Self-Mastery, Discipline, and Improvement Theme Analysis

The Analects of Confucius is a series of anecdotes about the Chinese sage Confucius. The book, written by Confucius’s disciples, presents advice on various behaviors and moral virtues that people should cultivate if they wish to live in accordance with the Way, or the Tao, a spiritual practice that Confucius espoused. When a person has an advanced practice of the Way, Confucius refers to that person as a “gentleman,” or as someone who has achieved “benevolence,” or moral goodness. In the process of working toward these characteristics, two of the most important practices Confucius emphasizes are self-mastery and discipline. The Analects highlights how discipline put into the task of self-mastery is the essence of the path toward moral and spiritual superiority.

Although Confucius speaks often about respecting family and community, he is careful to emphasize the fact that one’s spiritual and moral improvement is an individual task. When asked how to cultivate benevolence, Confucius responds, “To return to the observance of the rites through overcoming the self constitutes benevolence […] the practice of benevolence depends on oneself alone, and not on others.” This is an interesting quote, because often benevolence refers to being generous with others. In other words, benevolence might seem to be a trait that has to do with communities rather than the individual. However, Confucius focuses on the individual commitment that is necessary for one to become the type of person who has much to offer—spiritually, philosophically, and morally—to one’s society. The other themes highlight the various characteristics—chiefly self-restraint, honesty, and community-orientation—that Confucius believes men must cultivate in order to achieve benevolence. What he is likely saying in this moment is that making a commitment to developing these characteristics in every aspect of one’s individual life is the path to benevolence, rather than, for instance, depending on teachers or other external sources of wisdom to learn about benevolence.

On a similar note, Confucius states, “What the gentleman seeks, he seeks in himself; what the small man seeks, he seeks in others.” “Gentlemen” in the Analects are defined primarily as those who are dedicated to the moral guidelines of the Way; in other words, what they seek is to become more successful practitioners of the Way. Therefore, this quote implies that in order to practice the Way, one must look inward rather than outward. This also emphasizes the fact that moral and spiritual superiority cannot be found in external measures of success—rather, it must be found by striving to improve oneself. By “overcoming the self,” Confucius likely refers to the internal obstacles that one might face in trying to cultivate benevolent characteristics. One example of an internal obstacle might be the desire to please—Confucius often criticizes those with “cunning words” and “an ingratiating face,” who, in his view, lack honesty and integrity. In order for one to stop using cunning words and ingratiating tendencies, one must address one’s deep desire to please others, and reframe the way one views social relationships in order to be able to prioritize being honest over being well-liked. In this way, the path to benevolence is one of cultivating greater self-knowledge and awareness.

While the process of becoming a gentleman or cultivating benevolence is individual, Confucius does mention that doing this work can both improve and involve entire communities. At one point, Confucius comments, “Even when walking in the company of two men, I am bound to be able to learn from them. The good points of the one I copy; the bad points of the other I correct in myself.” In this way, Confucius states how the work of self-mastery can in some ways involve others: others function as mirrors that can point one to one’s own strengths and weaknesses. In order to be able to see one’s strengths and weaknesses reflected in others, of course, one must have a certain initial level of self-awareness, of course, but here Confucius states that it is possible to engage with others to develop greater self-awareness. In this way, while the process of self-awareness begins individually, it is deepened through community. What’s more, cultivating self-awareness benefits communities. When asked about the gentleman, Confucius says “He cultivates himself and thereby achieves reverence […] He cultivates himself and thereby brings peace and security to his fellow men […] He cultivates himself and thereby brings peace and security to the people.” In this way, Confucius implicitly makes the meaning of “benevolence” clear. Previously, Confucius suggests that the bulk of following the way working on oneself. However, here he states that through that through improving oneself, “gentlemen” can greatly benefit their societies. It is clear that under a Confucian value system, one’s effort at self-mastery spreads through the entire community, improving the wellbeing of the collective.

In the Analects of Confucius, self-mastery is a means to an end rather than an end in itself. Confucius desires for his students to have the discipline to engage practices of self-mastery so that they might ultimately be of service to their communities and to their nation.