Confucius 3,305 Laws--or Two?

Bill Brown ... Xiamen University
"For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it."James 2:10 ["因为凡遵守全律法的，只在一条上跌倒，他就是犯了众条。" 雅各书2:10]

"The sage's path... embraces the 300 rules of ceremony, and the 3,000 rules of demeanour." Confucius, Doctrine of the Mean. [大哉圣人之道！...礼仪三百，威仪三千]

Jesus complained about Jewish priests and lawmakers placing unbearable loads upon the people (Matthew 23:4), so just imagine what he would have thought of China's 3,300 Rules of Ceremony and Demeanour! But as Confucius found, even 3,300 laws of outer observance did little to change the inner heart.

The UnSuperior Man In Confucius' "Doctrine of the Mean," the sage confessed that he had failed to attain even the four most basic requirements of the superior man (serve father, prince, older brother, and friends). He failed to mention he was a poor husband as well.

UnSuperior Husband In the Analects (4:9), Confucius said that a sage who worries about food and clothes is not worth talking to ("子曰:士志于道而耻恶衣恶食者，未足与议也"), but the sage divorced his wife in part because of her cooking (the rice was never white enough, the meat was not tender enough, or cut in exact squares). Given that Confucius' son and grandson also divorced, we can see why "love of wife" never caught on as the "Sage's fifth rule."

Confucius: Judge Not Confucius' awareness of his own failures led him to warn against letting the pot call the kettle black. In the Analects (4.17), Confucius said, "When we see men of worth, we should think of equaling them; when we see men of a contrary character, we should turn inwards and examine ourselves." [子曰：“见贤思齐焉，见不贤而内自省也。]

Confucius Gives Up. Confucius tried to live a noble life, but he never did find his "man of worth" to emulate. In the end the frustrated sage said, "I give up! I have not yet seen even one who can see his own faults and inwardly accuse himself!" Analects 5.27 [子曰：“已矣乎！吾未见能见其过而内自讼者也。”]

No Forgiveness Confucius did not find one "man of worth" who could obey the 3,000 rules of demeanor, or the 300 rules of ceremony, or the 4 rules of the sage, or even the 1 rule of "know yourself." (seen in Sunzi's "Art of War"). Confucius found no hope on earth--or in heaven either. He told Wangsun Jia, "He who offends against Heaven has none to whom he can pray." Analects 3.13 [获罪于天，无所祷也]

3,305 Laws or 2 Fortunately for us, God has given us far fewer laws than we have given ourselves. In fact, Jesus said we need follow only two laws: "Love your God, and love others as yourself." Matthew 22:37-39 [耶稣对他说，你 要尽心，尽性，尽意，爱主你的神。这是诫命中的第一，且是最大的。其次也相仿，就是要爱人如己。]

Is Two Too Much? Two laws are better than 3,305 laws--but can we keep even two? All of history (and our own experience, if we are honest) shows that, on our own, we can no more change our own nature than we can change our height, or change our white hairs to black. And yet there must be an answer, or Jesus would not have given us those two laws and then promised, "For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." Matthew 11:30 ["因为我的轭是容易的，我的担子是轻省的. 马太福音" 11:30]

Outer Laws or Inner Light As the ancient Jews and Chinese found, the burden is crushing if we bear it alone. But the burden is light if we allow Christ within us to help bear it, because our only hope for change is not outer laws but Inner Light.

Pressing Forward Even with that Light, we will often fail, because life is about growth, and overcoming obstacles. But like Paul, we can begin anew daily, and "forgetting what is behind, press forward to the prize..." Philippians 3:13. [弟兄们，我不是以为自己已经得着了。我只有一件事，就是忘记背后努力面前的，腓利比书3:13]

And happily for us, with our Father, "mercy triumphs over judgment." James 2:13 [怜悯原是向审判夸胜。雅各书2:13
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