jinsa is a Chinese philosophical term

often translated as gentleman or

superior person

Confucius employed this term in his

works to describe the ideal man in

Confucianism the sage is the ideal

personality however it's a very hard

path to follow and so Confucius created

the concept of Junsu which is

significantly more achievable by any

given individual Confucius was one of

the greatest eastern philosophers of all

time and he believed in encouraging good

virtues careful thinking and discipline

he also believed that if rulers could

become better people the ruled would

follow their example yielding a better

community for everyone thus Confucius

talked to philosophy rich in benevolence

and good behavior employing an ideal

archetype in which moral qualities could

be symbolized Confucius states that

there are five virtues that make up a

true gentleman according to him an

individual who can practice all five of

them can be considered a superior man a

portrayal of true manhood or put simply

a gentleman although it should be noted

that while Confucius spoke of gentlemen

and true manhood he was merely a victim

of the age that he lived in and of

course these lessons apply to all people

equally not just men but before we go

ahead with the virtues of a gentleman

let me quickly introduce you to this

video sponsor which is Skillshare

Skillshare is a brilliant online

learning community with thousands of

online courses that will help you master

your real-world skills through

project-based classes with a simple

premium membership you can access

hundreds of online classes taught by

experts that will help you to step up

your creativity and fuel your career

without putting your life on hold each

class is broken into convenient

bite-sized lessons and features a

hands-on project to put your newly

learned skills into action if you're

just starting out with a new skill like

animation or wish to enhance your

existing skill set skill share will help

you to reach your new goal by connecting

you to the experts that are right for

you say you want to find more ways to be

productive I highly recommend the class

real productivity how to build habits

that last by Thomas Frank

with a premium subscription of only $10

a month Skillshare is truly affordable

especially when compared to pricey

in-person classes to help you with your

growth they're offering a 2 month trial

absolutely free make 2020 a year where

you explore new skills and deepen your

horizons with skill shares online

classes just click on the link in the

description below to get started but for

now let's get into those five virtues of

a true gentleman number one the virtue

of Shem Confucius says gen is to love

others in the Analects confucius

mentioned gem over 100 times that he

never formally defined it in the English

world scholars have translated gem by

many terms benevolence love altruism

kindness charity compassion magnanimity

humane miss Hulett ii perfect virtue

goodness and so forth all these

interpretations however share two

notions every human being has the

capacity to possess gen and gen

manifests itself when a virtuous person

treats others with humane Ness it

manifests itself in the inner mind in

love and compassion for people and in

avoiding harm or Envy towards anyone

according to Confucius being a gentleman

does not require a high social rank a

fine appearance or an eloquent manner of

speech rather it requires that one

embody goodness in one's relationships

with others according to Mencius one of

the best-known students of Confucius the

virtue of Shen is naturally present in

everyone for example if a child were to

fall into a well you'd naturally go and

try and save the child you don't have to

love the child to save them you'll save

them because of your instinct to care

and it's this that shows that compassion

is present in everyone in situations

like this a person who holds a who cares

attitude is one without a human heart in

the modern world many of us are guilty

of this who cares attitude many of us

for example regularly pass homeless

individuals on the street without

acknowledgement the best way to practice

the virtue of gem is by following

Confucian

is Golden Rule which is what one does

not wish for oneself one ought not to do

to anyone else it means people should

treat others as they would want to be

treated themselves if everyone were to

follow this rule everyone would be

treated well ensuring order and harmony

in wider society for Confucians the most

natural and important site for the

expression of Shen is the family it's

only by cultivating love among family

members that the nation in turn can

demonstrate love this is so because a

nation is a combination of homes which

are made up of different family members

without love and mutual respect by all

family members whether parent or child

it's impossible to instill the high

moral values we'd like to see everyone

achieve as such the more families that

do demonstrate mutual love and respect

the more harmonious coexistence of the

wider community where the local national

or global things will improve on a

national level if a government really is

one of gem one which takes could care of

its people and in theory there would be

no crime or poverty number two the

virtue of Lee in the words of Confucius

look not at what is contrary to

propriety listen not to what is contrary

to propriety speak not what is contrary

to propriety make no movement which is

contrary to propriety Lee is proper

conduct through participating in various

cultural practices that will develop the

superior person the English meaning of

Lee is the way things should be done it

is a virtue of community and one's

interactions and responsibilities

towards others according to Confucius

the gentleman must be aware of the way

he should act and function within a

society Lee is closely related to

fairness and justice and one can best

cultivate their character by

understanding what it entails Lee

primarily encompasses the establishment

of the five constant relationships and

to participate in these relationships

well the five constant relationships

outline how one should act in society

being the relationships between parent

and child

husband and wife all

younger siblings and friends and even

ruler and subject with these constant

relationship guidelines Li sets up a

hierarchy between the two people and

defines terms for the accepted responses

and actions between them a parent is to

be loving a child obedient an elder

sibling is to be gentle and younger

siblings respectful husbands are to be

good and fair and wives understanding

older friends are to be considerate

younger friends reverential rulers

should be benevolent and subjects loyal

this means that if you're in government

then as a gentleman you should be kind

and work towards the betterment of your

people if you're a regular citizen then

you should be loyal towards your elected

head this rule also applies in your

professional life if you are in a

position of power in your workplace then

you should be moral fair and lead by

example if you are an intern or just

starting out with your career then you

should be loyal and respectful to your

seniors if one follows the concept of Li

each of these relationships will be

marked with harmony and since three out

of these five relationships deal with

family confucius asserts that when the

principal relationships of the family is

tranquil Li will slip into the culture

all of society from the home to the

village to the nation will be tranquil

another aspect of proper conduct and

participating in proper cultural

practices is zal this is to practice

what is referred to as filial piety

which means having reverence for your

family it means that family is our

priority

according to Confucius a gentleman

should have a profound respect for his

parents and should practice filial piety

especially when his parents get old

filial piety is how children show their

gratitude by repaying their parents for

their kindness love and caring people

from Asia are often more communal and

family orientated therefore children

have more respect for their elders and

will take care of aging parents in their

own homes until they die this is

completely opposite to what the majority

of us follow in the West we are

unusually focused on individualism and

consumption and hence all too often we

show

very little respect for our aging

parents and extended family we're so

busy developing our own careers raising

kids and being absorbed in our own lives

that we send our aging parents to

institutions according to Confucius when

parents are alive a good son does not

stray too far from his parents children

should always take care of their aging

parents as they helped us to grow up and

without them we wouldn't be in this

world to begin with our parents made a

lot of sacrifices for us in their lives

and the gentleman will always show his

love and gratitude for elderly parents

by taking care of them the third way of

conducting oneself properly in society

is Confucius's idea of doctrine of the

mean doctrine of the mean is the way in

which one should make decisions in life

in which the best decision is always the

middle between unworkable extremes

taking the middle road as Confucius said

would guide one to the way things should

be done it means living in moderation

not striving for excess and to always

value compromise Confucius tried to

establish these customs because at that

time everyone was living in a very

chaotic period of Chinese society due to

States constantly fighting among

themselves but the world today is very

different and far more complex and this

is primarily due to our need to

over-consume according to the World

Health Organization worldwide obesity

tripled between 1975 and 2016 other

studies show one in eight American

adults is an alcoholic one divorce

happens every 13 seconds and over 16

million adults are said to have gone

through depression in the United States

alone so slow down for your health for

people around you and for your fellow

less fortunate countrymen who might

benefit if you consume less number three

the virtue of Shem Confucius tells us if

either wealth or poverty are come by

honestly there is no shame Shin is

usually understood as honesty integrity

trustworthiness faithfulness or

sincerity

Confucius held faithfulness to be an

indispensable vert

to for a human being it is considered as

an essential concept of Confucianism and

is commonly recognized as the standard

of value and virtue for Chinese people

Confucius taught his disciples to be

honest and told them that in study if

you know a thing say you know it if you

don't know say so he thought that it was

the correct attitude towards study

because only a man of faithfulness

should be appointed some task otherwise

survival would be hardly possible he

also called a man without faith mien and

kept an aloof distance from them once

Trust is broken it can never be fully

regained although I'm sorry can make

certain ugly situations better it can't

heal rifts or set things back to how

they were before if someone finds out

that you've lied to them they'll never

be able to fully trust you again even if

you spend the rest of your life being a

complete Paragon of honesty and

integrity the person you lied to will

always wonder if you're being dishonest

on some level you can be sincere to your

very marrow but they won't ever have

true faith in you again according to

Confucius honesty is necessary whether

in ruling a country or conducting

oneself honesty is a prerequisite to

establishing good relationships ensuring

friendly coexistence and normal

communication as honesty is key to

promoting understanding building trust

and improving relationships in business

circles honesty and faithfulness can

improve market confidence aid

interactions with international markets

and boost economic growth on a national

and global level honesty is an important

guarantee for a society to exist and

develop a faithful and honest government

can help unite all citizens and promote

the fast development of a society hence

a gentleman should always be honest

because honesty is the foundation upon

which one can enhance his

self-cultivation

settle down and get on with his pursuits

and gaining achievements number four the

virtue of cheer according to Confucius

by three methods we may learn wisdom

first by reflection which is noblest

second is by imitation which is easiest

third by experience which is the

bitterest the fourth virtue is cheer

which is best translated as practical

wisdom

it's the innate knowledge by which one

judges right and wrong good and evil

practical wisdom allows a person to make

correct judgments regarding actions

which leads to appropriate conduct and

adherence to ritual and roles within

relationships and social structures this

practical wisdom also stems from the

Confucians love of learning and

according to this a gentleman should

always have an active role in the

learning process when a person learns it

is at first only ideas but as these

ideas are reflected and reasoned out

through thought and practical

application they become knowledge an

accumulation of this knowledge with

practical application becomes a

specialized form of wisdom practical

wisdom the three most effective methods

to learn wisdom according to Confucius

are one learning wisdom by reflection

according to Confucius this method is

the noblest one reflection is about you

becoming aware of your own thinking

processes it enables assessment of the

why and how of learning and what needs

to be done as a result if your everyday

life is full of chaos you might not be

ready to reflect upon new subjects you

desire to learn you'll need to prepare

Diaries and observations of your

understanding so that you can come back

to it frequently and attach further

context to learning wisdom by imitation

Confucius says this is the easiest

method to learn it's a social form of

learning where you pick up from one

another via observation imitation and

modeling it includes attention memory

and motivation a good example of this

would be watching videos on Skillshare 3

learning wisdom by experience

according to Confucian philosophy this

is the bitterest way to learn your

uniqueness your character and your life

all that is cast by your experiences

each one of us goes through different

transformations with mixed variables

which remain unique and challenging man

is the product of these learning

experiences no

comes but wisdom remains and that comes

from experience and maturity

this virtue is important for many

reasons but probably the most important

is due to the danger of ignorance

according to Confucius one who is

ignorant or does not desire to learn is

in danger of leading a foolish existence

and spreading folly among other people

in a sense it precedes the other virtues

because without wisdom one will have no

sense of ethics or social skills or even

just plain common sense the other

virtues require for guidance the act of

learning and living in wisdom brings

with it virtue and a meaningful

impactful life number five the virtue of

e Confucius says the superior man is

easy to serve and difficult to please if

you try to please him in any way which

is not accordant with right

he will not be pleased e can be

described as righteousness and justice

it signifies what is right Confucius

considered righteousness as part of the

essence of a true gentleman as an

essential human virtue e

is something good a man values and holds

important but the desire to be righteous

often conflicts with other values such

as power influence or wealth let's say

that your office colleagues talk badly

about someone in his absence

you know gossiping is bad but you don't

want to go against your colleagues you

bow to peer pressure and you too start

gossiping this is cowardly

according to Confucius you should not do

what you do not feel is right according

to Confucius when a person knows what's

right it's that person's responsibility

to act on it regardless of the risk to

not act rightly is less of a problem

than knowing what is right and not doing

it because ethical behavior will only

result when moral considerations take

precedence over competing values and

inner desires and managed through the

development of virtues that make up a

moral character Confucianism just like

stoicism believes that one should never

compromise on the virtue of his

character for example if one is

obtaining wealth by compromising one's

moral

then that wealth should not be kept

while Confucius emphasized the

importance of cultivating moral virtues

within one's heart and mind he insisted

that once cultivation of character must

involve extending those virtues to

others the difference between a morally

superior and a morally deficient person

is that the former has understood what

is righteous in one's own self and

extended it to others while the latter

is devoted only to satisfying his or her

own interests learning for the

Confucians has two purposes the first is

to learn to be an upright moral person

this is the ideal of a gentleman or a

superior person after the gentleman has

cultivated virtues and elevated his

character it is then possible for him to

apply what he's learned to serve the

people and the state is considered the

ultimate purpose of learning and a moral

obligation of a true gentleman one

begins life in a family and then moves

outward towards increasingly more

complex social relationships these

relationships help define the person and

influence their ethical characteristics

and so we can see human growth as a

broadening of vision of relationships

and of the ethical bonds that hold

people together from the teachings of

Confucius there is no indication that a

gentleman looks upon his endeavors and

looks down upon those below him but

rather a gentleman's endeavors poor

others towards him so if you enjoyed

this video please do make sure to check

out the full philosophies for life

Channel and for more videos to help you

find success and happiness using ancient

philosophical wisdom don't forget to

subscribe