BENDŌ A DISCOURSE ON THE WAY

Summary

The Way is difficult to comprehend and explain to others because it is truly vast. Confucian scholars of recent eras claim their own individual perceptions to be the entire Way, but these perceptions are all only aspects of it.

The Way is in fact the Way of the Ancient Kings. From the days of Tzu Ssu and Mencius, however, the Confucian School has contended for supremacy among the Hundred Schools, inevitably diminishing the full meaning of the Way.

When we consider Tzu Ssu's Doctrine of the Mean, we find that it is a critique directed against Lao Tzu, who had said that the Way of the Sages was a fabrication. Tzu Ssu countered with the view that the Way conformed with human nature and that it was not a fiction. In the end his argument came to rest on the concept of human “truthfulness.” The Mean, however, refers to only one among several forms of moral behavior, and therefore is said to be “chosen.” Tzu Ssu relied on the idea of the Mean to explain the meaning of the Way and to show that Lao Tzu's views were not in accordance with his [own] ideas. However, the conclusion drawn by later scholars that the Mean is identical with the Way is erroneous. Those who were first to create things in the ancient world are called “Sages.” Confucius was not one of these creators.