PART III: CORE STUDY
2. An 3.7: The Gentleman’s Competition
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Confucius’s day. With regard to these, contemporary scholars are convinced that verses from Zhou poetry in the Shijing were chants accompanying imitative dances in ritual ceremonies. Confucius explicitly approved rituals commemorating ancient sovereigns. He was enthralled, for example, by the Succession Dance (shao, 韶) and regarded the Martial Dance (wu, 武) as beautiful and worth propagating (An 3.14, 25;
11.11; 15.10). It is not unreasonable to think that the Minister of Zhou (Zhou Gong 周 公) would have been among the illustrious forbears impersonated in ceremonial pantomimes.13 Just maybe, it was in reference to some such ritual display that Confucius once quipped that “even though a man had the talents and beauty of Zhou Gong, if he were proud and mean, he would not be worth beholding” (An 8.11).
This remark does not tell us much about ancestral rituals but does give us inkling of the teacher’s admiration for the ancients: he attributed to them not only moral exemplarity but also physical endowments. In what follows, we turn our attention to what metaphoric utterances related to archery bespeak of moral views in the Analects.
2. An 3.7: The Gentleman’s Competition
An American scholar recently wrote that Chinese athletic practices “are based on notions of ethics, virtue and self-cultivation.”14 Having looked into the history of archery in ancient China in chapter 2, it may be more accurate to say the reverse:
that Confucian notions of ethics, virtue and self-cultivation are based on the military and sporting activities of earlier dynasties along with ritual beliefs and practices attaching to these.
The first passage we wish to explore casts the conduct of gentlemen precisely in the light of ritual archery:
There is nothing that gentlemen compete over, if at all, it is in archery.
Genteel when ascending (to the shooting platform) and upon descending (offering) drink – such competition is truly of gentlemen.
子曰：君子無所爭，必也射乎!
揖讓而升，下而飲，其爭也君子。《論語‧八佾》
Interestingly, most English versions of the Analects fail to convey the metaphoric
13 Some authors refer to Zhou Gong with the title “Prince of Zhou”. However, the title “gong” (公) refers to his office as one of three high ministers (三公), and not to his nobility. In terms of noble ranking, he was a marquis (侯) rather than a prince or duke. He was not honored as a patriarch of an ancestral line, the patriarch of his line being King Cheng (成王). I thank Prof. Schilling for clarifying this matter and countless others on Chinese history and scriptural tradition.
14 Raphals 2012, 9.
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element of the passage, translating it as a literal statement that it is only in archery matches that gentlemen ought to or ever compete. Legge translates the first line as
“the student of virtue has no contentions, (if) he cannot avoid them, shall this be in archery?”; Waley’s rendition is “gentlemen never compete, (but) in archery they do so”; while Lau suggests, “there is no contention between gentlemen, the nearest to it is, perhaps, in archery.” Brook’s reading is even more point blank: “Gentlemen never compete. Surely this exception will be in archery?” Only Slingerland points out that there is a metaphor in the passage’s line which he translates us “Surely archery can serve as an illustration of the fact that the gentleman does not compete.”15
In fact, passage 3.7 makes sense both literally and figuratively and thus displays the “twice true” phenomenon mentioned in chapter 1: utterances that make sense both on the literal and figurative levels.16 The literal verity of the statement lays in the fact – or belief circulated from archaic literature – that former lords used hunting and ritualized competitions to promote friendly and peaceful relations among nobles of different states. Through these, alliances were strengthened and interpersonal rapport was improved. Among countless advices doled out by Confucius to heads and ministers of states, there is nothing in the line of organizing goodwill hunts and other joint ritual or sporting events. This may be a case for saying that the statement is not to be taken literally. At any case, both wording and semiosis of 3.7 allow for metaphoric reading, and deciphering the metaphor behooves us to ask why, among the different forms of sporting and competition in ancient times, archery is singled out as model for gentlemanly conduct.17
Read metaphorically, the passage posits a relation of similarity between the behavior of gentlemen – presumably the Confucian “moral” gentleman rather than feudal lords and nobles – and the ritual conduct of participants in an archery contest.
The metaphor is elaborated in the middle lines where two elements of the source domain are given as specifications of similarity: saluting when ascending, and giving to drink upon descending ( 揖 讓 而 升 ， 下 而 飲 ). The context imperative for comprehending the metaphor is ancient archery ritual, so that a brief glance at relevant details of its procedures is called for.18
15 Cf. Legge 1971, Waley 2005, Lau 1992, Brooks 1998, Slingerland 2003.
16 See recapitulation of metaphor theory in chapter 1.
17 On this point, I received encouragement from Prof. Yao Xinzhong to explore the passage metaphorically during consultations at King’s College, London and Renmin University, Beijing in May and June 2014. There is a long list of competitive sports practiced from early times with military origin like archery, e.g., boat-racing, gymnastics 導引, kickball 蹴鞠, martial arts 武術, long jump 距躍, tug-of-war 拔河, weight lifting 舉鼎/扛鼎, etc. Consult Wilkinson 2013, 331-333.
18 That ritual archery – specifically Grand archery or Town archery which were both for selecting officers – is the kind of “she” referred to in 3.7 is generally agreed by Chinese commentaries. The Chinese commentators I have consulted largely draw from the three classics on ancient rites (三禮) – i.e., Yili, Liji and Zhouli – in their glosses, cf. Zhu Xi’s Sishu Zhangju Jizhu 四書章句集註 (Taipei: E-Hu
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We saw in chapter 2 that ritual archery was an elaborate event involving a series of ceremonial words and gestures. According to the Yili, bowing was frequent: when contestants were presented, before they ascended the stairs and upon reaching the top of the shooting platform, before and after their turns at shooting, then again to acknowledge their opponents at the end of the match, salutary bows were done.19 Likewise, it was customary for winners to offer a cup of their prize wine to the losers.
These are the simple images attaching to the metaphor. It raises the framework of a peaceful engagement where participants act amiably toward each other, winners show kindness to the vanquished, and the vanquished accept their lot through customary actions.20 The Liji further posits a two-pronged meaning to the winners’
gesture of “forsaking the cup” which informs us of the kind of associations made about elements of ritual archery in the early periods of Confucianism: on the part of victors, it showed their disposition and capacity to provide for others; on the part of losers – who were expected to accept the offering – it was an admission of defeat, in the end, of their dependence on others for nourishment.21
English translations render the character 「爭」 as competing or contending.
Reading it figuratively, I surmise that the passage does more than disapprove commonplace skirmishing or urge courtesies. To be sure, these are valid messages that can be drawn from 3.7.22 However, more substance can be made out of the passage when approached metaphorically. This would first take us to scan the context of the utterance, for instance, (1) the audience addressed by the Analectic
Chubanshe, 2010); Cheng Shude’s 程樹德 Lunyu Jishi 論語集釋上 (Taipei: Quan Gwo Ge Da Shuju, 1965); Liu Baonan’s 劉寶楠 Lunyu Zhengyi 論語正義(Beijing: Zhonghua Shuju, 2011); the Lunyu Yizhu 論語譯注 of Yang Bojun 楊伯峻 (Beijing: Zhonghua Shuju, 2007); and last, the Lunyu Xinjie 論語新 解 of Qian Mu 錢穆 (Taipei: Dongda Tushu Gongsi, 2008). As we have noted on several occasions, no verified accounts of ancient ritual procedures have reached us apart from those consolidated after Qin.
Given the lack of alternatives, recourse to the three classics on ancient rites is inevitable. We permit it as a limit of the study. What Arthur Waley says on this issue may help explain the absence of the kind of material we are interested in as well as support the existence of ritual texts in far flung regions such as Lu state: “it is very unlikely that any ritual texts existed until the decline of Zhou civilization. So long as the rituals were practiced, it was unnecessary to fix them in writing. Probably the first books of ritual were composed for the benefit of such offshoots of the Zhou ruling caste as were settled in the remoter conquered territories, and were in danger of becoming out of contact with the central culture”, Waley 1989, 54.
19 Cf. Yili, Town Archery Ritual (儀禮‧鄉射禮). Bowing was a very common gesture in official ceremonies, for example, in investitures rites and promulgation of decrees.
20 Note that Qian Mu renders the passage with slight adjustment in the punctuation that effects change in meaning. Nonetheless, the general idea remains about protocols and procedures that make archery a ritualized competition (以禮化爭), see Qian 2008, 62-63.
21 「酒者所以養老也，所以養病也‧求中以辭爵者，辭養也。」《禮記‧射義》
22 Thus Yang Bojun’s paraphrase, that archery is a polite kind of competition (那一種競賽是很有禮貌 的), cf. Yang 2007, 25. Zhu Xi like some earlier commentators see more than courtesy in these ritual actions but moral dispositions. In concrete, deferential modesty (恭遜), cf. Zhu 2010, 63; or humility (謙卑) and respect (敬) for Tang dynasty and earlier scholars quoted in Cheng 1965, 135.
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instructions – i.e., disciples being groomed for office – and (2) the bludgeoning political strife at the threshold of the Warring States. In light of these, the image of genteel competitors can be brought to bear upon ideal men in power or authority, in particular, their attitude towards their peers and the people they govern. This squares well with the early association of the bow with the ruling class. The metaphor zeroes in on two elements of ritual practice: that of bowing and of offering the cup of prize wine. Applied to persons enjoying sovereignty or office, these gestures may stand for rulers and ministers of states living harmoniously with each other on the one hand, and preoccupying themselves with the plight of the people on the other. One passage in the Analects with the phrase 「君子不爭」 does use these words to describe the socio-political dispositions of a gentleman in a way that goes beyond mere politeness: the gentleman is sympathetic and does not fall into wrangling, sociable and not cliquish, An 15.21 (君子矜而不爭，群而不黨。《論語‧
衛靈公》). Figure 1 shows how the metaphoric scheme of this line of reading could be mapped out.
Figure 1: Passage 3.7 (a) Bowing
Offering drink
Peaceful co-existence with other princes/ministers
Solicitude for people under him
<Source domain>
Competitors in archery
<Target domain>
Gentlemen in power/office
(ideal heads and officers of state: their attitude and concerns while in power)
<semblance features>
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The line of reading I currently suggest magnifies the proposition of the passage from mere literal reminder of civility to a weightier plea for men in authority to coexist peacefully and rule compassionately – a common entreaty in many a passage of the Analects. These passages may now be brought in relation to 3.7.For example, those which praise the benevolent rule of sage kings whom Confucius believed brought harmony throughout the kingdom and nourished the people. These he eulogized along with other ancient worthies who, in stark contrast to the princes and officers of his time, were indifferent to power: “How majestic was the manner in which Shun and Yu held possession of the empire, as if it were nothing to them”, An
8.18 (巍巍乎，舜禹之有天下也，而不與焉。《論語‧泰伯》).23 The ideal of
non-fighting ,「不爭」, also resonates in passages expressing consternation for rulers and ministers vying for power or usurping authority (e.g. An 7.35, 13.4, 14.22, 16.1-3, and scores of other passages).
Thus, metaphoric reading hinged on key contextual data and consistent with the whole text can take the proposition of the passage under study to deeper and broader reaches. It furnishes an image of moral conduct in office by framing the ideal of harmonious and benevolent wielding of power (i.e., ren zheng, 仁政) in terms of ritual behavior in archery. In doing so, at least two effects are accomplished. First, the ideal is made accessible to disciples of the school who would have witnessed if not participated in archery rituals. Second and more importantly, the possibility of such ideal is also posed by describing how a similar phenomenon of conviviality and kindness occurs in ritual archery.
In a nutshell, archery metaphor in passage 3.7 can be taken to illustrate ideal governance with details of ritual practice denoting harmony and benevolence. Only in so governing can he fulfill his obligations as ruler and establish his authority firmly among his own kinsmen, subordinates and rival kingdoms. The “Horn Bow” seen in chapter 2 comes to mind, with its images of the bow’s recoiling mechanism and a primate taking cover in the foliage of a verdant tree. Drawing as it does from ritual, the passage may suggest conviction about the potential of archery and ritual practices in general to guide or even transform the political scenario. Read literally or metaphorically, the twice true utterance propounds a recommendation for those in power as well as candidates to authority – as his disciples would have been – to act ritually or as in ritual when occupying office.
23 As with the chapter on history of Chinese archery, quoted English translations of passages from Chinese classics are James Legge’s, unless otherwise indicated. Other times, I make my own translation.
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Gentlemen do not compete (君子不爭), and thus is gentlemanly competition (其 爭也君子): so go the first and final verses of An 3.7. It occurs to me that another fruitful way of engaging the passage metaphorically – an alternative metaphoric route also based on historical context and whole text understanding – is to bring its image to bear on the struggles of a student of the Way. Notwithstanding the introductory verse alleging that gentlemen do not fight, the followers of Confucius in fact compete in a battle of a different order. Given that there were many ways to
“show one’s stuff” – say, in a battlefield, in some test of strength, or in a contest in other areas of learning –, the question is why ritual archery is raised as a paradigm for the competition of gentlemen? In other words, how and in what area does a Confucian disciple rightly expend his energy and strive to get ahead of others?
Not infrequently, authors present stereo-typical images of ancient Chinese sports and physical activities as non-competitive, averse to any display of bodily skills and abilities.24 If passages precisely such as 3.7 are taken all too literally and in conjunction with later classics whose historical accounts are interspersed with idealizations of the past, it is certainly tempting to think so. Having had a glimpse into ancient Chinese and Greek sporting customs, we could say that the element of rivalry in Chinese sports was milder – or less overt? – in comparison to Western practices, and that this element was put in check through ritual procedures.25 Still, stereotypes are stereotypes, and participating in an event such as archery despite the rituals that governed it would have entailed no small amount of fighting spirit, probably more subtle but no less intense: long, arduous training was needed, there were high
24 Apart from archery competition, traditional physical exercises of gong fu, yoga and the like. I have found tendencies of orientalism and historic romanticism particularly acute in Westerners writing on ancient Chinese martial and athletic customs. One article claims that “muscular development and beauty was never highly valued (…) (Physical exercises) were all concerned with longevity and achieving mental and physical harmony, with internal organic function than musculature, strength and vigor”, Riordan & Jones (eds.), 1999, 23. Nigel Crowther says something similar, that according to ancient texts early sports in China was not interested in competition, vigorous exercise, and muscular development, Crowther 2007, 3. There may be some grain of truth in the characterization of Chinese sports as passive and harmonious, but also unhelpful selectivity and exaggeration.
25 It is important to bear in mind the military origin of sports like archery. Litheness would have been a factor even in its genteel ritual exercise. The entry on “Sports and Games” in the new Chinese History manual of Endymion Wilkinson offers a helpful clarification about early types of physical activity in China with a view that makes Chinese sporting history more comparable to other ancient societies around the globe: “Physical culture in ancient China can be grouped into three categories:
military, physical, and recreational (…) The winners in sports display the same qualities as the victor in battle or the successful hunter in primitive societies – strength, a good eye (for throwing a spear, aiming a bow, or firing a gun), speed, and aggressive competitiveness. It is hardly surprising, therefore, that many of China’s most famous field sports, exercises, and games started in ancient times as forms of military training (just as their equivalents did in archaic Greece). For example: archery. From prehistoric times, the bow was the main weapon both for hunting and warfare. In ancient China, archery and rituals surrounding its practice became a key component of education”, Wilkinson 2013, 331.
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standards to attain to, objective winners and losers were presented to public eye, and much was at stake in the outcome of one’s performance.
Grasping the metaphoric nature of the passage enables us to veer from stereotypical thinking. As figurative speech, it does not simply mean that “gentlemen do not compete” but invites us to view the unique way that gentlemen do fight. My suggestion, as mentioned earlier, is to interpret the competition of gentlemen in archery as the moral struggles of the Confucian gentleman which consists largely in efforts at self-cultivation. This, it seems to me, is the fight which disciples of the Way constantly engage in, a battle demanding utmost effort and concentration, an area too where it is alright to wish to surpass one’s teacher: when it comes to ren, don’t let yourself be outdone even by your teacher, An 15.35 (當仁不讓於師。《論語‧衛靈 公》). As the metaphor goes, this unique competition has elements similar to what
Grasping the metaphoric nature of the passage enables us to veer from stereotypical thinking. As figurative speech, it does not simply mean that “gentlemen do not compete” but invites us to view the unique way that gentlemen do fight. My suggestion, as mentioned earlier, is to interpret the competition of gentlemen in archery as the moral struggles of the Confucian gentleman which consists largely in efforts at self-cultivation. This, it seems to me, is the fight which disciples of the Way constantly engage in, a battle demanding utmost effort and concentration, an area too where it is alright to wish to surpass one’s teacher: when it comes to ren, don’t let yourself be outdone even by your teacher, An 15.35 (當仁不讓於師。《論語‧衛靈 公》). As the metaphor goes, this unique competition has elements similar to what