Question 1
A strong family relationship embodies persons who are responsible. All family members should be guided by their conscience to do what is right and what is expected of their roles at the family level and the wider society. A cultivated, actualized person, on the other hand, is one who realizes their potential and acts responsible as expected of them.
Question 2
Mencius says human nature is good, and Xunzi says it is bad, they contradict each other, but I will agree more with Mencius because people always follow the morals of their society until when they are made to do otherwise by their prevailing circumstances. Xunzi’s ideology differs with theirs one because a person’s natural emotions lead them to do what they think is good for them and not the wider society.
Question 3
Quote 1. Tzu- kung said, “What I do not want others to do to me, I have no desire to do to others.” The Master said, ‘Oh, Ssu! You have not got quite to that point yet.’ Book V, Ch. 11, p. 110
Meaning- A person should be cautious about what they do and should treat everyone else as important. Benevolence and goodness are virtues that are two way.
Quote 2. The Master said, ‘A horn- gourd that is neither horn or gourd! A pretty horn- gourd indeed, a pretty horn- gourd indeed! Book VI, Ch. 23, p. 120
Meaning- Looks can be deceiving; a person might look good but in reality possess very negative attributes.
Question 4
Ban Zhao says that an ideal relationship between men and women should be a representation of heaven. Women should serve men and men should be authoritative over women. According to her, women are supposed to have womanly virtues, words, bearing and work. That means that a woman should be brilliant, guard her chastity, choose words carefully and keep herself and her home clean.
Question 5
According to Yao Xinzhong, Confucianism possesses a certain dimension of the ancient and the present because it functioned in the past and even today (Xinzhong 112). I agree with his argument because the central tenets of Confucianism have not changed yet remain applicable to life in present times.
Work Cited
Xinzhong, Yao. An Introduction to Confucianism. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000. Print
