Abstract
The paper presents an account of the zhengming 正名 (correcting names) doctrine as it is presented in the Lunyu, and secondarily, the “zhengming” chapter of the Xunzi. The contention is that an interesting set of meditations on the ethical and political implications of the use of language can be found in these texts, meditations which are properly identified under the traditional heading of “zhengming.” The analysis distinguishes between three aspects of the doctrine—a diagnosis that the incorrect use of language can somehow lead to social and political disorder, an idea about the preservation of the correct use of language against disorder, and notions about the remedy to disorder caused by language used incorrectly. All three aspects can be found in both the Lunyu and the Xunzi, though with different emphases. It will also be show how zhengming doctrine finds its natural context in a wider set of ideas regarding how the use of language might be related to ethics and politics in early Confucianism, including ideas that do not directly reference the notion of zhengming.
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Notes
- 1.
A useful collation of traditional opinions on zhèngmíng in the Analects can be found in Liu Zhenghao 劉正浩 1978. See also Makeham 2003: 333–340. HuShih 胡適 is likely the source of the modern conventional wisdom—for him, Confucius saw zhèngmíng as “the heart of the problem of social and political reformation,” while “the reform of society” as itself, the “central problem of Confucius”, thus implying that zhèngmíng is central to the thought of Confucius (Hu 1963: 22). This notion, however, probably has much to do with Hu’s idiosyncratic concerns rather than completely based upon an accurate assessment of the tradition.
- 2.
See e.g., Van Norden2007: 36, 58–59.
- 3.
See Waley 1939: 21–22, 171–172; Creel1951: 321–322; and Brooks and Brooks 1997: 190 for the text critical case that the passage is a later interpolation. For the responses, see e.g., Knoblock1988:114–116, Reding1985: 252–255, and Makeham 1994: 163–165. For a more evaluation of the evidence, see Van Norden 2007: 86–90.
- 4.
All translations of the Analects are my own; and the text will be cited using the division of the text in Lau 1992. The following editions were consulted: Legge 2006, Waley 1939, Yang 1984 (modern Chinese translation), Lau 1992, Leys 1997, Ames and Rosemont 1998, and Slingerland 2003; and also, the collation of the traditional commentaries on the Analects in Cheng Shude 1990. For a more detailed analysis of Analects 13.3, see Loy 2008.
- 5.
Another example is Creel1951: 321–22.
- 6.
- 7.
Cheng Zhongying and Cai Mingtian spell out zhengming in terms of the injunction that speech and deed must match (yán xíng yī zhì 言行一致); Cheng Zhongying (1974) 1981: 66, and Cai 1984: 6–8. See also Xu 1966: 5, and Hu 1963: 24–27. Examples of scholars who see the zhèngmíng if 13.3 as being concerned about station or role include LaoSze-kwang 勞思光 and Lin Yuanqi 林遠琪; see Lao 1984: 122–27 and Lin 1979: 9–18.
- 8.
In fact, the passage is often cited in discussions of zhèngmíng without explanation as to why it belongs in such discussions. For a recent example, see McLeod2015: 48–52.
- 9.
- 10.
- 11.
There is one additional passage that is traditionally associated with discussions about zhèngmíng, namely, the cryptic 6.25: “The Master said, ‘A gū (觚) that is not truly a gū. A gū indeed! A gū indeed!” According to Ma Rong, the term gū, apart from naming a kind of ritual drinking vessel, also names a certain measurement of liquid (two shēng 升 or approximately …). The ritual drinking vessel was apparently so named because it is supposed to hold that amount of wine. The Qing Dynasty scholar Mao Qiling 毛奇龄 (1623–1716) thought that “gū means ‘small,’ that is, ‘the drinking [of wine] should be in small quantity,’. He proposes that in ancient days, a measure of three shēng of wine was considered appropriate, five as excessive, and two as moderate [lit. “small”], and drinking vessels were named according to their capacity. … (in the Master’s day) though the name of the vessel is gū, yet it was frequently used for excessive drinking… hence his exclamation: “A gū indeed! A gū indeed!” One can almost imagine the Master, upon the pattern of 2.7 saying, “by ‘drinking in moderation’ nowadays, it is really meant …” (in Cheng 1990: 412–413) But all this is very speculative.
- 12.
Yang Bojun 楊伯峻 links up the contrast with 2.14 and 13.23 (Yang 1984: 165).
- 13.
To borrow some words from Kenneth Burke, they are “same motions but different acts” (Burke 1969: 108).
- 14.
For a more extensive discussion of the distinction between the two interpretations, see Loy 2014: 150–151.
- 15.
To give some examples, the phrase shows up in the logical chapters of the Mozi (Graham (1978) 2003: 440), several places in the Guánzǐ 管子, and an entire chapter of the Lǚshìchūnqiū 呂氏春秋 has it as the title.
- 16.
- 17.
For a recent discussion of the philosophy presented in the essay as a whole, see Fraser’s contribution to the Dao Companion to the Philosophy of Xúnzǐ (Fraser 2016: 291–321).
- 18.
- 19.
See Fraser2016: 292.
- 20.
See especially Chapter of the Xúnzǐ (Hutton 2016: 35).
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Loy, H.C. (2020). Correcting Names in Early Confucianism. In: Fung, Ym. (eds) Dao Companion to Chinese Philosophy of Logic. Dao Companions to Chinese Philosophy, vol 12. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-29033-7_18
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