Confucius: The Secular as Sacred
Herbert FingaretteAccording to Fingarette, Confucius believed that the characteristics of humans which make
us different from animals have an almost magical quality. This quality is most pronounced
as it relates to li which is a term similar to holy ritual or sacred ceremony. Li involves
respect of others and sublime patterns of behavior for mourning, marrying, fighting, and
being a prince, a father, a son and so on. Professor Fingarette describes li as something
that captures the essence of what makes us human, and the deep response that li
provokes only occurs if the custom or ritual evolved from earlier traditions, it cannot be
legislated or mandated: "He who by reanimating the Old can gain knowledge of the New is
indeed fit to be called a teacher." New conditions always require that traditions be
reanimated, and a successful government, Confucius insists, takes advantage of traditions
which raise the civilized above the barbaric: "govern the people by regulations, keep order
among them by punishments, and they will evade shamelessly. Govern them by moral
force, keep order among them by ritual, and there will be not only shame but correctness."
Li makes difficult tasks simple and brings order to chaos: "With correct comportment no
commands are necessary, yet affairs proceed."
Fingarette writes that our body of culture makes possible behavior which is distinct from
acting on our instincts, or from treating others as animals or objects. The enabling hinge
upon which culture rests is li which depends on learned and accepted conventions. These
conventions, if they are not to become stale, require an openness and a sharing which
leads to more dynamic interrelations and to a heightened community that does not rely on
force, threats and commands. Confucius himself made possible a universalistic civilization
by expounding on the perfection of the "ancients" whom he always referred to in the most
favorable light.