Confucianism Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! ===Rectification of names=== [[File:Tablet of Confucius.jpg|thumb|Priest paying homage to Confucius's tablet, {{circa|1900}}]] {{Main|Rectification of names}} Confucius believed that social disorder often stemmed from failure to perceive, understand, and deal with reality. Fundamentally, then, social disorder may stem from the failure to call things by their proper names, and his solution to this was the {{zht|c=正名|p=zhèngmíng|tr=rectification of names}}. He gave an explanation of this concept to one of his disciples: <blockquote> Zi-lu said, "The vassal of Wei has been waiting for you, in order with you to administer the government. What will you consider the first thing to be done?"<br /> The Master replied, "What is necessary to rectify names."<br /> "So! indeed!" said Zi-lu. "You are wide off the mark! Why must there be such rectification?"<br /> The Master said, "How uncultivated you are, Yu! The superior man [Junzi] cannot care about the everything, just as he cannot go to check all himself!<br /> If names be not correct, language is not in accordance with the truth of things.<br /> If language be not in accordance with the truth of things, affairs cannot be carried on to success.<br /> When affairs cannot be carried on to success, proprieties and music do not flourish.<br /> When proprieties and music do not flourish, punishments will not be properly awarded.<br /> When punishments are not properly awarded, the people do not know how to move hand or foot.<br /> Therefore a superior man considers it necessary that the names he uses may be spoken appropriately, and also that what he speaks may be carried out appropriately. What the superior man requires is just that in his words there may be nothing incorrect."<br /> (''Analects'' XIII, 3, tr. Legge) </blockquote> ''[[Xunzi (book)|Xunzi]]'' chapter (22) "On the Rectification of Names" claims the ancient sage-kings chose names ({{zh|labels=no|c=名|p=míng}}) that directly corresponded with actualities ({{zh|labels=no|c=實|p=shí}}), but later generations confused terminology, coined new nomenclature, and thus could no longer distinguish right from wrong. Since [[harmonious society|social harmony]] is of utmost importance, without the proper rectification of names, society would essentially crumble and "undertakings [would] not [be] completed."<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Taylor |first1=Rodney L. |title=The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Confucianism |last2=Choy |first2=Howard Y.F. |publisher=Rosen Publishing Group |year=2004 |isbn=978-0-8239-4079-0 |location=New York |pages=48–50}}.</ref> Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page