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philosophical and conceptual innovations in Zhou thought:

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1. ritual (li)

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any type of ceremonial activities that have a religious character

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ritualized offerings to the ancestors

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ceremonies surrounding divinations

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in the Zhou dynasty, ritual became more of a formal system of behavioral guidelines

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ritual qua ritual seems to become more important

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document: The Record of Ritual (liji)

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a collection of texts describing the social forms, administration, and ceremonial rites of the Zhou dynasty as they were understood in the Warring States and the early Han periods

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hard to date

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much of it probably warring states

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much also probably Han dynasty material

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important passage: "The Shang people put their spirits first, the Zhou people put their rituals first."

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for the Shang, the ritual is just a means to please the spirits, to gain their favor, a means to an end, a technique for pleasing the spirits, if you had some other way of pleasing the spirits, you would do it some other way

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for the Zhou, ritual becomes a priority in and of itself, not just used for pleasing the spirits, the structure of ritual matters, but seen as a part of the cosmic order, and even creating and responsible for cosmic order, i.e. ritual imposing order on the universe

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ritual also include the regular administration of government

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an official accepting a new position becomes very ritualized

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bronze vessel getting cast to commemorate the event

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bureaucratic decisions become ritualized in this intense way

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also include aspects of personal deportment

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the way you dress

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the way you come into a room

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the way you groom yourself

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all of this becomes part of the scope of ritual

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2. the concept of "de" or virtue, inner power, charismatic power

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the Shang version of "de"

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Shang oracle bones have an early version of this word

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refers to power accrued by a ruler who had acted favorably toward a spirit or another person

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you attain "de" when you act pro-socially, in a way that is good for the state, for other people

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functions in the Shang conception as a psychic debt

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e.g. if a king does something kind to a vassal, that vassal feels a desired to reciprocate

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this functions with spirits as well, not just people

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Zhou version of "de"

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becomes more of a concept that is specifically linked to the ruler's ability to rule and have a relationship with Shang Di and tien

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"de" is a power that is specifically given by the Shang-Di tien to the Zhou ruler

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also hereditary from one king to another

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"de" is success in battle and that ability to rule and pass this down to subsequent rulers

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becomes important to the idea of non-coercive rule

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the reason the Zhou were able to win at Muye was because their leaders had this "de"

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the Shang lost their "de"

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powerful myth: King Wu showed up on the battle field and the Shang army just gave up because of his massive "de", he just exuded this power

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so this idea that the proper way to rule is through non-coercive attraction is a Zhou conceptual innovation

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becomes very important in the Warring States period

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3. Ritual preserves "de"

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the key to ruling is you want to keep your "de"

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it gets passed down from father to son, but like other things that are inherited, it can be damaged

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"de" can be damaged, but you can maintain it through ritual

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considering the scope of ritual, this is a full-time job

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Ode #256 suggests that following ritual is a full-time job

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even in your private chamber, if you are not being ritually correct, then ShangDi can see you and you're going to loose your du

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4. Seek and ye shall not find

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you can't actively be seeking "de" or virtue

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virtue can be damaged by actively seeking it

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if you actively try to get it for your own selfish reasons

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e.g. you want to get it to be a rule, but not that you love the ritual

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so Zhou rulers become very concerned about things like sincerity

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the degree to which you are doing the rituals not to gain advantage but that you sincerely embrace the order that ritual represents

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you have to be genuinely embracing the values that the rituals express

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5. Ming

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meaning

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The Heavenly Mandate

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Fate

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literal meaning: "Order"

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order from political superior to inferior

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a metaphorical command from heaven

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Zhou developed this concept that the Ming is something that heaven gives to the ruler who maintains ritual correctness

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this is the Zhou story of why they conquered the Shang, since heaven took away Ming from the Shang and gave it to the Zhou

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the ming is something you possess or don't possess whether or not heaven is favoring you

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this communicated indirectly

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even though we have heaven represented as an anthropomorphic being

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we don't have heaven popping up out of the clouds commanding things to the Zhou king directly

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he doesn't pop up and say, "you've lost the mandate"

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he doesn't pass down tablets to people

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heaven is conceived of as an anthropomorphic force, so human-like but also very mysterious

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a famous passage in Confucius' Analects is, "Heaven never speaks."

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so you find out about heaven's will through indirect signs through the forces of nature:

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you lose in battle

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your crops fail

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you have floods

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you have disasters

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the people rebel

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considered a force of nature

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unpredictable

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their a big mass

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you don't know what's going to happen

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that the ming can be lost is a new idea

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is a source of anxiety for the kings

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what you do as a king is not for your own good, it's in the service of heaven

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the king of the Zhou defeated the Shang not because he wanted to personally

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he was on a mission from heaven

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Confucius

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the proper person is just an agent from heaven

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he's not doing things for himself

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their doing things because they're just following heaven's will

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6. wu-wei: effortless action

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a state where you are not feeling effort

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completely unconscious of yourself as an agent

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you don't feel like you are exerting any force

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you're not trying yet everything's working

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yet very effective in the physical world and socially

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very important in the Warring States

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but beginnings in the Zhou materials

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two wu-wei exemplars

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1. the wu-wei gentleman (junzi)

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junzi means "son of a Lord"

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a member of the Zhou aristocracy

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essentially a military elite

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idea of the perfect warrior noble

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perfectly physically skilled

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talented with a bow

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can ride well

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handsome, well-dressed

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embodies the physical and social skills of his social class in this perfect, spontaneous, easy way

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a martial idea

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2. the virtuous ruler

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one of the Zhou kings that is following heaven's mandate

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without trying

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completely unselfconscious

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he doesn't feel there is anything important about himself

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he follows the ritual perfectly

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perfectly in accord with heaven's will

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he embodies proper ritual behavior and proper moral attitude

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in a completely spontaneous and unselfconscious manner

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while the wu-wei gentleman is physically skilled and handsome

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on the other hand the virtuous ruler who is a moral exemplar

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someone who is admirable because of their internal, moral orientation

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-in Confucius, these two ideals come together

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the Confucian gentleman combines these two

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a physical skill, not martial anymore, but has to do with ritual and moral behavior

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also has this internal wu-wei that we see in the virtuous ruler ideal in the Western Zhou period