Return to Korea 3: Confucian SpiRITUALity

Through rituals Heaven and Earth join in harmony, the sun and moon shine, the four seasons proceed in order, the stars and constellations march, the rivers flow, and all things flourish... Through rituals the root and the branch are put in proper order. (The Xunzi, ancient Confucian text)

A few readers have been surprised on my return to Korea. I am here for a short time, teaching this summer school course at the same Ewha Womans University ... even dwell in the same room as before. My dozen students (pictured below in a group-work time) are mostly from East and Southeast Asian countries, and thus this blog will be on what I call the "O.S." the Operating System, the Worldview of this part of the world.

Confucius was conservative; he innovated nothing. Living 2,500 years ago in a very chaotic China, he taught that a return to wisdom and rituals of the past would lead the people to peace and stability. Over a thousand years later, when his spiritual descendants, the "Neo-Confucian" Chinese Song and Korean Joseon dynasties, found themselves in a position to put Confucius' theories into widespread practice, they naturally turned to ritual as the means of harmonizing society.

Even if one does not agree with his program, his strategy was masterful. 

1. Get everyone grounded - through ritual and education - with their proper "station" in society.

2. Mold the people with repetitive ritual, like braces on teeth, slowly and inexorably straightening the crooked, introducing a worldview where their station and contribution are shown as contributing to the general welfare. Show them as useful to the greater good.

3. Societal rituals, elders, departed ancestors, teachers, government officials trained in Confucian principles - and in some places and times, males - are the leaders and guides along The Way (Dao, or Tao) to the good and well-ordered society.

4. Individuality à la Western Enlightenment is not a good idea. Group, family and nation come first. As the Japanese say: See that nail? Pound it in, so it will not snag the cultural fabric. 

My conclusion is this: If you count the sheer number of people who have come under the influence of a thinker, then Confucius is the most influential person in human history. 

The Analects are the collected wisdom teachings of Confucius. I begin teaching this text with Book 2, verse 1: Master Confucius said: When one rules by means of virtue, it is like the North Star – it dwells in its place and the other stars pay reverence to it.

This is an essential lesson for us in the West attempting to unscrew the so-called inscrutable East: Authority, propriety and morality reside in the inner person, influencing others like gravity, or the way dance music seems to make one involuntarily move. The best ways to get this authority is to build and educate one's inner character. The more moral character one has, the better one can influence society. Education remains the #1 acceptable way to advance one's influence in this part of the world. 

It's an OS for an entire civilization. Confucianism is the invisible-but-nourishing water in which my students ritually swim, and it is all-at-once humbling and exciting to teach them the properties of this ritual-laden water.

Last week, we visited Chong Myo, the preeminent shrine to Confucian values in Seoul, a UNESCO-recognized site where twice each year the spirits of the kings from Korea's last dynasty are evoked, and honored with rituals (there's that word again), food and drink, and honorific music and dance. 

My students with Chong Myo guide Ms Yoon who recognized me (It's Professor Marc!) from my last visit in April 2013.

My own videos from that ritual are here and here. They show Korea's Number One Intangible Cultural Asset, the orchestra and ritual dance by 64 dancers. A shorter (and more professional) video that introduces the entire ritual is here.

For society to lose ritual is to lose its way. To engage in ritual is to find the way (the Tao), identity and purpose.

This blog has been brought to you by the word "ritual."