 00:16:53,760 The Book Of Odes - ritual and music. 229 00:16:53,760 --> 00:16:57,360 But The Book Of History is very important, because it recorded 230 00:16:57,360 --> 00:17:02,720 figures such as the Duke of Zhou, and early kings of the Western Zhou 231 00:17:02,720 --> 00:17:06,840 that was about 500 years before Confucius' time. 232 00:17:06,840 --> 00:17:11,560 And these men were able to lead a society of harmony. 233 00:17:21,720 --> 00:17:24,440 Confucius found in the words of The Book Of History 234 00:17:24,440 --> 00:17:26,640 what he was looking for - 235 00:17:26,640 --> 00:17:31,160 an ideal model where social and political harmony had prevailed, 236 00:17:31,160 --> 00:17:34,960 engineered by the almost super-humanely sage rulers 237 00:17:34,960 --> 00:17:37,400 of the early Zhou dynasty, 238 00:17:37,400 --> 00:17:40,280 in particular, the Duke of Zhou. 239 00:17:43,640 --> 00:17:45,560 When his brother, King Wu, died, 240 00:17:45,560 --> 00:17:48,200 the Duke could have seized the throne. 241 00:17:48,200 --> 00:17:51,120 But it's reported that instead he acted loyally, 242 00:17:51,120 --> 00:17:55,240 ruling as a regent for his nephew, the king's son. 243 00:17:55,240 --> 00:17:59,160 And then, when the boy grew up, fairly and faithfully, 244 00:17:59,160 --> 00:18:01,280 he handed over the reins of power. 245 00:18:08,680 --> 00:18:12,760 Whether these accounts were entirely true is a moot point, 246 00:18:12,760 --> 00:18:16,320 but Confucius saw huge potential in them. 247 00:18:18,080 --> 00:18:23,120 This golden age was robust evidence that social order was possible. 248 00:18:24,160 --> 00:18:27,800 By following the practices and the examples of the early Zhou, 249 00:18:27,800 --> 00:18:29,960 by reviving the past, 250 00:18:29,960 --> 00:18:33,720 there could be solutions to the problems of the present. 251 00:18:33,720 --> 00:18:37,120 It is the great thing about golden ages, they're very comforting. 252 00:18:37,120 --> 00:18:40,360 We believe that if humanity was capable of wonderful things 253 00:18:40,360 --> 00:18:43,200 in the past, we can achieve them once again. 254 00:18:52,720 --> 00:18:56,480 Confucius believed that early Zhou society was the ideal 255 00:18:56,480 --> 00:18:59,040 manifestation of his concept of the Way. 256 00:19:00,520 --> 00:19:02,320 To recreate that harmony, 257 00:19:02,320 --> 00:19:05,720 society needed to return to their high standards. 258 00:19:05,720 --> 00:19:08,000 Especially in terms of ritual. 259 00:19:09,360 --> 00:19:14,080 Confucius was convinced that the ancient rites had been corrupted. 260 00:19:14,080 --> 00:19:16,400 In order to restore the golden age, 261 00:19:16,400 --> 00:19:19,400 he would have to reinstate proper ritual. 262 00:19:25,440 --> 00:19:28,600 Here, in Confucius' hometown of Qufu, 263 00:19:28,600 --> 00:19:32,160 is a temple dedicated to the master. 264 00:19:32,160 --> 00:19:35,800 It's the ultimate place of pilgrimage for many of his devotees. 265 00:19:39,200 --> 00:19:43,360 Mr Kong traces his ancestry back to Confucius 266 00:19:43,360 --> 00:19:46,640 and often leads rituals that his illustrious relative 267 00:19:46,640 --> 00:19:48,000 set such store by. 268 00:20:22,680 --> 00:20:25,480 HE CALLS OUT 269 00:20:28,680 --> 00:20:32,800 But ritual here has always meant more than just ceremony. 270 00:20:32,800 --> 00:20:36,000 It's an all-encompassing ethos that shapes every 271 00:20:36,000 --> 00:20:38,080 aspect of people's behaviour, 272 00:20:38,080 --> 00:20:41,400 including what we might call etiquette and customs. 273 00:21:18,760 --> 00:21:22,640 It seems that Confucius threw himself into understanding 274 00:21:22,640 --> 00:21:25,240 and perfecting the rites of the early Zhou. 275 00:21:27,240 --> 00:21:30,960 Confucius was nothing if not a stickler for detail. 276 00:21:30,960 --> 00:21:35,440 We hear he wouldn't even sit on a mat unless it was dead straight. 277 00:21:35,440 --> 00:21:39,200 But there seems to have been a kind of beauty in his precision. 278 00:21:39,200 --> 00:21:43,280 Just listen to these wonderful words describing him. 279 00:21:43,280 --> 00:21:47,520 "His expression was serious, his step brisk. 280 00:21:47,520 --> 00:21:51,160 "When with his clasped hands he bowed to his colleagues on left 281 00:21:51,160 --> 00:21:55,880 "and right, his robes moved evenly in front and back. 282 00:21:55,880 --> 00:21:58,720 "His hurrying advance was a glide." 283 00:22:09,880 --> 00:22:14,920 Confucius set out to transmit the importance of proper ritual, 284 00:22:14,920 --> 00:22:17,680 promoting his ideas right across the land. 285 00:22:18,680 --> 00:22:21,360 One account describes his rather hostile reception 286 00:22:21,360 --> 00:22:23,800 from a government advisor from the state of Qi. 287 00:22:25,160 --> 00:22:28,600 "Confucius lays such stress on appearance and costume, 288 00:22:28,600 --> 00:22:32,120 "elaborate etiquette and codes of behaviour that it would take 289 00:22:32,120 --> 00:22:37,160 "generations to learn his rule. One lifetime wouldn't be enough." 290 00:22:40,400 --> 00:22:43,960 To this day, Confucius is often criticised for his pedantic 291 00:22:43,960 --> 00:22:48,520 attachment to intricate forms of antiquated ritual. 292 00:22:48,520 --> 00:22:51,480 But what his critics didn't understand is that he had 293 00:22:51,480 --> 00:22:56,320 discovered something radically new within these ancient rites, 294 00:22:56,320 --> 00:23:00,360 something which marked a critical shift in his thinking. 295 00:23:09,720 --> 00:23:14,240 When Confucius' was in his mid-20s, his mother died. 296 00:23:14,240 --> 00:23:17,720 For three years, he dutifully carried out ancestral rites 297 00:23:17,720 --> 00:23:19,000 in her honour. 298 00:23:21,160 --> 00:23:25,600 But he would breathe new life and new meaning into these traditions. 299 00:23:26,840 --> 00:23:29,360 - WHISPERS: - Ah! Oh, yes. 300 00:23:32,720 --> 00:23:35,120 Wow, how beautiful. 301 00:23:35,120 --> 00:23:37,480 So these are things that would actually have been 302 00:23:37,480 --> 00:23:39,160 used in ancestor worship? 303 00:23:39,160 --> 00:23:41,920 Exactly. Ancient Chinese believed that the ghost 304 00:23:41,920 --> 00:23:46,360 and spirits continue to exist after the ancestors die. 305 00:23:46,360 --> 00:23:52,760 So it's important to offer them food and wine in these kind of vessels. 306 00:23:52,760 --> 00:23:57,320 In particular, those made of very expensive bronze. 307 00:23:57,320 --> 00:24:03,720 And everyone would be really engaging in the ritual to continue 308 00:24:03,720 --> 00:24:06,680 a kind of relationship they had before. 309 00:24:06,680 --> 00:24:09,680 Do we know what Confucius thought about all of this? 310 00:24:09,680 --> 00:24:13,440 Well, Confucius still believed that ancestors were still 311 00:24:13,440 --> 00:24:15,720 very important part, 312 00:24:15,720 --> 00:24:20,440 but he started to shift emphasis towards the living, 313 00:24:20,440 --> 00:24:23,680 by saying that it meant that it's important 314 00:24:23,680 --> 00:24:27,120 for us to develop this kind of reverence 315 00:24:27,120 --> 00:24:31,200 and the proper relationship while they are still alive. 316 00:24:31,200 --> 00:24:35,280 As he said in the Analects very clearly, that if you don't know 317 00:24:35,280 --> 00:24:39,640 how to serve the living, how would you know how to serve the dead? 318 00:24:39,640 --> 00:24:42,400 That's really interesting. He's saying actually focus first 319 00:24:42,400 --> 00:24:44,800 on the here and now and on those who are still around you in 320 00:24:44,800 --> 00:24:48,680 the day-to-day before you start to think about those who are long dead. 321 00:24:48,680 --> 00:24:50,120 You are so right. 322 00:24:50,120 --> 00:24:53,200 It's no longer just about objects like this. 323 00:24:53,200 --> 00:24:56,360 It's about your state of mind, 324 00:24:56,360 --> 00:24:57,800 your feelings, 325 00:24:57,800 --> 00:25:00,040 your love and sincerity 326 00:25:00,040 --> 00:25:05,560 from inside that you would have towards these people around you. 327 00:25:11,240 --> 00:25:15,960 Confucius realised that ritual brought out positive emotions in us. 328 00:25:15,960 --> 00:25:20,280 But his really big revelation was that this could permanently 329 00:25:20,280 --> 00:25:22,240 change who we are. 330 00:25:23,840 --> 00:25:26,640 Habitually performing the rituals of history, 331 00:25:26,640 --> 00:25:29,320 with the right attitude and sincerity, 332 00:25:29,320 --> 00:25:32,040 could transform our mind-set. 333 00:25:32,040 --> 00:25:36,800 Virtuous feelings could make virtuous beings. 334 00:25:36,800 --> 00:25:41,480 Ritual for him was not just the way you do things, 335 00:25:41,480 --> 00:25:45,920 exactly follow the traditional and this and the rules, 336 00:25:45,920 --> 00:25:50,920 but even more importantly, you've got to have something inside. 337 00:25:50,920 --> 00:25:54,200 You've got to have a reverence, respect, 338 00:25:54,200 --> 00:25:57,360 because this was the way to cultivate 339 00:25:57,360 --> 00:26:00,720 your inside of goodness, the inside of this kind of 340 00:26:00,720 --> 00:26:02,200 and the qualities. 341 00:26:02,200 --> 00:26:06,360 And the whole person would be transformed on the inside. 342 00:26:06,360 --> 00:26:09,760 But, I mean, that sounds really radical. So he's saying 343 00:26:09,760 --> 00:26:13,480 you need to do things properly, but they're not just a mechanical 344 00:26:13,480 --> 00:26:17,840 action. It affects who you are inside, sort of psychologically? 345 00:26:17,840 --> 00:26:19,680 Yes, yeah, I think this exactly. 346 00:26:19,680 --> 00:26:23,920 Not only just bring order to the social and life, 347 00:26:23,920 --> 00:26:27,720 but also this to create a new psychological under this 348 00:26:27,720 --> 00:26:32,320 meaning there and tried to cultivate this good human qualities. 349 00:26:32,320 --> 00:26:35,640 Yeah. I mean, it's interesting cos he doesn't sell himself 350 00:26:35,640 --> 00:26:37,360 as an innovator, but he was. 351 00:26:37,360 --> 00:26:38,720 Yes, he was, 352 00:26:38,720 --> 00:26:41,920 I think. Confucius said, you know, he was the only transmitter 353 00:26:41,920 --> 00:26:47,160 that transmitted the ancient culture to today, to the future. 354 00:26:47,160 --> 00:26:50,320 But actually, what he did was innovation. 355 00:26:50,320 --> 00:26:54,280 These new things that are really coming from his reinterpretation 356 00:26:54,280 --> 00:26:58,160 of something that already exists, such as the ritual. 357 00:27:00,520 --> 00:27:05,000 Nourishing virtue lay at the core of Confucius' vision. 358 00:27:05,000 --> 00:27:09,600 And he saw transformative opportunities in everyday rituals - 359 00:27:09,600 --> 00:27:13,640 how we speak, how we dress and how we eat. 360 00:27:13,640 --> 00:27:17,400 But one that was particularly close to his heart was music. 361 00:27:19,560 --> 00:27:22,280 He's said to have played the zither and the sounding chimes. 362 00:27:27,280 --> 00:27:30,840 This was a time and place where music was all around, 363 00:27:30,840 --> 00:27:35,280 played on totally wonderful things like this monumental 364 00:27:35,280 --> 00:27:38,480 set of bells that date to just after Confucius' death. 365 00:27:40,600 --> 00:27:44,280 Music was played to accompany ritual in temples and homes, 366 00:27:44,280 --> 00:27:48,040 so if you listen to these, then you'll be hearing the sounds 367 00:27:48,040 --> 00:27:51,360 that would have surrounded Confucius during his lifetime. 368 00:27:54,200 --> 00:27:56,240 BELL DINGS 369 00:27:59,360 --> 00:28:03,960 Confucius was convinced that music had the power to harmonise, 370 00:28:03,960 --> 00:28:07,360 to transform and perfect an individual. 371 00:28:07,360 --> 00:28:08,480 Basically, 372 00:28:08,480 --> 00:28:12,760 this is art as therapy 2,500 years before we invent the phrase. 373 00:28:30,880 --> 00:28:34,160 This practical application of philosophical ideas 374 00:28:34,160 --> 00:28:37,920 in day-to-day life is something that really marks out Confucius, 375 00:28:37,920 --> 00:28:40,320 as well as those other game-changing philosophers - 376 00:28:40,320 --> 00:28:43,040 the Buddha and Socrates. 377 00:28:43,040 --> 00:28:48,000 As a philosopher, you don't just indulge in abstract musings, 378 00:28:48,000 --> 00:28:52,440 you develop a robust delivery mechanism for your theories. 379 00:28:52,440 --> 00:28:57,240 Ideas have to have traction, and they have to have tangible impact. 380 00:28:59,560 --> 00:29:01,840 Confucius was a practical man. 381 00:29:01,840 --> 00:29:04,840 He had been spurred into action by the bellicose times 382 00:29:04,840 --> 00:29:06,960 into which he was born. 383 00:29:06,960 --> 00:29:09,880 His philosophy would only truly be a success 384 00:29:09,880 --> 00:29:13,000 if he it could affect change on a grand scale. 385 00:29:15,560 --> 00:29:17,560 Confucius came to think this - 386 00:29:17,560 --> 00:29:20,760 that shaping and cultivating moral individuals 387 00:29:20,760 --> 00:29:25,360 was the key to creating a stable social and political order. 388 00:29:25,360 --> 00:29:27,920 By figuring out what made a good person, 389 00:29:27,920 --> 00:29:30,560 you could make a good society. 390 00:29:30,560 --> 00:29:33,480 And so his mission was this - 391 00:29:33,480 --> 00:29:38,800 to teach people how to be virtuous in a world of political disorder 392 00:29:38,800 --> 00:29:40,440 and moral decay. 393 00:29:54,680 --> 00:29:57,720 Confucius had given himself a mountain to climb. 394 00:29:58,720 --> 00:30:03,040 How to instil virtue in society, when society's moral contract 395 00:30:03,040 --> 00:30:06,640 was so broken was Confucius' big challenge. 396 00:30:08,440 --> 00:30:13,120 He was to find inspiration from a familiar and enduring institution. 397 00:30:14,600 --> 00:30:16,000 The family. 398 00:30:16,000 --> 00:30:17,560 Hello! Thank you. 399 00:30:26,640 --> 00:30:30,080 Wow, that was quite some welcome! Thank you. Xiexie. 400 00:30:31,120 --> 00:30:35,760 'Confucius noted how families are organised along hierarchical lines,' 401 00:30:35,760 --> 00:30:38,440 with fixed responsibilities. 402 00:30:38,440 --> 00:30:41,920 From birth, we learn our place within key relationships. 403 00:30:43,360 --> 00:30:45,600 Husband, wife. 404 00:30:45,600 --> 00:30:47,840 Father, son. 405 00:30:47,840 --> 00:30:49,760 Older brother, younger brother. 406 00:30:53,760 --> 00:30:56,160 Recognising... Oh, thanks. 407 00:30:56,160 --> 00:30:57,880 Ah, yeah. Thank you very much. 408 00:30:59,520 --> 00:31:01,760 Recognising your... Oh, xiexie. 409 00:31:04,080 --> 00:31:07,040 Recognising your place within these relationships 410 00:31:07,040 --> 00:31:10,160 and fulfilling your mutual responsibilities within that 411 00:31:10,160 --> 00:31:14,400 hierarchy taught essential moral values. 412 00:31:14,400 --> 00:31:19,000 From the family, we developed a sense of loyalty, of honesty, 413 00:31:19,000 --> 00:31:22,920 of duty, of respect, of filial responsibility. 414 00:31:22,920 --> 00:31:26,080 Basically, to love those around us. 415 00:31:29,920 --> 00:31:33,520 Confucius saw that the concept of family was a potent model 416 00:31:33,520 --> 00:31:36,800 and a potential solution for society's ills. 417 00:31:38,040 --> 00:31:41,200 The family showed how authority could be both exercised 418 00:31:41,200 --> 00:31:44,240 and submitted to, fairly and productively. 419 00:31:45,240 --> 00:31:49,200 Not through intimidation, but through mutual assent. 420 00:31:54,760 --> 00:31:58,600 The moral values learnt in the family - affection and care 421 00:31:58,600 --> 00:32:02,640 directed downwards, and loyalty and obedience directed above - 422 00:32:02,640 --> 00:32:06,200 had the potential to transform everyone. 423 00:32:06,200 --> 00:32:09,680 But Confucius saw that arguably their greatest value 424 00:32:09,680 --> 00:32:13,880 lay in relation to the glaring problem at the heart of society - 425 00:32:13,880 --> 00:32:16,320 the waywardness of its rulers. 426 00:32:29,360 --> 00:32:33,720 This magnificent sword embodies what, for Confucius, 427 00:32:33,720 --> 00:32:37,040 was the fundamental problem with Chinese leadership. 428 00:32:38,760 --> 00:32:41,320 This was made when Confucius was alive, 429 00:32:41,320 --> 00:32:43,360 and it tells us all about itself. 430 00:32:43,360 --> 00:32:45,720 There's an inscription here that reads, 431 00:32:45,720 --> 00:32:52,080 "Belonging to King Goujian of Yue. Made for his personal use." 432 00:32:52,080 --> 00:32:55,920 Now, this is obviously a fabulously deluxe object. 433 00:32:55,920 --> 00:32:59,200 And Confucius wouldn't have had a problem with that per se. 434 00:32:59,200 --> 00:33:01,080 He wasn't puritanical. 435 00:33:01,080 --> 00:33:04,440 He enjoyed the good things of life - swimming in rivers, 436 00:33:04,440 --> 00:33:06,040 singing with friends - 437 00:33:06,040 --> 00:33:09,320 and he understood the need for worldly goods. 438 00:33:09,320 --> 00:33:14,080 But he did not think that good men should devote their time and energy 439 00:33:14,080 --> 00:33:16,680 to the pursuit of personal gain. 440 00:33:16,680 --> 00:33:19,320 And he didn't believe in immoderate action, 441 00:33:19,320 --> 00:33:22,800 anywhere, any time, from anyone. 442 00:33:28,400 --> 00:33:32,440 In Confucius' opinion, kings who commissioned swords like this 443 00:33:32,440 --> 00:33:36,640 often abandoned virtue if it got in the way of worldly success. 444 00:33:37,960 --> 00:33:41,680 He saw the way to transform society was to instil 445 00:33:41,680 --> 00:33:45,400 the values at work in the family in the rulers of his day. 446 00:33:48,000 --> 00:33:50,600 To understand the power they wielded, 447 00:33:50,600 --> 00:33:54,240 you only need look at the way they were honoured in death. 448 00:33:54,240 --> 00:33:57,200 This ruler, from around the time of Confucius, 449 00:33:57,200 --> 00:34:01,360 was buried along with 26 expensive chariots 450 00:34:01,360 --> 00:34:04,360 and 70 sacrificial horses. 451 00:34:05,520 --> 00:34:07,840 What kind of connection did Confucius see 452 00:34:07,840 --> 00:34:10,000 between the relationships that he'd observed 453 00:34:10,000 --> 00:34:12,160 between father and son and the family, 454 00:34:12,160 --> 00:34:13,840 and what's going on here? 455 00:34:13,840 --> 00:34:16,720 Well, he looked at the fact that if you had a good father, 456 00:34:16,720 --> 00:34:18,600 he could bring up a good son. 457 00:34:18,600 --> 00:34:22,880 And a good son could then respect the father, and this could work. 458 00:34:22,880 --> 00:34:24,960 So he said "Well, look, if it works at this level, 459 00:34:24,960 --> 00:34:26,720 "let's just take it to the top." 460 00:34:26,720 --> 00:34:31,400 If the ruler views those beneath him as his children 461 00:34:31,400 --> 00:34:35,280 and treats them with love but with firmness, with compassion 462 00:34:35,280 --> 00:34:41,040 but with integrity, then it would it roll down through the system. 463 00:34:41,040 --> 00:34:44,160 And the Confucianist could say, "Look, you see the ruler's 464 00:34:44,160 --> 00:34:46,400 "living like this, you should live like this." 465 00:34:46,400 --> 00:34:49,480 And literally, it would roll down, 466 00:34:49,480 --> 00:34:53,560 like the clouds from the mountain and bring blessing to everyone. 467 00:34:53,560 --> 00:34:57,120 So, for him, might in and of itself wasn't a problem, 468 00:34:57,120 --> 00:34:59,600 but if you had might, then you also had to have 469 00:34:59,600 --> 00:35:02,400 a kind of philosophical responsibility to your people? 470 00:35:02,400 --> 00:35:07,840 Yes. Confucius continued the Zhou tradition that a ruler has 471 00:35:07,840 --> 00:35:11,240 the right to rule because heaven has clearly given them 472 00:35:11,240 --> 00:35:12,800 the power and the authority. 473 00:35:12,800 --> 00:35:16,200 And that's why the top, top ruler was called the son of heaven. 474 00:35:16,200 --> 00:35:19,920 However, that mandate, that right to rule, 475 00:35:19,920 --> 00:35:23,800 can be taken away by heaven. And a sign that heaven has taken it away 476 00:35:23,800 --> 00:35:27,200 is natural disasters, massive earthquakes, floods. 477 00:35:27,200 --> 00:35:30,720 Confucius said if a ruler becomes corrupt 478 00:35:30,720 --> 00:35:33,600 and people are suffering through this cruelty, 479 00:35:33,600 --> 00:35:36,080 then the people have the right to rebel. 480 00:35:36,080 --> 00:35:38,400 And so Confucius, at one level, 481 00:35:38,400 --> 00:35:41,800 tells you - respect, honour, duty, loyalty. 482 00:35:41,800 --> 00:35:46,400 And he also said, "And if that fails, you have the right to overthrow." 483 00:35:46,400 --> 00:35:47,720 Amazing trick. 484 00:36:00,320 --> 00:36:03,000 Confucius' tactic was very direct. 485 00:36:04,200 --> 00:36:06,880 He set out to influence those in power by getting 486 00:36:06,880 --> 00:36:08,280 a governmental post. 487 00:36:09,560 --> 00:36:12,400 One snag was his personality. 488 00:36:12,400 --> 00:36:14,440 He was often seen as arrogant, 489 00:36:14,440 --> 00:36:17,280 too blunt in the way he delivered his advice. 490 00:36:18,640 --> 00:36:20,960 But he also faced a bigger problem. 491 00:36:23,920 --> 00:36:27,920 With enemy armies numbering as many as 300,000 camped on their 492 00:36:27,920 --> 00:36:32,520 borders, and disloyal sons plotting behind their backs, 493 00:36:32,520 --> 00:36:34,920 perhaps it's no surprise that the rulers of the day 494 00:36:34,920 --> 00:36:36,880 failed to take Confucius seriously. 495 00:36:38,000 --> 00:36:41,480 Cultivating moral character and virtuous actions 496 00:36:41,480 --> 00:36:45,520 in such precarious times was just not a priority. 497 00:36:58,360 --> 00:37:00,600 With rejection upon rejection, 498 00:37:00,600 --> 00:37:05,080 Confucius' faltering political career looked set to fail 499 00:37:05,080 --> 00:37:08,360 and his ideas in danger of being lost to history. 500 00:37:10,120 --> 00:37:12,680 But he was tenacious and resourceful. 501 00:37:14,280 --> 00:37:15,800 In his early 50s, 502 00:37:15,800 --> 00:37:18,960 it looks as though he decided to change his strategy. 503 00:37:18,960 --> 00:37:21,160 He gathered together a few belongings 504 00:37:21,160 --> 00:37:24,760 and hit the road once again to continue his moral crusade. 505 00:37:25,800 --> 00:37:28,720 Only this time, he wasn't alone. 506 00:37:28,720 --> 00:37:32,800 He was travelling together with a group of devoted students. 507 00:37:38,800 --> 00:37:41,720 His ability to attract motivated young men 508 00:37:41,720 --> 00:37:46,680 put his mission to transform self and society back on track. 509 00:37:49,280 --> 00:37:55,280 By all accounts, Confucius possessed a kind of compelling, raw charisma. 510 00:37:55,280 --> 00:37:58,760 Now, combine that with intellectual rigour, with bold, 511 00:37:58,760 --> 00:38:03,160 exciting new ideas and inspiring moral instruction, 512 00:38:03,160 --> 00:38:04,800 and you've got a potent mix. 513 00:38:09,160 --> 00:38:13,920 Whilst Confucius had failed alone, a band of around 70 students could 514 00:38:13,920 --> 00:38:19,160 infiltrate the corridors of power at many levels and in many states. 515 00:38:19,160 --> 00:38:22,360 They could be a moral vanguard to advise 516 00:38:22,360 --> 00:38:25,400 and instruct rulers on how to rule virtuously. 517 00:38:26,600 --> 00:38:32,160 And for this vital role, Confucius was scrupulously meritocratic, 518 00:38:32,160 --> 00:38:36,640 accepting students even from the poorest of backgrounds. 519 00:38:36,640 --> 00:38:41,240 In the Analects, Confucius said, "I have never refused instruction 520 00:38:41,240 --> 00:38:45,440 "to anyone, if, of his own accord, he comes to me." 521 00:38:48,200 --> 00:38:49,560 This in itself 522 00:38:49,560 --> 00:38:54,600 was a truly innovatory moment marking an historic shift. 523 00:38:54,600 --> 00:38:58,160 He was urging that Chinese society should no longer be governed 524 00:38:58,160 --> 00:39:00,240 by an hereditary elite, 525 00:39:00,240 --> 00:39:03,520 people who owed their positions simply to their bloodlines. 526 00:39:03,520 --> 00:39:06,960 Rather, it was those who were most virtuous, 527 00:39:06,960 --> 00:39:10,880 most concerned about the wellbeing of others, who should lead. 528 00:39:10,880 --> 00:39:14,680 His way was open to people from any background 529 00:39:14,680 --> 00:39:16,720 to rise to positions of authority. 530 00:39:18,320 --> 00:39:22,240 Confucius shared his ground-breaking commitment to a kind of 531 00:39:22,240 --> 00:39:25,400 egalitarianism with Socrates and the Buddha. 532 00:39:25,400 --> 00:39:30,280 Their solutions were, in theory, available to everyone. 533 00:39:30,280 --> 00:39:32,640 But, to a greater or lesser extent, 534 00:39:32,640 --> 00:39:36,080 when it came to women, they all seemed to have struggled. 535 00:39:36,080 --> 00:39:39,400 None of them were exactly model family men. 536 00:39:39,400 --> 00:39:41,720 The Buddha left his wife and child. 537 00:39:41,720 --> 00:39:45,160 Socrates treated his young wife pretty cursorily. 538 00:39:45,160 --> 00:39:48,080 But at least those two included women in their thinking 539 00:39:48,080 --> 00:39:52,760 and suggested they could be part of a solution to society's problems. 540 00:39:52,760 --> 00:39:55,320 However, when it comes to Confucius, 541 00:39:55,320 --> 00:39:58,880 it seems he had next to no time for the female of the species. 542 00:40:10,160 --> 00:40:15,280 The ultimate goal for Confucius' students was to become a junzi. 543 00:40:15,280 --> 00:40:18,320 Now, this wasn't a title he'd made up. 544 00:40:18,320 --> 00:40:21,480 Just as with ritual, he took something traditional 545 00:40:21,480 --> 00:40:23,720 and gave it a potent new twist. 546 00:40:25,000 --> 00:40:29,240 Junzi was an aristocratic word meaning a son of the lord, 547 00:40:29,240 --> 00:40:34,640 denoting qualities that could only belong to a privileged social elite. 548 00:40:34,640 --> 00:40:37,880 Now, as part of his shift towards a moral elite, 549 00:40:37,880 --> 00:40:40,120 Confucius appropriated it 550 00:40:40,120 --> 00:40:45,720 and changed it to mean the ultimate moral person, a superior man. 551 00:40:46,720 --> 00:40:50,600 A new kind of gentleman, in its most literal sense. 552 00:40:55,400 --> 00:40:58,960 For Confucius, education was crucial. 553 00:40:58,960 --> 00:41:01,040 Drawing on his own life experience, 554 00:41:01,040 --> 00:41:05,040 he saw an unswerving commitment to critical learning 555 00:41:05,040 --> 00:41:08,120 as the path to self cultivation. 556 00:41:08,120 --> 00:41:12,200 He likened the process to polishing jade, crafting one's 557 00:41:12,200 --> 00:41:16,800 virtuous character, to become the perfect moral person. 558 00:41:16,800 --> 00:41:18,960 You had to know The Book Of History 559 00:41:18,960 --> 00:41:24,000 to live by the example of the sage kings and to enact correct ritual. 560 00:41:24,000 --> 00:41:30,000 But what was essential was to be morally alive to your environment. 561 00:41:30,000 --> 00:41:34,640 To understand how to behave intuitively in any situation. 562 00:41:34,640 --> 00:41:36,120 To think for yourself. 563 00:41:47,640 --> 00:41:50,480 Confucius' students joined their master, 564 00:41:50,480 --> 00:41:55,080 moving across war-torn China to try to influence its errant rulers. 565 00:41:56,440 --> 00:42:01,240 They were attacked, beaten and almost starved. 566 00:42:01,240 --> 00:42:04,800 But these testing times sharpened their education. 567 00:42:06,000 --> 00:42:08,400 The challenges they faced forced them 568 00:42:08,400 --> 00:42:11,560 to engage in urgent moral debate. 569 00:42:11,560 --> 00:42:13,840 They proposed solutions to their problems 570 00:42:13,840 --> 00:42:15,840 and then interrogated those, 571 00:42:15,840 --> 00:42:19,120 provoking the intense intellectual discussions 572 00:42:19,120 --> 00:42:22,720 between master and students that you find in the Analects. 573 00:42:22,720 --> 00:42:24,560 They asked questions like, 574 00:42:24,560 --> 00:42:29,280 "Should the junzi accept office in degenerate times?" 575 00:42:29,280 --> 00:42:31,840 "Can you serve a corrupt master 576 00:42:31,840 --> 00:42:33,880 "if you think you can make a difference?" 577 00:42:36,000 --> 00:42:38,400 Confucius encouraged this open-ended, 578 00:42:38,400 --> 00:42:40,560 free-thinking discussion. 579 00:42:40,560 --> 00:42:44,240 Yet his students still looked to him for definitive answers. 580 00:42:45,240 --> 00:42:49,800 Ultimately, they wanted to know - what was the essence of goodness? 581 00:42:51,440 --> 00:42:55,160 For Confucius, there was one all-embracing virtue, 582 00:42:55,160 --> 00:42:59,280 the most essential to cultivate and yet the most difficult to attain. 583 00:43:01,000 --> 00:43:03,280 Something called ren. 584 00:43:04,960 --> 00:43:10,400 Ren is a very splendid word idea, but what does it actually mean? 585 00:43:10,400 --> 00:43:13,240 What quality does it imply? 586 00:43:13,240 --> 00:43:17,000 Well, many people tried to translate it differently. 587 00:43:17,000 --> 00:43:22,960 It's been translated as human heartedness, as good or goodness, 588 00:43:22,960 --> 00:43:26,920 but we prefer now to use the word simply humanity. 589 00:43:26,920 --> 00:43:33,080 Because virtually all Confucian values are linked to this notion. 590 00:43:33,080 --> 00:43:36,720 Courage with ren, then its real courage 591 00:43:36,720 --> 00:43:38,640 rather than just simply bravery. 592 00:43:38,640 --> 00:43:43,360 Justice with ren, then it's a humane justice 593 00:43:43,360 --> 00:43:45,320 rather than just harsh punishment. 594 00:43:45,320 --> 00:43:50,800 Wisdom with ren, then it's being wise not just being smart. 595 00:43:50,800 --> 00:43:53,680 And is this something that you achieve, 596 00:43:53,680 --> 00:43:56,600 or is looking for ren a constant quest? 597 00:43:57,640 --> 00:44:02,800 Every person, by definition of being a person, embodies ren. 598 00:44:02,800 --> 00:44:06,000 In other words, every human being's capable of sympathetic 599 00:44:06,000 --> 00:44:09,520 response to the external world. 600 00:44:09,520 --> 00:44:15,720 But at the same time, to realise ren fully, which means human flourishing 601 00:44:15,720 --> 00:44:19,280 in the most comprehensive sense of the term, 602 00:44:19,280 --> 00:44:21,520 that requires learning. 603 00:44:21,520 --> 00:44:23,000 And learning, of course, 604 00:44:23,000 --> 00:44:25,120 it's not simply the acquisition of knowledge 605 00:44:25,120 --> 00:44:28,120 or internalisation of skills, 606 00:44:28,120 --> 00:44:32,640 but basically learning to build one's character. 607 00:44:32,640 --> 00:44:36,680 And in that sense, it's like the highest ideal. 608 00:44:36,680 --> 00:44:40,600 At the same time, it's a minimum requirement to be human. 609 00:44:40,600 --> 00:44:45,600 Do you think that Confucius felt that he'd achieved ren? 610 00:44:46,720 --> 00:44:47,960 No. 611 00:44:47,960 --> 00:44:51,200 And the interesting thing is many students or followers 612 00:44:51,200 --> 00:44:53,680 of Confucius also said no. 613 00:44:53,680 --> 00:44:56,960 Ren requires continuous process of struggling. 614 00:44:56,960 --> 00:45:02,520 Even to the end of your life, this is still a task incomplete. 615 00:45:03,560 --> 00:45:09,800 So no matter what, the struggle to be fully human continues. 616 00:45:12,400 --> 00:45:15,120 There's something in Confucian philosophy, 617 00:45:15,120 --> 00:45:19,600 a core message, that I find really, genuinely inspiring. 618 00:45:19,600 --> 00:45:22,920 It's his golden rule taken from the Analects. 619 00:45:22,920 --> 00:45:26,600 One student said, "Is there a single word that 620 00:45:26,600 --> 00:45:29,920 "I should use as a rule to live my life by?" 621 00:45:29,920 --> 00:45:32,560 The master replied, 622 00:45:32,560 --> 00:45:35,600 "That would be empathy, perhaps. 623 00:45:35,600 --> 00:45:39,760 "What you do not wish for yourself, don't do to others." 624 00:45:44,360 --> 00:45:48,200 It's this focus on human relations and being compassionate 625 00:45:48,200 --> 00:45:50,840 that I think comes closest to defining 626 00:45:50,840 --> 00:45:53,440 what Confucius meant by the term ren. 627 00:45:55,640 --> 00:45:58,160 I do love this about all three of the philosophers whose 628 00:45:58,160 --> 00:46:00,280 stories I'm investigating. 629 00:46:00,280 --> 00:46:04,640 They made it clear that none of us operate in isolation. 630 00:46:04,640 --> 00:46:08,360 It isn't that man is the measure of all things, 631 00:46:08,360 --> 00:46:11,160 but man's relationship with man. 632 00:46:21,720 --> 00:46:25,640 Confucius continued to travel, and to teach into his later years. 633 00:46:26,760 --> 00:46:30,680 But only a handful of his students went on to hold political office. 634 00:46:35,320 --> 00:46:38,560 When Confucius was 73, he fell ill. 635 00:46:38,560 --> 00:46:43,320 Unable to fulfil his mission, his final words seem defeated 636 00:46:43,320 --> 00:46:44,960 and bitterly disappointed. 637 00:46:46,120 --> 00:46:48,800 "No intelligent monarch arises. 638 00:46:48,800 --> 00:46:52,080 "There is none who will make me his master. 639 00:46:52,080 --> 00:46:53,920 "It is my time to die." 640 00:47:04,000 --> 00:47:07,400 Confucius was buried here, in his hometown, Qufu. 641 00:47:08,560 --> 00:47:12,160 The great transformation he had worked for his entire life 642 00:47:12,160 --> 00:47:14,040 had not been fulfilled. 643 00:47:16,480 --> 00:47:21,200 But his devoted students planted trees around his grave... 644 00:47:21,200 --> 00:47:23,720 and kept his dream alive. 645 00:47:32,440 --> 00:47:36,840 For 300 years, Confucius' ideas continued as just one of many 646 00:47:36,840 --> 00:47:38,640 Chinese schools of thought. 647 00:47:39,680 --> 00:47:42,120 Competing with the likes of Daoism, 648 00:47:42,120 --> 00:47:45,760 it was unable to effect real change in a chaotic world. 649 00:47:48,120 --> 00:47:52,080 But once China was reunited under all-powerful emperors, 650 00:47:52,080 --> 00:47:55,720 stability changed the political landscape. 651 00:47:55,720 --> 00:47:59,560 The first emperor of the Han Dynasty was convinced by his principal 652 00:47:59,560 --> 00:48:04,960 advisor that ruling by brutality had served his predecessor badly. 653 00:48:06,240 --> 00:48:08,920 Allying himself with Confucianism - 654 00:48:08,920 --> 00:48:11,720 and its ideal of rule by virtue - 655 00:48:11,720 --> 00:48:14,840 would lend to his dynasty greater legitimacy. 656 00:48:15,920 --> 00:48:19,600 Many of the values that Confucius set great store by - 657 00:48:19,600 --> 00:48:21,640 the importance of education, 658 00:48:21,640 --> 00:48:23,600 a shared cultural heritage, 659 00:48:23,600 --> 00:48:25,280 an ethical government - 660 00:48:25,280 --> 00:48:29,520 had seemed an irrelevance during the chaos of his lifetime. 661 00:48:29,520 --> 00:48:32,960 But these would prove hugely effective in holding 662 00:48:32,960 --> 00:48:34,680 the new empire together. 663 00:48:38,760 --> 00:48:42,800 Successive emperors enthusiastically took up Confucian ideas, 664 00:48:42,800 --> 00:48:45,560 and education was central. 665 00:48:45,560 --> 00:48:48,880 THEY RECITE IN CHINESE 666 00:48:51,560 --> 00:48:55,600 The poetry, arts, and music of the early Zhou were revived 667 00:48:55,600 --> 00:48:58,960 as a means of cultivating the goodness and virtue within. 668 00:49:01,280 --> 00:49:05,000 School children learnt the Confucian canon by heart, 669 00:49:05,000 --> 00:49:08,320 meticulously writing it out in their best calligraphy. 670 00:49:10,960 --> 00:49:15,040 Knowledge of The Book Of History and rituals of the Zhou Dynasty 671 00:49:15,040 --> 00:49:18,720 became a prerequisite to be part of the civil service. 672 00:49:23,120 --> 00:49:26,080 Confucian education and Confucian texts 673 00:49:26,080 --> 00:49:30,560 became a powerfully integrative force in Chinese history. 674 00:49:30,560 --> 00:49:34,480 And of course it was very useful for rulers to have all that emphasis 675 00:49:34,480 --> 00:49:38,720 on obedience and respect and top-down structure. 676 00:49:38,720 --> 00:49:42,120 THEY REPLY IN CHINESE 677 00:49:43,640 --> 00:49:47,480 Even those who didn't get to go to school learnt his words. 678 00:49:47,480 --> 00:49:50,640 It's actually why we've developed that rather crass form 679 00:49:50,640 --> 00:49:56,280 "Confucius says," because for 24 centuries, right across China, 680 00:49:56,280 --> 00:49:59,000 people WERE all quoting Confucius. 681 00:50:01,600 --> 00:50:05,040 # Confucius say a boy A girl, a moon 682 00:50:06,520 --> 00:50:10,200 # Make wedding bells ring out In month of June 683 00:50:12,200 --> 00:50:15,400 # Confucius say when love come Don't delay 684 00:50:17,080 --> 00:50:19,840 # So, honey, hold me tight 685 00:50:19,840 --> 00:50:21,400 # Tonight's the night 686 00:50:22,680 --> 00:50:25,880 # Remember what Confucius say. # 687 00:50:33,520 --> 00:50:36,160 But all that changed in the 20th century. 688 00:50:37,520 --> 00:50:39,440 Confucianism came under attack. 689 00:50:41,120 --> 00:50:44,880 In 1919, students who wanted China to modernise 690 00:50:44,880 --> 00:50:49,200 and become democratic condemned Confucius for holding them back. 691 00:50:51,840 --> 00:50:55,280 But it was Chairman Mao's Cultural Revolution of the 1960s 692 00:50:55,280 --> 00:50:59,040 that tried to annihilate all vestiges of his legacy. 693 00:51:00,360 --> 00:51:04,960 His Red Guard destroyed statues, temples and texts. 694 00:51:06,400 --> 00:51:08,480 They even came here, 695 00:51:08,480 --> 00:51:10,040 to his burial place. 696 00:51:13,000 --> 00:51:16,080 In a telegram to Chairman Mao, they wrote, 697 00:51:16,080 --> 00:51:19,120 "We have dragged out the statue of Confucius. 698 00:51:19,120 --> 00:51:21,440 "We have torn down the plaque extolling 699 00:51:21,440 --> 00:51:23,920 "the teacher of 10,000 generations. 700 00:51:23,920 --> 00:51:26,520 "We have levelled Confucius' grave. 701 00:51:27,640 --> 00:51:29,360 "We have destroyed." 702 00:51:36,560 --> 00:51:41,640 It is really chilling coming here to see how a raging, rigid form 703 00:51:41,640 --> 00:51:46,720 of an ideology tried to obliterate the memory of a man of ideas. 704 00:51:53,760 --> 00:51:57,000 CHILDREN READ TOGETHER 705 00:52:00,600 --> 00:52:04,960 But thousands of years of ubiquitous Confucian education, 706 00:52:04,960 --> 00:52:07,200 particularly the exam system, 707 00:52:07,200 --> 00:52:10,480 had embedded his principles deep within Chinese culture. 708 00:52:12,760 --> 00:52:15,840 By the start of the 21st century, the government began, 709 00:52:15,840 --> 00:52:18,120 once again, to embrace his ideals. 710 00:52:22,280 --> 00:52:25,960 Today, Confucianism is undergoing a renaissance. 711 00:52:25,960 --> 00:52:28,560 And education remains at the forefront. 712 00:52:33,880 --> 00:52:36,280 This is a Confucian school in Qufu. 713 00:52:37,360 --> 00:52:42,320 120 pupils from the ages of six to 18 study the Confucian texts 714 00:52:42,320 --> 00:52:44,600 and classical arts here. 715 00:52:44,600 --> 00:52:49,120 It just one of around 3,000 schools in China 716 00:52:49,120 --> 00:52:52,240 that teaches Confucian values and philosophy. 717 00:52:52,240 --> 00:52:54,640 WOMAN SPEAKS IN CHINESE 718 00:52:54,640 --> 00:52:57,600 STUDENTS REPEAT 719 00:53:01,040 --> 00:53:03,200 So, what is your favourite Confucius quote? 720 00:53:07,240 --> 00:53:09,280 Why do you like Confucius? 721 00:53:17,000 --> 00:53:20,400 Why did you decide to send your daughter to a Confucian school? 722 00:53:37,960 --> 00:53:41,320 It is just fascinating seeing these kids being brought up with 723 00:53:41,320 --> 00:53:44,440 an ancient philosophy at the heart of everything that they think 724 00:53:44,440 --> 00:53:46,080 and say and do. 725 00:53:46,080 --> 00:53:48,720 And actually, they seem to be having a great time. 726 00:53:48,720 --> 00:53:52,040 It's also even more incredible, though, if you think that 727 00:53:52,040 --> 00:53:55,160 just a few decades ago, Confucius was considered an 728 00:53:55,160 --> 00:53:59,400 enemy of the state and none of this would have been allowed to happen. 729 00:53:59,400 --> 00:54:01,800 Or if it did, it would've had to have happened in secret, 730 00:54:01,800 --> 00:54:03,440 behind closed doors 731 00:54:03,440 --> 00:54:06,240 and at the risk of really severe punishment. 732 00:54:11,640 --> 00:54:15,160 In modern China, greater individualism is seen to have 733 00:54:15,160 --> 00:54:18,040 undermined a collective sense of right and wrong. 734 00:54:19,440 --> 00:54:22,880 Confucius' resurgence can be explained by the desire 735 00:54:22,880 --> 00:54:25,240 for a clearer sense of moral purpose. 736 00:54:26,320 --> 00:54:30,080 But I wonder if Confucius' appeal is very simple. 737 00:54:30,080 --> 00:54:33,080 He tells us that whatever our character, 738 00:54:33,080 --> 00:54:35,680 whatever situation we're born into, 739 00:54:35,680 --> 00:54:40,720 being good, living a good life is a possibility. 740 00:54:40,720 --> 00:54:44,800 And that the root to goodness is wisdom. 741 00:54:44,800 --> 00:54:49,880 Now, that means that as a species, in our finest form, 742 00:54:49,880 --> 00:54:52,880 we are all philosophers 743 00:54:52,880 --> 00:54:55,280 in the true sense of the word - 744 00:54:55,280 --> 00:54:57,800 lovers of wisdom. 745 00:55:11,360 --> 00:55:16,880 Across this series, I have examined the ideas of three inspiring minds 746 00:55:16,880 --> 00:55:18,920 of the ancient world. 747 00:55:18,920 --> 00:55:21,960 Socrates brought philosophy down from the heavens 748 00:55:21,960 --> 00:55:24,880 and into people's homes, so that through the training 749 00:55:24,880 --> 00:55:28,640 of our reason, we can achieve happiness for ourselves. 750 00:55:30,160 --> 00:55:32,760 The Buddha changed the question from, 751 00:55:32,760 --> 00:55:34,440 "Is there a god?" 752 00:55:34,440 --> 00:55:39,000 to questions like how to agree on good action 753 00:55:39,000 --> 00:55:43,480 without necessarily agreeing on what happens after death. 754 00:55:45,240 --> 00:55:50,520 Confucius said a ritual is a way to bring out the inside 755 00:55:50,520 --> 00:55:54,560 good qualities, like benevolence, like reverence. 756 00:55:54,560 --> 00:55:59,760 And if more people possess good qualities and they become real human, 757 00:55:59,760 --> 00:56:02,920 then their social life, family life, or community life 758 00:56:02,920 --> 00:56:04,440 will become peaceful. 759 00:56:07,000 --> 00:56:08,680 But, ultimately, 760 00:56:08,680 --> 00:56:11,360 what do they have to teach us in the here and now? 761 00:56:14,320 --> 00:56:18,760 Although these were ideas that were developed 25 centuries ago, 762 00:56:18,760 --> 00:56:23,320 do you think they have as much relevance to our world 763 00:56:23,320 --> 00:56:28,240 as they did to ancient China, ancient Greece, ancient India? 764 00:56:28,240 --> 00:56:32,560 If I want to exaggerate, probably even more so. 765 00:56:32,560 --> 00:56:36,360 They were confronted with a world in disintegration. 766 00:56:36,360 --> 00:56:39,320 Little rationality. Little compassion. 767 00:56:40,800 --> 00:56:44,240 And we are in a world that's much more serious. 768 00:56:45,240 --> 00:56:49,480 Because it's not simply the human world is in trouble, 769 00:56:49,480 --> 00:56:52,760 the planet is in trouble. 770 00:56:52,760 --> 00:56:58,080 And we have in our power the destruction 771 00:56:58,080 --> 00:57:01,600 of all civilisations, including the planet itself. 772 00:57:01,600 --> 00:57:03,760 So a change has to be made. 773 00:57:03,760 --> 00:57:08,160 Not just a change of a political system or economic system - 774 00:57:08,160 --> 00:57:12,560 these are absolutely necessary - but a change of mind-set. 775 00:57:12,560 --> 00:57:17,920 And the retrieval of the wisdom of Socrates, of Buddha and Confucius 776 00:57:17,920 --> 00:57:21,400 is not a question of relevance, it's a question of human survival. 777 00:57:25,760 --> 00:57:30,800 These extraordinary thinkers aren't remote historical figures. 778 00:57:30,800 --> 00:57:33,680 They're pioneers of human consciousness 779 00:57:33,680 --> 00:57:36,560 whose ideas have informed and enriched the lives 780 00:57:36,560 --> 00:57:38,480 of countless people to this day. 781 00:57:40,120 --> 00:57:43,960 Their radical responses to the social upheaval of their age 782 00:57:43,960 --> 00:57:47,120 have, in many ways, determined who we are now. 783 00:57:48,360 --> 00:57:51,640 Their message was inspiring and challenging. 784 00:57:52,960 --> 00:57:57,200 That the world isn't unknowable, unchangeable. 785 00:57:57,200 --> 00:58:00,240 By engaging with it fully, we can lead better 786 00:58:00,240 --> 00:58:01,880 and more meaningful lives. 787 00:58:02,960 --> 00:58:04,520 We have agency. 788 00:58:05,720 --> 00:58:08,600 Our minds can shape the world. 789 00:58:16,960 --> 00:58:19,240 If the mind of Confucius has made you think, 790 00:58:19,240 --> 00:58:22,000 then explore further with The Open University 791 00:58:22,000 --> 00:58:26,640 to discover how great minds have influenced our world today. 792 00:58:26,640 --> 00:58:28,440 Go to the address on the screen 793 00:58:28,440 --> 00:58:31,120 and follow the links to The Open University.