#Confucianism — The Language of Order, Loyalty, and Filial Piety

Contents

Confucianism does not burn the yoma. But it makes a reason why one must not flee even before a yoma.

#Introductory Fragment — The Order

The order was short. Empty the village, drop the bridge, retreat. Below were the lord's name and a red seal. Seeing that the ink was not yet dry, the order had been a hasty one.

The retainer Harunobu read it three times. "I shall obey the command." With his mouth he said so. But across the river there were still common folk who had not yet fled. Through the evening smoke a woman carrying a child on her back could be seen.

The adjutant asked low. "It is the lord's command. Do you hesitate?"

"Loyalty (忠) says do not hesitate," Harunobu answered. "But righteousness (義) is asking — the order kept by abandoning those people, what order is it that it guards?"

The adjutant could not answer. Beneath the bridge the sound of the water grew louder. Harunobu folded the order and placed it in his breast. "The bridge we drop. But before that, we bring the people of the far bank across. I will not disobey the command, and I will make the command one not to be ashamed of."

That choice was still loyalty (忠). But had the same words come a day late, or had he not seen the people, it might have become hegemony (覇).

#What Confucianism Is

Confucianism is, rather than a religion of praying to gods, an ethical and political language about how to set right the relations that a human forges with another human.

Parent and child, lord and retainer, husband and wife, elder and younger brother, friend and friend. Each relation has a name and a place, and there is a duty fitting to that name and place. Keep that duty and the world is stable; break it and disorder comes.

In the Japan of the Sengoku period, this language was especially important to the warrior. The warrior takes up the blade. One who takes up the blade needs words to justify his own violence. Confucianism provided one of those words.

#The Core Virtues

Virtue	Meaning	The form it shows in a scene
Loyalty (忠)	sincerity toward the lord and the larger order	Keeps the command, is ashamed of betrayal.
Filial Piety (孝)	duty toward parents and ancestors	Honors the family grave, the ancestors' names, inherited obligation.
Propriety (礼)	the form and procedure fitting to one's place	Keeps the order of speech, the bow, documents, titles.
Righteousness (義)	rightness	Asks whether the lord's command is wrong.
Benevolence (仁)	the kindness of treating a person as a person	Sees the suffering of the enemy and of the common folk.

Confucianism is not a thought of simple obedience. Loyalty (忠) matters, but righteousness (義) and benevolence (仁) matter too. Thus a good Confucian conflict arises not from "shall I follow or not" but from which duty is the higher.

#Confucianism in the Sengoku Period

The Sengoku period is not an age in which Confucian order was perfected. Rather it is an age in which order broke. Lords fall, retainers drive out their lords, ability outpaces bloodline, and temples and castles become military strongholds.

So the words of Confucianism are the more desperate. Everyone speaks of order, but in truth everyone tries to set up his own order.

They make war "for the lord."
They burn the village "for all under heaven."
They kill a brother "for the house."
They invade another's domain "for the people."

At such times loyalty (忠) easily becomes hegemony (覇). This is why, in the Way of Rites of co, loyalty (忠) is the bright face and hegemony (覇) the dark face.

#Confucianism in the Edo Period

Entering the Edo period, Confucianism becomes a more institutional language. The warrior becomes not only a fighter of the battlefield but a ruling class that takes on administration and learning. Domain schools and scholarship, house rules and the order of status come to matter.

At this time Confucianism shifts from the ethic of the blade to the ethic of the document.

The Sengoku warrior says "I will die for the lord." The Edo warrior says "the procedure of this document is wrong." Both are Confucian. One is the loyalty of blood, the other the propriety of order.

In Konsei Reiyotan, an Edo-style Confucian NPC is fearsome even without being strong on the battlefield. He binds people with permits, status, temple registration, house records, seals, and oath-papers.

#What Confucianism Does in Konsei Reiyotan

Confucianism is not Sorcery. Confucianism has no sutra passage that burns the yoma directly, no shikigami, no Barrier.

But Confucianism makes the following.

A chain of command: who may command whom.
The locus of responsibility: who must cut his belly when there is failure.
Justification: with what words violence and rule are wrapped.
Conflict: what to choose when loyalty, righteousness, and benevolence collide with one another.
Corruption: the moment when the guarding of order turns into the forcing of order.

The best scene for a Way-of-Rites PC arises not from "I am loyal" but from because I am loyal I must make a painful choice.

#Making a Confucian NPC

A Confucian NPC can be made quickly with the following questions.

Question	Example
To whom is he loyal?	the lord, the house, the Emperor, the Shogunate, a dead master, his own people
What is he ashamed of?	betrayal, discourtesy, the ending of the house line, a forged official document, violence without cause
What does he not forgive?	rebellion against a superior, insult to ancestors, disobedience to a command, the forgetting of a debt of gratitude
Where does he waver?	when the lord's command is not righteous, when the people suffer

#The Bright Face and Dark Face of Confucianism

Direction	Aspect	Three Ways and Six Hearts
Bright Confucianism	Keeps a promise. Restrains its own power. Sees the lord and the people together.	Loyalty (忠), at times meeting Compassion (慈) through benevolence
Dark Confucianism	Erases people for the sake of a cause. Does not see beings outside the order as human.	Hegemony (覇)
Broken Confucianism	Can trust neither lord nor house, and only the form remains.	No Heart, or Void (虚)

#Manner of Speech

A Confucian figure speaks of place before direct emotion.

"Your words may be right, but your place is not the place to speak them."
"The lord's command is heavy. Yet never has it been said that righteousness is lighter than it."
"A house is joined by blood, but honor is joined by deed."
"Though one lose the people and gain all under heaven, what is it that one governs?"
"Mercy without order is revolt, and order without mercy is tyranny."

#Scene Example

A daimyo commands that a village be burned to ward off a yoma.

The samurai received the command. Loyalty says follow. Righteousness asks: is this truly right? Benevolence makes him see the faces of the villagers. Hegemony whispers: for the larger order a small sacrifice is necessary.

In this scene Confucianism gives no answer. It makes the answer impossible to avoid.

The duty both stays the blade and draws the blade.