Ponce, Mark Anthony J.

11/8/16
1LM3
Thought Piece
Mam Bolanos

Kong Zi

Refine your person by means of the Dao. Refine the Dao by means of Ren.

These were the most striking line that I have read in the excerpt of Kong Zi that tackles

governance. For Kong Zi, successful government requires good men to run the system

and in choosing those men, the ruler needs to exercise Ren, which means loving others

by way of teaching them good values of compassion while practicing self discipline. All

these refers to Kong Zi`s philosophy that by being Ren(loving others) through Yi(Right

Conduct), we can lead others by example and make them follow the law. In my own

personal opinion, the philosophy is non aggressive to the constituents and friendly, but it

is an effective way of making the people follow you, which I think is right and humane

than through coercion.

While he made the absolute philosophy of Do not do to others, what you do not

want them do to unto you, it already manifested in his way of good governance. For

instance, when you treat your soldiers right by giving adequate food and homes, they

will appreciate your compassion and may experience shame, so they would try to

reciprocate the good gesture in any way they can, be it through your orders and/or

requests. So virtue is what you teach to your constituents, rather than coercion, for them

to follow. And for them to remain loyal, we have to celebrate them by means of

Li(Rituals) that shows our gratitude for their service and loyalty. In this way, we can have

a just and moral society that makes everyone happy and satisfied.