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The Confucian Concept Of Authority Essay

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The Confucian concept of authority is exemplified through the teachings of the Way of Heaven and filial piety. In Confucius’s thought, authority is described as something that manifests the power to enforce obedience; anything of authority encourages, or demands, people to live a specific way. This obedience constructs a notion of hierarchy within relationships and implies an obstinate expectation for reverence and devotion. Through the teachings of the Way and filial piety, people are advised to behave in a specified manner that is supposedly appropriate; however, these “rules” epitomize the exercise of power and demand for obedience. Authority in Confucius’s teachings of the Way of Heaven and filial piety should not define appropriate structures of relationships between a Lord and his people, a Master and his disciple, or a father and his son, because the authority abusively demands submission. The Way of Heaven, as described in The Essential Analects, commands for a specific structure of a state. “In a state that has the Way, to be poor and of low status is a cause for shame; in a state that is without the Way, to be wealthy and honored is equally a cause for shame” (8.13). The Way is a source of authority within the state; the Way is the key to virtue. The admirable ideals of virtue encourage people to the lifestyle commanded by the Way. If a person is living in accordance with the Way, it is shameful to be poor or discontent; people who understand the Way would exhibit

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