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
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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
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out the full philosophies for life
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