No Contempt to Human Affairs: Confucianism in Japan in 13th Century and the “Mean Man” Problem

Abstract

In Japan, we find Confucian teaching presented, among others, in the texts of “popular” genre of philosophy, addressed not to learned, but to young people. The purpose of such texts is to introduce into Chinese and Japanese classics. One of them, Jikkinshō (“Collected admonitions in ten sections”, 1252) includes instructive stories about Confucian, Buddhist and other maxims useful in everyday life. The paper deals with two sections of Jikkinshō (2 and 3) recounting examples of arrogance (jp. kyōman) and scorn (jp. bu/anadoru). What makes a human person “great” or “mean”? How can we separate a proper, decent behavior from arrogant, where lies the boundary between the respect for social hierarchy and the contempt for others? Why is it dangerous to underestimate others? In Jikkinshō, these practical moral problems are considered on examples from stories of famous people of China and Japan. The article proposes partial translation of Jikkinshō (sections 2 and 3).