e in order to achieve Goodness." 4. "There are three things that a gentleman fears: he fears the will of Heaven, he fears great men, he fears the words of the Divine Sages. The small man does not know the will of Heaven and so does not fear it. He treats great men with contempt, and he scoffs at the words of the Divine Sages." 5. "Wealth and rank are what every man desires, but if they can only be retained to the detriment of the Way he professes, he must relinquish them. Poverty and obscurity are what every man detests, but if they can only be avoided to the detriment of the Way he professes, he must accept them. ... Never for a moment does a gentleman quit the way of Goodness. He is never so harried but that he cleaves to this; never so tottering but that he cleaves to this." Will the Confucian ethic survive Marxist-Chinese Communism? How could a disciplined, gracious society such as China produce bands of rigid zealots bent on destroying all traces of harmony, balance and justice? Is there reason for optimism? There are those, familiar with Chinese culture, who believe that Confucianism will revive in favorable weather like a dormant seed.Confucian philosophy began its entrance into Japanese history in the sixth century, in a process that was more or less complete by the end of the ninth century. As such, it paralleled the first great wave of Chinese influence in Japan. Favored by the Tokugama, Confucianism attained great vigor in the seventeenth century, continuing into the nineteenth century, and pervading much of the philosophical temper of the time, From then on, Confucian thinking in Japan went into decline. Its cosmology, could no be sustained in the light of modern science, and its moral precepts were taken to be obstacles to the development of a society that was intended to challenge. Nonetheless, as pointed out by Reischauer, ethical values of Confucian philosophy have survived in modern Japan, and provide accepted standards...
