Abstract
The tension between creativity and conformity or innovation and tradition is evident in various passages of the Confucian Analects and has received significant scholarly attention. Among portrayals of Confucius as an outright conservative and traditionalist or as a social critic and reformer, a number of scholars have preferred to picture the Master as a moderate thinker who, above all, propounded becoming a “good person” (a ren ren 仁人), while balancing a commitment to tested social values and practices (li 禮) and creativity. The purpose of this paper is to explore the tension between the demands of abiding by and personalizing rules according to changing circumstances. This tension will be taken to be a core feature of the text, a valuable interpretative tool, and an indispensable element in the Confucian moral project. Focusing on the interpretations of two expressed demands in the Analects— “following one’s late father’s way for three years” and “bringing three corners for one”—offered by two Chinese commentators, I will attempt to see whether and how they recognize and address the tension between the requirements of conformity and the demand of creativity in the process of self-becoming.
Published Version
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