Unit 3

English 203:  Literature of the NonWestern World

Questions:

Chat: Consider these questions before you log-on to the chat session.  You do not have to write essay answers, but you should look at relevant passages of the text & jot down several points before the chat session so that you can easily contribute to the discussion.

• Explain 9:13: Once a gentleman settles amongst them [barbarians], what uncouthness will there be?  What does this mean?  What does it imply politically about social behavior?
• Explain 18:6: One cannot associate with birds & beasts.  Am I not a member of this human race?  Explain how this is anti-Daoist.
• Explain 17:4.  The gist of the initial point is that teaching music in a peasant village is like throwing pearls before swine (cf. using an ox-knife to kill a chicken).  How does this compare with 9:14: a gentleman among barbarians?  How does Confucius reconcile the 2?
• The prophetic religions (Judaism, Christianity, & Islam) are based on guilt.  Confucianism cannot & does not recognize guilt.  Why not?
• Instead of relying on guilt to motivate ethical behavior, Confucianism relies on shame.  Provide an example from the Analects & explain how this works to produce excellence.