Uprightness, Indirection, Transparency

Abstract

A central issue in early Confucian thought is the problem of “straightness,” specifically issues of uprightness, indirection, and transparency in the Analects. A fundamental understanding of the “tradition” is the view that Confucius valued zheng 正 and completely rejected indirection in knowledge, language and ethics. I examine this claim critically, as a critical approach to the problem of “tradition,” beginning with an account of the two distinct senses of “uprightness” represented by zhen 真 and zheng. I then demonstrate the semantic continuity of zheng as alignment in such texts as the Shi jing (Book of Odes) and the “Inner Cultivation” (Nei ye 內業) chapter of the Guanzi. This leads to a new account of indirection in the Analects. It helps explain important differences between the Analects and later Confucian texts.