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One essential virtue, whose social acceptance does have withstood the test of time, is justice (Yi).A Confucian gentleman is above all a righteous man, who always directs his action according to justice as required by the Principle of the Mean.Thus, “a gentleman stands erect in the middle, without inclining to either side.”
He ties himself fast to that principle, without being swayed by such external influences as profits, power, or financial difficulties.
“A gentleman does not give up his righteousness when he is poor; nor does he deviate from the Way when he is prosperous....If poor, he cultivate his virtue in solitude; if prosperous, he strives to bring virtue to the whole world.”
Nor is the principle of his behavior least affected by his socio-political status, as “in a high position, he refrains from treating his inferiors with contempt; in a low position, he refuses to court the favor of his superiors.He rectifies himself, and seeks for nothing from the others”.
Nor should the state of politics distract him from following the path of justice: “When good principles prevail in his government, he tenaciously pursues his goal....When bad principles prevail in the country, he maintains his course to death without changing.”
Firm commitment to righteousness confers physical and moral independence upon a gentleman.By claiming more than one deserves (for example, undue prestige or salaries), the acts of injustice indicate a state of dependence on the others--the signature of a morally inferior mind.On the contrary, a gentleman relies not on the changeable wills of other men, but on his own effort through which he can bring about the actualization of his innate qualities endowed from Heaven, thereby achieving true autonomy.
Having identified himself with the Way of Heaven, a gentleman will act on his own initiative, independent from any pressure, power or opinion of other men.He is to act justly under all circumstances, with or without the awareness or presence of the others.For even if nobody on earth knows his virtues and vices, the omniscient Heaven and he himself would know; and an unjust action merely degrades his personal dignity, making him feeling the shame in his mind.For this reason a gentleman must take care of his virtue even when he is in solitude.
Meanwhile, once he has sincerely examined himself according to the principle of justice and left his mind free from any sense of moral shame or guilt, a gentleman becomes the most courageous of all men, and cannot be compelled by any external force, least by the fear for other men’s power.Thus, from Confucius’ disciple we learn the master’s great courage: “on self-examination, if I find that I fail to be righteous, I would not threaten a single man, be he in an inferior status; but, on self-examination, if I find that I am righteous, I will go forward even against a crowd of a million men”.
To summarize, a Confucian gentleman is a person who has actualized in a balanced fashion the innate virtues endowed from Heaven as a human being.S/he exemplifies the Confucian ideal moral character that any person can attain through continuous moral learning and practice.In the words of Mencius, a gentleman is “to dwell in the magnificent house of humanity, to stand in the right place of propriety, and to walk on the great path of justice; when he succeeds in obtaining an office, to practice his principles together with his people; when his effort is frustrated, to persist in the practice of these principles alone.Wealth and honor cannot corrupt him; poverty and low status cannot move him (away from justice); and power and force cannot subjugate him”.
3.2.The Prescriptions of Dignity: Individual Cultivation and Universal Respect
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