In learning, nothing is more profitable than to associate with those who are learned. Ritual and music present us with models but no explanations; the Odes and Documents deal with ancient matters and are not always pertinent; the Spring and Autumn Annals is terse and cannot be quickly understood. But if you make use of the erudition of others and the explanations of gentlemen, then you will become honored and may make your way anywhere in the world. Therefore I say that in learning nothing is more profitable than to associate with those who are learned, and of the roads to learning, none is quicker than to love such men. Second only to this is to honor ritual. If you are first of all unable to love such men and secondly are incapable of honoring ritual, then you will only be learning a mass of jumbled facts, blindly following the Odes and Documents, and nothing more. In such a case you may study to the end of your days and you will never be anything but a vulgar pedant.[5] If you want to become like the former kings and seek out benevolence and righteousness, then ritual is the very road by which you must travel. It is like picking up a fur coat by the collar: grasp it with all five fingers and the whole coat can easily be lifted. To lay aside the rules of ritual and try to attain your objective with the Odes and Documents alone is like trying to measure the depth of a river with your finger, to pound millet with a spear point, or to eat a pot of stew with an awl. You will get nowhere. Therefore one who honors ritual, though he may not yet have full understanding, can be called a model man of breeding; while one who does not honor ritual, though he may have keen perception, is no more than a desultory pedant.
Garrulity: talkativeness.
Vulgar pedant: literally, "vulgar Confucian," but here and below Hsun Tzu uses the word ju in the older and broader sense of a scholar. [Translator's note]
Do not answer a man whose questions are gross. Do not question a man whose 10 answers are gross. Do not listen to a man whose theories are gross. Do not argue with a contentious man. Only if a man has arrived where he is by the proper way should you have dealings with him; if not, avoid him. If he is respectful in his person, then you may discuss with him the approach to the Way. If his words are reasonable, you may discuss with him the principles of the Way. If his looks are gentle, you may discuss with him the highest aspects of the Way. To speak to someone you ought not to is called officiousness; to fail to speak to someone you ought to is called secretiveness; to speak to someone without first observing his temper and looks is called blindness. The gentleman is neither officious, secretive, nor blind, but cautious and circumspect in his manner. This is what the Odes means when it says:
Neither overbearing nor lax,
They are rewarded by the Son of Heaven.
He who misses one shot in a hundred cannot be called a really good archer; he who sets out on a thousand-mile journey and breaks down half a pace from his destination cannot be called a really good carriage driver; he who does not comprehend moral relationships and categories and who does not make himself one with benevolence and righteousness cannot be called a good scholar. Learning basically means learning to achieve this oneness. He who starts off in this direction one time and that direction another is only a commoner of the roads and alleys, while he who does a little that is good and much that is not good is no better than the tyrants Chieh and Chou or Robber Chih.[6]
The gentleman knows that what lacks completeness and purity does not deserve to be called beautiful. Therefore he reads and listens to explanations in order to penetrate the Way, ponders in order to understand it, associates with men who embody it in order to make it part of himself, and shuns those who impede it in order to sustain and nourish it. He trains his eye so that they desire only to see what is right, his ears so that they desire to hear only what is right, his mind so that it desires to think only what is right. When he has truly learned to love what is right, his eyes will take greater pleasure in it than in the five colors; his ears will take greater pleasure than in the five sounds; his mouth will take greater pleasure than in the five flavors; and his mind will feel keener delight than in the possession of the world. When he has reached this stage, he cannot be subverted by power or the love of profit; he cannot be swayed by the masses; he cannot be moved by the world. He follows this one thing in life; he follows it in death. This is what is called
constancy of virtue. He who has such constancy of virtue can order himself, and, having ordered himself, he can then respond to others. He who can order himself and respond to others—this is what is called the complete man. It is the characteristic of heaven to manifest brightness, of earth to manifest breadth, and of the gentleman to value completeness.
UNDERSTANDING THE TEXT
What distinction does Hsun Tzu draw between "thought" and "study"? Why does he privilege study over thought in education? How have your teachers emphasized "study" and "thought" differently as you have progressed through school?
How would you classify Hsun Tzu's methods of supporting his argument? What kinds of support does he include? What kinds does he omit? How persuasive are his methods?
Several of Hsun Tzu's metaphors suggest that hard work and study, rather than natural ability, determine success. How is this assertion important to his overall argument? Do you agree with his assessment? Why or why not?
According to Hsun Tzu, what should be part of the education of a gentleman? What, by implication, should not be part of such an education?
What role do associations with other people play in a good education? Would it be possible to follow Hsun Tzu's educational program by reading in isolation?
According to Hsun Tzu, what is the ultimate objective of education? What reward can an educated person expect? In your opinion, is this reward a sufficient motivation to pursue learning? Why or why not?
MAKING CONNECTIONS
Consider "Encouraging Learning" in the context of the debate between Hsun Tzu and Mencius about human nature. How do Hsun Tzu's ideas about education flow from the position that he articulates in "Man's Nature Is Evil" (p. 84)?
Compare Hsun Tzu's implied definition of "education" with those of Seneca (p. 13). For each thinker, what does the best kind of education focus on?
How might Hsun Tzu respond to one of Plato's major arguments in Gorgias (p. 166), that educating people often increases their ability to act unvirtuously? Would
the kind of education that Hsun Tzu advocates be susceptible to abuse by the unscrupulous?
Compare Hsun Tzu's views on the need to alter human nature with those of Lao Tzu (p. 384). What specific statements in the Tao Te Ching might apply to education or learning in general?
WRITING ABOUT THE TEXT
Write an essay supporting or opposing Hsun Tzu's assumption that education should promote virtue. Do schools have the responsibility to teach people to act ethically? What problems might arise (or have arisen) when schools teach ethics?
Respond to Hsun Tzu from the perspective of someone who believes that human beings are inherently good. What kind of education would result from this assumption?
Compare the purpose of education that Hsun Tzu describes with the one described by either Frederick Douglass (p. 24) or Rabindranath Tagore (p. 40). What philosophical assumptions shape one's view of education? How so?
seneca
On Liberal and Vocational Studies
[CIRCA 55 CE]
LUCIUS ANNAEUS SENECA (4 bce-65 ce), sometimes called "Seneca the Younger," was a member of the early Roman Empire's most celebrated literary family. His father, Marcus Annaeus Seneca, or Seneca the Elder (circa 54 bce-circa 39 ce), was a noted orator and writer. His nephew, Lucian (39-65 ce), was a celebrated poet who made important contributions to the development of satire. Seneca the Younger distinguished himself as a scientist, scholar, playwright, and philosopher—as well as a politician whose career rose and fell on the whims of three powerful emperors.