Joan Gibson holds forth

What I now know after this enlightening evening is that Confucianism is a set of disparate ideas considered and written down by a man called Kung Fu Tze, interpreted and corrupted to fit certain ideologies over the centuries, and yet surviving in a recognisably humanist form today.  Joan took us on a quick, lucid and comprehensive sweep through two and a half thousand years of Confucian philosophy and came to the conclusion that when one goes back to the original teachings, then as a secularist, who supported rational enquiry, looking for human oriented solutions his forward-looking ideas were indeed a life stance not dissimilar to those of modern day Humanists. The question that exercised some of the discussion time was to what extent Humanists wished to claim his philosophy and his legacy in China.
 
Some of the ideas of Confucius which I particularly appreciated were that reciprocity was fundamental, that wealth was shameful while poverty existed, and that the principle aim of government was happiness, since order and productivity could be forced but happiness and harmony were the ultimate goals of a successful society.  His secular, peace-loving view that education was the way for things to improve appeals and the fact that he supported the social cohesion provided by family responsibilities and traditions did not detract from this.
 
It is impossible to do justice to the excellent talk in a few words, and hopefully other groups may have the opportunity to hear this talk or explore the ideas of Confucius and debate them for themselves.  Then they too can decide whether Confucianism is a force for good and whether we need to recognise Confucius’s birthday and celebrate it.  
 
Cathy Crawford
Secretary, Edinburgh Group

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